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Year End Lists Go Here! > Your Favorite Reads 2014

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message 1: by Jimmy (new)
Dec 13, 2014 02:31PM

Jimmy (jimmylorunning) | 145 comments Mod
Please list your top 10 (or more (or less)) books you read this year in this thread! You may do as I like to do and list anything you read this year regardless of publication date. Or you may wish to only list books that came out this year (like some magazines do). It's up to you. You may also include a short (less-than-review-length) sentence or two about WHY each book was so great, if you so please. Looking forward to your answers!

ALSO Feel free to list (and link to) a few of your FAVORITE REVIEWS (either your own or others) from this year! (...or even older reviews that you read for the first time this year)...

NOTE: Anyone and Everyone is welcome to share their lists... I invited a bunch of people personally, but I can't possibly do that for everyone, so please spread the word... the more the merrier, and I want to see EVERYONE's year end lists, please.


message 3: by [deleted user] (last edited Dec 13, 2014 03:11PM) (new)
Dec 13, 2014 03:09PM

i'm excluding books i read for class, because that would make this list a lot longer & i tried doing an honorable mention addendum but that got out of hand quickly so, keepin' it short(er than it could be):

favorite books that came out in 2014:
crystal eaters by shane jones (guys read this one)
the empathy exams: essays by leslie jamison (have since reread this aloud to family & friends)

favorite books i read in 2014 (no order except for the top 2):

ulysses by james joyce, which i liked so much i wrote a bunch of stuff about it & have taken to calling it 'my favorite novel' when no one's looking.

pale fire by vladimir nabokov, the very best of the ten nabokov books i've read this year.

the 3 novels i read by joy williams, my patron saint, only two of which actually got proper reviews.

& the rest of 'em i didn't get around to review:
omensetter's luck by william h. gass
ice by anna kavan
the pumpkin eater by penelope mortimer
infinite jest by david foster wallace
beloved by toni morrison

shouts out also to my last minute completionism of nathanael west, whose the day of the locust & miss lonelyhearts would easily have made an appearance on this list had i extended it any.

in 2015 i look forward to:
Orlando
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea
The Palm-Wine Drinkard & My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Miss MacIntosh, My Darling
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
& more.

as for favorite reviews, i had to do some searching, but:
mala's review of the tunnel
gregsamsa's review of la medusa
joshua's review of the recognitions
geoff's review of against the day
jonathan's review of miss macintosh my darling

all of those reviews are glowing. just to show i can appreciate some vitriol, i'll throw in ben's succinct review of indie darling blake butler.


message 4: by mark (last edited Dec 13, 2014 09:09PM) (new)
Dec 13, 2014 09:06PM

mark monday (majestic-plural) | 5 comments in
no
particular
order

* The Story of Harold by Terry Andrews
* Mortal Leap by MacDonald Harris
* Endless Love by Scott Spencer
Montana Gothic by Dirck Van Sickle
Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
Lucia in London by E.F. Benson
The Man from Primrose Lane by James Renner
Peter Pan and the Only Children by Gilbert Adair
Running Wild by J.G. Ballard

genre:

* Secret Hours by Michael Cisco
Nova by Samuel R. Delany
The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies, Vol. 1 by Clark Ashton Smith
Ghost and Horror Stories by Ambrose Bierce (although a pretty hit or miss collection overall)
Night Voices: Strange Stories by Robert Aickman
Marune: Alastor 933 by Jack Vance
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
Memory & Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas
Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler

genre short stories:

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Man Who Bridged the Mist by Kij Johnson

comics:

The Complete Zaucer of Zilk by Brendan McCarthy & Al Ewing
Miracleman, Vol. 1: A Dream of Flying by Alan Moore
Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery by Grant Morrison
Astro City, Vol. 4: The Tarnished Angel by Kurt Busiek
Locke & Key, Volume 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill

* = 5 star book


message 5: by Jonfaith (new)
Dec 19, 2014 04:54AM

Jonfaith | 11 comments When shall we gaze upon your list Jimmy? I am a dork like that.


