There’s nothing I love more about starting the new year than looking back over the books I’ve read, and putting together the (long) list of books I hope to read in the year to come.  So many books, so little time!  Since receiving my Kindle for Christmas last year, I’m reading a lot more than I have in ages, simply by virtue of being able to carry it with me where ever I go.   As a self-proclaimed bibliophile, I  never would have thought that e-books could win me over so easily. But hey, if technology can persuade me to love reading even more, then who am I to say no?  On that note, on to the lists for 2014 and 2015…

Read in 2014

I really adored a lot of the books I read this year, but my top three favorites were: The Goldfinch, A Tale for the Time Being, and All the Light We Cannot See.  I even gave two of them as Christmas gifts this year, I loved them so much.  They were each beautifully written in their own way, and drew me in from the very beginning.

1. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg – My Review
2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt – My Review
3. Wake by Elizabeth Knox – My Review
4. In der Strafkolonie by Franz Kafka – My Review
5. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – My Review
6. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki – My Review
7. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou – My Review
8. Bossypants by Tina Fey – My Review
9. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela – My Review
10. The Giver by Lois Lowry – My Review
11. Wild by Cheryl Strayed – My Review
12. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Review to come!

To Read in 2015

Now that I’ve handed in my dissertation, and I theoretically have more time for reading, I’ve set myself the challenge of doubling the number of books I read in 2015.  Below are the 24 top books on my Goodreads to-read  shelf.   Some have been there for awhile — A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Joseph Anton — while others I just added yesterday while combing “Best Books of 2014” lists on the internet — Lila, Euphoria, The Bone Clock, Redeployment.  I’m not limiting myself to only these books specifically, but they certainly serve as an good inspirational starting point…

1. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
2. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
3. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
4. Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton
5. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
6. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
7. Howards End  E.M. Forster
8. All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
9. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
10. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
12. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
13. A Life Without Limits: A World Champion’s Journey by Chrissie Wellington
14. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
15. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
16. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
17. Lila by  Marilynne Robinson
18. The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
19. Euphoria by Lily King
20. Redeployment by Phil Klay
21. Silent House by Orhan Pamuk
22. Desdemona by Toni Morrison
23. Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie
24. There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra by Chinua Achebe

Not on the list are the three books I’m currently in the middle of, and hope to finish this month: Courtroom 302, Cry, the Beloved Country, and Brief an den Vater.  You should be hearing more from me about those soon!

What are your favorite books from 2014?  Are there any I should adding to my list for 2015?

For more year-end book reviews, check these posts out:

• Books of 2013 and 2014
• Books of 2012 and 2013
• Books of 2011 and 2012

P.S. Make sure to check out Click Clack Gorilla’s Year in Books 2014 and Book Lover Blog Hop for more great lists of books read this year!