2014: A Year In Review

Mouse, December 2014

Two thousand fourteen has been an ordinary year for the most part with its ups and downs. Our senior cat, Parker, continues to have health issues, although both he and our younger cat, Gracie, are as playful and affectionate as ever. My husband, daughter, and I saw each other through work, financial and life stressors, and several illnesses, including my recent surgery which put me out of work for several weeks. The doctor has lifted most of the restrictions as of now, thank goodness. It was months of pain and worry as I waited for a diagnosis, deliberated over my options and then the surgery. I am glad to be on the other end of all that now. I know my family is too.

I cannot thank my mother enough for all the help she provided us this year. It is not always easy for me to ask for help, even from family. We are so lucky to have her in our lives. I really need to express that to her more often.

It was a good year in many ways. The happiest moments were often the most simple: cuddling on the couch, reading a good book, playing dominoes, the feeling at the end of a good workout, finally winning that computer game, playing hide and seek or playing house, that first smile or kiss of the day, tackling a family project, work accomplishments, warm hugs, recounting our favorite parts of our day, singing along to a favorite song on the radio, making silly faces at each other, and just being together. There were extended family visits and trips to Disneyland. Lots of laughter and love. I have the best husband and daughter. And my cats are pretty special too. Oh, and good books. I can't forget those.

I enjoyed answering Jamie's (The Perpetual Page Turner) End of the Year Survey in past years and decided to join in again this year.  I did alter some of the questions and subtracted a few to make it my own.

1. Best books read in 2014?

Seven books stand out above all the others I read this year. Three were part of a trilogy and I could not separate them out, hence seven instead of a top five like I initially intended. Each of these books made my list for a variety of reasons: rich character development, beautiful writing style, and a great story for starters. Every one of them touched me deeply in some way. Ben H. Winters' Hank Palace is my new literary crush; Yangszee Choo wowed me with her imagery and mystery of the afterlife; my heart ached for Susan and Maud in Fingersmith; I was swept away by Ann Leary's writing and depth into the heart and mind of Hildy; and just how much Sandra Hunter's heart-wrenching story spoke to and moved me. It was more than that, of course, with each book. If you haven't, I hope you will consider seeing for yourself.

Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

The Good House by Ann Leary

The Ghost Bride by Yangzee Choo

The Last Policeman Trilogy by Ben H. Winters (all three books in the trilogy were awesome)

2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t?

I had high hopes for Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale, but ultimately was disappointed. There were parts I loved. In the end, however, I was left feeling I missed something and was not completely satisfied with the ending.

And Isabel Allende's Ripper was another one I found disappointing. I had heard such wonderful things about the author's work, and so my expectations were high.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014?

I had avoided reading anything by Jennifer Crusie for years because I did not think her books were for me. I read Fast Women for an online book group in early 2014 and was pleasantly surprised. The characters were well drawn, the story intriguing, and, despite its length, I raced through it, not wanting to put it down.

After being sorely disappointed with Beautiful Creatures, I was leery of Veronica Roth's Divergent. I ended up loving it.

4. Book you read in 2014 that you recommended to people most in 2014?

There were quite a few books that I read this year I have recommended to people (and given away as gifts), The Last Policeman Trilogy being at the top of the list.

5. Best series you discovered in 2014?

The Last Policeman Trilogy, of course!  I also read the first book in the Dead Witch Walking series by Kim Harrison and am excited to read the rest of the series.

Michael Robotham is a new to me crime fiction author I discovered just this year. I read three of his books and enjoyed each one.

6. New authors you discovered in 2014 and hope to read more by?

I read books by several new to me authors this year who are now on my "must read again" list.  I also finally got around to reading books by authors I have been wanting to read for years.

Jennifer Robson

Jennifer Crusie

Liane Moriarty
Michael Robotham
Ann Patchett
Max Austin
Kim Harrison
Ann Leary

Sandra Hunter

Heather Gudenkauf

Margaret Atwood
Ben H. Winters

Heather Graham
Yangszee Choo
Marc Krulewitch
Joshilyn Jackson
Rebecca Chastain
Malinda Lo
Deanna Raybourn

Sarah Waters
Rachel Caine
Sarah Jio
Sara Morgan
Cara Hoffman

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone?

