Best Books of 2014

Time for a week of looking back! Thanks to Jamie @ Two Chicks on Books, Rachel @ Reading YA Rocks, Mindy @ Magical Urban Fantasy Reads, and Nancy @ Tales of a Ravenous Reader for hosting the TOP TEN OF 2014!!

So I have read 158 books this year (and still counting). There was stiff competition for the top ten of the year. I have read so many great books! So without further ado, here is my list! (FYI, these are in no particular order. If I actually tried to rank these, I would be in real trouble.) You can click here to see the full list of books I have read this year!

1. Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay - Did you ever have one of those books that you dreaded finishing? This was that book for me. I immediately wanted to reread it after finishing it. If it wasn't for my extensively long TBR list, I probably would have. The only thing I regret about this book is that it was on my Kindle a whole seven months before I read it!

   

     2.  An Untamed State by Roxane Gay - I am not kidding when I say that this is probably the best
          book I have read all year. It was freaking brilliant. Roxane Gay deserves all the hype and more.
          Click here for my review of this book. 

   

    3.  Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - A beautiful book about first love that made me swoon
         and sigh numerous times. Bring on the next book by Rainbow Rowell please! Click here for my
         review of this book.

   

    4.  The Wayward Pines series by Blake Crouch - Okay, so I cheated on this because this one is
         three books in one. But I will cheat to give praise to this amazing series. The final book in this
         series was so intense I actually had to take a break because my heart was pounding so hard. And
         when I finished the book, I didn't start another one for two weeks, partly because I was too
         emotionally drained but also because I couldn't imagine another book being that intense.

   

   5. The Law of Moses by Amy Harmon - This was a book I preordered on a whim and I have never
       been so happy to have low self control. It wasn't what I expected, but it was amazing. I can't wait
       to read her other stuff. Click here for my review of this book.

   

    6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - This book really made me think and I can't believe it
        took me so long to read this classic. I have all of her books on my TBR list now. Such a powerful
       writer.

    7.  The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin - Wonderful historical fiction about the Lindbergh
        family and of course, the Lindbergh baby. I know the author took some liberties, but most of what
        is in this book is rumored to be true. This made me want to rush out and read everything I could
        about the Lindberghs.

    8.  Tampa by Alissa Nutting - Do not let the material scare you away. This is about a woman who
         sexually preys on younger boys and became a teacher because of this attraction. I actually used to
         counsel sex offenders and I think it is so refreshing to see a book about a women sex offender
         because they do exist. This is a book that I couldn't put down and couldn't wait to see how it
         would end.

   

 
     9.   The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes - An engrossing and gripping mystery that also involves
           time travel. Yes, time travel. It really is the murder mystery that has everything. 

   10.  Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt - An emotional book that takes place in a time
          when we didn't know a lot about AIDS, how it spreads or how to treat it. This book made me
          mad, it made me cry and I really, really enjoyed the ending. I wasn't sure if I would like it with
          all the hype that surrounded it but it was easily one of my favorites this year.

Honorable Mention: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Just finished this one. WOW. It is a dystopian novel set twenty years after the collapse of civilization brought on by a flu epidemic. It is very engrossing and I am fascinated by the ways all these different people try to rebuild a society after so many people die.


Man, it was hard to narrow this list down to ten. Are there any on the list that you have read? What was one of your favorite books of 2014?