I read a total of 55 books this year, beginning with a take on Pride and Prejudice (though I’ve never gotten into Jane Austen, I very much enjoyed Longbourne), and ending with rereading my all time favorite fantasy book, Words of Radiance. Once again, the majority of these were recommendations from my book club, Time’s all-time 100 novels, and TED speaker recommendations.
This year Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon won the award for worst book (unless you’re into poorly written, historically inaccurate romance novels), and the must-reads are Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein, Robot Dreams, by Issac Asimov (my first Asimov book), Poirot’s Early Cases, by Agatha Christie, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, by Erik Larson, and (of course) Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson.
The Ratings
Books are rated on a totally subjective scale of 1-5 stars. In short, here’s what each rating means:
- * I couldn’t finish reading it, I hated it so much
- ** I finished the book, but I wish I had the hours back I spent on it
- *** It was about as expected, glad I read it but I wouldn’t recommend it
- **** I really enjoyed reading the book, and would definitely recommend it to others
- **** I MUST OWN THIS NOW! I want to reread it over and over and over
Books I Read in 2014
- Longbourne, by Jo Baker ****
- The Brothers Karamazov, by Theodore Dostoevsky ****
- Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History Paperback, by Scott Andrew Selby **
- The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft, by Ulrich Boser **
- Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout ***
- Hello, Goodbye, Hello, by Craig Brown **
- Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein *****
- Truth in Advertising, by John Kenney **
- Appointment in Samarra, by John O’Hara ****
- The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow ***
- TransAtlantic, by Colum McCann ***
- Robot Dreams, by Issac Asimov *****
- The End of Eternity, by Issac Asimov ****
- Poirot’s Early Cases, by Agatha Christie *****
- Shadow’s Edge, by Brent Weeks***
- The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson****
- Orlando, by Virginia Woolf***
- Beyond the Shadows, by Brent Weeks****
- The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak****
- The Song is You, by Arthur Phillips**
- Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume****
- World War Z, by Max Brooks***
- The Assistant, by Bernard Malamud***
- Foundation, by Isaac Asimov***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: The Long Way Home, by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: The Chain, by Brian K Vaughan, Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: No Future For You, by Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, and Jo Chen***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Anywhere but Here, by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: A Beautiful Sunset, by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Wolves at the Gate, by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Time of Your Life, by Joss Whedon, Jeff Loeb, Georges Jeanty, and Eric Wight***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Predators and Prey, by Joss Whedon, Jane Espenson, Steven S. DeKnight, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jim Krueger, Doug Petrie, Georges Jeanty, and Cliff Richards***
- Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Retreat, by Jane Espenson, Andy Owens, and Michelle Madsen***
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, by Erik Larson*****
- Beloved, by Toni Morrison****
- At Swim-Two-Birds, by Flann O’Brien***
- Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon*
- The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion****
- The Berlin Stories, by Christopher Isherwood****
- The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green***
- The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler****
- Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy**
- Different Seasons, by Stephen King***
- The Maze Runner, by James Dashner***
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder***
- The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver***
- Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn***
- Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks****
- This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper****
- My Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan****
- Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi***
- Call it Sleep, by Henry Roth***
- Buddha’s Brain, by Rick Hanson**
- The Happiness Trap, by Russ Harris**
- Words of Radiance, by Brandon Sanderson*****
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