What I read in 2014

For the first time since I started keeping these reading lists, I dipped below 100 books read this year – my total was only 93.  I suspect the main reason for that is that I got out of habit of reading for pleasure in the first half of the year, when I was reading so many research papers for my course (none of which I counted towards my reading total, as they weren’t books, just journal articles – if I’d counted them the number would look way more impressive!) that when I took a break picking up a book was the last thing I’d feel like doing – instead, I’d watch a DVD, or something on YouTube, or play a game: anything quick and brainless and not requiring the concentration of reading (plus, the whole “critical reading” skill I was acquiring, which while invaluable for my academic aspirations, had the unfortunate side effect of making me more critical about everything I read…).  So by the time I finished the course I’d got out of the habit of reading being my default relaxation option.
But anyway, although shorter than usual, here’s the list for 2014:

 Total = 93 books

January (11)

• The Green Mill Murder by Kerry Greenwood (e-book)
• A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett
• Wall and Piece by Banksy (art book, borrowed from a friend)
• The Boy in the River by Richard Hoskins
• The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day
• Selection Event by Wayne Wightman (e-book)
• Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim (library audio book)
• Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris (borrowed from SIL)
• Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
• The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (library audio book)
• Dodger’s Guide to London by Terry Pratchett

February (6)

• Where Angels Fear to Tread by EM Forster (library audio book)
• Under the Harrow by Mark Dunn (e-book)
• What the Animals Taught Me by Stephanie Marohn (library audio book)
• Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (library audio book)
• Labour Day by Joyce Maynard (library audio book)

March (6)

• Death of an Artist by Kate Wilhelm (library audio book)
• The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (library audio book)
• The Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris (borrowed from SIL)
• Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky (library audio book)
• Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Journey by Kathryn Lasky (library audio book)
• Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Rescue by Kathryn Lasky (library audio book)

April (6)

• Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn (e-book)
• Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure by Dave Gorman
• The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty
• We Don’t Live Here Anymore by Matt Nable
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan (library audio book)
• Tom Appleby, Convict Boy by Jackie French

May (9)

• The Lure by Lynne Ewing (library audio book)
• The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
• The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C Morais (e-book)
• Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle (library audio book)
• The Golden Acorn by Catherine Cooper
• The Spa Decameron by Fay Weldon
• Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz
• Stealing the Mystic Lamb by Noah Charney (library audio book)
• One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

June (6)

• Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (library audio book)
• The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (library audio book)
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (library audio book)

July (10)

• Anne of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• Anne of Windy Poplars by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (library audio book)
• Anne’s House of Dreams by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (library audio book)
• Anne of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (library audio book)
• Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• The Selection by Kiera Cass (library audio book)

August (10)

• Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• Astray by Emma Donoghue
• A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant (library audio book)
• Atlantic by Simon Winchester
• The Adventures of Sally by PG Wodehouse (library audio book)
• MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
• Chronicles of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)
• If I Stay by Gayle Forman (library audio book)
• As Nature Made Him by John Colapinto
• Further Chronicles of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery (e-book)

September (5)

• All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue (library audio book)
• A Beautiful Lie by Tara Sivec (e-book)
• The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (library audio book)
• Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
• Home Front by Kristin Hannah (library audio book)

October (5)

• The Alphabet Abecedarium by Richard A. Firmage
• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (library audio book)
• Feed by Mira Grant (library audio book)
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick (library audio book)

November (9)

• Out of the Black Land by Kerry Greenwood (e-book)
• Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (library audio book)
• The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Washing by Judith L. Rapoport
• Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein (library audio book)
• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (e-book)
• The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits by Emma Donoghue
• Christmas Pudding by Nancy Mitford
• The Dark Glamour by Gabriella Pierce (libary audio book)
• Mondo Desperado by Patrick McCabe

December (9)

• I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
• In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté (library audio book)
• A Comfort of Cats by Doreen Tovey
• Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen (library audio book)
• Landing by Emma Donoghue
• The Secret Life of Pronouns by James W Pennebaker (e-book)
• The Sky Inside by Clare B Dunkle (library audio book)
• Free-Motion Quilting for Beginners by Molly Hanson
• Still Foolin’ ‘Em by Billy Crystal (library audio book)

What I read in 2013 (129 books)
What I read in 2012 (128 books)
What I read in 2011 (133 books)
What I read in 2010 (137 books)
What I read in 2009 (150 books)
What I read in 2008 (154 books)
What I read in 2007 (123 books)
What I read in 2006 (140 books)
What I read in 2005 (168 books)
What counts as a book?