Best books read in 2014

[Shadow]

A little bit past the first of the year but I thought it might be fun to see what people enjoyed reading last year.

I read 168 books last year, of kind of a wide variety (albeit lots in the fantasy genre). These ones really stood out.

Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
A biography of cancer. Well-written, chilling, and enlightening on just how little we know about cancer and how happy we are to make incremental progress. Accurate statistics are next to impossible (what would have happened had patient received different treatment, no one knows). Control groups are near impossible. A glimmer of hope in our understanding of this. Beautiful.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Hard sci-fi about a guy who is stranded on Mars when his team thinks he is dead. Highly amusing, realistic survival. This author did his research and I felt like I learned science while reading.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Gaiman's books are surreal, but I like them. This one was about childhood horrors and memory.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark
Really an interesting book. About magicians in an alternative-history 19th century Britain. A pleasure to read with a satisfying climax. Author worked on it for years and the result was well worth it.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Amusing, interesting dystopian book where the government controls lives (for everyone's good) and people are born with the ability to see only one color (green, for instance). Interesting to think of a world like that and well-explained.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Rothfuss has prose unlike any other writer. This is for people interested in just savoring story-telling and a different perspective on the world, love it. It was short and perfect (highly recommended to read Name of the Wind first).

Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
I like Sanderson a lot. This book was no exception. Quick, full of action, fun twists and clever magic system.

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
(book 3 of Tawny Man trilogy). Really a great writer who managed to tie in two past trilogies with this one into one epic story. Lots of allusions from the previous books get solved in these ones. The original trilogy remains one of my favorite fantasy trilogies as well.

The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan
(Book 2). Powder mages: people who can control black powder with their minds. An interesting concept that got more interesting in the second book. Impressive for a first-time author.

Warbound by Larry Correia
(book 3). Epic book, epic powers. This is pulp novels and B-movie-style-action at its finest

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Amusing (and true) stories about a vet in rural UK in the early 20th century. Each one was a pleasure whether because it was amusing or emotional. Good story-teller.

Duties of Parents by JC Ryle
An old classic but contains some excellent, heartfelt, biblical advice.

[Shadow]

Anyone want to share?

[TheFlash]

Nate has everyone report their books read each year in a Google Spreadsheet.  You should ask to be added to that.

[wheatrich]

I read a book this year

Smart Football by Chris Brown

if you're way too much into football, seems to be the recommended one.

[NathanStinson]

Here you go, Shadow: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15JosZbCZ45C0d0qHkACW7XiyEH6fld73yfWdW8Ftrps/edit?usp=sharing

Feel free to join in.
Also, keep discussing here:) I didn't read anything of note last year. I haven't read much in the last few years

[Thiradell]

A little bit past the first of the year but I thought it might be fun to see what people enjoyed reading last year.

I read 168 books last year, of kind of a wide variety (albeit lots in the fantasy genre). These ones really stood out.

Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
A biography of cancer. Well-written, chilling, and enlightening on just how little we know about cancer and how happy we are to make incremental progress. Accurate statistics are next to impossible (what would have happened had patient received different treatment, no one knows). Control groups are near impossible. A glimmer of hope in our understanding of this. Beautiful.

The Martian by Andy Weir
Hard sci-fi about a guy who is stranded on Mars when his team thinks he is dead. Highly amusing, realistic survival. This author did his research and I felt like I learned science while reading.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Gaiman's books are surreal, but I like them. This one was about childhood horrors and memory.

Gaiman is pretty cool, not sure how keen I'd be on this though

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark
Really an interesting book. About magicians in an alternative-history 19th century Britain. A pleasure to read with a satisfying climax. Author worked on it for years and the result was well worth it.

sounds pretty cool

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Amusing, interesting dystopian book where the government controls lives (for everyone's good) and people are born with the ability to see only one color (green, for instance). Interesting to think of a world like that and well-explained.

This really caught my eye. I think dystopian literature is overdone and canned, but something like this with a bigger exploration of ideas could be really cool. Hoping there's well-developed characters influenced by what color they can see, and that those characters stay consistent throughout the book while still going through things.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Rothfuss has prose unlike any other writer. This is for people interested in just savoring story-telling and a different perspective on the world, love it. It was short and perfect (highly recommended to read Name of the Wind first).

sounds pretty good

Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson
I like Sanderson a lot. This book was no exception. Quick, full of action, fun twists and clever magic system.

Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb
(book 3 of Tawny Man trilogy). Really a great writer who managed to tie in two past trilogies with this one into one epic story. Lots of allusions from the previous books get solved in these ones. The original trilogy remains one of my favorite fantasy trilogies as well.

The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan
(Book 2). Powder mages: people who can control black powder with their minds. An interesting concept that got more interesting in the second book. Impressive for a first-time author.

Warbound by Larry Correia
(book 3). Epic book, epic powers. This is pulp novels and B-movie-style-action at its finest

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Amusing (and true) stories about a vet in rural UK in the early 20th century. Each one was a pleasure whether because it was amusing or emotional. Good story-teller.

Duties of Parents by JC Ryle
An old classic but contains some excellent, heartfelt, biblical advice.

sounds pretty cool

I put comments in green in your quote

I feel like I've read almost nothing over the past five years other than bingeing on A Song of Ice and Fire, and I also read all the Harry Potter books in 2009. I've wanted to make a change in my life where I read more (I feel like I watch too many YouTube videos and whatnot). These books sound cool and your summaries were great, so thanks for sharing. I'm gonna try and check at least a few out.

I did read a few sci-fi books in my senior year of college. The best one was How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (also read Ubik by Philip K. Dick which was good like a 3-part episode of Star Trek is good). My ex gave me a couple of Vonnegut's but I think his stories get silly and painfully didactic after awhile.

[TheFlash]

For the past 5 years or so I have done about 20 audiobooks per year plus varying (comparatively smaller) amounts of actual reading.  Just have a hard time sitting still to read so I hop on my bike with an audiobook for a few hours.

In 2014 I think my top experience was The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. Basically dominated a two or three month portion of the year at over 80 hours. The material was very interesting to me.

Beyond that, I generally have a hard time picking favorites. I had anticipated the Scott Lynch book, The Republic of Thieves, and it was certainly enjoyable. Also had a fun time with Joe Abercrombie's Half a King. Think that was better than his previous three.

[Shadow]

Tyler,
I think you'd like Shades of Grey. It's British humor but very interestingly done. Think Bertie Wooster with a little more curiousity and courage (just a little). Unfortunately it really needs a sequel and it's been a number of years since it was written and still none is scheduled. Still worth the read.

Try Name of the Wind. I don't think you can go wrong with it. Then Slow Regard of Silent Things after that.

Flash,
Just read Snow Crash last month and started Diamond Age this morning. I've got three or four Stephenson books I picked up on sale a while back. I have to say that while I enjoyed parts of Snow Crash, and it really was visionary, it also overstayed its welcome. I'm a fairly fast reader but I don't know if I could last through Stephenson's audio books!

I read Lynch's first book (Lies of Locke Lamora) and while I enjoyed parts of it, I just decided it wasn't for me. Locke doesn't seem to bother with morals and I like a character that at least struggles to do what is right.

Only Abercrombie book I read was The Blade Itself. I enjoyed it but haven't been able to pick up the other two in the library.

What kind of bike do you ride?

[youseinthehouse]

Hoe Abercrombie, lol

Heard Correia is doing great things in the world of SF/F