Books Read in 2014

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

-The Lincoln Hypothesis by Timothy Ballard