Books I Read In 2014

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Hello there you lovely lot and a very happy new year to you all! I have been thinking about my first post of the new year for quite a while unsure weather to write the almost -it seems - obligatory "My Resolutions For The New Year" post or the just as commonly posted "A Look Back At My 2014" but I decided against both of these. Simply because I don't think 2014 has been a year of particularly amazing and interesting things to look back on (don't get me wrong it wasn't boring or anything but it was just your average year of being a student - nothing new) and also because I didn't make any resolutions for the new year. I didn't want to study more, work out more, eat more healthily, drink more water or anything of the kind simply because - and there you have it - I'm scared of the year ahead and I'm currently thinking in very small steps. There's exams coming up soon (the reason for the shortage of new posts on here) which (as always) I'm terrified of. Also if everything goes to plan I should be finishing uni this year which I couldn't be more happy about but which also scares me shitless. I mean I have no idea what I'll be doing by the end of this year (and I'm a planner I like to know what I'll be doing and when) so making resolutions for a year this unpredictable seemed somewhat crazy. So what I decided to do instead, was share my 2014 reads with you! It's a relatively short list as I haven't gotten round to reading a lot this last year and therefore only features 17 books. Maybe there's a resolution right there and I should sign up for a goodreads challenge or something to get me to read a bit more in 2015? Well anyways, enough rambling, here's my 2014 reads in chronological order ;-) :

Cassandra Clare:

City of Bones

City of Ashes

City of Glass

City of Fallen Angels

City of Lost Souls

City of Heavenly Fire

I'm not gonna go into every single one of these but let me just tell you that the Mortal Instruments series really had me hooked! It's not the kind of books/ genre I usually go for so I wasn't sure at first if I was gonna like it but it was very captivating and almost unputdownable. As soon as I finished book one I went to get book two and it felt like torture having to wait a couple of months for the sixth book. So if you're looking for a gripping read then this is definitely for you.

Charles Dickens:

Great Expectations

Great Expectations was on my list of "classics I want to read" for absolute ages and this year I finally got round to reading it! I enjoyed it and I really like Dickens' style of writing but it still took me weeks to get through the entire book so definitely not a light and super easy read for me but like I said I still really enjoyed seeing Pip's story unfold. Also look at that beautiful edition right here! It's from the Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classic Collection, they do a lot of really pretty looking classics so if you're into that kinda thing have a look on amazon right here.

Gillian Flynn:

Gone Girl

Dark Places

I LOVED reading 'Gone Girl'! It's so full of twists and shifts in perspective and unpredictable things happening and just all round amazing! If you haven't read it yet I'd suggest you do something about that now ;-)

But you know what? I've also read 'Dark Places' by Gillian Flynn and it's EVEN BETTER than Gone Girl! This book had me hooked from the first page, I read it cover to cover and it seriously kept me on the edge of my seat wondering if the whole truth would ever be uncovered til the very last page. Definitely the best Gillian Flynn novel out there!

John Lanchester:

Capital

I had heard a lot of good things about this book so consequently I went and got a copy. OK I admit it didn't take much to convince me that it would be a good read, telling me it was set in London - and in the area I used to live in - was quite enough. I loved reading this book even though it wasn't one of those love at first page kinda moments (it did take me a while to get into the story). It tells the story of a few people from different parts of society all connected through that neighbourhood/ road they all live in or work at. It's funny and sometimes sad, but always entertaining!

Zadie Smith:

I'm not gonna lie, this book was not what I thought it would be. I read so many good reviews on this so I was rather disappointed when I actually started reading it myself. I found it seriously hard to read at times, couldn't really connect to the characters in the book and it took me ages to get through it because I honestly lost interest about half way through. As I have this policy about finishing books I started reading I went on though and eventually got through it. Now I almost made it sound like it's super horrible - it isn't, and I'm sure a lot of you would disagree with me on this one and tell me that you loved reading it but all in all it just wasn't for me.

Dan Brown:

Inferno

I've read quite a few books by Dan Brown and every single one was an absolute pageturner! I've been anticipating the release of this book ever since I finished reading 'The Lost Symbol' (which is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.) and wasn't disappointed by the newest Robert Langdon adventure! It's fast paced like all of Dan Brown's stories and you learn a lot about Italian history and famous Florence (amongst other places). It's a seriously good book so do give it a read.

Cassandra Clare:

Clockwork Angel

Clockwork Prince

Clockwork Princess

After reading the Mortal Instruments series I was intrigued to find out more about the Shadowhunter world and consequently picked up the prequel 'The Infernal Devices'. I really enjoyed this trilogy even more so as it is set in London (always gets me..) and better still in a Victorian London! If you read the Mortal Instruments you should definitely get these. You won't be disappointed!

Jane Shemilt:

Daughter

I'm not gonna go into this one because I wrote one big review about it and you can check that out here if you're interested (no spoilers I promise!) If you love a good crime story then pick this up asap! ;-)

Charles Dickens:

A Christmas Carol

I picked this up because I wanted an easy christmassy read and because the fact I never actually read it before shocked me deeply. Like everybody else I knew the story about Ebenezer Scrooge from countless children's film adaptions but reading the real thing had to happen and so it did! I enjoyed it and as it's a very thin book it might be the perfect book to start with should you plan on reading more classics this year ;-)

So this is it for all the books I read last year. Have you read any of them or are any of them on your to-read lists for 2015? Let me know in the comments and leave your suggestions of books I should pick up this year :-)

Love,
Jess x

Jess

4 Kommentare

Joanne Amarisa8 January 2015 at 12:26
Hmmm, totally gonna check out "Daughter" then! <3 Beautiful post, thanks for sharing!

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Unknown23 January 2015 at 14:37
Ive always wanted to read Dan Brown's Inferno but for some reason I was just so intimidated!!!

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