Your BEST BOOKS of 2014

For the 9th year in a row, here is the thread to tell us about your best reads of the year.

What were the 10 best books you read this year? Are you going to struggle to get your list down to 10? Are you going to struggle to come up with 10?

Tell us your best reads of the year, and if you're inclined, one line about why they made the list.

Best of 2006

Best of 2007

Best of 2008

Best of 2009

Best of 2010

Best of 2011

Best of 2012

Best of 2013

Happy list making!

I'll probably finish two more books before January 1, but neither will make this list:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate was my only 5 star book of 2014. A wonderful children's book about a great ape being housed in a strip mall with other animals, who decides that the welfare of the young elephant which has recently been purchased is greater than his own.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki an incredible character-driven novel about a teen in Japan and a woman in Canada whose lives intersect through the diary written by the teen. This book is not for everyone, but for those who enter into the worlds of these characters its warm and rewarding.

The Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel with parallel stories being told, one about Nigeria and the other about the family of an abusive local pastor who's a religious zealot.

The Pearl That Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi is a novel about the plight of women in Afghanistan in two time periods and how two of them rise above it.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is a novel about a family in crisis over the death of the eldest daughter.

A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell is a novel which takes place in occupied Italy during WWII.

Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson a non-fiction book about the hurricane that devastated Galvaston, Texas at the turn of the 20th century.

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson a memoir of Jeanette's early life up until she enters college and how she survives live with her mentally ill adoptive mother.

The Long Awakening by Lindsey O'Connor is a memoir written by a woman who suffered a medical emergency during delivery and then has to come slowly back and reacquaint herself with who she was/is.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion because it was such fun to read and made me so thankful I was never married to Don.

I read some fabulous books this year.

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute was a compelling look, through the eyes of a young woman, at the invasion of Malaysia by the Japanese in World War II. The book also takes the heroine and the reader to the Australian outbackof the early 1950s, where there is hardship in other ways. It was an excellent book.

I think my favourite book of the year was Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. I am in awe at Anthony Burgess' skill as a linguist and a story-teller. What a brilliant work of art.

I succumbed to the popular fever promoting Markus Zusak, and read both I am the Messenger and The Book Thief. I am so very glad that I gave into peer pressure; Mr. Zusak can write, and powerfully.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks was twisted and warped and made me worry about the mind of a man who could write a book like this. It was extremely good.

Five more....

A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay by Watkin Tench, 1789, was an interesting look at the earliest settlement in what is present day Sydney, Australia. Well worth the read.

I very much liked Elizabeth Gaskell's classic North and South.

I had never before read about the Nac Mac Feegle, and I bless The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett for giving me the most book-induced laughter of the year.

The Shining by Stephen King was horrifying and not at all what I had expected. To date, my favourite King novel.

This should have been placed higher, much higher: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Simply lovely story of a woman sent to the Amazon rainforest to recover the body of her colleague.

2 whymaggiemay
The Rosie Project is going to be on my list this year too. Thanks for sharing your top 10!

3 ahef1963
I'm about to reread The Shining. I read it originally when I was a teenager so I'm interested to see what I've forgotten and how my perspective on the story may change.

Some of my favourites are German books, not yet translated
The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach
Fliehkräfte by Stephan Thome
Daughter of the Forest by Juliett Marillier
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
1913: The Year Before the Stormby Florian Illies
A song of ice and fire 1-3 by George R.R.Martin
In one Person by John Irving
Geschenkt by Daniel Glattauer
Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann
Between Friends by Amos Oz

In order of enjoyment; most favorable on top:

The Abominable: A Novel Great information about Mt. Everest climbers.

Red Sox Strong This was a 2013 Christmas present, and read it January 2014.

Caught Stealing: A Novel There were funny lines thrown in that I enjoyed.

11/22/63: A Novel Stephen King and time travel.

Now You See Me This was well done crime / murder thriller.

The Hunger Games I liked all three books in the trilogy.

The Shotgun Rule: A Novel Same author as Caught Stealing.

The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel (The Dark Tower) Three short stories, one inside each other. The title short reason it made the list.

NOS4A2: A Novel I am glad I read it between Thanksgiving and Christmas due to the plot

Love Minus Eighty Interesting plot.

