Looking Back on 2015: Life and Literature

Well, another year is coming to an end and I know for some of us it has been quite a journey. A number of my friends and colleagues have experienced hardship, sickness, lost loved ones and pets and suffered other traumatic events and understandably may be happy the year is almost over.

For me personally the year ended on a high with a positive December that culminated in a wonderful multi-cultural Christmas celebration with our eldest son Daniel, his wife Widya and their extended family. All trials and obstacles of the rest of the year were forgotten as we enjoyed the festive season and each other's company.

But whatever you say about the year 2015, you would have to include the word "eventful" in the description.

I originally included a list of memorable world events that made headlines in 2015 in this hub but it was difficult to find good news amongst all the terrorism, disaster and war related news. I wanted this hub to be inspirational and uplifting so I gave that idea up as too depressing and deleted that whole section, replacing it with the following brief list of literature published in 2015. I also included this tranquil scene below.

Notable Publications In Literature 2015

January

• 13 - Paula Hawkins: The Girl on the Train
  

February

• 16 - Tom McCarthy: Satin Island
• 24 - Dean Koontz: The City(with bonus short story "The Neighbor": A Novel
  

March

• 3 - Kazuo Ishiguro: The Buried Giant
• 9 - Pam Ayres: You Made Me Late Again! My New Collection
• 13 - Margaret Atwood: The Heart Goes Last
• 24 - Harlan Coben: The Stranger
  

April

• 21 - Toni Morrison: God Help the Child
• 28 - Claudia Amengual: Cartagena

May

• 19 - Neal Stephenson – Seveneves

June

• 2 - Stephen King – Finders Keepers
  

July

• 14 - Harper Lee: Go Set a Watchman

• 28 - China Mieville: Three Moments of an Explosion:Stories
  

August

• 2 - John Hansen: I Laughed a Smile
• 11 - John Scalzi: The End of All Things

September

• 1 - Jonathan Franzen: Purity
• 15 - Raymond Carver: Beginners

October

• 6 - Rick Riordan: The Sword of Summer
• 9 - John Hansen: On the Wings of Eagles
  
• 12 - Michael Friedman and Maria Jordan: The Carriage Driver
  
• 19 - William Holland: Shadows Kill (The Shadow Thrillers) (Volume 1)
• 20 - John Grisham: Rogue Lawyer
  
• 27 - Robin Cook: Host

November

• 3 - John Irving: Avenue of Mysteries
  
• 3 - Stephen King: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
  
• 3 - Johnathan & Jesse Kellerman: Golem of Paris
• 17 - Robert Hughes : The Spectacle of Skill: Selected Writings

December

• 1- R L Stine: Goosebumps the Movie (The Movie Novel)
• 2 - Mary B Craig: Lights in the Tree
• 3 - James Lee Burke: House of the Rising Sun

Some famous writers, authors, and poets we lost in 2015.:

• Jackie Collins - best selling author (Sept 19)
• Lionel Gilbert - Australian historian, author, and academic (Jan 28)
• Guenter Grass - Nobel literature laureate, novelist, poet, playwright (April 13)
• Phillip Levine - former U.S. poet laureate (Feb 14)
• Colleen McCullough - author "Thorn Birds" and "Antony and Cleopatra" (Jan 29)
• Sir Terry Pratchett - fantasy author (March 12)
• Ruth Rendell (Barbara Vine) - crime and thriller writer (May 2)
• Ann Rule - true crime writer "The Strabger Beside Me" (July 26)
• Robert Stone - novelist, author "Dog Soldiers" (Jan10)

May they all rest in peace.

• 31st December - Happy 50th birthday to writer Nicholas Sparks, author of international bestseller The Notebook, Message in a Bottle and Dear John as well 17 other novels (seven of which have been made into movies).

Have you accomplished all you set out to achieve in 2015?

Add any tasks/wishes still outstanding to the top of your list of goals for 2016.

Plan your year so that you achieve at least one set goal every month.

Promise yourself small rewards for attaining each significant goal.

Yearn to enjoy the year ahead and make it fruitful.

Never dwell on the past and what you failed to accomplish the previous year.

Every day is important. Use the time you are given, don't waste it.

Write something every day. Aim to publish a certain number of hubs each week, month, or in the year.

Yesterday is gone, let it go An look forward to what lies ahead this new year.

Entertain yourself. Take time out to have fun n do things you enjoy.

Always remember to tell your friends and love ones how special they are.

Read! As many different forms of writing and genres as possible. The more you read, the more you will learn and the better we you will ultimately become.

One goal I set myself at the beginning of 2015 was to publish my 200th hub. I achieved that by 5th August with my hub "200 Published Works (If I Can So Can You)", now with the completion of this hub I have 240 by year's end.

My aim for 2016 is to reach 300 published hubs. I feel that is a good challenge, but certainly attainable. Another resolution is to start exercising more to get rid of the extra weight I have put on overindulging over Christmas (hopefully also doable). I'd love to hear what goals you have set yourself for the coming year. Please share in comments.