Favourite Books I Read in 2014!

Thursday 1 January 2015


Hello friends! 2014 is officially over, in the past, 'last year' so what better way to remember 2014 than sharing my favourite books I read in 2014. I couldn't order these in terms of favourites so I've just ordered them according to the date I read them. Overall, I'd say I've had quite a good reading year, I read some really amazing books and enjoyed most of those I read! Yay! Here are my favourites:

The Vampire Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles #2) by Anne Rice
This follows on from The Interview with The Vampire, and focuses on the past and present of Lestat. This book made Lestat one of my favourite literary characters, my favourite vampire and my favourite anti hero. It was really interesting to read about Lestat from his own perspective, rather than through the words of Louis and I especially enjoyed reading about his journey through human life into the vampire world! So good!

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
This book follows a young woman, living on an island just off the coast of Canada, who finds a diary belonging to Japanese girl, washed up upon the shore. I loved both characters, they were very different, but both very realistic and well written. The narrative of this book was also another stand out point and was interestingly unique, as it switches from excerpts of the diary to the young woman's interpretations and reactions to the diary.

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R Carey
The Girl with All the Gifts is not just another tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic, zombie wasteland. The characters are unexpectedly detailed, with distinct voices, flaws and back-stories which combined with a twist on the classic zombie - this book is a winner.

Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) by George R.R. Martin
A Game of Thrones, the fantasy series everybody is reading, watching, talking, or tweeting about. I'm guilty of watching the first two seasons prior to reading this book, but it still managed to blow my mind. I'm a huge fan of the multiple narratives and all the characters are so well written, interesting and different. The differences in the characters really makes the book engaging, as so many different sections of Westeros can be explored.

Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas
I also read the first two books in the Throne of Glass series this year, but Heir of Fire is such a step up and sets up a whole new plot for the rest of the series. The character building, compared to the previous books is outstanding and the fantasy elements of this book are very much on point, especially the in-depth exploration Fae and magic, all very exciting!

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Before beginning this book, I had a feeling I would like it, the premise sounded interesting and I was not disappointed. It follows Margaret Hale, as she moves from the idyllic countryside in the south of England, to the Industrial North and encompasses a lot of social commentary on class and the problems with industrial capitalism - things I love reading about!

Animal Farm by George Orwell
And finally, I read Animal Farm in one day and I loved it. It's a short read at 93 pages but it's a pretty amazing metaphor about power, corruption and revolution.

Notable Mentions:
- The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer 
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
- Vicious by V.E Schwab 

2015 onwards!
I've set myself a reading goal of 35 books this year! I just missed out on my 30 books for 2014 but I am ever determined to read even more this year and make more time for reading. I'm optimistic I can reach this goal and maybe even surpass it!? (we'll see)

Thanks for reading and happy 2015! I hope everyone reads lots of good books and has a lovely year!


4 comments

  1. The girl with all the gifts was so good. I love how the author took a much used topic and created something new, with that specific medical aspect. A game of thrones is brilliant. I can't imagine how much work and time is spend on creating those characters and world-building. HOF is just epic <3

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    1. Yep, it's such a unique take on zombies! And yess, A Game of Thrones is so intricately crafted and amazing! :D

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  2. Game of Thrones is one of my favourite fantasy series of all time. George R. R. Martin surely knows how to craft an amazing and gripping story. I'm very interested in reading both The Girl with all the Gifts and A Tale for the Time Being, let's hope I can do it this 2015. And I've seen another person saying North and Sound was also on her favourite books, I've only seen the BBC mini-series with Richard Armitage and I loved that one, maybe I should pick up the book?

    Good luck with your 2015 reading goal! ;)

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    1. George R.R Martin is like king of great world building alongside a great plot! You should definitely read, The Girl with all the Gifts and A Tale for the Time Being, I thought they were amazing (obviously lol) but read them!!! Ah, totes pick up the book, they stayed true to the book with the BBC series and did a pretty good job adapting it. It's probably one of my favourite book to screen adaptations!

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