Top Ten Tuesday: Top 14 Books of 2014

A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Last year thinking about my favorite books of the year was so easy but after blogging for a full year, it was incredibly difficult this year. And last time I decided to only include one book in a series rather than overwhelming the list with all the same authors. That would have been extra true this year and my list would have been half Brandon Sanderson! But this year I decided to could the series as one book. So I am extra cheating. But I don't really care. Here's my list...

1.) Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
This will probably come as no surprise to anyone who follows me on Twitter or here on the blog. I seriously have not shut up about this book since I read it. But come on, it was brilliant! A dark and tawdry fairy tale retelling that read like Historical Fiction with beautiful prose. I've been waiting for Bitter Greens to be published in the US for awhile and I'm so glad it is now!

2.) The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
This will also come as no surprise to anyone. This series had all the feels and was mind-blowingly good. The epic adventure with an amazing high fantasy world. Plus these characters are some of my favorites ever and it had one of my favorite OTPs of the year! How many people did I convince to read this series? At least a few!

3.) These Broken Stars by Aime Kaufman and Meagan Spooner ( My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
Seriously, this book blew my mind! I had heard everyone saying they loved it but the twists in this book are some of the best I have ever read. I read it in January but it has stuck with me ever since. I am about to start reading This Shattered World, the second book in this series, and I am so excited for another star-crossed love story with a crazy Science Fiction world!

4.) The Reckoners Series by Brandon Sanderson (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
It's the year of Sanderson for me and this was the one that started it all. Steelheart was another book that really blew me away. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I got something truly fabulous. It had such an amazing dystopian world, complex and interesting characters, tons of humor, out of control feels, and twists that destroyed me! And Firefight was even better!

5.) Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
I'm still not over the ending in this book! Fangirl was my first Rainbow Rowell book but I think E&P is my favorite. You may know that I'm not a huge fan of Contemporary Romances but I am a big fan of Rainbow Rowell. I mean everything she writes is so funny and sad and realistic and flawless!

6.) Jackaby by William Ritter (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
This book surprised me by how good it was. I know that it's had some mixed reviews but I totally loved it. It was a solvable mystery funny and likable characters. I'm not a Doctor Who or Sherlock fan but I love the idea of them both so I didn't have anything to compare Jackaby to so I found the book really creative and enjoyable.

7.) Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
It was also the year of Ranbow Rowell! I won a copy of Attachments and so completely loved it! I felt like Fangirl was about my past but Attachments is about my present! I related to every single character in this book and Lincoln is a guy I would have such a crush on in real life. Plus it had the trademark Rainbow combination of humor and sadness.

8.) The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
I had heard a lot of fellow bloggers raving about this series and when I read it I completely understood why. The characters are fantastic, the world is intricate and subtle, and each book was better than the last. I found Ruin and Rising a great ending to the series and one of my favorite books of the year.

9.) The Young Elites by Marie Lu (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
I never like the first book in a series but The Young Elites blew me away! As a villain origin story it was unsurprisingly dark and dramatic but holy hell this book was brutal. The characters were insane, the plot was thrilling, and I seriously almost started crying just thinking about that ending. I'm excited and terrified to see where this series goes.


10.) The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (My Reviews / Amazon / Goodreads)

Why did I wait so long to read this series? I had heard good things from fellow bloggers and even after meeting Maggie and loving her personality I still waited! But now that I am all caught up I need the final book in the series! Need to know what happens to Blue and the boys. Need to know if my ships sail, and need to know if my theories are right!

11.) The Falconer by Elizabeth May (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
So I have to put this book on my list for the sheer fact that I would never have read so many other amazing books had I not read The Falconer. I was initially attracted to it because of the Historical Fantasy vibe but I loved the steampunk world and fae mythology so much that I realized I had given those two subgenres a bad wrap! Plus it was really good and THAT ENDING!

12.) The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
This was one of my top three most anticipated releases of the year and don't be fooled by the fact that it is so far down this list, it did not disappoint. It resolved so many things that I was curious about and despite the fact that I'm sad to see this series end it was the perfect conclusion to The Magicians trilogy.

13.) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)
I love Historical Fiction but in general, book set during World War II are not my favorite. But everyone raves about this book even people who aren't a fan of HF so I sucked it up and read it. And wow, am I glad I did. The characters were fantastic, the storyline, was creative, and the feels were out of control!

14.) The Darkest Minds trilogy by Alexandra Bracken (My Review / Amazon / Goodreads)

Okay so this one was probably the toughest. So it was either pick a standalone that I had some issues with or a series where I didn't love one book. As you can tell I went with a series. And I went with The Darkest Minds because of the serious feels that In the Afterlight gave me and the fact that I am obsessed with these characters and this ship!

So there you go. My top 14 books of 2014. I know I'm supposed to stop at ten but I like doing it with the number of books based on the year. So those are my favorites, What about you? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!