Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Books


Top 10 Fiction (In no particular order except the first two are purposefully at the top of the list):


Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
The Martian
by Andy Weir
The Kept by James Scott
This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Closed Doors by Lisa O'Donnell
A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
The Demon who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty


Top 4 Short Stories:
Stone Mattress
by Margaret Atwood
Tell Me One Thing by Deena Goldstone
Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken
Family Furnishings  by Alice Munro


Top 10 Nonfiction:
Too Many Lovers: a Guide to Freedom from Idolatry by Paul Taylor
No Mercy by Eleanor Learmonth, Jenny Tabakoff
Earthquake Storms by John Dvorak
The Lost Tribe of Coney Island by Claire Prentice
The Power of God's Names by Tony Evans
The Good Spy by Kai Bird
The Map Thief by Michael Blanding
The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber
Stolen from the Garden by William Swanson
Out of the Woods: A Memoir of Wayfinding by Lynn Darling


2014 Books: 204 books (Books noted with an asterisk are top rated. This was an excellent year of reading. My decision to drop cable TV seems to be showing in the numbers, especially considering I also took on a second part time job in the evenings and am still work full time during the day.)


January – 19 books 
**1. In the Blood by Lisa Unger, 352 pages, 1/2/14 very highly recommended 
2. Phoenix Island by John Dixon, 320 pages, 1/4/14, highly recommended 
*3. Out of the Woods: A Memoir of Wayfinding by Lynn Darling, 288 pages, 1/6/14, very highly recommended, nonfict.
4. The End by G. Michael Hopf,384 pages, 1/8/14, so-so
5. The Long Road by G. Michael Hopf, 320 pages, 1/8/14, recommended
*6. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, 384 pages, 1/9/14, very highly recommended
7. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley, 336, 1/12/14, highly recommended
8. A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or a Neetsa Pizza Employee's Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor, 256 pages, 1/14/14, recommended 
*9. Little Failure by Gary Shteyngart, 368 pages, 1/15/14, very highly recommended
*10. Small Space Garden Ideas by Philippa Pearson, 256 pages, 1/16/14, very highly recommended nonfic
11. Pandemic by Scott Sigler, 592 pages, 1/18/14, highly recommended
12. Eyes Wide Open by Ted Dekker, 304 pages, 1/20/14, so-so
*13. What We've Lost Is Nothing by Rachel Louise Snyder, 320 pages, 1/21/14, very highly recommended
14. The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein, 400 pages, 1/23/14, recommended
15. Why Are You So Sad? by Jason Porter, 224 pages, 1/24/14, recommended
16. The Culling by Robert Johnson, 256 pages, 1/25/14, so-so
17. To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithwaite, 184 pages, 1/26/14, highly recommended
**18. The Kept by James Scott, 368 pages, 1/28/14, very highly recommended
*19.The Power of God's Names by Tony Evans, 224 pages, 1/31/14, very highly recommended

February – 23 books
20. The Truest Thing about You by David Lomas  D. R. Jacobsen, 224 pages, 2/1/14, recommended
21. Poison Town by Creston Mapes, 368 pages, 2/2/14, highly recommended
*22. The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley, 448 pages, 2/3/14, very highly recommended
**23. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash, 240 pages, 2/5/14, very highly recommended
*24. The Fixer by T. E. Woods, 280 pages, 2/6/14, very highly recommended
25. The Korean Word For Butterfly by Jamie Zerndt, 328 pages, 2/7/14, highly recommended
**26. The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon, 336 pages, 2/8/14, very highly recommended
**27. The Martian by Andy Weir, 384 pages, 2/10/14, very highly recommended
28. Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker, 336 pages, 2/11/14, highly recommended
29. Thirty Girls by Susan Minot, 320 pages, 2/12/14, recommended
30. The Music Room by Dennis McFarland, 275 pages, 2/12/14, recommended
31. The Waking Engine by David Edison, 400 pages, 2/13/14, recommended
32. Deadly Memories by S. D. O'Donnell, 326 pages, 2/13/14, recommended
33. Where Monsters Dwell by Jorgen Brekke 368 pages, 2/14/14, highly recommended
34. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman, 384 pages, 2/15/14, highly recommended
*35. Earthquake Storms by John Dvorak, 352 pages, 2/15/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
36. Ripper by Isabel Allende, 496 pages, 2/17/14, recommended
37. Runner by Patrick Lee, 336 pages, 2/18/14, highly recommended
38. Deep Winter by Samuel W. Gailey, 304 pages, 2/19/14, highly recommended
39. The Troop by Nick Cutter, 368 pages, 2/21/14, highly recommended
40. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit, 240 pages,  2/24/14, highly recommended
41. A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain by Adrianne Harun, 272 pages, 2/25/14, highly recommended
42. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie, 384 pages, 2/26/14, highly recommended

