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January 5, 2015
One of my challenges for 2014 was to read 14 books (I actually read or listened to 31), and thought that I’d share them with you! I tried to get a good mix of health, real life stories, mystery, enjoyment, and inspiration, and I’ve really enjoyed most of these below. I want books that I can learn something from- I want them to change my life.
Here’s a list of the books I’ve read in 2014:
Health
- Healthy You! While this book is primarily about weight loss (and I am in no way trying to lose weight at all), I won the book back in 2013 and decided to give it a quick read. The second half of the book includes some good recipes.
- Notes From A Blue Bike: I wrote an entire post about the book here. Check it out! I really loved that book, and would definitely go back and read it again.
Books Based On Real Life
- The Bible: One of my challenges in 2014 was to read the Bible from cover to cover in 12 months. It was a great experience.
- Stories I Only Tell My Friends. This is Rob Lowe’s autobiography, and it was really entertaining. I had no idea how he really came into most of the roles he’s had in his life, and it was fascinating.
- Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And other concerns: This is Mindy Kaling’s book, and I found it fairly humorous. It wasn’t deeply moving like The Hiding Place or The Fault In Our Stars, but I laughed and it was a fun little read.
- The Hiding Place: I wrote an entire post on this book here. This is a book about a family who chose to take in a number of Jews during WWII, and their subsequent experiences in a concentration camp.
- Mistaken Identity: The story of a car accident that left 4 students (and 1 staff member) dead, and 1 student alive. The identities of the student that lived and one who died were mixed up, and this error wasn’t discovered for 5 weeks. This is a really interesting read.
- The Lost Childhood: This book, by Yehuda Nir, is an autobiography, outlining his story of life in Poland as a Jew during World War II. The book was absolutely fascinating, especially as it was through the eyes of an adolescent male.
- 4:09:43: This book about the Boston Marathon Bombing included eye witness accounts from 70-some eye witnesses (I think it was that many). It was a quick read (I read it in an afternoon), but was really interesting.
- Elizabeth Smart: My Story: This is Elizabeth’s Story (that she wrote) about her 9 months spent being kidnapped and sexually assaulted. The story was inspiring (obviously not what happened to her, but her resiliency and mindset and strength within it), heartbreaking, and terrifying. It made me sick to read, but like I said, her resiliency and the strength she showed during those 9 months are pretty amazing.
- One Thousand Gifts: I didn’t love how this book was written, but I love the concept behind this book (gratitude and creating intentional focus on the gifts we have in life). This book explores how one woman’s life was changed by the practice of gratitude. I actually use an app that is based off this book to keep track of my “gifts” in life.
- Escaping Auschwitz: I just finished this book in mid-December, and I loved it! While it’s not a true story, it pulls together the stories of multiple people who did actually escape from Auschwitz during World War II. The book held my attention and I ended up staying up until 3 am to finish it because I was hooked!
Fun/Enjoyment/ Inspiration:
- Innocent Man: This was my first John Grisham book that I read. Based on a true story about a man on death row, this book was gripping and held my attention from start to finish.
- Playing For Pizza: Another John Grisham book about a man from the NFL that went to play in the Italian football league. I didn’t even know that Italy had a league until I read this book, so it was interesting (and a quick read!).
- The Street Lawyer: Another John Grisham book about a lawyer who, through a life-threatening experience, has a change of heart. This was fascinating.
- The Pardon: by James Grippando. This book was right next to the John Grisham books, and I grabbed it thinking it was a Grisham book, not realizing my mistake until I came home. His style is very similar to Grisham’s, and I really enjoyed it. It definitely had me on the edge of my seat most of the time.
- Gone Girl: This book was about a wife who goes missing, and a husband who is blamed for her disappearance. This book was brilliantly written, and every other chapter switched between the wife’s journal the the husband’s present-day story. FASCINATING.
- Sharp Objects: This book, by the same author as “Gone Girl”, was about a journalist who was sent back to her hometown to report on a case of two missing girls. This book provided a lot of entertainment, kept me guessing, and I loved the suspense. I definitely didn’t guess the ending!
- The Fault In Our Stars: Amazing- JUST. AMAZING. If you haven’t read this book yet, sprint immediately to the store and buy it asap. It was awesome, and I’m not sure I’ve felt so much emotion in a book before. I loved it.
- The Magician’s Nephew: The first book in The Chronicles of Narnia series. I read this book back in 4th or 5th grade, but haven’t read it sense that time. This sets up the creation of Narnia!
- The Horse and His Boy: The 3rd book in The Chronicles of Narnia. I’d never read this one before, so it was good to read it finally.
Books On CD
- Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay: I’ve read this series twice in 2012, and once in 2013, and knew I wanted to read it again this summer, so I found them on CD at the library and listened as I drove!
- Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings: This book was written by Michelle Knight, the first of three girls kidnapped by Ariel Castro in Cleveland. This book told her story of growing up (which was fascinating and heartbreaking), as well as her time in the house and her adjustment to life after. Like I said, this was absolutely heartbreaking and very interesting. There were definitely moments where it was really hard to listen, though.
- Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography: This book by Neil Patrick Harris is a funny (and sometimes a little bit annoying) twist on an autobiography. There were some parts I was genuinely uninterested in, but overall it was pretty interesting. I’m not sure I would’ve kept reading if it had been in book form, but it was enjoyable enough when I was sitting in the car anyways.
- Sunrise Over Fallujah: I’m not sure what led to me grabbing this book on CD off the shelf, but I did. I didn’t love it, but wonder if I would’ve enjoyed this particular book more if I could’ve read it instead of listening to it while driving.
- The Divergent Series: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant. It was sort of one of my hidden goals for the year to get these books checked off my list. I had forgotten about it until I saw the series on CD at the library, and snatched it up! I finished allegiant in mid-December. I enjoyed the series, and can’t wait to see the next movie!
- Orange Is The New Black: This was on my list of books to read since 2013, so when I saw that I could borrow it from the library via my phone, I knew this was the book that I wanted to listen to on the long drive to visit my parents over Christmas. I just finished this book on December 29th, and I found it SO interesting. I’ve watched both seasons of the TV show, so I enjoyed hearing what she actually wrote (and figuring out what things were just added for the show!). I loved this one.
I’ve really enjoyed listening to books on tape. I’ve been able to listen to all sorts of great books, and it’s made the hours I spent in the car a lot more fun and relaxing (over half the week I end up driving at least an hour a day). I’ve been able to listen to some books that have been on my list for awhile, and I love being able to get more than one thing done at once! Books on CD will definitely be part of my plan in 2015!
Now it’s your turn to share! Did you read any good book sin 2014? If so, share! Any suggestions for my book list for 2015?
Awesome list! I read a few of the “fun” books you read. I’m not great about reading non-fiction so I’m trying to squeeze ina few more of those in 2015. My goal is to read 50 books this year which will be quite the challenge. I think my favorites from 2014 are: Me Before You (Jojo Moyes), The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) and I Know This Much Is True (Wally Lamb).
Those sound like good books- I’m off to check them out. Thanks for sharing, and good luck with your goal in 2015!
I LOVED the Fault is in Our Stars. Gone Girl I could not put down, but then the end drove me NUTS!!!
I loved the fault in our stars too. My brother got me the movie for Christmas (I’ve already seen it), and am so excited to watch it again! I haven’t seen the Gone Girl movie- have you? The ending was definitely pretty crazy!