Thursday 8 January 2015

Favourite Books of 2014

It's been far too long since I last wrote a blog post; my intentions of updating once or twice a week disappeared out the window while I was doing NaNoWriMo (I won, though God only knows how!) and also trying to keep on top of deadlines for my PhD (I failed. Thankfully no one seems to care just yet).

So, to get back into things, I have selected my Top 5 books out of the 71 that I finished reading last year. I had intended to read 100 (or approximately 300,000 pages because the A Song of Ice and Fire books are just ridiculously long). My final page count for finished books stands at 27,476, so I'd say that isn't too bad. I may post a separate list of everything I read, with asterisks next to ones I would recommend, but we'll see. I think I read a fair amount of crap last year so it may not be worth it.*

So, in no particular order, here we go...

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
You may have read my ramblings on this book already. It was excellent, and if you haven't started The Raven Boys cycle, which rock have you been living under? (Sinner, her companion novel to the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy would probably also have made this list, but I thought I should probably choose between the two.)

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
It's hard for me to decide which of the first three novels was my favourite... But I'm going with the first one. Certainly not the third one - I mean, the Red Wedding, anyone? So unfair. I'm still holding a grudge.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Another one that is hardly surprising. I read all three of these last year, and could have picked any of them, but Isla's story won by just a slight margin because of the three boys I'd definitely choose Josh for myself.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
(I'd put all three of the Lynburn Legacy books into my top 5 if I had room.) I laughed and loved and just generally raced through these. The characters are brilliant, and there were plenty of one-liners that had me cackling to myself - no doubt my family think I'm nuts, but it was so worth it!

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
I've had this book on my shelf for ages and just kept forgetting about it. I read Graceling when it first came out after winning a copy on a blog competition, and bought Fire as soon as I saw it was out, but real life caught up around the time that Bitterblue was due to be released (and, if I remember correctly, the release was delayed at one point) so it took me a while to read this. I think I had forgotten how much I adored Graceling, but now that I've been reminded what an amazing trilogy this is, I've been recommending it to everyone! Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, go! Do it! Now.

Honourable mentions:
Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Let me know if you agree / disagree with any of these, or if you have any recommendations for me to read in 2015!


*Update: it's not worth it!

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