March – 13 books
*43. The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh, 320 pages, 3/1/14, very highly recommended
44. The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg, 320 pages, 3/2/14, highly recommended 
45. Precious Thing by Colette McBeth, 304 pages, 3/4/14, highly recommended
46. Above by Isla Morley, 384 pages, 3/5/14, so-so
47. The Accident by Chris Pavone, 400 pages, 3/7/14, highly recommended
48. The Detainee by Peter Liney, 352 pages, 3/11/14, highly recommended
*49. The Boy Who Stole from the Dead by Orest Stelmach, 368 pages, 3/12/14, very highly recommended
50. Apocalypse by Dean Crawford, 416 pages, 3/19/14, recommended
51. Welcome to Mars by Ken Hollings, 304 pages, 3/19/14, highly recommended
52. Distortion by Terri Blackstock, 352 pages, 3/22/14, highly recommended
53. For Rent: Dangerous Paradise by Eric James Miller, 420 pages, 3/26/14, highly recommended
*54. Byrd by Kim Church, 228 pages, 3/30/14, very highly recommended
55. Not for Nothing by Stephen Graham Jones, 298 pages, 3/31/14, recommended

April – 22 books
56. Dark Eden by Chris Beckett, 448 pages, 4/1/14, so-so
57. Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman, 352 pages, 4/2/14, highly recommended
58. And the Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass,400 pages,  4/4/14, recommended
59. Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Coupland, 304 pages, 4/6/14, recommended
60. The Here and Now by Ann Brashares, 256 pages, 4/7/14, recommended
61. Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French, 384 pages, 4/7/14, highly recommended
*62. A Letter for My Mother by Nina Foxx, 240 pages, 4/9/14, very highly recommended
63. Saucer: Savage Planet by Stephen Coonts, 352 pages, 4/9/14, recommended
64. All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld, 240 pages, 4/13,14, highly recommended
65. Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes, 368 pages, 4/14/14, highly recommended
66. Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes, 368 pages, 4/17/14, highly recommended
67. Chop Chop by Simon Wroe, 288, 4/17/14, highly recommended
68. Casebook by Mona Simpson, 336 pages, 4/18/14, highly recommended
69. When We Fall by Peter Giglio, 220 pages, 4/19/14, highly recommended
*70. Tell Me One Thing by Deena Goldstone, 272 pages, 4/21/14, very highly recommended  short stories 
*71. Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken, 240 pages, 4/22/14, very highly recommended short stories
72. Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman, 352 pages, 4/23/14, recommended
73. Intervention: The Pandora Virus by WRR Munro, 340 pages, 4/24/14, highly recommended
74. Death Below Zero by Richard Anderson, 334 pages, 4/25/14, recommended
75. What Remains by Kay Holland, 141 pages, 4/26/14, not recommended
76. The Unraveling of Reverend G by RJ Thesman, 206 pages, 4/27/14, highly recommended
77. How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane by Johanna Stein, 256 pages, 4/28/14, highly recommended

May -20 books
78. Frankenstorm by Ray Garton, 352 pages, 5/8/14, recommended
*79. The Painter by Peter Heller, 384 pages, 5/8/14, very highly recommended
80. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl, 400 pages, 5/9/14, highly recommended
81. The Day She Died by Catriona McPherson, 5/10/14, recommended
82. Good Call by Jase Robertson, 256 pages, 5/11/14, highly recommended
83. Dante's Poison by Lynne Raimondo, 271 pages, 5/11/14, highly recommended
*84. The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings, 288 pages, 5/12/14, very highly recommended
85. Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston, 384 pages, 5/13/14, highly recommended
*86. The Noble Hustle by Colson Whitehead, 256 pages, 5/14/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
87. The New Reality by Stephen Martino, 336 pages, 5/15/14, highly recommended
*88. The Good Spy by Kai Bird, 448 pages, 5/17/14, very highly recommended nonfiction
89. The Son by Jo Nesbo, 416 pages, 5/17/14, highly recommended
90. Decompression by Juli Zeh, 272 pages, 5/19/20, so-so
*91. Closed Doors by Lisa O'Donnell, 256 pages, 5/20/14, very highly recommended
92. The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi, 304 pages, 5/22/14, recommended
*93. The Map Thief by Michael Blanding, 5/22/14, 320 pages, very highly recommended, nonfiction
*94. Blast, Corrupt, Dismantle, Erase edited by Grubisic, Baxter, and Lee, 450 pages, 5/22/14, very highly recommended nonfiction
95. Green Girl by Kate Zambreno, 100 pages read, 5/25/14, not recommended
96. Reach for Infinity edited by Jonathan Strahan, 352 pages, 5/27/14, highly recommended
97. Problems with People: Stories by David Guterson, 176 pages, 5/29/14, highly recommended

