Please excuse the photo which is more focused on the camera than the old books. Unfortunately most of the books I read now are on my Kindle, and it makes for a boring photo. I’m also really bad at tagging my photos so went through them looking for “books” this was one of only a few that popped up. However, I hate a post with no photos, so there you go.
It’s time again for my end of the year how many books read post. Also, instead of keeping a long list this year on the side of my blog like I used to, I’m going to start a post and then just keep updating it. I’ve already finished one book, so I hope to get the page up by next week. I am also possibly going to try to do some book challenges this year. I was inspired by A Quiet Life – and her book challenge.
I read 55 books this year. Not too shabby. I am always amazed by the people though who manage to read 100+ books. That’s more than two a week (I’m also a math whiz) – how do they do it? If you are one of those crazy reader people, how do you do it? I imagine if I had a long commute, where I could get a regular hour or two of reading in everyday, it would up my numbers. But unfortunately my commute involves walking down the stairs to the basement where my computer is!
1.I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
by Malala Yousafzai. 5/5
2. The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt. 5/5
3. The Perfume Collector: A Novel
by Kathleen Tessaro. 4/5
4. The Rosie Project: A Novel
by Graeme Simsion. 5/5
5. Poppet (Jack Caffery)
by Mo Hayder. 5/5
6. House of Bathory
by Linda Lafferty. 4/5
7. Someone Else’s Love Story: A Novel
by Joshilyn Jackson. 4/5
8. The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum
by Temple Grandin. 4.5/5
9. The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love
by Kristin Kimball. 5/5
10. The Serpent of Venice: A Novel
by Christopher Moore. 4/5
11. Delicious!: A Novel
by Ruth Reichl. 4/5
12. Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line
by Michael Gibney. 4/5.
13. Chop Chop: A Novel
by Simon Wroe. 4/5
14. Cutting Teeth: A Novel
by Julia Fierro. 4/5
15. Chasing the Sun: A Novel
by Natalia Sylvester. 4/5
16. Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
by Arianna Huffington. 4/5
17. Cop Town: A Novel
by Karin Slaughter. 3/5
18. The Art of Arranging Flowers
by Lynne Branard. 4/5
19. Shaking out the Dead
by K. M. Cholewa. 5/5
20. 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works–A True Story
by Dan Harris. 5/5
21. The Girl with All the Gifts
by M R Carey. 4/5
22. The Butcher
by Jennifer Hillier 4/5
23. The City: A Novel
by Dean Koontz. 4/5
24. The Virtues of Oxygen
by Susan Schoenberger. 4/5
25. The Here and Now
by Ann Brashares. 3/5
26. A Wedding in Provence: A Novel
by Ellen Sussman. 4/5
27. The Blackhouse: A Novel
by Peter May. 4/5
28. Summer House with Swimming Pool: A Novel
by Herman Koch. 4/5
29. Ham: Slices of a Life: Essays and Stories
by Sam Harris. 5/5
30. Inamorata
by Megan Chance. 4/5
31. The Patron Saint of Ugly
by Marie Manilla. 4/5
32. Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
by Jill Lepore. 4/5
33. Creep (Creep series Book 1)
by Jennifer Hillier. 4/5
34. The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Series)
by Charlie N. Holmberg. 4/5
35. The Promise of Provence
by Patricia Sands. 4/5
36. Seriously…I’m Kidding
by Ellen DeGeneres. 4/5
37. You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself
by David McRaney. 5/5
38. Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison
by Piper Kerman. 4/5
39. The Girl You Left Behind: A Novel
by JoJo Moyes. 4/5
40. The Secret Place (Dublin Murder Squad, Book 5)
by Tana French. 5/5
41. Olde School (The Kingdom City Chronicles Book 1)
by Selah Janel. 4/5
42. Vanessa and Her Sister: A Novel
by Priya Parmar. 4/5
43. The Vines
by Christopher Rice. 4/5
44. The Frozen Dead
by Bernard Minier. 4/5
45. Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned”
by Lena Dunham. 1/5
46. Man Up!: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence (A Chelsea Handler Book/Borderline Amazing Publishing)
by Ross Matthews. 5/5
47. What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding: A Memoir
by Kristin Newman. 4/5
48. Station Eleven: A novel
by Emily St. John Mandel. 5/5
49. Big Little Lies
by Liane Moriarty. 5/5
50. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Novel
by Alan Bradley. 4/5
51. Us: A Novel
by David Nicholls. 4/5
52. Food: A Love Story
by Jim Gaffigan. 4/5
53. Promises to Keep – A Novel (Love in Provence Book 2)
by Patricia Sands. 4/5
54. Yes Please
by Amy Poehler. 3/5
55. The Bone Clocks: A Novel
by David Mitchell. 4/5
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I read 38 books in 2014, which is good, since my goal was 30. I haven’t read any of the books on your list, but I do have “Delicious” and “Sous chef” and will need to read them soon, since I won them in a GoodReads giveaway and I owe them a review.
