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?

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Allegiant is the third novel in the Divergent Trilogy, or should I say series now that a new book, Four, has been released.  I read the first two novels, Divergent and Insurgent last summer and literally couldn’t put them down.  I found them to be an exciting tale of a dystopian future with a great female hero and an interesting mystery of how exactly the different factions of the society in future Chicago were created.

Allegiant attempts to explain this mystery with Tris, Four, and friends becoming part of a new group, the Allegiant, that wants to return society to the old way of life that includes the factions.  This group escapes beyond the City walls and finds out what is in the world beyond.  Tris finds herself once again called upon to save the day.

Honestly, I had a hard time getting into this novel and unlike the previous two, I could easily put it down and didn’t feel the need to pick it up and finish it.  Part of the problem to me was the dual narration.  Tris and Four both narrated this novel; Tris was the sole narrator in the first two novels.  I didn’t see the point of the dual narration as the two were in the same place for most of the novel and didn’t have a distinctive voice.  I often had to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself who the narrator of this particular chapter was.  I also thought the mystery of the factions was a bit of a letdown and that there was no clear story for this one.  The sacrifice at the end didn’t seem reasonable or that it was really needed.  I didn’t feel like Tris had a clear goal or direction in this book.

Overall, Allegiant was a poor ending for the Divergent Trilogy with a shift in format and no clear direction on the action.  I felt like the first book was a great idea, but that the background for the idea had never been thought of until afterwards.

Book Source:  A Birthday Present from my Husband

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent is book two in the Divergent trilogy.  It’s hard to explain this one without ruining the plot.  Tris has made it through the training and has been selected to be initiated in her chosen faction, but war between the factions has broken out.  As a divergent, Tris finds herself among the hunted and also discovers that there are more divergents like herself.  Tris and Four find themselves at odds, but also working together with a team to try to bring peace back to the factions as well as to discover, why are their factions?  Why is there a fence around their community, what is on the outside?  I still want to know!

Insurgent wasn’t a strong a novel as Divergent, but I still highly enjoyed it.  I read through it quickly and thought it was very action packed.  I can’t wait to read Allegiant and see how it all ends.  Overall, this series is great and highly recommended!

Book Source:  A Birthday Present from my Husband

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent has been on my “to read” list for a few years now.  It moved up my list this past year as my students kept recommending it to me.  My husband Ben got the trilogy for me for my birthday this past spring so I finally read Divergent over the summer.  It was a book I literally couldn’t put down and read far into the night.  It definitely lived up to the hype for me.

Beatrice Pryor lives in a dystopian Chicago as part of the Abnegation (selfless) faction.  There are five factions in this future world all based on an attribute.   These factions include Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).  Beatrice has never really felt a part of her Abnegation faction.  Sixteen year olds are tested to see which faction they should belong too and then on a certain day a year, they are allowed to pick which faction they will belong too.  During Beatrice’s test, it is discovered that she is Divergent; she could belong to more than one faction.  She is told to hide this fact.

Beatrice decides to pick a different faction, which means that she can no longer be with her family and friends and live the life that she always thought she’d live.  She reinvents herself as Tris and finds herself in a high stack game of survival to make it through the initiation in her new faction.  She also discovers her attractive instructor, Four.  Four is badass, but also seems to hide a sensitive side.

I love a good dystopian novel, but I also love novels where the hero is trying to find themselves and where they belong in this world.  That is what Tris is trying to do in this novel as well as try to survive in an ever changing world.  There is also tension and a chaste budding romance between Tris and Four that I also loved. 

Overall, Divergent was an action packed novel with great characters and an intriguing premise.  It kept me reading far into the night and only took a couple of days to read.  I highly recommend it.  I still need to see the movie!

Book Source – A Birthday Present from my Husband