June - 20
98. The Travel Writer by Jeff Soloway, 240 pages, 6/1/14, recommended
*99. The Red Hot Fix by T. E. Woods, 288 pages, 6/3/14 very highly recommended
100. SynBio by Leslie Horvitz, 415 pages,  6/4/14, so-so
101. Shirley by Susan Scarf Merrell, 288 pages, 6/5/14, recommended
102. Love Will make You Drink & Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night by Shelly Lowenopf, 186 pages, 6/6/14 highly recommended
**103. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey, 320 pages, 6/7/14, very highly recommended
104. The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman, 6/9/14, 400 pages, highly recommended
105. Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta, 272 pages, 6/10/14, highly recommended
106. The Fever by Megan Abbott, 320 pages, 6/11/14, highly recommended
107. Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson, 350 pages, 6/12/14, recommended
108. Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson, 384 pages, 6/13/14, highly recommended
109. That Night by Chevy Stevens, 384 pages, 6/14/14,  highly recommended
110. Total Loss Farm  by Raymond Mungo, 176 pages, 6/15/14, recommended
*111. A Better World by Marcus Sakey, 390 pages, 6/16/14, very highly recommended
112. North of Normal by Cea Sunrise Person, 352 pages, 6/17/14, highly recommended
*113. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, 304 pages, 6/23/14, very highly recommended
114. Sanctuary by G. Michael Hopf, 368 pages, 6/25/14, recommended
*115. Cop Town by Karin Slaughter, 416 pages, 6/28/14, very highly recommended
116. Don't Talk to Strangers by Amanda Kyle Williams, 336 pages, 6/29/14, highly recommended
117. ExtraLife, Inc. by Kfir Luzzatto, 308 pages, 6/30/14, recommended

July – 20 books
*118. How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer, 352 pages, 7/1/14, very highly recommended
119. Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal, 352 pages, 7/3/14, recommended
120. Critical Damage by Robert K. Lewis, 312 pages, 7/4/14, highly recommended
*121. The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber, 304 pages, 7/6/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
122. Forsaking Home by A. American, 416 pages,7/7/14, recommended
123. The Infinity Program by Richard H. Hardy, 250 pages, 7/10/14, recommended
124. Hurricane Fever by Tobias S. Buckell, 272 pages, 7/11/14, very highly recommended 125. The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan, 320 pages, 7/13/14, highly recommended
126. The Forever Man by Pierre Ouellette, 340 pages, 7/14/14, very highly recommended
127. The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee by Marja Mills, 288 pages, 7/15/14, highly recommended
128. But I Love You by Peter Rosch, 282 pages, 7/16/14, highly recommended
129. Isolation by Denise R. Stephenson, 396 pages, 7/17/14, highly recommended
*130. Sing in the Morning, Cry at Night by Barbara J. Taylor, 256 pages, 7/18/14, very highly recommended
131. The City by Dean Koontz, 416 pages, 7/20/14, very highly recommended
*132. Road Ends by Mary Lawson, 352 pages, 7/22/14, very highly recommended
133. Don't Worry about the Kids by Jay Neugeboren, 178 pages, 7/23/14, highly recommended
134. Lucky Us by Amy Bloom, 256 pages, highly recommended, 7/24/14
135. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica, 352 pages, 7/25/14, highly recommended
**136. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, 480 pages, 7/28/14, very highly recommended
137. When Grief Calls Forth the Healing by Mary Rockefeller Morgan, 236 pages, 7/31/14, highly recommended

August – 11 books
138. A History of the Future  by James Howard Kunstler, 336 pages, 8/1/14, highly recommended
139. All We Had by Annie Weatherwax, 272 pages, 8/2/14, highly recommended
140. California by Edan Lepucki, 400 pages, 8/4/14, so-so
*141. The 6th Extinction by James Rollins, 448 pages, 8/7/14, very highly recommended
142. The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell, 400 pages, 8/12/14, very highly recommended
**143. A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray, 352 pages, 8/17/14, very highly recommended
144. One of Us by Tawni O'Dell, 304 pages, 8/20/14, highly recommended
145. The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar, 336 pages, 8/24/14, recommended
146. Don't Look Back by Gregg Hurwitz, 400 pages, 8/24/14, highly recommended
147. American Cornball by Christopher Miller, 544 pages, 8/27/14, very highly recommended
148. Sweetness #9 by Stephan Eirik Clark, 352 pages, 8/27/14, highly recommended