Some of my favorites for 2014 were:
– Jhumpa Lahiri – The namesake
– Laura Moriarty – The chaperone
– Alan Brennert – Honolulu
– Alan Drew – Gardens of water
– Laurie Fabiano – Elizabeth Street
– Jeanette Walls – The glass castle
– Sarah McCoy – The baker’s daughter
You did good this year! I have put #9 in my amazon cart. Was it good?
Happy New Year!
Velva
Oh yes, I loved it!
55 is an excellent amount. We have read some of the same books and I have added some to my to-read list after seeing your reviews on Goodreads.
I have averaged 100ish books the last couple of years but I estimate that cooks books are around 20% of that. Although I don’t read them word for word, I do go through any cookbooks pretty thoroughly before I rate / review them. 😉 Otherwise, I read really fast and I read for at least an hour or usually more in bed every night before going to sleep as well as other times I can sneak it in–waiting rooms, plane flights etc. The Kindle has certainly helped with it. 😉
I don’t count cookbooks in my list – so maybe I should!
I love images of old cameras. A young person once asked me if everyone was black & white in the *Old Days* . I guess it was a fair assumption given all the photos are black & white. Kids today have such easy access to a camera on their phones. I can remember my first camera was barely that. Just enough to hold the film and the cost to have it developed! So much easier today.
I know. I remember putting those rolls of film in envelopes. Then hoping that you got some good pics!
I love your book lists!
We read so many of the same books, but you have a lot of new ones to me as well that I’ll be adding. I need to get up the courage to read Goldfinch… courage seems like such a strange word, but it’s so long! I don’t know if my attention span can handle it 😉 I’ve heard it’s amazing though.
I missed my goal by a long shot last year. This year though I’ve been doing 2 books at a time. Listening to one at the gym and car, and then reading one, usually at night before bed or whenever I can sneak it in. I’m hoping that helps to get my reading numbers up. So many books, so little time!
(And yes – how on earth do people read 100 books in a year? I can’t imagine!)
I do two books at a time too. I read fiction and listen to non fiction – it works for me!
I like your picture! I did the same thing to illustrate my book review – just grabbed a couple of random shots from back in 2011! Very impressive reading list. And I was thinking of starting a post for next January, with my reading listed, so I don’t have to type the whole long list. I’m glad to hear that you have done just that.
You had some good book pictures, I just might have to steal some next year!
I often look at your list of books read when I am looking for a new book to read
I hope you find something good!
Nice job! 55! That’s really good, in my opinion. I follow a girl’s blog from Scotland, and she read 325 books last year! I was blown away. She does commute 2 hours every day, so that must help some. I wish I could read that many, there just never seems to be enough time at the end of the day. Can’t wait to see how many you read next year! 🙂
Even with a two hour commute how in the world do you read 325!
I love lists! We share many titles 🙂 I read 150 books due to sleep disorder, wake up at 4 and read until world starts at 8am gives you loads of extra time… then walk down your stairs!
Well, I sort of have your same sleep disorder, but I don’t accept it. I lie there in bread, willing myself to go back to sleep, not allowing myself to get up!