The end of year top 5 books of 2014

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Thanks Michael, my thinking cap is on, but it keeps slipping over my eyes so I can't see my list;)

[Carolyn]

Tough call Michael!
I'd like to keep my mid year list and add another 5 :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

I guess we should choose a different 5 Carolyn unless there is an outstanding book in our first list..

[Kathryn]

I think most of my mid-year top 5 have stood the test of time, but will reserve judgement for another week or two - I am not expecting that any of my up-coming reads this month will be 5 star reads and blow me away, but sometimes it is the ones you least expect that turn out to be excellent!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Well seeing as I have 19 (out of over 275 read so far) on my list, I'm going to struggle :)

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "I guess we should choose a different 5 Carolyn unless there is an outstanding book in our first list.."

I didn't see this post before I submitted mine, Brenda. But don't we want our 5 best reads of 2014? Because if I had to choose 5 different books, they wouldn't then be the best 5 reads I had in 2014, because most of my best reads were in the first half of the year...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

If your best were in the first half of the year by all means choose them Kathryn:) I'm having trouble with the first half of the year versus the whole year too:(

[Carolyn]

Ok, my top 5 reads for this year:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

That was tough! At least another ten that came really close so it's been a good year :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

In my top five for the first half of the year, Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os was there (among others)

The top 5 for the year are (in no particular order):

The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
Life or Death by Michael Robotham
Already Dead by Jaye Ford
Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson

Only one of the above books is non-Aussie:)

And I hope I don't read any other 5 star reads before the end of the month!!

[Carolyn]

Michael wrote: "The Gabrielle Zevin one was a tough one for me to decide on. In the end it just missed out."

It was a to toss up between that and Mr Wigg for me!

[Sharon]

My top 5 reads for the year:

No particular order.

The Secrets in Silence by Nicole Trope
Cicada by Moira McKinnon
Poppy's Dilemma by Karly Lane
Hades by Candice Fox
The Suspect by Michael Robotham

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

All excellent reads Sharon! A couple of those I had to struggle over as well:)

[Jülie ☼♄ ]

It is a really tough call but, for the sake of variety, here goes...

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

[Sally906]

Time for the top 5 of the year? Already? Really? The end is near?!!!!!

OK well me, myself and I got together to discuss the situation and this is what we have come up with:

ME loves:
Deserving Death by Katherine Howell – Mystery/Thriller
The Last Shot by Michael Adams – YA Dystopian
Frontier Incursion by Leonie Rogers – YA Science Fiction/Fantasy
Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall – Non-fiction
Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance – Historical

MYSELF loves:
Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os - Historical
Admission by Barry Jonsberg - YA Dystopian
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – Contemporary Fiction
Outback Ghost by Rachael Johns - Romance
Unforgivable by Sharon Robards - Historical

I loves all of those so has nothing to add except to concur with ME and MYSELF that they are the top books that Sally as a whole has read this year!!!!

[MaryG2E]

Clever, Sally906, to have found a way to list two lots of top 5s. Well done. I had thought of mentioning a couple of Honorable Mentions, just to acknowledge books I adored but not the final five...

In no particular order:
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Honourable mentions to 5 star reads that didn't make the very favourite list above:
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart by Carol Wall, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

[Carolyn]

Great lists everyone! I like the idea of honourable mentions Mary:)

[Janine]

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Fractured by Dawn Barker
Safe Harbour by Helene Young
Ronan's Echo by Joanne van Os
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

[Gregor]

I read a lot more horror/suspense/supernatural fiction than I usually do, and this year's Top 10 List reflects that.

Here are My Top 5 Reads of 2014:

1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
2. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
3. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
4. Animosity by James Newman
5. Hope for the Wicked by Edward Lorn

The rest of my top 10 reads for 2014 can be found here:

http://gregorxane.blogspot.com/2014/1...

[Angela]

Thanks for posting the lists - I've now chosen my Friend Pick for the Summer Reading Challenge :)

My top five are:

1.How to be both by Ali Smith
2. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
3.The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
4.The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
5. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

[Zoey]

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
As Darkness Falls by Bronwyn Parry
The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
In Safe Hands by Lee Christine
Now You See Her by James Patterson

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Mine are:
1. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena byAnthony Marra
2. The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin
3. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
4. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
5. Skin Game by Jim Butcher

[Jülie ☼♄ ]

Carolyn wrote: "Great lists everyone! I like the idea of honourable mentions Mary:)"

Oh yes, could we have an "Honourable Mentions" list please???
I have at least four books bawling their pages out on my short list! ;(

[Lynxie]

My top five, #1 is #1 as it's the only one that got five stars, the other four have all gotten four stars so are not in any particular order:

1. Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani
2. The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones
3. Shameless Ambition by Robert Fanshaw
4. The Rain by Joseph A. Turkot
5. Diary of the Gone by Ivan Amberlake

I also have to add the book I just finished:Bloodlines by Vanessa Skye - 5 stars!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

☼♄Jülie wrote: "Carolyn wrote: "Great lists everyone! I like the idea of honourable mentions Mary:)"

Oh yes, could we have an "Honourable Mentions" list please???
I have at least four books bawling their pages ou..."

Consulting....

[Nicola]

I didn't do a list in the middle of the year (don't know why - possibly because it was the end of my degree and moving house!). But here's my list for the whole year:
Earth Afire / Orson Scott Card
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Stieg Larsson
Seven Forges / James A. Moore
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry / Rachel Joyce
The Collected Works of A. J. Fikry / Gabrielle Zevin
They are only in order from the beginning of the year onwards - and not in ratings....

