My 2014 in Books

List taken from my good reads list, thus not exhaustive. Just FYI, no I do not want to be your friend on goodreads. I use this list to help me recall what I have read, do not care about you really.



The Flight of Gemma Hardy-  Irish, or Scottish novel. Can not remember. Motto of the story, everything almost always works out in the end.

Neverhome- Second book of the year where a women disguises herself to go and fight in the American civil war. Fast following, I like the gender issues but can not stand the war. I also like the strong women theme.

TomBoy- Graphic memoir of a female to will not conform to cultural stereotypes and her story while navigating childhood and adolescence. Teen aghast.

Midnight Crossroad-  Charlene Harris new series. Vampires, talking cats, and clairvoyants. So much love. I really should have waited until all three in the planed three book trilogy are out. I hate waiting. Excited about characters from her previous writings to make an appearance.

Family Pictures One husband, two families. Really how can a person be so stupid?

Station Eleven One of my new found loves this  year has been post- apocalypse novels. This one features present day 10 years post apocalypse. Flash backs give the back story as to where the characters came from. I love this author. The story is gripping and I found myself reading to fast, thus I will have the pleasure of re reading in the future. Highly recommend.

The Witches Daughter- Recommend by a friend. Slightly too graphic and violent and satanic for my tastes. A witch through the ages, and how she became. Story was interesting enough, just a little much.

After the End Teen novel. Realised about half way through it was a series.... next book not due until may 2015. Girl grows up isolated, knowing nothing little of the outside world then suddenly thrown into real life.. just didn't feel believable. I get it that it is fiction,  just left me feeling dis satisfied. Will read the second book though.

What we Hide Teen novel. English boarding school during the 1970s. Felt like I was missing the back story. Forgettable.

Why Grissery Bears Should Not Wear Underpants Funny comic. Not graphic novel, comic. Adult humor, although Maya did read it, but rather disguised, discarded it due to language.

Vivian Vs the Apololypste - Another teen novel, another novel about the end of the world, another novel that is a series that I didn't know about until the last page. A lot of teen drama for the world ending.

El Deafo - Graphic novel of ones coming of age being deaf. Maya really liked, bought her copy with birthday money.

Ashfall Series I read this series of books after Luke highly recommended them. I read these while on a mini holiday and just read them straight through. Teen series, with some teen drama but the story is so enthralling and riveting. The fall of society based on a the eruption of Yellowstone and the nuclear winter that follows in the mid-west USA. I find I frequently am thinking about some of the scenarios that the characters faced and how I would respond in the same situation. A recurrent theme in the novels are the procurement and securement of food and supplies. Usually, I am rather conscious of wastefulness, however even more so now. Highly recommended.

Through the Woods-  Creepy graphic novel. Had to tell Maya not to read it cause she might get nightmares. So would Luke.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Imagine living your life over and over again. All the different paths you would chose to take, and the memory to recall them all. A standout from the year. Science fiction but set in reality. Highly recommend.

Vintage- chick lit about clothes. Very predictable but none the less fun.

Then and Always- Very Marian Keyes but not her.

The Plain Janes- Cute graphic novel, which surprisingly made think about doing random acts of creativity. Have not yet done so yet but want it. Must get on that.

This is Not a Test- The world has been taken over by zombies... again and it a series again. 

This One Summer- Graphic novel about the two girls on the  cusp of maturity in Ontario's cottage country. Maya repeatitlly signs it out from the library.

A Week in Winter - I am sad that I have read Mauve Binchys last novel as she has passed away. I have been reading her since I was a teenager. Always with the same delight with how she weaves a story and its characters together.

The Here and Now- I didn't really expect to like this novel. The authors efforts in the past have been fun, some serious undertones but this was surprisingly good time travel teen drama.

Sister Wife - Teen polygyny drama. Felt a little formula.

Star Island- Silly fun read. Good for a beach holiday.

No Humans Involved- A otherworld book I amazingly had not read. Found at the hospital. The author came to Hanover this year and sadly I was working so could not see her.

No More Saturday Nights - Teen drama from when I was a teen. Found in a bin I have of books. Re- read it just for fun.

The Forever Girl- Alexander McCall Smith is a writing machine. Do not recall that much about the story. It was set in the Cayman islands and I read it in February and now I wonder why I do not live in the Cayman islands, at least in the winter.

I Shall Be Near to You I liked this book so much I bought a copy. Actual I had to cause I dropped in the bath and it was the library and they are anti a little bit of wrinkled pages. Again if only library fines were tax deductible. Cross dressing civil war drama. Sad endings.

Neverwhere - Very fantasy but I think there was a snow storm. It got confusing. Too many details.

Longbourn- I think I really liked this servant story, however I do not remember a single detail.

Anya's Ghost- Graphic novel. dark, would not allow Maya to read it, but I think she did anyway.

Journaling

To much self reflection and overthinking leads to anxiety i aways say, however saving of minior insignificant memories is rather important in a life. 

Hence, the question a day for five years journal. Found while late night surfing. Apparently there is one for kids which questions are funner, and one for couples which would be a little to ego stroking for my tastes and just to much. 

Luke and I are both taking a moment to write the answer to a simple question once a day. Should be interesting to note the changes in answers as the years past. 

One random sample questions....

~what do you lie about? 

~today I wore

~who was the last person you had an interesting conversation with? 

~what topic are you bored of talking about. 

~what's your mission? 

The last was a tad too deep.