1. Best Book of 2014 – Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell. I was hooked from the start, hooked, disturbed and terrified. I learned that 'palimpsest' is an actual word. I wanted to read it again as soon as I'd finished it. Well, after getting over the ending, anyway.
2. Worst Book of 2014 – That would be the one I stopped reading halfway through, after I realised I didn't care what happens in it. I still don't want to name it, I want to give it another chance in case it was just my mood that was making it sour.
3. Most Disappointing Book of 2014 – Huonosti käyttäytyvät jumalat/Gods behaving badly, by Marie Phillips. It wasn't bad and I did like it, it had great and funny ideas. Maybe I'm also disappointed in what I read about the movie version.
4. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2014 – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon. I'd heard about it and wanted to check it out, but I didn't think I'd like it quite as much as I do. I want to re-read it already (along with a few others from 2014...).
5. Book you recommended to people most in 2014 – Staalo by Stefan Spjut. A Swedish thriller/urban fantasy about trolls. I know that at least one person read it!
6. Best series you discovered in 2014 – Ben Aaronovitch's books about Peter Grant, police officer/wizard in London. Funny, fast and full of London. What's not to love? Third book waiting to be read!
7. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2014 – So many! Jackie Kay, Ben Aaronovitch, Stefan Spjut, Wesley Stace... I'd pick up a book by any of them without hesitation.
8. Most hilarious read of 2014 – Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Always funny.
9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2014 – There were quite many of those, too, but to name one I haven't mentioned yet, Dark Matter by Michelle Paver. Proper scary, too. Thanks to summer holiday, I could read most of it in one sitting.
10. Book you most anticipated in 2014 – Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb, reason why I spent a few months happily re-reading her earlier works. It was nice to meet old favourite characters again. Like seeing old friends.
11. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2014 – It's probably Aaronovitch's Rivers of London, for the wonderful map. Have I mentioned that I love London? Like, in the last five minutes? All the books in the series have similar covers.
12. Most memorable character in 2014 – It would be really easy to say the Fool from Robin Hobb's books. The Fool has been my favourite of the series, and on a grander scale as well, for years. In any form/persona. I really loved Rose Old from Misfortune as well, and cared deeply for Max from Golden Boy. And how could I ever forget Winston Smith from Nineteen Eighty-four. But, let's go with the Fool.
13. Most beautifully written book in 2014 – Why Don't You Stop Talking by Jackie Kay. Short stories that still lasted lifetimes.
14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2014 – I can't think of just one, one that would have truly shook my world, but there were many that made me give it a good look from a bit of a different angle, maybe to understand a few new thing: Nineteen Eighty-four, of course, Lois Lowry's The Giver Quartet, The Curious Incident..., and The Quarry by Iain Banks.
15. Book you can’t believe you waited until 2014 to finally read? – Nineteen Eighty-four by George Orwell. What else am I missing out on?
That's 2014 done! My goal was to read more books than in 2013, and I certainly topped that! I read more in 2014 than in any year I've been keeping this journal. Whee! Goal for 2015, reading-wise, is to enjoy it, and to get on with The List. Maybe another Reading Bingo, since it was so much fun!
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