[Deb]

My top five for 2014 in no particular order


Burial Rites

Ronan's Echo

Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Every Secret Thing

The Book of Secrets

[Amber]

My top 5

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Mr Wigg by Inga Simpson
11/22/63 by Stephen King
The Martian by Andy Weir
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

[Ashleigh]

There are so many good books on everyone's Top 5 list. My TBR just got larger!!

Mine this year (no particular order)

Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)

World After

The Walking Dead, Vol. 01: Days Gone Bye

Cry Blue Murder

We Were Liars



I have picked from Sharon's list: Cicada by Moira McKinnon for the Summer Challenge.

[Lynxie]

дshləigh wrote: "There are so many good books on everyone's Top 5 list. My TBR just got larger!!

Mine this year (no particular order)

Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)

World After


Oh Ashleigh, I loved Wool Omnibus, but I read it in 2012!

[Ashleigh]

Lynxie wrote: "Oh Ashleigh, I loved Wool Omnibus, but I read it in 2012! "

I have just bought Shift and Dust. I hope they are as good!
Then I need to get Hugh's next one - Sand Omnibus

[Cassandra]

I'm currently partway through Endsinger by Jay Kristoff and suspect it'd be on my list if I'd finished it already, but since I havent, in no particular order, here are my top five:

Servants of the Storm by Delilah S. Dawson
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Unhinged by A.G. Howard
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

There are some great lists from everyone! Sounds like a good years reading:)

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

дshləigh wrote: "Lynxie wrote: "Oh Ashleigh, I loved Wool Omnibus, but I read it in 2012! "

I have just bought Shift and Dust. I hope they are as good!
Then I need ..."

I wanted him to continue with Sand Omnibus but he hasn't, at least not yet:)

[Michael]

still working out my list, but currently it stands as such;

1. All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon
2. Middlemarch by George Eliot
3. The Dark Path: A Memoir by David Schickler
4. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
5. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Kelly]

The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy
Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
The Tournament
My Brilliant Career
Picnic at Hanging Rock

[Veronica ⭐️]

1. Before Nightfall byRachel Amphlett
2. Dear Diary... The New Martinsville Murders; A Murderous Thriller byDennis Lively
3. Pegasus to Paradise byMichael Tappenden
4. Ronan's Echo byJoanne van Os
5. The Teashop on the Corner byMilly Johnson

I see I have a lot of other people's top 5 picks on my TBR pile, so looking forward to reading those in 2015.

[Mish]

this was hard to pick. I started the year with a few and ended the year with a bang.

So here goes:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
Us by David Nicholls
You by Caroline Kepnes

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Mish wrote: "this was hard to pick. I started the year with a few and ended the year with a

I nearly put Nick Harkaway 's The Gone-Away World in my top five! I am really looking forward to reading Angelmaker

[Leonie]

So hard to settle on just a few but:

Ambassador: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen
Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks
Snuff by Terry Pratchett

[Tango]

Too many good ones to choose from, but here goes:
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
And of course Lethal Sky by Greg Barron.

[Leonie]

Tango wrote: "Too many good ones to choose from, but here goes:
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
[book:An Artist ..."

I've put The Narrow Road to the Deep North on my Christmas wish list :)

[Rosie]

My list in no particular order:

The Forgotten Garden

The House at Riverton

Big Little Lies

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

The Dark is Rising

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

I only just remembered to look at my top five half way through 2014 and found that four of the five made it through to the end of the year. So they must have been good!

[Mish]

Phrynne wrote: "Mish wrote: "this was hard to pick. I started the year with a few and ended the year with a

I nearly put Nick Harkaway 's The Gone-Away World in my top five! I am..."

He's fantastic Phrynne, isn't he? Angelmaker had so many laughs and crazy moments, and it sounds like you had a similar experience with The Gone-Away World :) I'm sure you'll love it when you get around to it.

I would like to read more of Nick Harkaway next year.

[Whitley]

1. Chances- jackie Collins
2. Golden earrings - belinda Alexandra
3. Divergent - Veronica Roth
4. The maze runner - james dashner
5. City of bones - Cassandra Clare

This year amount others I read the divergent series and the maze runner series, I also started reading the mortal instruments series. So a lot of YA fiction which I don't normally read much of

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Whitley wrote: "1. Chances- jackie Collins
2. Golden earrings - belinda Alexandra
3. Divergent - Veronica Roth
4. The maze runner - james dashner
5. City of bones - Cassandra Clare

This year amount others I read ..."

Chances by Jackie Collins
Golden Earrings by Belinda Alexandra
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

I have to add the one I finished this afternoon! Blown away!

Shooting Butterflies by T.M. Clark

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

It's definitely an addition Michael;)

[Katrina]

Very hard to finalise, but these books jumped out the most.
1. Safe Harbour by Helene Young
2. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
3. Cicada by Moira McKinnon
4. The Lavender Keeper by Fiona McIntosh
5. Wild Lavender by Belinda Alexandra

All Aussie authors in the end :). A great year of reading and looking at all these lists i have another great year ahead stealing ideas from you all :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Katrina wrote: "Very hard to finalise, but these books jumped out the most.
1. Safe Harbour by Helene Young
2. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
3. ..."

Great titles there Katrina:)