message 6: by Mala (last edited Dec 19, 2014 06:44AM) (new)
Dec 19, 2014 06:42AM

Mala | 2 comments This year I tried out many books by (new to me) writers: Gass, Alexander Theroux, Barth, Sorrentino, Hawkes, Kobo Abe, Ali Smith, Krasznahorkai, etc. Some of these I'd like to further explore in 2015. My favourite reads this year:
The Tunnel: no explanation needed!
Darconville's Cat:how to breathe new life into a done-to-death subject via the alchemy of language— writers shd learn from this book.
A Temple of Texts:a book to refer to again & again.
The Friday Book: ditto. More Barth in the year ahead.
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler:Calvino's inventiveness & goofy charm is unsurpassable.
Under the Volcano: a visceral lament that hits you straight in the guts.
The Woman in the Dunes: a lesson in minimalism.

Some other books that I enjoyed a lot:
Crystal Vision
The Blind Owl
Film as a Subversive Art


Reviews that I've enjoyed reading this year:
Like the movies that remain in the Oscar reckoning, it's the reviews that come towards the end of the year that remain more fresh in the memory, so, though I've liked many reviews by various GR friends, these are the ones that I'm able to recall right now:

Geoff Wilt's review of Finnegans Wake:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Wilty's two superb Dylan reviews:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Jonathan's review of Miss MacIntosh, My Darling:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Gregsamsa's review of The Blind Owl:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Gregsamsa's review of Middle C:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

All of Samsa's CBR reviews

Nathan "N.R." Gaddis' review of The Brunist Day of Wrath:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Jimmy's review of Visitation:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Jimmy's review of There but for the:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Zadignose's review of The Book of Dolores:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Glenn Russell's review of J R:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Fionnuala's review of Double or Nothing:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I also loved Samadrita's review of a Gertrude Stein book but I'm sorry, I can't recall its name.


message 7: by Jonfaith (new)
Dec 19, 2014 07:05AM

Jonfaith | 11 comments Wicked lists, Mala, Mark, and Aidan. I largely departed from the frontiers of literature this year. My only explanation is some subconscious mortality continuing to loom. I can't foresee the termination of said penumbra.


message 10: by Nate D (new)
Dec 20, 2014 10:31AM

Nate D (rockhyrax) | 17 comments I just want to say thanks for the photo, Jonathan, this is helpful to develop my book-buying search images! I also loved Heartsnatcher this year, look forward to reading the copy of Lookout Cartridge I found on somone's stoop, and am thoroughly excited to see that Krasznahorkai has a new one!


message 11: by Nate D (last edited Dec 20, 2014 12:16PM) (new)
Dec 20, 2014 12:15PM

Nate D (rockhyrax) | 17 comments Strange, I feel like there were fewer-than-usual total standouts this year, out of the 130-or-so I've read, but then when I look back, it seems like there were a lot of great ones.

Here're a top 10:
Angela Carter :: The Passion of New Eve (1977) :: New and perfect mythmaking for gender identity empire decline in late 20th-Century America.
Jean-Patrick Manchette :: Fatale (1977) :: Precision noir with no wasted words but much social commentary, incisive characterization, a completely unforgettable heroine, and a last 20 pages or so that will completely blindside you.
Julio Cortazar :: Blow-Up and Other Stories (1968) :: Sheer deftness of language enables doorways past reality.
Barbara Comyns: Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead (1954) :: The quintessential British Pastoral Weird
Boris Vian :: Heartsnatcher (1953) :: An unexpected cohesion and purpose emerging from an ever-inventive post-surrealist fugue
Gerhard Roth :: The Will to Sickness (1973) :: Concision in everyday disorientation
Marguerite Duras :: Blue Eyes Black Hair (1986), 10:30 on a Summer Night (1960), Moderato Cantabile (1958), The Lover (1984) :: Duras' short work traces an unsettling whole, so these together convey much
Kobo Abe :: The Box Man (1973) :: Post-modern alienation taken to fantastic extremes of form and story
Stacey Levine :: Dra (1997) :: The dystopian malaise of contemporary life -- clearly not real, yet all too real.

