2014 was
another great year of books! Audiobooks
continued to be very helpful this year in allowing me to read more books, since
I don’t have as much time to sit down and read a book with a little boy running
around. I continue to listen to
audiobooks while I am cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and exercising.
I am still trying to be a lifelong learner by
reading more non-fiction and classics than I used to now that I am out of
college. I had a goal of reading a total
of 20 non-fiction/classic books this year and actually far surpassed that by
reading 24 non-fiction books and 7 classics.
Well written non-fiction has actually become one of my favorite genres
now. It was my most read genre of the
year. Historical fiction was second
highest with 15 books. March, August,
and November tied for being the month I read the most books in with 9 books in
each of those months.
In addition to 79
books I read this year, I read 4 full cookbooks [Miss Kay’s Duck Commander
Kitchen (in Jan), Picky Palate (in Feb), The Pioneer Woman Cooks: a Year of
Holidays (in Feb), and Six Sisters Stuff (in April)] and well over a 1,000 picture
books. It would be really
hard to count all the picture books I read to Harrison through the year, but
there were about 20 library books a week plus all the books at home that we
read many many times. I have put a star
by my favorite books that I read for the first time this year. There were many more that I really enjoyed,
but these were my top choices of the year.
Samuel’s list of the books read throughout the year is at the end of my
list. I hope you all read some great
books this year as well!
Books Read in 2014:
January:
1. Double Crossed by Ally Carter
2. The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson
*3. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World
That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (audiobook)
4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
5. The Orchard by Krista Lynne Jensen
6. The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley (audiobook)
7. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
*8. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival,
Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (audiobook)
February:
*9. Longing for Home by Sarah Eden
10. My Story by Elizabeth Smart (audiobook)
11. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces
that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
(audiobook)
12. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by
Julie Andrews Edwards (for book club)
13. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
14. The First Phone Call from Heaven by Mitch
Albom (audiobook)
March:
*15. My Name Used to be Muhammad: the True Story
of a Muslim Who Became a Christian by Tito Momen
*16. Hope Springs by Sarah Eden
17. Letters in a Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears
(audiobook)
18. Emma: a Latter Day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison
*19. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and
the art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook)
20. The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma (reread)
(hosted this book for book club)
21. It’s Just My Nature! A Guide to Knowing and Living Your True
Nature by Carol Tuttle (for book club)
22. I am Malala: the Girl Who Stood up for
Education and was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (audiobook) (also
ended up being a book club choice a couple months later)
April:
23. The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielsen
24. These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes
Prine by Nancy E Turner (audiobook)
25. The Women of Duck Commander: Surprising
Insights from the Women behind the Beards about What Makes This Family Work by
the Robertson Women
26. Split Second by Kasie West
27. Glimmer of Hope by Sarah Eden
28. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm
Gladwell (audiobook)
29. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
May:
30. Cress by Marissa Meyer (audiobook)
31. The Silence of God by Gale Sears
32. Beauty by Robin McKinley (audiobook)
33. What is Hidden by Lauren Skidmore (read an
earlier draft before it was published, this was my first time reading the
finished book)
June:
34. Running for my Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey
from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong
35. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
36. Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
(reread from childhood)
37. The Alloy of the Law by Brandon Sanderson
(audiobook)
July:
38. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
39. Paperboy by Vince Vawter (audiobook)
40. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (audiobook)
41. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (reread)
42. Edward Partridge by Hartt Wixom
August:
43. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North
Korea by Barbara Demick (audiobook)
44. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo (reread)
45. How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
(audiobook)
*46. Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
47. Four: a Divergent Story Collection by
Veronica Roth (audiobook)
48. Walking on Water by Richard Paul Evans
(audiobook)
49. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by
Rebecca Skloot (for book club)
*50. On the Fence by Kasie West
51. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura
Ingalls Wildler (audiobook)
September
52. Olivia by Julie Wright (audiobook)
53. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (audiobook)
54. Surviving Hitler: the Unlikely True Story of
a SS Soldier and a Jewish Woman by O. Hakan Palm
55. Baked Alaska by Josi Kilpack
*56. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (audiobook)
57. Rocky Road by Josi Kilpack
58. Rumors of War by Dean Hughes (audiobook)
59. Since You Went Away (audiobook)
October
*60. Gifted Hands by Ben Carson
61. Fortune Cookie by Josi Kilpack
62. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls
Wilder (audiobook)
63. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
64. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (audiobook)
November
65. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit
66. The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
(audiobook)
67. Far From Home by Dean Hughes
68. Five Languages of Apology by Gary Chapman (I
hosted this book for book club)
69. Teachings of the Presidents of the Church:
Joseph Fielding Smith
70. When We Meet Again by Dean Hughes
71. For Elise by Sarah Eden
72. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
(audiobook)
*73. As Long As I Have You by Dean Hughes (I loved
the whole Children of the Promise series, but this was my favorite book in the
series)
December
74. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley
(audiobook)
75. The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton
M Christensen
76. Becoming Lady Lockwood by Jennifer Moore
77. Food: a Love Story by Jim Gaffigan
(audiobook)
78. A Christ Centered Christmas: Seven Traditions
that lead us Closer to the Savior by Emily Freeman
79. Standing By and Making Do: Women of War Time
Los Alamos by Jane S. Wilson and Charlotte Serber
Samuel’s
List:
-Mockingjay
by Suzanne Collins
- Unbroken:
A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura
Hillenbrand
-Stories
from the Life of Porter Rockwell by John W. Rockwell and Jerry Borrowman
Read partway
through and he is still currently reading:
-Agent
Bishop: True Stories from a FBI Agent Moonlighting as a Bishop by Mike McPheters
