Sunday Salon - 5th Annual End of Year Book Survey – 2014 Edition!

Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner has done her End of Year Book Survey and while this is a little late, I am doing this nonetheless.

So here we go...

Best of Reading in 2014

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

• The Children Act by Ian McEwan

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

• The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014?

• The Martian by Andy Weir

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

I don't know if I pushed anybody to read a book and they read it in the end, but I did push Burial Rites towards the end of the year and I hope that those who I "pushed" to read it did read it.

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

I don't generally read series, but the best one that I read was the Boxer & Saints series.  The best series that I started was The Chronicles of Narnia, which I started in December.  The best sequel that I read was Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

Hannah Kent; loved Burial Rites and look forward to seeing what else she has in store.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Martian by Andy Weir; don't typically read Sc-Fi, but really enjoyed the book.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

For me the most unputdownable book was The Children Act and Burial Rites.

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

If I were to re-read something, it probably would be The Children Act.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

It really evokes the book really well.

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

Fiona from The Children Act and Anges from Burial Rites (yes, I know Anges was a real person...)

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

Its a tie between Burial Rites and The Children Act.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

The Circle by David Eggars. Really made me think about the connected world that we live in and really how far we can go and how intrusive technology can be.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?

The Remains of the Day.  Such an amazing read and really thought provoking; sort of is like seeing Thomas in Downton Abbey 3o years down the road.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

Grief makes your stomach turn, snatches the breath from you, cuts off the blood supply to the brain; mourning blows you in a new direction. (88) - Levels of Life by Julian Barnes

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly  by Sun-mi Hwang (144 pages)
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (848 pages)

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

18. OTP of the Year
(OTP = one true pairing)
Jamie and Claire from Outlander

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Jules and Ethan from The Interestings.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Ian McEwan; the language in The Children Act didn't disappoint, just as in Atonement.

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Quite a number of them.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

Don't have one, but maybe Cormac from The Cuckoo's Calling

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

A tie between The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and All the Light we Cannot See.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Martian by Andy Weir.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simison.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, The Interestings, The Children Act, and All the Light We Cannot See.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

The Interestings

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Kinsey

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Can't think of one that made me the most mad.

31. Books that I Abandoned?

None that I can think of.

Books Read in 2014

• Starry Night by Debbie Macomber (Jan. 2014)

• Villette by Charlotte Brontë (Jan. 2014)

• Christmas Bliss by Mary Kay Andrews (Jan. 2014) 

• Great Game, A by Stephen J. Harper (Feb. 2014)

• How to be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman (Feb. 2014)

• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin (Feb. 2014)

• Luminaries, The by Eleanor Catton (Mar. 2014)

• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (Mar. 2014)

• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (Mar. 2014)

• Labor Day by Joyce Maynard (Apr. 2014)

• Reason that I Jump, The by Naoki Higashida; translated by K.A. Yoshida and David Mitchell (Apr. 2014)

• Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson (Apr. 2014)

• Interestings, The by Meg Wolitzer (Apr. 2014)

• Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (Apr. 2014)

• Shopping, Seduction, & Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead (Apr. 2014)

• Whole Golden World, The by Kristina Riggle (Apr. 2014)

• Orenda, The by Joseph Boyden (July 2014)

• Princess Elizabeth's Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal (July 2014)

• HHhH by Laurent Binet (July 2014)

• Boxers by Gene Luen Yang (July 2014)

• Saints by Gene Luen Yang (July 2014)

• Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, The by Sun-mi Hwang (Aug. 2014)

• Ocean at the End of the Lane, The by Neil Gaiman (Aug. 2014)

• Mysteries of Udolpho, The by Ann Radcliffe (Aug. 2014)

• Pursuit of Mary Bennet, The by Pamela Mingle (Aug. 2014)

• Frog Music by Emma Donoghue (Aug. 2014)

• Bear, The by Claire Cameron (Aug. 2014)

• Tale of Two Cities, A by Charles Dickens (Aug. 2014)

• Fault in Our Stars, The by John Green (Aug. 2014)

• While Beauty Slept by Elizabeth Blackwell (Aug. 2014)

• Clash of Kings, A by George R.R. Martin (Aug. 2014)

• Enchanted, The by Rene Denfeld (Aug. 2014)

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Aug. 2014)

• Perks of Being a Wallflower, The by Stephan Chbosky (Aug. 2014)

• Remains of the Day, The by Kazuo Ishiguro (Aug. 2014)

• His Majesty's Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal (Aug. 2014)

• Rosie Project, The by Graeme Simison (Aug. 2014)

• Summer House with Swimming Pool by Herman Koch (Aug. 2014)

• Light Between Oceans, The by M.L. Stedman (Aug. 2014)

• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The by Douglas Adams (Aug. 2014)

• Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley (Aug. 2014)

• Levels of Life by Julian Barnes (Aug. 2014)

• Road Ends by Mary Lawson (Aug. 2014)

• Goldfinch, The by Donna Tartt (Aug. 2014)

• Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell Jr. (Sept. 2014)

• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Sept. 2014)

• Circle, The by Dave Eggars (Sept. 2014)

• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Oct. 2014)

• Cuckoo's Calling, The by Richard Galbraith (Oct. 2014)

• Word Exchange, The by Alena Graedon (Oct. 2014)

• Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood (Oct. 2014)

• 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, The by Jonas Jonasson (Oct. 2014)

• Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan (Oct. 2014)

• Martian, The by Andy Weir (Oct. 2014)

• Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Oct. 2014)

• Guns of August, The by Barbara Tuchman (Oct. 2014)

• Invention of Wings, The by Sue Monk Kidd (Oct. 2014)

• Story Hour, The by Thirty Umrigar (Oct. 2014)

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Oct. 2014)

• Children Act, The by Ian McEwan (Oct. 2014)

• All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Oct. 2014)

• Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, The by Gabrielle Zevin (Oct. 2014)

• Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The by Robert Louis Stevenson (Oct. 2014)

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Oct. 2014)

• Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers (Oct. 2014)

• Rosie Effect, The by Graeme Simison (Oct. 2014)

• Discovery of Witches, A by Deborah Harkness (Nov. 2014)

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Nov. 2014)

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Dec. 2014)

• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (Dec. 2014)

• New York Christmas, A by Anne Perry (Dec. 2014)

• Mistletoe Promise, The by Richard Paul Evans (Dec. 2014)

• Sudden Light, A by Garth Stein (Dec. 2014)

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Dec. 2014)

• Magician's Nephew, The by C.S. Lewis (Dec. 2014)

• Texts from Jane Eyre by Mallory Ortberg (Dec. 2014)

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (Dec. 2014)