In this post, I will be looking through my best and worst reads of 2014.
But first up is my December Wrap Up. I had hoped to finish the Heroes of Olympus series and read a couple of stand-alones before the month drew to an end, and I must say I was quite happy with the amount that I read. I only read 5 books, which hasn't been as much as usual, but the books that I did read were quite big.
I managed to finish the Heroes of Olympus Series (review hopefully coming soon) and I also read Let It Snow, which is a collection of intertwining short stories set on Christmas Eve by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle. I thought Let It Snow was a great read (perfect for snuggling up by the radiator when there's snow outside!), and even though a couple of the characters were quite annoying, I found it to be really cute and it constantly made me smile! I loved all of the books this month, and gave every one of them 4 stars on Goodreads. So, in total for December, I read 5 books, which equates to 2584 at a rate of 83 pages a day. This isn't quite what I was aiming for (I usually try for 100 pages per day), but I had a winter cold so I couldn't read for a week! The horror!!
That brings me on to the best and worst books I have read this year. Not all of these books were specifically released in 2014, but this list has been selected from the books I personally read. As I reread books a lot, I have cut the list down so that the only books included in this list are ones I've read for the first time this year.
I'll start off with my three worst books of the year...
The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart #1) - Philip PullmanWhen I was a little younger, I attempted to read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Series after watching the film adaptation of The Golden Compass. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this book at all. I wasn't keen on the style of writing, which put me off the story. I decided to read the Sally Lockhart series to determine my opinion of Philip Pullman's writing, however I really had to push myself to get through the whole book and ended up giving up on the series after the first book, which is quite a rarity for me. Despite other great reviews for this series, I just didn't enjoy the writing style which made it hard to follow the plot.
Suth's Story (The Kin #1) - Peter Dickinson
I had never heard of this book or series before somebody lent it to me, and the blurb didn't really give much away about the story, but I decided to give it a go anyway. I must say, I was really disappointed. Again, it was the style of writing that put me off; I just didn't engage me as a reader. Set about 200,000 years ago, the book was about orphan's trying to survive in the desert. I must say, the idea of the story didn't initially interest me, but I had hoped it would be better than it was made out to be. However, I didn't think it was very good. Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle #1) - Christopher Paolini
My brother absolutely loves this book and had been pestering me to read it for an eternity, so eventually, I gave it a go. Again, it was the style of writing that put me off this book. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make the reader like the book or that it was just supposed to be fanfiction for The Lord of The Rings that got turned into a novel. But it wasn't just the writing I disliked in Eragon. I didn't like any of the characters, and the one I disliked the least was killed off! I really disliked Eragon, who is the main character of the story. Sometimes he was just an idiot and other times he was just really mean! I was pretty disturbed when Eragon was fighting one of the guards (who was only following orders!) and said " 'Do you know how much pain a grain of sand can cause when it’s embedded
red hot in your stomach? Especially when it doesn’t cool off for the
next twenty years and slowly burns its way down to your toes! By the
time it gets out of you, you’ll be an old man.'" Eragon is supposed to be the hero!! He's pure evil!!Right, that's the gritty stuff out of the way! Bring on the Top 5!
5. Divergent (Divergent #1) - Veronica Roth
This book was INCREDIBLE!! It was full of action and fight scenes and mind games and romance and everything I love in a book! And it smells amazing! If you haven't heard of Divergent, you must have been living under a rock for the past year! The heart-breaking conclusion to the trilogy was released just over a year ago at the end of 2013 and the film was released in March this year, which is also spectacular. I gave Divergent 4 stars and would recommend it to fans of other dystopian novels (such as The Hunger Games), but despite speculation, Divergent is NOT a rip off of The Hunger Games! Why do people insist on comparing it?! Anyway, rant aside, I thought Divergent was a great novel and I'm looking forward to rereading it this year!
4. Eleanor & Park - Rainbow RowellI am actually quite surprised that Eleanor & Park has made this list. Before I read it, while I expected it to be good, I had no idea that I would love it as much as I do. Even half-way into the book, I thought it would just be a cute romance. And don't get me wrong, it was a cute romance, but it was so much more too. I was so surprised at the turn the story took. While it didn't really make me cry, the story has stayed with me ever since I read it and I think about it loads. If you haven't read this book yet, I would recommend you to do so because it is great. I absolutely loved it, more in fact, than I loved Rainbow Rowell's other book; Fangirl.
3. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) - Cassandra Clare
Despite it only being a matter of months, it felt like I had been waiting an eternity for this book. I read the rest of the series in October 2013, but had to wait 7 months to read the conclusion. I was so excited about this book's release and read the whole 752 pages in just a few days! It really was an epic conclusion to a great series. It wrapped things up really nicely and didn't leave me too upset at the fate of the characters. It has also set the scene well for the third Shadowhunter series The Dark Artifices, which I am really looking forward to reading, and even though we've had to say goodbye to Clary, Jace and the other great characters, I'm sure some of them will be making an appearance in the next book!
2. Where She Went (If I Stay #2) - Gayle FormanI absolutely loved If I Stay, so I was desperate to see what became of the characters later on in their life. Without giving too much away, Where She Went is set three years after the the events in If I Stay and sees how the characters have dealt with the incident that occurred. This book wrapped things up so well and left me thoroughly satisfied with the end (which really is a rare event!!). What I love the most about Gayle Forman's writing is that with only 50 pages of the story left, you still have absolutely no idea of what will happen, and she leads you into believing something different will happen. I personally think that's a great thing in a book because it makes it all the more gripping.
1. The Fault in Our Stars - John GreenThis one probably isn't very surprising. I don't know of anyone who has read this book and dislikes it. TFiOS is such a meaningful book with a touching storyline. I love how clever John Green's writing is and how metaphors and significant symbols are intertwined within the pages, and how everthing has a deeper meaning. I love the characters and how realistic and down to earth they seem. I love his humour and how it's used within the book. But most of all, I love the story itself. I am an avid Nerdfighter and watch all of the Vlogbrother's (John and Hank Green's YouTube channel) videos, so I know how much of John's life TFiOS has taken up and how important it is to him. I'm not really sure what else to say about this stunning novel, other than if you havent already read it then you're crazy! My only regret regarding this book is that I shouldn't have put off reading it for so long!
So that's it! 2014 wrapped up. I hope everyone else has had a great year of reading, and here's to all the books in 2015!
Charlotte xxx
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