While Science Fiction is not a new to me genre, it is not one I read often. I read a surprising number of books with science fiction elements in 2014. Among those was Liz Strange's novel, Erased. Erased was an intense and enjoyable book. It made me wonder why I do not read science fiction more often.

I read a surprising amount of romance novels this year, which was a huge shift in my reading as compared to past years. I have always enjoyed romance as a side dish in the novels I read, but as a main course . . . Well, this is new for me. At least new in the last two decades or so.  I had burned out on the genre long ago, but the last couple of years I have been venturing back into it.

It would be easy to point to novels I thoroughly enjoyed such as Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson and The Ghost Bride by Yangszee Choo, Deanna Raybourn's Night of a Thousand Stars, or The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I feel like that's cheating because I do not think of any of those books as being strictly romance novels. Even so, they each have strong love stories which moved me in some way. But if I were to choose one, separate from those that was more strictly romance, I would have to say Sarah Jio's The Look of Love.

8. Top five favorite covers of a books you read in 2014?

9. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2014?

I related to Sandra Hunter's Losing Touch on a deeply personal level. Even though my father died three years ago, I still find myself trying to know and understand him. I saw my father in Arjun, one of the main characters in the book.  And that final scene in the novel . . . I still cannot get it out of my head, and my eyes still well up with tears when I think of it.

Heather Gudenkauf's Little Mercies  also had a big impact on me. I was not sure I would be able to stomach the subject matter, but it was a book that reminded me how, as I stated in my original review, the "little mercies in our lives [...] help us get through even when we feel at our most helpless."

10. Shortest and longest book you read in 2014?

The Final Solution by Michael Chabon - 131 pages

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin at 768 pages

11. Favorite book you read in 2014 by an author you’ve read previously?

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness. I also really enjoyed Lisa See's Shanghai Girls.

12. Genre you read the most from in 2014? 

I was disappointed to learn that I read no nonfiction this year. Zip. I am not sure how that happened. Admittedly, I am not a prolific nonfiction reader, but I usually fit something in now and then.  I need to remedy that in 2015.

Some fun meaningless statistics:
(Much of what I read was falls under more than one genre. Here, I count them under the genre I most identified with the book).

Crime Fiction (mysteries & thrillers) - 19
Urban Fantasy - 15
Paranormal Romance - 5
Contemporary Romance - 10
Historical Fiction - 7
Contemporary Fiction - 17
Science Fiction - 5

Of those, 9 were labeled as Young Adult.

62 of the 78 books I read in 2014 were written by women.

I rated:
5 Paws (Outstanding) - 1
4.5 Paws - 9
4 Paws (Very Good) - 21
3.5 Paws - 34
3 Paws (Good) - 8
2.5 Paws - 4
2 Paws (Fair) - 1

Month I Read the Most Books: December - 10
Month I Read the Least Books: April - 4

13. Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting?

Despite my disappointment in the book Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin, the world building was amazing. I could feel the freezing cold as I read and I loved the author's descriptions of his various settings, especially New York.

Dare I mention Ben H. Winters' The Last Policeman Trilogy again? The premise of the novel, an asteroid on its way to destroy a good part of the earth and possibly wipe out civilization may sound out there, but the the author was very meticulous in detail with the impact such an event would have on society from an individual to a more macro level.

14. Which book made me smile and smile and smile?

Deanna Raybourn's Night of a Thousand Stars.

15. Book that made you cry?

The better question is what book didn't make me cry. I am such a cry baby when it comes to books. Losing Touch by Sandra Hunter, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and Last Train to Babylon by Charlee Fam were among the worst offenders (in a good way, each of them).

16. Most unique book you read?

Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke - This is one of those books I hesitate to talk about in depth with someone who hasn't read it. Just about anything I might say would be a spoiler.


17. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of 2014?

