2014 Book List

When I set my reading goal for 2014 I really expected to fail. What better way to fail at a goal than to prepare yourself for just that? Well, in the end, I was this close to meeting my goal, but I fell short of my planned 60 books, coming in at 59. I still call that pretty good. I even tried to finish a 150-page book in the last few days to skate in at the wire, but there is just too much going on (and that's kind of cheating. 3 of my last 5 books were pretty short). The bad news: I didn't make my goal because we are spending all free time working on our new house. The good news: We have a new house! Also good news, I got the worst strep throat ever and was quarantined for the better part of two days, which gave me all sorts of reading time. So really, I should be thanking the strep throat for even making me that much closer to my reading goal.

Anyway, this was a weird year in the reading department (it was a weird year all around), wherein I didn't read that many books I loved. I certainly read a lot of crappy books. And I read a lot of just-okay books--books that I will never read again, nor think about. I didn't stretch myself too much, and read mostly fiction, which is something I'll need to work on in 2015. There were some gems, and for those I'm thankful. Here's my list this year. Books in bold are recommended, or at least they resonated with me. And Wiley Cash is my new favorite author. Plus I like his name.

1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
3. The Truro Bear and Other Adventures: Poems and Essays by Mary Oliver
4. A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess
5. In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
6. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
7. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
8. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
9. The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
10. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
11. The House Girl by Tara Conklin
12. Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson
13. The Explanation for Everything: A Novel by Lauren Grodstein
14. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
15. Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
16. Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
17. Orphain Train by Christina Baker Kline
18. The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne
19. Vanished: The Sixty-Year SEarch for the Missing Men of World War II by Wil S. Hylton
20 The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
21. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
22. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
23. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
24. The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith by Terryl and Fiona Givens****
25. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
26. George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade
27. Divergent by Veronica Roth
28. My Name Used to be Muhammad: The True Story of a Muslim Who Became a Christian by Tito Momen
29. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
30. Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
31. Deliberate Motherhood: 12 Key Powers of Peace, Purpose, Order and Joy by the Power of Moms
32. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
33. Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
34. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
35. Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus
36. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
37. The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
38. The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
39. The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
40. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
41. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
42. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
43. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
44. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
45. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
46. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
47. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
48. Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett
49. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
50. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
51. Motherhood Realized: An Inspiring Anothology for the Hardest Job You'll Ever Love by the Power of Moms
52. The Rise and Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman
53. Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky by Sandra Dallas
54. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
55. Matchless: A Christmas Story by Gregory Maguire
56. Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
57. Christopher Columbus: "a man among gentiles" by Clark B. Hinckley
58. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
59. Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages by Michael Popek