September -14 books
149. Lighthouse Island by Paulette Jiles, 416 pages, 9/1/14, highly recommended
150. The Secret Place by Tana French, 464 pages, 9/6/14, highly recommended
151. Such Good Girls by R. D. Rosen, 288 pages, 9/7/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
152. Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress, 192 pages, 9/7/14, highly recommended
*153. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, 352 pages, 9/9/14, very highly recommended
154. Ballroom by Alice Simpson, 304 pages, 9/11/14, recommended 
155. In Certain Circles by Elizabeth Harrower, 256 pages,  9/13/14, recommended 
**156. Stone Mattress by Margaret Atwood, 288 pages, 9/14/14, very highly recommended
*157. Living Courageously by Joyce Meyer, 272 pages, 9/16/14, very highly recommended
*158. The Early Science Fiction of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick, 256 pages, 9/20/14, very highly recommended
*159. A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett, 336 pages, 9/21/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
160. To Dwell in Darkness by Deborah Crombie, 336 pages, 9/24/14, very highly recommended
161. How Can I Possibly Forgive? by Sara Horn, 208 pages, 9/27/14, highly recommended
*162. Painting Juliana by Martha Louise Hunter, 362 pages, 9/30/14, very highly recommended

October – 17 books
*163. Some Luck by Jane Smiley, 416 pages, 10/4/14, very highly recommended
164. The Forgotten Girl by David Bell, 448 pages, 10/5/14, highly recommended
165. Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín, 384 pages, 10/6/14, highly recommended
166. Reunion by Hannah Pittard, 288 pages, 10/7/14, highly recommended
167. Sharkman by Steve Alten, 272 pages, 10/9/14, recommended
**168. Crooked River by Valerie Geary, 336 pages, 10/11/14, very highly recommended
*169. Tinseltown by William J. Mann, 480 pages, 10/12/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
170. Slow Road to Brownsville, David Reynolds, 400 pages, 10/12/14, recommended
*171. Stolen from the Garden by William Swanson, 288 pages, 10/12/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
172. The River Is Dark by Joe Hart, 234 pages, 10/13/14, highly recommended
173. A Death in Vegas by Christopher Meeks, 180 pages, 10/15/14, highly recommended
*174. The Unforgivable Fix by T. E. Woods, 300 pages, 10/20/14, very highly recommended 
*175. The Lost Tribe of Coney Island by Claire Prentice, 416 pages, 10/22/14, very highly recommended, nonfiction
176. Fish Tails by Sheri S. Tepper, 720 pages, 10/15/14, highly recommended
177. The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood, 400 pages, 10/26/14, highly recommended
178. Born into the Children of God by Natacha Tormey, 320 pages, 10/27/14, highly recommended
179. Twinkle by S. J. Parkinson, 572 pages, 10/30/14, very highly recommended

November – 13 books
180. Metrophage by Richard Kadrey, 320 pages, 11/1/14, recommended
181. Crazy is Normal: a classroom exposé by Lloyd Lofthouse, 386 pages, 11/3/14, highly recommended
182. The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta, 496 pages, 11/5/14, highly recommended
183. Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories by Paul Theroux, 368 pages, 11/8/14, very highly recommended
184. Hello From the Gillespies by Monica McInerney, 624 pages, 11/9/14, highly recommended
*185. Family Furnishings  by Alice Munro, 640 pages, 11/11/14, very highly recommended, short stories
*186. The Demon who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha, 298 pages, 11/17/14, very highly recommended
*187. Blue Labyrinth by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, 416 pages, 11/18/14, very highly recommended
188. Prism by Roland Allnach, 284 pages, 11/20/14, highly recommended, short stories
189. The Vineyard by Michael Hurley, 384 pages, 11/22/14, highly recommended
190. My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni, 410 pages, 11/23/14, highly recommended
191. The Sweetness of Life by Paulus Hochgatterer, 320 pages, 12/1/14
192. Her Brilliant Career  by Rachel Cooke, 368 pages, 11/30/14, highly recommended

December - 12 books
193. You Could Be Home By Now by Tracy Manaster, 288 pages, 12/6/14, highly recommended
*194. No Mercy by Eleanor Learmonth, Jenny Tabakoff, 324 pages, 12/13/14, very highly recommended nonfiction
195. Found, Near Water by Katherine Hayton, 214 pages, 12/20/14, highly recommended
196. The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Theriault, 128 pages, 12/22/14, highly recommended
197. Glow by Ned Beauman, 256 pages, 12/23/14, recommended
*198. Too Many Lovers by Paul Taylor, 248 pages, 12/23/14, very highly recommended
**199. Too Many Lovers: a Guide to Freedom from Idolatry by Paul Taylor, 129 pages, 12/23/14, very highly recommended
200. The Walk Home by Rachel Seiffert, 304 pages, 12/25/14, highly recommended
201. Descent by Tim Johnston, 384 pages, 12/26/14, highly recommended
202. Almost Famous Women by Megan Mayhew Bergman, 256 pages, 12/27/14, highly recommended 
203. The Poison Secret by Gregg Loomis, 352 pages, 12/28/14, highly recommend
204. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley, 416 pages, 12/29/14, highly recommended

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