In no particular order:

The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu

Slam The Big Door by John D. MacDonald

In The Sanctity of Revenge by Brian Schnoor

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

Sycamore Row by John Grisham

Please Write for Details John D. MacDonald

No Easy Day by Mark Owen

I have never posted on the forum here before, but I figured I would join in for this one.

Best fiction: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather - I've always liked what Cather I've read, but I was absolutely blown away by this one.

Best poetry: A New Selected Poems by Galway Kinnell - I didn't like all of the poems in this one; in fact, I'm not even certain I understood all of the poems, but when I did like them, I really loved them. Poems from this book just clutter my list of favorite poems this year.

Best nonfiction: Looking back, this year hasn't been that great for nonfiction. There were a couple reads I enjoyed, but nothing I loved. Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke was enjoyable, if that counts. How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster was a fun read but didn't bring much to the table that was hugely new to me, though it did lead me to look into some things I had not read before, like James Joyce's Dubliners, which was a solid read.

I hope to finish maybe two more books this year. I am a very slow reader, a very easily distracted person, and a full-time student, so my goal is only 25 books a year as opposed to a more ambitious 50 or 75, but I came up short even of that. Oh well, there's always next year.

Thank you to everyone for sharing their lists, and welcome Turambar!

I checked my list for 5 star ratings and found I gave only 2 novels 5 stars this year:
The Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin
Dance to the Music of Time- Book 4 by Anthony Powell

So different from one another!

In the order in which I read them:

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - her second book about Thomas Cromwell

Ardent Spirits: Leaving Home, Coming Back by Reynolds Price - covers the author's years as a Rhodes Scholar and the beginning of his teaching career at Duke University

Lamy of Santa Fe by Paul Horgan - I also reread Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather's fictional version of Lamy's life - both books are extraordinary, as is their subject

The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen - all I have to do is see the title and I am back in that house with those two children

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - it took me several decades to get around to reading it, but I'm so glad I did

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - a blind French girl, an orphan German boy, WWII

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - The Guardian review says it offers rich insight into how the Burma Railroad claimed the lives of Australian POWs, even those who survived it

Lila by Marilynne Robinson - a perfect complement to Gilead and Home

Nora Webster - a beautiful book that for me brought to mind (and heart) the spirit of other Toibin treasures such as Brooklyn, The Master, and The Testament of Mary

Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life by Hermione Lee -- masterful biography of the elusive, complex, understated author

Banner year for books, for me:

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Those Who Love by Irving Stone

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok

---

Brothers of Earth by CJ Cherryh

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Promise by Chaim Potok

Beloved Bride by William Potter

Cuckoo's Egg by CJ Cherryh

The Bambino and Me (Early Reviewer book) by Zachary Hyman

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot

QB VII by Leon Uris

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

I also had a bunch of reads as well, including one I just finished reading, The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant.

#2 whymaggiemay: Seems like we have similar reading tastes! I'll have to check out your library.

My fave 10 for this year:
1. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand: Excellently researched and well-written book about the amazing Louis Zamperini, American Olympian and WWII POW. I can't wait to see the movie.

2. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion: I can't wait to read the sequel which comes out shortly.

3. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell: This was my first read of hers. Started out a bit slow, but oh, so worth it.

4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier: I am sad I will never again experience this book for the first time. I devoured this one in a couple of days.

5. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki: I didn't really get into this one until 100 pgs in or so, but a wonderful, unique piece of storytelling.

6. The Future for Curious People by Gregory Sherl: This was an unexpected surprise. An ER win for me by a first-time novelist. Reminded me of The Rosie Project in tone and humor. I think it would attract similar readers.

7. The Paying Guests. This is Sarah Waters. Enough said. No description needed.

8. Divergent by Veronica Roth: I thought the concept was unique. I read this in one day. Unfortunately, the next two in the trilogy were hard to get through for me. But amazing to me that a 25 yr old debut writer wrote these.

9. Reunited by Pamela Slaton: Slaton is a geneaological investigator who helps long-lost family members find each other. Her storytelling and perspective are all the more poignant because she herself was adopted and details her complicated family story throughout the book. A quick read, and a teary one at times.

10. A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen. Not the best written, but it's a beautiful story of a ginger tom cat and the guy he saved. Only thing it lacked was interior pictures. Such a bestseller that a sequel was published.

