What was you favourite book of 2014?

[mmack]

It's exactly three months to Christmas so I'm thinking about what books I would like to find under the tree. Would anyone like to tell me their favourite book of the year so far? I think mine would have to be Americanah. (I know it's very early to be thinking of Christmas btw but I like to get some small bits early before I have to do toys.)

I've not read many this year, but loved Life after Life.

Haven't had any 5 stars this year yet but enjoyed the Paying guests by Sarah Waters and The girl with all the gifts by M. R. Carey.

I think I'd struggle to narrow my list down to one favourite of the year, but a few have stood out for me as ones I'd happily re-read -

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (epic page-turner)
Gillespie & I by Jane Harris (I love an unreliable narrator, and this is good)
The Sea by John Banville (beautiful writing)
A Scattering, The Song of Lunch and Nonsense by Christopher Reid (poetry)
Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle - love history novels, and this one's about Katherine Parr
Restoration and Merivel by Rose Tremain - wonderful, literary, bawdy and often hilarious novels set in and around the Court of King Charles II
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield - creepy, gripping page turner
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith aka J K Rowling

Not finished for the year yet, so there will be more. Am reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt at the moment, and have The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton lined up for reading soon too. Part way through Americanah and have enjoyed what I've listened too so far.

"Was"? Is 2014 over?

My favourites so far are:
Confessions Of A Sociopath
Lexicon
Brilliance
The Luminaries
Bad Science
The Worst Journey In The World
Bach - Music In The Castle Of Heaven
Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You

Classed under "Mediocre books that others seem to love for some reason":
The Girl With All The Gifts
Life After Life
Shock Of The Fall
Wolf Hall
Let The Right One In

Appletree Yard. Excellent!

Favorites so far this year (though not necessarily released this year);

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Then - Julie Myerson.
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt.
Their Eyes Were Turned to God - Thora Neal
Gods and Beasts - Denise Mina.
Poppet - Mo Hayder
In Cold Blood - Truman Caopote
Helene Cixous - Coming to Writing.

Thanks for the replies.
Cote, I also loved The Luminaries and thought Life after Life and The Shock of the Fall were OK but overrated. The Girl with All the Gifts is on my Christmas list so I wonder if we'll agree on that too. Appletree Yard annoyed me because it had so may plot holes and The Goldfinch annoyed me twice as much because she is a great writer badly in need of a good editor.
I like Sarah Waters so Paying Guests must also go on my list, and also Bad Science.

Apple Tree Yard - Louise Doughty
Wake - Anna Hope
Elizabeth is missing - Emma Healey
Before we met - Lucie Whitehouse
The boy that never was - Karen Perry

My favourite reads so far this year are Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson, and Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller.

If you're after something new, then I highly recommend the recent Ian McEwan book, The Children Act.

Currently reading The Goldfinch and suspect this could end up in my top five for the year.

Agree with you and Cote about The Shock of the Fall.

Some of these have been mentioned but..

Not all released in 2014 either.

Paying Guests
We are all completely besides ourselves
The universe vs Alex Woods
The Golem and the jinni
Tell the wolves i'm home
Burial rites

I recommend The Children Act, Goldfinch, The Signature of All Things, The Vacationers (Emma Straub), Rivers of London - the series (Ben Aaronovitch)

My personal 2014 top 5 so far, although obviously not all written in 2014! (and list could change by year end as still a lot of reading time left):

1. The Children's Book, A.S. Byatt
2. The Lake, Banana Yoshimoto
3. East of Eden, John Steinbeck
4. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Haruki Murakami
5. Solar, Ian McEwan

*The Goldfinch
Sorry

BsshBosh, East of Eden would be in my Top 5 books of all time. I actually bought The Children's Book but haven't read it yet. Possession by A.S. Byatt would be one of my all time favourites also.

Oh yes, Possession was glorious. Do try The Children's Book. It's very different from Possession in that it's historically and charter-wise much more expansive. Yet it's still densely written and packed with detail. I learned so much about the late Victorian / early Edwardian era and actually took a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum to see it and its collection with new, Byatt-inspired eyes (even though I live in London and visit there regularly with my family).

Have you tried any Barbara Kingsolver books? The Poisonwood Bible is her classic, her recent Flight Behaviour is meant to be terrific and is on my to-read list. I've got The Lacuna lined up as my next read, set in Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera's household. My SIL is halfway through and is enthralled by it.

*character-wise not charter-wise (predictive text!).
Sorry

The Goldfinch, hands down the best I've read so far 2014

Last year my favourite was the Ocean at the end of the Lane.

I also liked this year - the Miniaturist and a couple by Malcolm Gladwell that've been out a while - Outliers and David & Goliath.

I thought the girl with all the gifts was total pants, btw. And Apple tree yard. I've had more meh reads this year than any other.

Thanks Taffeta, the Miniaturist looks pretty interesting. I has been a meh year, hasn't it? As well as those mentioned earlier I'm thinking of Sisterland, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Just What Kind of Mother Are You, Noah Hawley's The Good Father and Audrey Magee's The Undertaking as books that were OK but not as good as I hoped for.

The Goldfinch
Life After Life

The Goldfinch. Spinetinglingly good. An awful lot of normalised drug taking if giving it to a relative over ?60 (I know my DM and PILs wouldn't like it).

Life after Life. Terrific romp, great for Christmas.

The Goldfinch
A Tale for the Time Being - love love love this book
The Book Thief

Along with many PPs, I've loved The Goldfinch and Life After Life. I have dreams about both of them!

I've also re-read The Great Gatsby and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, both of which I really enjoyed. And I'm getting more ideas from this thread...