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What Was the Best Book You Read in 2014?
Emily Dickinson (born on this day) said: “If I read a book [and] it makes my whole body so cold no fire ever can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
Artwork from Amandine Alessandra
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12 comments for “What Was the Best Book You Read in 2014?”
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Well, I didn’t read as much as I’d like to (or should have), but here are my winners:
Fiction: Housekeeping (Marilyn Robinson)
Nonfiction: Little Failure (Gary Shteyngart)
Cookbook/Food-Related: The Third Plate (Dan Barber)–yeah, it’s nonfiction, but I think food and cooking are its own category (for actual cookbook, My Paris Kitchen (David Lebovitz)
I love Gary Shteyngart and enjoyed reading Little Failure too.
I spent way too much of my year reading The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt). I know it won the Pulitzer and all, but for me it was a real slog to get through.
I ended up loving Goldfinch, even though it irritated me along the way.
A friend was just talking about My Paris Kitchen. I hear it’s great. (Housekeeping, amazing!)
I read many books in 2014, The Goldfinch included, which was good, but I agree with you that it was a real slog to get through. The best novel I read was Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward and the best nonfiction was Wave by Sonali Deraniyagaia. Both haunted me afterwards.
I hadn’t heard of either of those books, but I’ll check them out. Thanks, Cathy!
I think the best was Lucky Us by Amy Bloom or The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, but I also tore through the collected works of Rainbow Rowell this year and really love the way she writes about the way it feels to intensely fall for another person whether you want to or not.
These are great recommendations, Allison. What’s your best resource to find out about good books?
just finished All the Light We Cannot See and thought it was absolutely beautiful- can’t stop thinking about it!
This book caught my attention, when it showed up on the NY Times list of 10 best of the year. Looking forward to it.
“All We Had” by Annie Weatherwax, a debut author, really got me. The crispiness and clarity of her writing in a story about the bond between a mother and daughter in poverty was exceptional. “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson was a force. That was one of the few books that felt like work but when I finished, I had such a feeling of accomplishment, which may be a good or bad thing. Both books have stayed with me long after I read them.
A feeling of accomplishment is always a good thing – especially when it comes to reading a book.