TheCompanySheKeeps

Books I read in 2014:

1. We Are Water, Wally Lamb
2. The Theory of Opposites, Allison Winn Scotch
3. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
4. All The Lonely People, Jess Riley
5. How To Talk To A Widower, Jonathan Tropper
6. I Am Nujood, Age 10 & Divorced, Nujood Ali w/ Delphine Minoui
7. Mouseton Abbey
8. Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together, Pamela Slim
9. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
10. The Blindfolded Marriage: Ever Feel Like Your Relationship Is Harder Than It Should Be? Jonathan Hoover
11. The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan
12. The Mastery of Management: or How To Solve The Mystery of Mismanagement, Taibi Kahler
13. Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger’s, John Elder Robison
14. Daring Greatly: How The Courage To Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, & Parent, Brene Brown
15. A Memoir of Going Home: Mennonite In A Little Black Dress, Rhoda Janzen
16. The Dream Manager, Matthew Kelly
17. Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy’s Trip To Heaven, Todd Bopo, Sonja Bopo, & Colton Bopo
18. The Giver, Lois Lowry
19. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
20. Remember Me Like This, Bret Anthony Johnson
21. Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell
22. This Is Where I Leave You, Jonathan Tropper
23. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
24. The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty
25. The Lone Survivor, Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
26. Moloka’I, Alan Brennert
27. Landline, Rainbow Rowell
28. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
29. The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis
30. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life From Dear Sugar, Cheryl Strayed
31. Larger Than Life, Jodi Picoult
32. Tell The Wolves I’m Home, Carol Rifka Brunt
33. The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls
34. Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale, Ian Morgan Cron
35. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
36. Learning From The Voices In My Head, Eleanor Longden
37. Bossypants, Tina Fey
38. Blind, Rachel DeWoskin
39. Get Busy Living, Jenny Hardin
40. American Sniper, Chris Kyle
41. Dark Places, Gillian Flynn
42. Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn
43. Plain Truth, Jodi Picoult
44. The Light Between Oceans: A Novel, M.L. Stedman
45. Natural Spirituality: Recovering the Wisdom Tradition In Christianity, Joyce Rockwood Hudson
46. Department of Speculation, Jenny Offill
47. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
48. You Better Not Cry, Augusten Burroughs
49. The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman
50. The Silver Star, Jeanette Walls
51. Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche, Ethan Watters
52. Euphoria, Lily King

My top 5 favorite (In no particular order):

As much as I love to read, I like to remind my girls, that true life is by far more interesting than fiction. I’ve always been a sucker for true life stories, and this one, my friends, is utterly fascinating.

2014 was the year I learned about Brene Brown and subsequently fell in love. Like her, I’m a LMSW so the self help genre has always interested me. Naturally, there are a lot of “crap” books out there that fall under self help, but this one is a complete and utter gem. If you’ve seen either one of her TED Talks then this book is that on steroids! You cannot go wrong reading this book. I guarantee you will learn something about yourself.

I don’t recall how I came across this book. I’m thinking perhaps I read an article about it or the author; I know it wasn’t recommended to me, but oh my this book! Yes, it’s geared toward teen and young adult, but I don’t care. This is still probably one of my favorites. It’s set in the 1980’s and involves comic books, mixed tapes, and first love, need I say more? What sets it apart is that as I completed it, I knew without a doubt, my oldest daughter (13 at the time) would absolutely adore it – and she did. We both hope that it will make it’s way to the big screen – only if it does the book justice, though. One of the many things I love about books is their ability to transcend age and unite generations and this book did just that.

Growing up, my dad was never much of a reader (other than the newspaper), though on those big, long distance road trips, he’d check out an audio book or two from the library and listen to them. It’s only in retirement, and really even only in the last couple of years, that he’s started to read books. He’s been a Christian since before my parents met and married, and will gladly tell you how he came to accept Christ in his life and the peace he’s had ever since. This is the first book, outside of scriptures in the bible that I’ve read that is faith based. It’s small, but mighty and shook me to my core.

One of my childhood friends is an English professor and during my quest to fulfill my goal, she’d routinely recommend books to me. I read one or two and wasn’t as moved by them as she, but then she suggested I read this one and I am so very glad I did. It is heartbreakingly beautiful. The emotions in this book are raw and tangible. It’s soon to be released as a major motion picture and while I generally hesitate to see a movie once I’ve read the book, I’m actually looking forward to this one.

The official movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5SOdK-9f_A

Through this experience, I discovered new to me authors like Jonathan Tropper and Liane Moriarty and have enjoyed reading other books by them. Lastly, even though the books didn’t make it into my top 5 of 2014, there are two books that, while not my favorite, have definitely stayed with me. Moloka’i by Alan Brennert and The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion.

On New Year’s Eve of 2014, I set out to read 52 books in the year. I’m proud to report I was successful in achieving my goal and it very well may have been my first time ever (and last) accomplishing a New Year’s Eve goal.

I’ve always been an avid reader. I was the kid who got busted for reading by the light of the hallway when I should have been fast asleep. I spent plenty a pretty penny of my earned or gifted money on books. Sweet Valley High or VC Andrews, anyone? On long road trips with family I spent the passing time with my nose in a book and as daylight turned to dusk, I would strain my eyes savoring the last little bit of natural light reading what I could. Or the times I would feel extremely lucky if there was a constant stream of cars behind us. Oh yeah, I was that kid who read by the headlight of another car as it shone in from behind because my parents refused to drove with an overhead light on. Kids these days don’t know the struggle!

As the years passed, depending upon the stage of my life, I read more or significantly less. I distinctly remember not wanting to read much of anything after graduating with my Bachelor’s, but even that only lasted a few months as I fell in love with the works of Wally Lamb and later Augusten Burroughs. After my girls were born, I read mostly children’s books, but managed to sneak in a few while they were still relatively young, or again on road trips. While I worked towards my Master’s degree, I reverted back to my undergrad days as so much of my time was spent reading texts and books that were required; any reading for pleasure was put off until I walked at graduation in 2009. When 2014 came along, I challenged myself and since I had to keep track of each book, I began my list. After the completion of each book, I’d post a picture and a quote commemorating the moment. While I no longer feel compelled to read 52 books a year, I still read and have maintained my lists for each subsequent year and decided to add them here.

Friends routinely ask me for book recommendations and I’ll gladly give them; however, books to me are very much like music in that what appeals to some doesn’t to others. Mostly, I read fiction and memoirs for pleasure, but occasionally, I’ll read to learn more about a time in history or relevant topic. Come along and join me, you just might stumble across a book you love.