2014 - A Year In Review

2014 has been one crazy year and I'm glad to be done with it and moving into a new year.  In my personal life my husband graduated from veterinary school, we got married, he started a new job, we moved, and I started back up at school.  With some of these BIG things, the blog did take a little bit of a back seat during much of 2014.  Hopefully I will be able to reverse that in 2015.  Tomorrow I will be sharing my goals for 2015.

Here are some book stats for 2014.

BOOKS READ: 45 

BOOKS REVIEWED: 35 (+9 that I will be reviewing that didn’t get reviewed in 2014)

PAGES READ: 10,447

HOURS LISTENED: 286.89

TYPE (some may overlap)

• Hardcover: 0
• Paperback: 9
• ARC: 30
• Audio: 14
• E-Book: 22
• My Personal Collection: 15

GENRE (may overlap)

• Historical Fiction: 32
• Young Adult: 2
• Contemporary Fiction: 0
• Romance: 6
• Non-fiction: 10
• Memoir: 1
• Mystery: 0
• Fantasy/Paranormal/Sci-Fi: 4
• Western: 6

SETTING (may overlap)

• England: 8
• France: 5
• Italy: 3
• Scotland: 1
• America: 17
• Ancient Egypt: 1
• Fantasy: 1
• Middle East/Africa: 2
• Japan: 1
• Russia: 1

MALE/FEMALE AUTHOR RATIO: 13/34

FIRST LADY READS/PRESIDENT READS:  0/4

AUTHORS MOST READ:

Stephanie Thornton (2)

Favorite books of 2014(in no particular order):

• The Gods of Heavenly Punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein
• The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland
• Somerset by Leila Meacham
• Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Madame Picasso by Anne Girard
• A Day of Fire by Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, & Vicky Alvear Shecter

Most anticipated of 2015:(in no particular order)

• Enchantress of Paris by Marci Jefferson
• A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor
• Lady of the Eternal City by Kate Quinn
• Mistress Firebrand by Donna Thorland
• Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

This year has been a little different than last year's reading.  Not only is this the least number of books I have read (I did have a lot going on), but the types of books I have read did change.  I read a lot more on my e-reader - I bought a new Kindle Paperwhite about half-way through the year which I love reading on so much more than my old school original version Kindle.  I also expanded my genre horizons this year and explored the romance and western genre - mostly with short-stories so far this year, but I purchased many novel length books too.  I'm excited to work these into my reading schedule in the coming year(s).  I also managed to fit in the reading of several of my own books, which were not just on audio, but actual books.  I cut back a little bit on my reviewing commitments, ever so slightly, so I could free up some time on my personally owned books.

I enjoyed the survey questions from The Perpetual Page Turner that I used in my year-end review last year, so I wanted to explore them again for 2014.

Book you read in 2014 that you recommended to people most in 2014?

A Day of Fire by Stephanie Dray, Ben Kane, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Kate Quinn, & Vicky Alvear Shecter for sure! The story told was great, but what really makes me talk about it is the way it is a deeply intertwined short story collection – which I haven’t experienced before. It was so awesome being able to see various authors within the genre being able to come together and write one cohesive story broken into several parts. I hope to find more of these style books in the future.

Best series you discovered in 2014? 

I didn’t really discover any on-going series this year, but I did discover the 12 Brides of Christmas series this year. It was 12 short stories that were released leading up to Christmas 2014 each set in the burgeoning American West. I read about half of the stories prior to Christmas; I don’t know if I’m going to finish the series here in the near future or wait until next Christmas.

Favorite new-to-me author discovered in 2014? 

I would have to pick Diana Gabaldon. I have known about this author for a while, have had Outlander on my shelf for several years, and even met the author a few years ago. It just took this long to actually pick up the book and read it – and now I am hooked!

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

Always a tough question to answer – I will have to give my top 3.

1) Somerset by Leila Meacham – her covers are always gorgeous!

2) Queen of Bedlam by Laura Purcell – I love the silhouette of the woman.

3) The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland – Dress! Fabric! Texture! Movement!

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? 

Pretty much answered above – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I have heard people rave about this book and call me crazy for having not read it for years.

Favorite Book You Read in 2014 from an author you’ve read previously?

It would have to be Daughter of the Gods by Stephanie Thornton…or would it be The Rebel Pirate by Donna Thorland? Such tough choices!

Best 2014 debut you read? 

Madame Picasso by Anne Girard – which is a little bit of a strange answer, since Anne Girard is a pen name for author Diane Haeger, who has published many books, but Madame Picasso is her first book under this name. For a true 2014 debut, I would choose The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki, which was her first published novel and it was released in 2014.

 

What have you learned about your reading in 2014?  Stay tuned tomorrow for what to expect in 2015 for The Maiden's Court. 

 

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