In no particular order these were my favorite books for the year:
Miss Peregrines School for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs;
A Light in Ruins-Chris Bohjalian;
A Sleepwalkers Guide to the Universe-Mira Jacob;
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry-Gabriel Zarin;
The Day I washed My Face In The Toilet-Brenda Harms;
Trans-Sister Radio- Chris Bohjalian;
The Art of Arranging Flowers-Lynn Braineird;
Close Your Eyes Hold Hands-Chris Bohjalian;
A Sudden Light -Garth Sten;
The Wasp Factory-Iain Banks; and
The Enchanted-Rene Denfeld

So far this year, I've given six books 5 stars (I doubt I'm going to give any of the current reads 5 although they're not terrible yet)

In order of most recently read back to those from January

1. The Cry of the Go-Away Bird by Andrea Eames
2. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
3. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
4. Splintered by A.G. Howard
5. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I gave a further 11 books 4 1/2 stars - so I got through plenty of good books this year.

>14 framboise: I saw the movie "Unbroken" yesterday. It was good, but left out so much of the book. :(

My 5 star books in the order I read them.

Brilliance by Markus Sakey
In the Blood by Lisa Unger
On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves
The Martian by Andy Weir My very favorite book this year.
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Biblical by Christopher Galt

Lotta good books on these lists!

Here's mine:
Fiction
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad: Stunning personality portrayal and look at soul-crushing aspects of urban life at the end of the 19 century. Conrad is my top literary hero.
Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes: An elegant reflection on the blurred boundaries between reality and imagination.
The Best Short Stories of 1931 edited by Edward J. O'Brien: a fascinating collection of American short stories that showthe issues Americans were concerning themselves with in that turbulent era. The number of stories about race relations is quite revealing.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: I see what all the excitement was about, although I didn't care for the ending much at all.
High Bonnet by Idwal Jones: A long-forgotten treasure about the delights of the epicurean world.
The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers: This is the first Charlie Chan mystery, published in 1925, and I was quite surprised by how well written it was.

Nonfiction
Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century by Michael A. Hiltzik: In depth and fascinating.
Bill Haley by John Swenson: a well-done biography of this seminal figure in rock and roll history.
Jewish Times: Voices of the American Jewish Experience by Howard Simons: A deep, revealing and entirely engaging book full of skillfully drawn oral histories. Published in the 1980s, this book includes testimonies by many original immigrants and the first generation of American-born Jews, as well.

>19 rocketjk: Good to hear that The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a good one (overall) as it was a recent acquisition. Not sure when I'll get around to reading it though.

I had many, many 4+ star reads this year, in part because I was less adventurous and stuck to books I knew I would likely love, so choosing 10 is difficult. And after the first 3, they're all pretty much equally ranked.

1. Hild by Nicola Griffith - I'd heard of this book months before it's release, put it on my wishlist, and promptly forgot about it, until favorable reviews popped up within days of each other on NPR and NYTimes. I fell into this book quickly and completely, and was very sad to see it end.

2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - I began reading dystopian YA literature a few years ago, and always enjoyed it, but this was my first adult dystopian novel. What I particularly liked about this story is that readers get to experience both the fall of civilization, and the dystopian future. Quite a bit is left to the reader's imagination, but not in a way that leaves one feeling as though the story is incomplete.

3. Archipelago by Monique Roffey - I cannot say, exactly, what I love so much about this book, other than to applaud Roffey's lyrical storytelling. I felt as though I was sailing along with the characters.

4-10, in reading order:
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
This Day: New and Collected Sabbath Poems by Wendell Berry
My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

#20> Yes, I enjoyed reading that book very much. I highly recommend it.

Somehow in my eagerness to post earlier, I totally ignored OP's designation of the number 10, so I guess I'll come back now and actually list ten books. Thanks for the welcome, by the way, PaperbackPirate.

Coming up with ten favorites may be a little tough just because it was such a slow reading year for me, and I'm not sure I even read ten that I really, really enjoyed. Here goes, though, in order:

Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
A New Selected Poems - Galway Kinnell
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Dubliners - James Joyce
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality - John Darnielle
Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke
How to Read Literature Like a Professor - Thomas C. Foster
Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction - Thomas Flynn
A Biography of Kafka - Ronald Hayman
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

I'm reading The Crying of Lot 49 right now but have not finished. It may well bump something off the list, but I can't tell yet. It's very odd, but Pynchon's talent is evident. It's the first time I've read anything of his.

