2014: Bookish Year in Review, Part II

If you missed Part I of my bookish 2014 wrap-up, check it out here.  Otherwise, onward to Part II – my top ten books of the year!  Even though I hit a major reading slump this year – a slump that’s still going, much as I try to claw my way out of the hole – I did read some really fantastic books.  Back in July, I shared the ten best books I’d read in the first half of the year, and some of those will be making their appearance on this list too, along with some from the second half of the year.  Read on to see my favorites from 2014, in no particular order:

 The Dead in their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce #6), by Alan Bradley – In the sixth installment of Flavia’s adventures, sleuthing takes a bit of a backseat as Flavia’s lost mother returns home.  Flavia spends a lot of the book learning many, many things she didn’t know about Harriet, and the book ended with the series poised to go in an entirely new direction.  I can’t wait to see what Flavia gets up to next, and I won’t have to wait long – the seventh volume is out this month and I’m already on the wait list for it at the library.

 The Writing Class, by Jincy Willet – Another from the first half of the year, The Writing Class is Jincy Willet’s introduction to reclusive writing teacher Amy Gallup.  Amy is a washed-up curmudgeon (once a critically praised writer, her books are now all out of print) who makes a little cash by teaching at the local university extension.  Amy’s classes are unremarkable until one fateful semester, when the group is terrorized by a “writing class sniper,” a class member with a cruel pen, a razor-sharp wit, and a complete disregard for human life.

 Amy Falls Down, by Jincy Willet – This fall, I read Willet’s second novel featuring Amy Gallup.  Amy Falls Down is a completely different book from The Writing Class, and I loved it, maybe, even more.  In this volume, Amy trips in her backyard and hits her head on a birdbath shortly before she is scheduled to give an interview to a local reporter.  In her concussed state, Amy presents as a complete eccentric, and her bizarre interview launches her career in ways she couldn’t possibly have foreseen.  You don’t have to have read The Writing Class to enjoy Amy Falls Down, although there are occasional references to the earlier book.

 Henrietta’s War, by Joyce Dennys – I have a thing for English fiction set between the wars, during, and immediately after World War II, and Henrietta’s War is a perfect example.  Henrietta is the wife of a hardworking Devonshire doctor, mother of two grown children, and penpal to her “dear childhood’s friend” Robert, who is off fighting for King and Country.  In this epistolary novel, Henrietta keeps Robert updated on all the goings-on in their sleepy town.  I fell in love with the characters – some eccentric, all loveable and staunch – and with Henrietta’s breezy, chatty, but sometimes bittersweet letters.

 The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker – In 1890s New York City, a golem (a creature made of clay) and jinni (a creature made of fire) meet and become the unlikeliest of friends.  Although they are temporarily torn apart by a violent incident, ultimately, it is only their friendship that can save them from certain destruction.  I have grown to really enjoy the gaslamp fantasy genre, and this was a perfect addition to my reading list.  Wecker’s writing is rich and atmospheric, and the relationship between the golem and the jinni is complex and sweet.

 The Magician’s Land, by Lev Grossman – This final installment in Grossman’s Magicians trilogy was the best yet.  I liked The Magicians, really liked The Magician King, and LOVED The Magician’s Land.  Quentin Coldwater has been kicked out of Fillory – unfairly, but there it is – and is now trying to live his life on Earth again.  He’s got a new sidekick and a complicated spell to try, but Quentin can’t focus on any of that stuff.  He can only think of the dangerous mission he’s undertaken: to return his lost love, Alice, to life again.  (I’m not going to tell you if it works, because reading about Quentin’s efforts to bring back Alice, and the emotions that went along with that. were the best part of the book.)  Meanwhile, Janet and Eliot are ruling over Fillory, which is facing a crisis of its own.  The characters have all done a lot of growing up over the course of the series – I even liked Janet, which is saying a lot, and for the first time, I adored Quentin.  This conclusion to the trilogy was everything I could have hoped for: rich, satisfying, and perfect.

 Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody #1), by Elizabeth Peters – Miss Marple meets Indiana Jones, is how I can best describe Amelia.  The indomitable Victorian Egyptologist’s first adventure – in which she travels to Egypt for the first time, makes friends, and confronts a mummy – is a fun, spirited romp.  I’ve still only read the first three in this series (of more than twenty!) but I’ll be following Amelia’s adventures for a long time.

 The Four Graces, by D.E. Stevenson – The British-between-the-wars-gentle-fiction genre is one of my particular reading vices, I’ll admit.  (Well, is it a vice?  Can something so entirely wholesome be a vice?)  So it’s kind of amazing that I’d never heard of D.E. Stevenson until recently.  I loved The Four Graces, the story of one eventful summer in the lives of the Grace sisters – bright Liz, quiet Sal, shy Tilly, and sociable Addie.  There’s romance, overbearing relatives, and a “best ankles” contest – what’s not to love?  There was nothing particularly earth-shattering about the book, but I loved every page.

 My Life in Middlemarch, by Rebecca Mead – Another genre vice: books about books.  I read a few this year, and My Life in Middlemarch was the best.  It’s part history, part memoir, part lit-crit, all delightful.  I loved reading about Mead’s journey through life, viewed through the lens of her favorite book.  And it made me want to re-read Middlemarch, which I last read in 2013 (and also loved, although Jane Eyre still holds the top spot in my particular reader’s heart).

 Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books, by Nick Hornby – One more from the books-about-books genre to close out the year.  I read Hornby’s collection of all of his columns for The Believer over the course of about two months, little by little.  (Fortunately, I was able to knock it out juuuuuuust when I ran out of library renewals.)  Hornby made me cry on just about every page – mostly from laughter, but his writing about his autistic son?  All.The.Feels.  (And sometimes cry-laughs, too, like when he says that his son doesn’t have any spectacular talents unless you count being able to hear a crisps packet being opened from several streets away – snort.  Hornby might be the only writer out there who can poke fun at his autistic kid, but do it so obviously lovingly that you just laugh along with him and wish you could hang out with them both every day.)

There you have it – my top ten!  Although I didn’t have quite the volume of books I’m used to this year, I did read some really wonderful things.  How was your reading year, and what were your favorite books read this year?  I’m working on a TBR for 2015, so please, do share.

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