I participated in several challenges, each of which I completed.  I also read three books alongside Carrie in her "I've Always Meant to Read That Book!" Challenge (State of Wonder, A Prayer for Owen Meany and Blind Assassin), although not as many as I had hoped. I joined Jennifer of Literate Housewife in her Fingersmith Read-A-Long, which was a lot of fun.

I had hoped to make 2014 the Year of Re-Discovery, which did not happen.  So, in that, I failed. Perhaps this will be a goal I will work on this coming year.

Here is a summary of the challenges I completed:

I came close to not finishing the What's In A Name Challenge hosted by Charlie from The Worm Hole. When I began the year, I was not intentionally reading books to fit the challenge categories. Luck was with me. That changed when the end was in sight and I had two to go.

A reference to time in the title ~ Labor Day by Joyce Maynard 
A position of royalty in the title ~ Duke City Split  by Max Austin 

A number written in letters in the title ~  Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn

A forename or names in the title ~ A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

A type or element of weather in the title ~ Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

A book with a school subject in the title ~ The Art of Arranging Flowers by Lynne Branard

I challenged myself to read at least 5 historical fiction novels in 2014 for Historical Tapestry's Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, and I ended up reading nine that qualified. Both Irving and Atwood's books take the reader into the past as the characters remember in their present times. There is enough history included for the books to count towards this challenge, fortunately.

1. Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson

2. The Final Solution: A Story of Detection  by Michael Chabon
3. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
4. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
5. Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
6. The Ghost Bride by Yangszee Choo
7. Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn 

8. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

9. The Summer of Long Knives by Jim Snowden

The Book to Movie Challenge hosted by Katie of Doing Dewey and Sergio of Tipping my Fedora was a lot of fun. I committed to read/watch six for the challenge. I had expected to exceed my goal, but it wasn't meant to be.

1.  Beautiful Creatures  by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl 

2. Labor Day by Joyce Maynard  

3. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin

4. Divergent  by Veronica Roth

5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

6. A Prayer for Owen Meany  by John Irving

I was hesitant to join the Chunkster Challenge hosted by Vasilly of 1330V, but I could not resist.  Chunksters are defined as being 450 pages or more. I agreed to read 5 chunksters this year. Some were fairly quick books to read given the type of book and subject matter (the challenge allowed YA books). A few others took me a while to work my way through. I ended up reading eleven chunksters in 2015.

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin - 768 pgs
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving - 640 pgs
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - 582 pgs
Beautiful Creatures  by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl - 577 pgs
The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness - 561 pgs
Insurgent by Veronica Roth - 544 pgs
Allegiant  by Veronica Roth - 544 pgs
Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - 521 pgs
Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie - 496 pgs
Ripper by Isabel Allende - 496 pgs

Divergent  by Veronica Roth - 487 pgs

I also participated in the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril.  I challenged myself to read four books for the event, and I ended up reading six.

The Betrayed  by Heather Graham 

A Penny for a Hangman by Tom Savage 

A Fistful of Evil  by Rebecca Chastain 

Ash by Malinda Lo

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

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18. Looking ahead to 2015, do you have any goals for reading or your blog? Or life in general?

I have no plans as of now to join any reading challenges, but I have said that before. They can be so hard to resist! Let's see . . . Goals for the New Year. As long as we don't call them New Year's Resolutions, I am good. Semantics, I know. Still.

Reading Goals:
Read more nonfiction
Read more diversely
Re-discover favorite authors
Catch up on at least three favorite series
Read a book whose author's surname begins with an X.

Blogging Goals:
Make Mouse's Corner a more regular feature on my blog, including guest posts from authors, fellow bloggers and readers on topics related to children's books and reading (if you are interested, let me know!).

Life Goals:
Live more in the moment and less in my head
Continue to improve my health through exercise and eating right
Write more letters
Be a better wife and mother

I do not know what 2015 will hold for any of us, but I look forward to another year of blogging and sharing my life with you. Thanks to all of you, whether you are a long time reader, a sporadic visitor or visiting for the first time.  I hope your New Year is filled with love, laughter, good health, and the makings of many good memories. And may you read many wonderful books!

Happy New Year!

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© 2014, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.