Favorite 2014 Reads

So, I've read a few books this year. Here are my favorites from 2014:

 
Picture Book

The Book with No Pictures, by B.J. Novak.

One of the most amusing misconceptions about librarians is that we read all day at work. Hilarious! However, if a book is thin enough, and I find a good time in the afternoon to take a short break, I'm sometimes able to read one at my desk. When that book makes me laugh out loud at that desk, that book is a keeper. 

Middle Grade

West of the Moon, by Margi Preus.

Loved, loved, loved. Beautifully written and told with care. Of course, given that I'm a huge fan of stories about sisters, journeys, and the large gray space between right and wrong, this one was already starting out on a pretty good foot.

Young Adult

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future, by A.S. King.

I don't typically read a lot of YA, but I put this one on my TBR list the day I first heard about it. Totally worth the wait, and now I have to go find everything else that A.S. King has written.

Audio

Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman.

There is a part of me that is always, always longing to be back on that round rug in my elementary school library and listening to someone tell me a story. Lucky for me, there's Neil Gaiman.

A disclaimer on my non-youth services reads: You will notice that they are not from 2014. Due to the boatload of children's books I read last year, I absolutely did not keep up with grown-up books. As a result, my nonfiction pick is from 2011, and my fiction pick is from 1855. Enjoy!

Fiction

North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell.

The problem I usually have after falling in love with a BBC adaptation of a 19th century novel is that when I go to read the novel, I rarely find it as affecting as the filmed version. Unless it's North and South. And then, yes. Yes, it is.

Non-Fiction

Destiny of the Republic, by Candace Millard.

I enjoy American history, and as a result, I typically steer toward the 900s when I'm looking for nonfiction. But I have to admit, rarely am I so engaged in a history book that even when I know what horrible, historical thing is going to happen, I keep praying that it won't.