And then some more that shouldn't be missed. I read a lot of old science fiction paperbacks this year, it seems. Many lost experimental notables there, in fact:
Arkady & Boris Strugatsky :: Roadside Picnic (1972)
Mustafa Mutabaruka :: Seed (2002)
Graeme Gibson :: Communion (1971)
Denton Welch :: In Youth Is Pleasure (1945)
Robert Desnos :: Liberty or Love (1927)
Samuel Delany :: Driftglass (1971)
Wendy Walker :: The Secret Service (1992)
Margarita Karapanou :: Kassandra and the Wolf (1976)
Kathy Acker :: Great Expectations (1983)
Joanna Russ :: The Female Man (1975)
Michael Moorcock :: The Black Corridor (1969)
Ursula K. LeGuin :: The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
James Tiptree Jr. :: 10,000 Light Years from Home (1973)
Stefan Grabinski :: The Dark Domain (1993, written 1910s-20s)
Robert Coover :: Gerald's Party (1986) and Spanking the Maid (1981)
Marian Engel :: Bear (1976)
Konrad Bayer :: The Head of Vitus Bering (1965)
Hob Broun :: Inner Tube (1985)
Mina Loy :: Insel (30s?)
Ishmael Reed :: The Free-Lance Pallbearers (1967)

I seem to have read almost no 2014 fiction, sadly, but a lot of 2014 comics. A lot of great comics from all years, in fact. A top 9:
Jesse Jacobs :: Safari Honeymoon (2014)
Martin Vaughn-James :: The Cage (1975)
Luigi Serafini :: Codex Seraphinianus (1981)
Jirō Taniguchi :: The Walking Man (1992)
Taiyo Matsumoto :: Sunny (v.1-3, 2010-?)
Alabastor :: Mimi and the Wolves v.1-2, 2013/2014)
Simon Hanselmann :: Megahex (2014)
Brian Chippendale :: Maggots (2007)
Michael Deforge :: Ant Colony (2014)


message 12: by [deleted user] (last edited Dec 21, 2014 05:23AM) (new)
Dec 20, 2014 05:34PM

Here’s my 10 most-enjoyed of 2014 so far, “versus” very notable books that stand out for NOT making my top 10 list, linked by title, or theme, or pun, or not. I was more enthusiastic about my reading last year I think (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...), but this year’s stand outs are Moby Dick and The Sound and the Fury, better than all from last year, and there are quite a few “unsung heroes” this year, too. Looking forward to some major tomes next year, hopefully. Forgive me for linking to my reviews, but they explain what I liked and didn’t like and why. Also looking forward to checking out everyone’s favorites in this thread!

The Iliad 4* (brutal violence) vs Tree of Smoke 3* (quag...mire... syndrome)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Sound and the Fury 5* (brilliantly executed) vs Blood Meridian 4* (one note pony?)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

In the Heart of the Sea 4* (dark riveting aftermath of “Moby Dick”) vs The Heart of Darkness 4* (not so riveting or dark)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Moby Dick 5* (superlative existential novel) vs The Catcher in the Rye 4* (good, but kind of minor)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Interrogative Mood 5* (who am I and why am I drunk?) vs Stoner 3* (who IS he and why isn’t he drunk?)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Mezzanine 5* (observe this - on your lunch break) vs House of Leaves 4* (down home and trippy)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 4* (surviving under dictatorship) vs The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 4* (Jim was a late addition!)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Henderson the Rain King 5* (recommended!) vs Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth 4* (not really recommended)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Go 4* (the beat goes on) vs Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage 2* (and on and on)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Before Adam 4* (hominids competing and evolving!) vs The Last Picture Show 2* (high schoolers competing and devolving)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

: )


message 14: by mark (new)
Dec 20, 2014 06:00PM

mark monday (majestic-plural) | 5 comments Reid wrote: "Here’s my 10 most-enjoyed of 2014 so far, “versus” very notable books that stand out for NOT making my top 10 list, linked by title, or theme, or pun, or not. I was more enthusiastic about my read..."