I've limited my list to 10 fiction picks -- three were 5-star reads and seven were 4.5-star reads. Within these ranks, they're listed in the order I read them.

Five-star reads:
- In the Woods, by Tana French
- Rilla of Ingleside, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- I Married a Dead Man, by Cornell Woolrich

Four-and-a-half-star reads:
- The Path of the Hero King, by Nigel Tranter
- Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, by Stephen Leacock
- The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, by Alan Bradley
- A Tap on the Window, by Linwood Barclay
- Light Thickens, by Ngaio Marsh
- Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier
- The Martian, by Andy Weir

Edited to add The Martian and remove Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks, which was a 4.5-star read but non-fiction. D'oh!

>23 Turambar: oops, I missed the "10" designation, too...

These are the books that have stayed with me most vividly from this year's reading, this morning:

My Struggle: Book Two and My Struggle: Book Three by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante
*Of Kennedys and Kings by Harris Wofford
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (Davis, tr.)
*Diary of the Dark Years by Jean Guehenno
*Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
*Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler
Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer

* = non-fiction

A Natural History of Homosexuality by Francis Mark Mondimore
Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father by Alysia Abbott
The Stand by Stephen King
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick - best non-fiction read of the year
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - best fiction read of the year
The Life and Loves of a She Devil by Fay Weldon
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
This House of Grief by Helen Garner

Breakdown
4 fiction, 6 non-fiction
6 female authors, 4 male authors

Conveniently I had 4 reads that were 5 stars and 6 that were 4.5 stars.

5 Stars
Museum of Literary Souls - John Connolly - A wonderful novella in which a bookish man becomes intrigued by a woman and follows her to a library beyond imagination. Delightful

Against Football - Steve Almond - Blistering look at football. Includes all of the concussion headline news, but also looks at sexism, homophobia, corporate domination, racism.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling - I'd never heard of this so I thought I'd give it a try when I saw in in a bookstore. Just kidding. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this again knowing how it all turned out. Rowling planted so many seeds here. She's amazing.

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt - A human story written beautifully. Deserved all of the awards and accolades it received.

4.5 Stars
The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami - A kid goes to a library and really strange things happen. Really strange. Really, really strange. Short and fun and very Murakami.

Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant - Roz Chast - A bracingly honest graphic memoir about caring for her aging and ultimately dying parents.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls - Anton DiSclafani - A disgraced young woman is sent away from her home to a boarding school. Prickly and challenging, she is no Jane Eyre. This debut was definitely memorable and a favorite for this year.

Affinity - Sarah Waters - Spiritualism. prison, mental illness, class issues, love. This is Waters. If you like her, you'll love this.

The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness - Now this is dystopian YA at its best. Action, truly evil villains, young love, moral dilemmas. The second in a trilogy.

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson - A woman lives her life over and over with small changes making a big difference in how it goes.

Thank you everyone for sharing your lists!

Here are my 10 favorite books of 2014 in the order I read them:

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel by Virginia Morell - my only nonfiction favorite this year
11/22/63: A Novel by Stephen King
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - seems to be on a lot of our lists this year
The City by Dean Koontz
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
Eventide by Kent Haruf

Happy reading to all in 2015!

Thanks for a great List. Here are my top reads of 2014:

5 Stars
12 Years A Slave - Solomon Northrup

4.5 Stars
A Night to Remember - Walter Lord
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden
The Searchers - Alan LeMay
I Am Livia - Phyllis T. Smith
Things That Matter - Charles Krauthammer
Cry Wolf - J. Carson Brown

>30 Zumbanista: I also gave A Night to Remember 4 1/2 stars, an excellent read!

My favorite reads of 2014: (in no particular order)

Mrs. Queen Takes a Train by William Kuhn
Brooklyn by Colm Toibon
The Third Son by Julie Wu
The High Divide by Lin Enger
Windy City: a Novel of Politics by Scott Simon
Congressman Lincoln by Chris Derose
The Light in the Ruins byChris Bohjalian
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Unreasonable Men by Michael Wolraich
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Doc by Mary Doria Russell

and my favorite:
The Martian by Andy Weir

Here are my five-star reads for 2014:

Fiction

Stoner, by John Williams (review)
Edda (the prose Edda; Everyman edition, Faulkes), by Snorri Sturluson (review)
Peony, by Pearl S. Buck (review)
The Third Life of Grange Copeland, by Alice Walker (review)
The Enchanted, by Rene Denfeld (review)

I did also give five stars each to two Sherlock Holmes novels, but that was for sentimental reasons not consistent with my normal scale.

