The best book I read in 2014 was... [add yours]

[chicaguapa]

1 month to go and I already know that this will be the best book I read this year. I absolutely loved it. It's £2.99 for the Kindle version and you'll want to read it again as soon as you finish.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

I think forster has gone off now she is older. A pity. Her last but one novel about some women related was just shite

oh this is a great non fic about the Berlin wall too www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0465064949?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

When hitler stole pink rabbit. It was lovely.

The Book of Strange New Things, Michel Faber.

One review says "The only way to get relief from this astonishing work is to turn the page" and another broadsheet says "Just read it."

Mesmerising.

liked the Children act too is very short www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K7ED57Y?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_

and Zone of Interest about WW2 www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00K0M6K2A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o04_

ALWAYS love to hate the Seraillier ones by Susan Hill in their smug middle classness

Liked Paying guests
Tolerated the I am pilgrim thing

the new John Grisham was ace - Sycamore Row

the night guest was a bit stupid
the Tanya Byron grew on me
Went off the last Peter May one entry Island
everyday sexism BORING

this was ACE though - right up there with the interestings
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GW5DYAA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o00_

I agree Noelle about Margaret Forster - her earlier novels are much better. I think she's at her best when she writes about her family history and her current book is in that vein. Years ago her book about her mother and grandmother ' Hidden Lives' made me weep - it's still one of my favourite books.

that was an amazing book, Hidden Lives.

in that vein I read this and it was very revealing www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Secrets-Things-British-History/dp/0141048573/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1417646035&sr=1-3&keywords=secrets+family

Another vote for these
Americanah
Far from the tree - Andrew Solomon (non-fiction)
the goldfinch
the memory tree
the interestings
the miniaturist
we were liars

And not yet mentioned
I really enjoyed clothes,clothes, clothes, music, music, music, boys, boys boys by Viv Albertine. Just an interesting life story, you don't have to have an interest in the punk scene to enjoy it.

Thanks for the recommendation Noelle - I've just downloaded it to my Kindle!

I got bored in anericanah

The Book Thief- Markus Zusak
As is usually the way, the book is way better than the film.

The History of the Rain - Niall Williams
God, I loved this. Why haven't more people read this?! Honestly, I think I am on a one-woman mission about this book. Read it people. Read it now.

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Beyond awesome.

Also enjoyed Life After Life and Burial Rights a lot. Goldfinch good but not great.

Another couple of good ones this year. The book thief, and City of women. Didn't enjoy And the mountains echoed as much as I thought i would.

Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indridason. Book 9 of the Erlendur mysteries, all beautifully translated from the Icelandic, this one has an ethereal quality but don't read it before you've read the others in the series!

loved Kate Atkinson's Life after life - read it twice!

Lamentation - the new Shardlake saga by C J Sansom closely followed by the Miniaturist. Though I have the Goldfinch ready to start as soon as I've finished The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable (yes, its aimed at a young readership but Russia, snow, princesses and diamonds appeal to my 30something self too!)

For sheer reading pleasure, I vote for How To Be a Heroine, by Samantha Ellis. In a not dissimilar vein, I also enjoyed The Road to Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead.

My fiction choices are older books that I read for the first time - A Month in the Country by J L Carr and Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon.

In terms of the book I was most pleasantly surprised by, The Cuckoo's Calling. I'm not a fan of Harry Potter but DH is so he bought it and I thought I'd give it a go. I really enjoyed it and The Silkworm as well.

The Goldfinch is indeed a masterpiece of writing and I envy anyone who hasn't read it yet!

Glad to hear Completely Beside Ourselves is going down well, it's on my Christmas list

Whippetwoman - thats a two woman mission! I too absolutely loved History of the Rain. It was my favourite of the year and I've recommended it to loads of friends but haven't met anyone else who has read it. It was just so beautiful, will definitely go back to it.
I've been meaning to read Farenheit 451, glad to hear it was that good.

My joint second favourites:
The Miniaturist
Americanah
Nothing to Envy
The Good Earth
I Am Pilgrim

And I can't wait to read The Goldfinch over the Christmas break.

Stoner by John Williams. One of the most beautifully written and moving books I have ever read.

Slubber I agree with you, Stoner is an amazing book.

True Grit by Charles Portis, the book that was turned into the John Wayne and then the Jeff Bridges film.

The main character and narrator Mattie Ross is awesome, determined to control her own life and make her own decisions at 14 years old. If you don't know the story it follows her on the trail of her father's killer in Arkansas and what is now Oklahoma. Loved it.

The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng. Beautiful.