I tried to read as many of the 2014 must-read books I could… but of
course I couldn’t get to them all. It was a busy year for me. Writing
one big book, editing three others, plus a little thing called Life. I
read the books I could and the ones I missed will have to wait for next
year… or the year after… or the year after that. You know how it goes.
Anyway, here are my Top 10 favorites released in 2014.
1) The Martian by Andy Weir
– My number one favorite book of the year. The story of an astronaut
left behind on Mars sounds like a grim thriller but it’s actually
hilarious thanks to Weir’s humor and a wonderful main character. I loved
this book and would recommend it to basically everyone. I’ll be reading
this one again someday. Read my full review at Goodreads.
2) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
– Historical fiction isn’t usually my thing, but I was drawn in by all
the reviews. And hey, the critics got it right with this one. It’s not
wrong to call this a coming-of-age story set during WWII, but leaving it
at that really doesn’t do the book any justice. This is a wonderful
novel. Beautiful prose, strong characters, and a compelling plot – this
book has it all. It’s also… don’t tell anybody this… the only book on
this list that managed to make me cry. Just a little, you understand.
Not a lot. Not very much at all! But yes, there were tears, it’s true. Read my full review at Goodreads.
3) Bird Box by Josh Malerman
– Tense thriller that plays with horror ideas in an interesting way.
Basically, the world’s come to an end thanks to the arrival of these
creatures. What do they look like? Nobody’s sure. If you see one of them
you go insane and promptly kill yourself. Now, this book is going to
bother some people who want (need?) to know what monsters lurk in the
shadows. Because of the very nature of the creatures you are largely
denied any hard information on what exactly is going on beyond the
blindfold. Personally, I really liked this approach. I’ve always been
more scared by the horror that’s just out of sight and Bird Box tapped into that fear extraordinarily well. Read my full review at Goodreads.
4) The Troop by Nick Cutter
– Holy shit this was disgusting and awful and awesome and holy shit oh
my GOD it’s just so fucking YEUUWHY… Hmm. Yes. That describes my
feelings for this book quite well, actually. The Troop is a good, tough
horror story. Unputdownable. I doubt I will ever read The Troop again—it’s just so nasty—but I can’t wait for Nick Cutter’s The Deep in 2015 and whatever else he’s cooking up for the future. Read my full review at Goodreads.
5) Othella by Therin Knite
–Despite being an ‘indie author’ I really don’t read as much
self-published fiction as I should. Sorry, guys. Still, from the 2014
indie fiction I have read, I think Therin Knite’s sci-fi novel Othella
was the best of the best – and, if you want to make a thing out of it,
yeah it was a whole lot better than most the traditionally published
books I read this year. It’s a sci-fi thriller about a world on the
brink, a technological society of geniuses who are tasked with bringing
civilization back from the edge, and the dark secrets that threaten to
bring it all down. It’s just really cool. I look forward to the sequel. Read my full review at Goodreads.
6) The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey – The book’s description doesn't want you to know what the book is really about. I’m gonna SPOIL
it for you... It’s about zombies. Yeah, I know. I’m tired of them, too.
They’re everywhere and I fail to understand why. But I gotta give it up
for an author who manages to do something fresh and new with the tired
genre. The Girl with All the Gifts is both horrific and sweet,
featuring my favorite zombie girl in all of book & film. The book
made this bored “fan” of the genre very happy. Read my full review at Goodreads.
7) The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
– A book that I found I admired more than I actually enjoyed. But
still, the book succeeded in taking me deep into its epic story. I don’t
agree with all of its choices – particularly leaving most of the world
building for page 500 – but there’s a lot to like about the book. It’s
hugely ambitious, and among other things it presents us with perhaps the
most believable and depressing vision of the near future I’ve ever
read. Read my full review at Goodreads.
8) Landline by Rainbow Rowell
– This isn’t my typical kind of book. It’s a dialogue driven
bittersweet romantic comedy with a Magic Fucking Phone that talks to the
past. Yep. Landline was so far from being on my radar that I
hadn’t heard of it until Goodreads voters named it one of their favorite
books of the year. I also confess I don’t really know who Rainbow
Rowell is (I had heard of her book Fangirl, though). So yeah, I am
pretty far from the intended audience for this book. But I wanted to
give it a go based on all the craze praise… and it’s really, really
good. Rowell writes fantastic dialogue. Landline made me laugh
out loud, which is rare. She’s a great writer. I do think the book
overstayed its welcome just a bit. The concept started to tire sometime
before the end. But still, it’s a book well deserving of praise. And
hey, sometimes it’s cool to read something outside of your typical
genre/comfort zone. I’m glad I gave Landline a try. Read my full review at Goodreads.
9) Revival by Stephen King – Despite the hype that this is ‘vintage King’, I really don’t see Revival
as a horror novel. It’s a dark saga of two men intertwined by tragedy
and curiosity. Their curiosity brings them face-to-face with some
horrific stuff along the way, but should the novel be considered horror?
Ehh, I don’t know. So, I kind of went into Revival with
certain expectations. Once I got past the fact that the book wasn’t what
I expected I began to enjoy it a lot more. King’s fantastic writing
makes it one of my favorite books of the year. ALSO: I quite liked
King’s Mr. Mercedes. Read my full review at Goodreads.
10) Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
– I’m relatively new to Murakami’s work, but I think I’m getting a
pretty good idea of what to expect from his books. When I first read Colorless Tsukuru I
was rather disappointed (as shown in my review). I thought the book
started off brilliantly but slowly became repetitive before coming to a
completely anticlimactic ending. But in the months since reading it,
I’ve found that my feelings towards the book have softened. More than
that, I’m surprised by how much the book has stuck with me. I think on Colorless Tsukuru more than I think of many other books I read this year. Read my full review at Goodreads.
One of my other favorite reads of the year was Joe Hill's Locke & Key comic book series. I feel pretty good calling Locke & Key one of the greatest comics of all time.
The 2014 books I’m most disappointed I missed (and most looking forward to catching up with) are Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, Jesse Ball’s Silence Once Begun, Hugh Howey’s Sand, Stuart Keane’s All or Nothing, James Ellroy’s Perfidia, Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, and Ksenia Anske’s Rosehead.
Of course those books must compete with the classics that I gotta read
and the new 2015 books that are coming out. I can’t wait to read Nick
Cutter’s The Deep and Joe Hill’s The Fireman.
How about you? What are some of your favorite books from 2014?
What are some of the books you’re most looking forward to in 2015?
