Laura’s Top Ten Books of 2014

I read a lot of wonderful books every year.  When I first started this blog, I used to do a top ten books list each year.  I have such lists for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 but then I started my new job as an instructor at NWTC and I fell off the list making wagon.  I decided this year, no matter how late in 2015 it became I would have my top ten list again!

When I make my top ten list, it is not of books published in 2014, but of books I read in 2014.  It also only includes books (or audiobooks) that I have read for the first time.  For example, I read A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich for maybe the sixth or so time this past year.  It’s one of my all-time favorite novels, but I’ve read it before so it won’t be on this list.   I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites this year – but here goes in no particular order.

1.       The Husband’s Secret Liane Moriarty – We read this for my book club, but sadly I had to miss the book club and discussion that month.  Moriarty wrote a fabulous multi-faceted novel that keep you intrigued and involved in the lives of all of the characters.

2.      The Innovators by Walter Isaacson – The Best Non-fiction book of the year for me.  I was fascinated by the lives of all of the individuals who through sacrifice, hard work, and a bit of luck were able to make the technology we take for granted today possibly.  This is a must read.

3.      You by Caroline Kepnes – I am still a little frightened thinking about this book.  The main narrator makes his love and the psychopathic choices he makes for this love seem like they make sense.  This is how a good love story can go very, very wrong.

4.      Divergent & Insurgent by Veronica Roth – Stay up all night to read kind of books.  Divergent and Insurgent were exciting adventures.  I just read the third book Allegiant in 2015. . . it was not nearly so good.

5.      Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon – Gabaldon is a master story teller and her books defy genres.  I loved getting to read more of Jamie and Claire’s tale, but yearn for more.  If you haven’t read this series, start with book one, Outlander.  You will not be sorry!

6.      Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – Even though I am an environmental engineer, I have never read this classic.  The disturbing part about reading it was discovering that although a lot has changed for the good since the 1960’s, a lot still hasn’t changed.  It was eye opening and still very relevant to today’s world.

7.      The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd – A great historical fiction novel about a real historical abolitionist that I had never heard of and the relationship with her slave.  Riveting and a great book club selection.

8.      The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert – Another great historical fiction novel, I loved the depths, the botany, and the struggle for a woman to find herself in middle age.  This was a great adventure and absorbing read.

9.      Me Before You by JoJo Moyes – Another book club favorite from 2014.  We still talk about this book and I still think about the ethical and emotional discussions it led to.  It was a wonderful love story, but so much more.  It really brought about a great discussion on what makes life worth living.  I really need to read more books by this author.  I read a lot of books last year, but I’ll admit that this was my favorite.

10.  The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness – I loved Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy.  This final book in the trilogy was very satisfying.  The trilogy has historical fiction, time travel, witches, vampires, demons, and how to accept that we are all different but from the same fabric of life.  A great fantasy romance.

Some other fantastic books I read this year that wanted to be in my top ten, but didn’t quite make it were A Good Marriage by Stephen King, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman, Netherwood and Ravenscliffe by Jane Sanderson, After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman, and Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield.

What were your favorite books of 2014?  Did you enjoy any of the selections above?

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kid was the FLICKS Book and Movie Club book of the month for May.  I admit that I was already a fan of Sue Monk Kidd and her novels The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair.  I was able to attend a talk by her that the Milwaukee County Library hosted back in 2005 or so with a member of a book club I belonged to while I lived in Milwaukee.  It was interesting to listen to her talk and I did get her autograph.  I am terrible at chit chat with “famous” people and didn’t ask her any questions myself.  Picture me silent and smiling.

Even though I loved The Secret Life of Bees, I thought The Invention of Wings was even better.  Even more fascinating was discovering at the end of the novel that the characters and the major events of their lives were all true.  I could hardly believe it and wondered why I had not heard of them before.  I applaud Sue Monk Kidd for taking some little known important women in our history and telling their story.

Sarah Grimke is the daughter of an important judge in Charleston South Carolina.  On her eleventh birthday she is given a slave, Handful, as a present from her mother.  Sarah does not want a human being as a present and finds the entire process distasteful.  She tries to free Handful, but discovers that her beloved father that had always encouraged her abolitionist debates on the owning of slaves does not share her views and takes away what she values most to make her learn her place as a woman in the South.  When her sister, Angelina, is born, Sarah becomes her Godmother and also helps to shape her views towards slavery and being a woman in the South. Together the two will shape their own fates.

Handful has big dreams of a life outside of slavery, but her mother Charlotte does more than dream.  As accomplished seamstresses, they are among the most valuable slaves owned by the Grimkes.  Charlotte starts to venture out from the family home with a fake pass to take on extra work to make money to save towards their freedom.  Along the way she meets an exciting and dangerous man.  When fate takes away her mother, Handful continues to work for her dreams.

Handful and Sarah are linked together as Handful is Sarah’s slave through childhood until Sarah returns her ownership to her mother. Sarah thinks of Handful as at times, as her only friend, but as Handful reminds her, she is not emptying her chamber pot because of friendship.  Sarah promise Charlotte that someday she will free Handful, and it is a promise that plagues her throughout her life.  How can she make it happen?

I was riveted by this book and had a hard time putting it down, which wasn’t good as I was reading it during my busiest time of the semester.  I loved it.  I love historical fiction and was fascinated by the entire story and especially inspired when I discovered it was true.  I loved Sarah and Handful, they were both strong female characters living in a world where it was hard to be a woman, and even harder to be an African American woman.  I loved how each chapter switched back and forth between their viewpoints throughout their lives.  I loved Sarah’s journey from the South to the North, and I loved Handful’s journey through life in one Charleston home.  It is strange to think that you couldn’t even walk down the street without fearing for your life back then.

The book was a great book club pick as it brought about great discussion when we met.  It is overall hard to imagine a world where owning other people is considered to be okay.  It’s terrifying to realize that people still think this is okay in this day and age.  It’s also hard to imagine a world where as a woman you had no rights and no way to handle your affairs without a man.  It is also disturbing that although there really was a Handful, her story cannot be fully discovered because she was a black female living during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was a great book for thought.

Overall, The Invention of Wings is an excellent book and a must read.  It is one of the best historical fiction books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of historical fiction.   I’m still thinking about this book even though I finished it two weeks ago!

Book Source:  I purchased this book from Amazon.com.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

I reread The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd a couple of days ago to refresh my memory before my Mom's Club Book Club tonight. I picked the book out as I really enjoyed it when I read it a couple of years ago.

I really enjoyed reading the book again. The novel tells the story of Lily Owens, a 14-year old girl who lives on a peach farm in South Carolina with her abusive father, T-Ray and her African American nanny Rosaleen. When Rosaleen offends some white men on her way to register to vote and ends up in jail, Lily breaks her out and runs away with her on a quest to learn more about her dead mother, Deborah. Her journey takes her to a bright pink house full of three sisters that are bee keepers. There she learns about life, love, and forgiveness.

It's a wonderful coming of age novel, especially as it is set in the turbulent South of 1964. I think it is a modern day classic. If you haven't read this wonderful novel yet - I highly recommend it!!