Book List 2014

Another year gone by! This year brought more books than I've read in quite some time, but still didn't manage to hit my goal of 24 books in a year. To be honest, I fell into a reading funk and just can't quite get out. I stopped reading just before my trip to Uganda and didn't read anything while there or since. If I had finished every book I've started though, I'd have been well over 24. (I should share that list too - maybe someday.) There's always next year!

Just in case you're interested, here's my 2013 list and my 2012 list.

No time to properly review each book, but I added comments here and there.

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling - Highly recommend for a quick, and funny read. I think I read this one in a day on Winter Break. It's always interesting to me to learn about how people became famous.

2. Happy Happy Happy - Phil Robertson - Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about this one other than it was good and a fast read. I would recommend it as it kept my attention and I do remember it was interesting.

3. Savannah Blues - Mary Kay Andrews - This was one of the few Book Club books that I managed to read this year. We read this in preparation for our Savannah trip. It was a great book and it's the first in a series.

4. Savannah Breeze - Mary Kay Andrews - 2nd in this series. As I find with most series, it was good but the first was better. However, I do like her writing and they are quick reads. I need to add her to my list for 2015!

5. The Arraignment - Steve Martini - I don't remember a thing about this one. I usually like Steve Martini though and I'm sure this one was fine.

6. Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club - Wanda Brunstetter - Another Book Club book! This one didn't get rave reviews from the other girls, but I didn't think it was all bad. Although, it was pretty cheesy and predictable. Not one of the better Amish books I've read.

7. Five Star Families - Carol Kuykendall - This is a book recommended highly by my friend, Marj. It's been on my list for quite some time. And, I'm so glad I read it! It has a good road map for families and I highly recommend it for parents.

8. Long Lost - Harlen Coben - Much like The Arraignment, I don't remember anything. I find Harlen Coben another good author for exciting (and usually dependably good) reads.

9. Astronaut's Wives Club - Lily Koppen - Book Club! (OK - I guess I did better than I originally thought!) I liked this one although I didn't find it extremely well written. It follows the wives of the early astronauts. I didn't really know how much "space hysteria" was going on at that time and the celebrity status! I did start to get a little lost after the first few teams were followed.

10. David & Goliath - Malcolm Gladwell - I love Malcolm Gladwell and I was happy to have this one to read this year. Highly recommend!

11. The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin - Oh, another good one! This one should be on your reading list! It really makes you take a second look at a lot of your habits and thought processes. For instance, I realized that although I'm not really "happy" when I'm running, the fact that I run makes me happy in the long term. Same goes for organizing closets, or cleaning the house, etc.

12. Doc - Mary Doria Russell - Tom had to convince me to read this. I loved it! I'm a big historical fiction fan and this one was great. It follows the early(ish) life of Doc Holliday - mainly before the OK Corral.

13. Hissy Fit - Mary Kay Andrews - This one was just OK for me. Nothing remarkable. I think this book was the start of my "off" streak.

14. Twisted Sister - Jen Lancaster - This one was a little bizarro. It was OK until suddenly in the middle of the book, there was magic and spells and other odd, sci-fi/weird things going on. Can't recommend this one.

15. Midnight Crossroads - Charlaine Harris - Oh boy. I really have no idea what made me pick this one off the library shelf. I realized half-way through that it was marked as Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Not my thing at all.

16. The Racketeer - John Grisham - After those two, I needed a book that I knew would be good. John Grisham always fits that bill!

17. The Litigators - John Grisham - See #16.

18. Barefoot - Elin Hildebrand - This one was pretty good and I read it in the summer so it fit the season.

19. Heaven is for Real - Todd Burpo - I read this one because it's been on my nightstand forever and everyone and their brother has read it. It was a quick read, but I don't remember being crazy about it. Interesting, but not one of my favorites.

20. The Wife, The Maid & The Mistress - Ariel Lawhorn - I liked this one but I like historical fiction. Plus, I like mysteries so this was a good fit.

21. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff - Again, with the historical fiction! This book was really two different books in one and it goes back and forth between both. The first part was about the 19th wife of Brigham Young and her experience with early Mormonism. The second part was current day and it was about a murder in a polygamist community. I liked this one. It was long and probably could have been cut a little short, but overall it was good.

22. The Matchmaker - Elin Hildebrand - I liked this one more than Barefoot by the same author. I'm still not sure I'm a huge fan of her writing though. Maybe I just picked two that were slightly on the depressing side.

And, that's it. Again, better than I've ever done, but after the end of September, I hit a book wall. There's nothing like a book that keeps you up until 3AM! I need a few good recommendations to kick off 2015! I'd love to hear yours!