This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from the Broke and Bookish is the top books from 2014.
Personally, I would love for this post to be the best books released in 2014, because that would mean I was so up-to-date with my TBR that I was reading books from the current year, rather than being a couple of years behind the times. Having said that, I did manage to sneak in a couple of newish releases this year, all of which have made the list, so maybe there’s something in that (like, I should ditch the TBR and read whatever I want, whenever I want…this way leads to chaos). Anyway, here’s my list:
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan – I think this little guy is going to be on my list of favourites forever more. Doesn’t hurt that the author is such a great guy that he donated a whole heap of his prize money to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
- The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton – another Booker Prize Winner – clearly I’m so in tune with the Booker judges, I should be on the judging panel. Right? Right?
- Eyrie by Tim Winton – if you haven’t read anything by Tim Winton, this is a very good place to start – in a word, he’s brilliant.
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – I suspect I won’t be alone in having this one on the list. I’ve never actually heard from anyone that didn’t love this book, and there are very good reasons for this, mostly cos it’s awesome.
- Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I read a few of her books this year and loved them all, but this one will always be my favourite I think. It’s just got so much heart.
- The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson – beautifully written, fascinating novel set in North Korea. Need I say more?
- The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell – this one took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it. Who would have thought that a book ostensibly about Jesuits in space would be so captivating?
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green – I kind of OD’ed on John Green this year, and I really didn’t enjoy some of his other books, but I love this one and all its feels.
- The House of the Spirits by Isabelle Allende – ok, this was a reread, but that still counts right? I love this book hard. It was just as vivid and beautiful to me this time as it was the first (second and third) time I read it.
- March by Geraldine Brooks – this was particularly special for me because I love Little Women so much, but it’s also just a really great book. I’ll read pretty much anything Brooks throws at me – novels, short stories, grocery lists, whatever.
That’s it for me – it’s been a great reading year. What have been your favourites?
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Categories: Book life
I love how varied your selections are. A couple of these books have sat fermenting on my tbr: Luminaries & Americanah. I need to do something about that. 🙂
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Thanks! Definitely put those two at the top of your pile…they are both great in different ways.
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I loved the Fault in our Stars! Such a sad yet heartwarming book! Check out my top 10 list!
http://rabbitearsblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/top-ten-tuesday-2-my-top-10-rabbit-ears-stories/
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I know right – such a sad story. I shed a lot of tears over that one!
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Me too! That ending!
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Yaay! We have several books in common. TFIOS for example 😀 And I’m reading Americanah in January.
Happy reading!
http://ireadboooks.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/top-ten-books-i-read-in-2014/
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What a great list 🙂 I’ve been meaning to read Americanah for a while, I should definitely get round to it soon.
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Thanks! Definitely bump it up the TBR, you won’t regret it (well, hopefully not…:))
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Great list! There are several of those I have been wanting to read for a while. I just read Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. Have you read that one? It was so incredibly good. And since that was m first experience with this author, I need to read her other stuff.
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If you liked Eleanor and Park then you DEFINITELY need to read Fangirl. I liked E & P, but not as much as I thought I was going to, and nowhere near as much as Fangirl – it’s SO good!
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Fangirl is one I loved this year as well but it didn’t make it to my list because I read a ton this year and it was impossible to feature it! Americanah and The Narrow Road to the Deep North are two books I wanna read next year 😉
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I know what you mean – it’s been a really good year for reading and it was SO hard narrowing it down to 10!
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I keep meaning to read THE LUMINARIES. Might have to bump it up.
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Do it, but make sure you’ve got some serious time set aside for it – it’s a monster!
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I read The Fault in our Stars this year as well and loved it. I kind of want to read Fangirl, but I’m afraid because there’s a lot of hype around it. I may read it in about two years when everyone has forgotten about it. lol.
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I know the feeling – there’s nothing better than being able to start a book with no preconceived ideas and no expectations.
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The Fault in Our Stars made my TTT list this week too!!! IHere’s my TTT for this this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2014/12/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-books-i-read-in.html
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It was a very popular choice I reckon…happy reading!! 🙂
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