Books of 2014

December 31 means it's time to publish the annual book list! I'm excited to see that my keeping track of my books has inspired a few others to do the same.  My goals this year were to read less and to read more of the books that I own and are sitting on my bookshelf.  I did pretty well in both respects.  Here are the books of 2014 with recommendations at the end.

1. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Brunt Rifka (re-read)
2. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink (non-fiction)
3. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher (non-fiction)
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (re-read, YA)
5. Sandition: Jane Austen’s Last Novel Completed by Jane Austen and Another Lady
6. The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott
7. Joy School by Elizabeth Berg
8. A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
9. Trading Up by Candace Bushnell
10. One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
11. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (non-fiction)
12. Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
13. Wonder by R. J. Palacio (YA)
14. Defending Jacob by William Landay
15. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
16. Graduates in Wonderland: The International Misadventures of Two (Almost) Adults by Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale (non-fiction)
17. Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen (YA)
18. Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
19. How I Got Skinny, Famous and Fell Madly in Love by Ken Baker (YA)
20. Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis (non-fiction)
21. The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
22. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Re-read and YA)
23. Palace of Stone (Princess Academy #2) by Shannon Hale (YA)
24. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
25. A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul Miller (non-fiction)
26. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
27. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechnanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things that Happened by Allie Brosh (non-fiction)
28. The Rise of the Wyrm Lord (the Door Within #2) by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
29. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
30. The Final Storm (The Door Within #3) by Wayne Thomas Batson (YA)
31. If I Stay by Gayle Forman (YA)
32. The Silver Crown by Robert O’Brien (YA)
33. Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman (YA)
34. Lead Small by Reggie Joiner (non-fiction)
35. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (non-fiction)
36. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
37. Bloom: Finding Beauty in the Unexpected- A Memoir by Kelle Hampton (non-fiction)
38. Emma by Jane Austen
39. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga #1) by Andrew Peterson (YA)
40. Jacob Have I loved by Katherine Paterson (YA)
41. North! or Be Eaten (the WIngfeather Saga #2) by Andrew Peterson
42. Let’s Pretend the Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson (non-fiction)
43. A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby 
44. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (YA)
45. Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
46. Shopaholic to the Stars (Shopaholic #7) by Sophie Kinsella
47. The Shadow Throne (The Asendance Triology #3) by Jennifer Nielsen
48. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
49. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
50. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
51. All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner
52. The Vacationers by Emma Straub
53. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (non-fiction)
54. This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer Smith
55. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars #1) by Rob Thomas
56. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus #5) by Rick Riordan (YA)
57. This Star Won’t Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl by Esther Earl (non-fiction and YA)
58. The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
59. Tenth of December by George Saunders
60. Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie
61. The Bible by God and various artists (non-fiction)
62. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee DivakarunI

2014 was definitely the year of the amazing memoirs for me.  Everything that I recommended to people throughout the year and a lot of what I read was memoirs. Here are the best memoirs I read this year: 

Graduates in Wonderland by Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

Hyberbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

I also, as always, read quite a bit of fantasy, especially YA fantasy.  My favorite was The Wingfeather Saga. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is the first, but North! Or Be Eaten! is also ridiculously good. The third and fourth books in this series aren't carried by my library yet, so I'm waiting patiently on those.

Honorable mentions:
A Praying Life by Paul Miller

Wonder by RJ Palacio

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by BJ Novak

Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

I re-read several books this year. Anything that I re-read is definitely a recommendation.