Nonfiction

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss, by Edmund de Waal (review)
The Art Spirit, by Robert Henri (review)

And here are the three nonfiction books that scored 4½, just to make an even ten:

Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths, by Nancy Marie Brown (review)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President, by Candice Millard (review)
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal, by Ben Macintyre (review)

Of the 152 books I finished in 2014, my Top Ten Eleven Favorites are:

The Martian by Andy Weir
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (audio)
Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neal Gaiman (audio)
Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Shogun by James Clavell (audio)
River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (audio)
The Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, read by Kate Reading (audio)
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (audio)
The Burning Room by Michael Connelly (Audio)

Sorry, I tried but could not cut it down to 10. I guess if I was forced to choose only 10, the cut book would come from among Shogun, Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Dog Stars, River of Stars, and The Burning Room, but it would be a really difficult choice. Of the remaining six that are certain favorites, The Martian, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and We Need to Talk About Kevin are the ones still I think about, with The Martian being my number one favorite and one I want to buy copies of and give to all my friends and family to read.

>34 Storeetllr: Shogun is one of my all-time favorites. It was James Clavell's best work, imho.

>35 fuzzi: Hmm, I usually give credit to the LTer who recommended the book but looks like I didn't for this thread. Anyway, bottom line, YOU were the one who recommended Shogun to me, fuzzi, for which (as I've told you before) I'm very grateful!

And Richard Chamberlain didn't do a bad job as Anjin-san either.

Oh, thank you for reminding me to check out the film adaptation, varielle!

I don't read as much as I used to, so an offbeat collection from me, but I recommend them all, with reservations only about the last because Mr. Kendall forgot that he was writing a biography and started writing a novel. Beware also of his book's misleading, sensational subtitle. I think I've grown to hate subtitles.

All non-fiction:

• A Literary Education and Other Essays by Joseph Epstein
• The One World Schoolhouse by Salman Khan
• The News: A User's Manual by Alain De Botton
• Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner
• The Man Who Made Lists by Joshua Kendall

This was not a banner reading year for me and I struggled to come up with 10 books that I think belong on a Best Of list -- so I have only 6.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel; as a lover of historical fiction I was fascinated with the way the author portrayed Cromwell, still with all his barbs but also with a more human side in evidence. Rare is the person who is either all bad or all good and Cromwell has always been painted a major baddy.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Because Steinbeck's writing just sings.

The Painter by Peter Heller; story of a painter with anger management issues and some tragedy in his recent past, and the aftermath of his actions when he comes across a man brutally beating a horse. Not nearly as simple as that, of course, else why would I recommend it so highly?

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque; I was stunned by how well written this book is; can definitely see why it has gained classic status.

The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner; another Shakespeare-style tragedy, well written, set on an island betwixt and between the US and Canada. Fishing, family obligation and a strong female protagonist.

The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan; an Irish tale told in the style of Olive Kittredge to equally impressive effect.

Also really enjoyed The Round House by Louise Erdrich (I should really read more of her books) and Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman, a debut thriller featuring retired FBI agent Brigid Quinn who comes upon a serial killer in her Tucson neighborhood.

>40 karen_o: Got me with Rage Against the Dying. Just ordered it for the Kindle.

>36 Storeetllr: oh, was it I? Well, you're most welcome.

>37 varielle: I liked the Shogun mini-series, too, although it just couldn't compare to the book. If any of you decide to watch it, get the long version, with English subtitles in some of the scenes. I liked how they did that.

The book thief I loved this book. It gave a very different pt of view of WWII
The Goldfinch loved and hated it. The ending was superior

Murder of Crows excellent and creative
Skin Games jim butcher my favorite series just keeps getting better

magic Breaks fun book

Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General --excellent, don't let the politics of the author turn you off (Billy O'Reilly)
Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner
Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly
Mrs.Kennedy and Me by
The Ming Storytellers by Laura Rahme
Dr. Sleep by Stephen King
A re-read (after 50+ years) of the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Little House in the Big Woods, Farmer Boy, Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek

>44 Tess_W: I loved the Little House books, but the ones that take place in the Dakotas remain my favorites, especially The Long Winter.

BB time!