Song of the week: “Happy Idiot” by TV on the Radio — Love this song. The whole damn album is fantastic.
I love to recap my year in books here, and I hope you will enjoy this year’s list of my favorite ones. Keep in mind, these are not all books that released in 2014. These are all books that I read or listened to in 2014 — my ten favorites, at least. I hope you find some good suggestions!
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
About halfway through this book, I understood that I would one day read or listen to every book this author had available, and I am well on my way to doing just that. I also finished The Ten Year Nap and The Uncoupling this month, and have asked for two other books of hers for Christmas. I adore this writer’s work. I want to be her when I grow up, although our styles are quite dissimilar. These books carefully weave through characters’ lives, typically within groups of friends. If you enjoy deep and honest character study, pick up any one of Meg Wolitzer’s books.
Mariana by Susanna Kearsley
I listened to this one, and I’m not sure what was better, the time travel story, or the narrator’s haunting performance. Kind of creepy and mysterious in the best kind of way.
Still Life with Husband by Lauren Fox
I stumbled upon another of Ms. Fox’s books, Friends Like Us, and listened to it on my vacation this summer. I was so drawn to her witty observations and dry humor that I downloaded Still Life with Husband to my Kindle for a birthday present to myself this past summer. I spent my weekends by the pool reading this book and rooting for this main character who was so terribly flawed, but somehow relatable. How did Ms. Fox pull that off?
The Power of Now: A Spiritual Guide to Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
Nonfiction? Me? Actually, yes. A friend who I admire and respect recommended this book to me, and it changed my life. I recommended it to my husband and it did the same for him. It’s all about ridding your mind of the ridiculous chatter and focusing on the moment. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s a wonderful concept. When I’m in the thick of this book or fresh off of it, I’m a more attentive mother, wife and friend. This is a book I will listen to and read over and over for the rest of my life.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Hilarious. I laughed out loud through much of it. But also intelligent and poignant — and takes place partially in Antarctica. Who can resist that?
Tempting Fate by Jane Green
Oh, how I love Jane Green. I’ve been reading and listening to her since the 90’s, and she never has ever disappointed me. This book about a married early-forties woman who is tempted by a younger man delves deep into marriage and the changes mid-life brings to us. You’ll find yourself looking around every corner for a viable solution and coming up empty. But I will say that Ms. Green found a perfect way to leave the reader satisfied.
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
Yeah, yeah, I know I devoted an entire post to my love for this book a few weeks ago, but I can’t leave it off this list. Take the awesomeness of 80’s alternative music and wrap it around the magic of first love between two strange and awkward teens, and you have the beauty that is Eleanor and Park.
Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto by Eric Luper
If you like John Green, you will love Eric Luper. Need I say more?
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
I usually don’t like to jump on a book bandwagon, but this one is well worth the leap. What a fantastic and important story for this author to have given us about a perfectly normal boy with a disfigured face. I love all the different perspectives, especially the one out of left field from the perspective of Auggie’s sister’s best friend. This book would make fantastic required reading in schools.
Outlander by Diana Galbadon
Yes, I totally got sucked in. I swore I wouldn’t, but after all the hoopla and swooning all around me, I had to see what it was all about. I started with the television show, and found myself downloading the audiobook just to get my fix before the next week’s show. I am absolutely amazed and awed by this author’s ability to detail so vividly 18th century Scotland. I swear, it’s like she was there. And the vast amount of research she must have done on everything from medicine to terrain to sword fighting is unfathomable. I like the television show, but I love the book. Be forewarned, it’s insanely long and there are seven others just as lengthy in the series waiting for you after you finish this one.