I really love how you constructed this list.


message 15: by [deleted user] (new)
Dec 20, 2014 06:24PM

mark wrote: "Reid wrote: "Here’s my 10 most-enjoyed of 2014 so far, “versus” very notable books that stand out for NOT making my top 10 list, linked by title, or theme, or pun, or not. I was more enthusiastic ..."

Oh, thanks very much, Mark, I appreciate that! My reads and enthusiasm didn't quite measure up to last year, was mildly disappointed with some of the above titles, so that kind of stood out this year, figured I'd include both and add a little humor. This whole year end thread is cool, lots of titles and reviews to check out...


message 16: by Lisa (new)
Dec 26, 2014 09:13AM

Lisa | 2 comments I read a lot of great books in 2014. Here are the stand-outs:

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih - a wonderful little masterpiece out of 1960s Sudan.
Defiance by Carole Maso - while Maso is stirring up interest in some corners of GR, I am shocked that her intensely beautiful writing hasn't garnered more interest (reviewed here).
Maqroll: Three Novellas by Álvaro Mutis - three sea-soaked and memorable novellas, or you can dive right into the whole collection here: The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll.
Beloved by Toni Morrison - my first taste of Morrison followed close on the heels of one of her inspirations, and another highlight for me: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal - a short paean to books written in the quirky, alcohol-laced style of this Czech writer.

And more!
The Bridges by Tarjei Vesaas (reviewed here)
Locos: A Comedy of Gestures by Felipe Alfau
Angels of the Universe by Einar Már Guðmundsson
The Cardboard House by Martín Adán
Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth
Solar Storms by Linda Hogan
Replacement by Tor Ulven

Last but not least, I must endorse the book I'm currently reading/loving even though it may slip into 2015...
Palinuro of Mexico by Fernando del Paso is kaleidoscopically wild.


message 17: by Rise (new)
Dec 26, 2014 09:13PM

Rise Here are my 10 favorite books out of the 60 or so I read this year.

Novels

1. Bullfight by Inoue Yasushi - a novella about putting up a "bull sumo," an event used to observe human nature in postwar Japan

2. The Last Novel by David Markson - an infuriating sequence of aphorisms and a very touching story of a life nearing extinction

3. What Now, Ricky? by Rosario de Guzman Lingat - a novel set during the Philippine First Quarter Storm in 1970, a period of unrest where students and laborers organized demonstrations and were violently dispersed by the police

4-5. Our Father San Daniel and The Leprous Bishop by Gabriel Miró - a neglected Spanish classic featuring a gallery of fascinating characters, mainly clerics and their parishioners

Essays

6. Culture and History by Nick Joaquín - a synthesis of Filipino identity in terms of colonial influences and the way diverse cultures blended together to produce a new imprint of culture and history

Poetry

7. What Passes for Answers by Mikael de Lara Co - a book of poetry about silence and its variations, a vision of kindness and humble reflection

8. Antipoems: New and Selected by Nicanor Parra - poems guided by the anti-establishment sentiment, cantankerous and fun

Novels in Filipino

9. Diwalwal: Bundok ng Ginto (Diwalwal: Mountain of Gold) by Edgardo M. Reyes - the story of a people living in a mountain where illegal mining operations take place; it is the struggle of small people against a powerful overlord

10. Tatlong Gabi, Tatlong Araw (Three Nights, Three Days) by Eros Atalia - something unexplainable encroached into a rural village, something horrific which lasts for three days when a powerful storm threatens to isolate the area


message 18: by [deleted user] (new)
Dec 27, 2014 10:02PM

My favorites of the year, in no particular order:

Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Outstanding memoir!)
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson
Swing Low by Miriam Toews
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Love for Lydia by H. E. Bates
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (favorite mystery of the year)
The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley
Dark Entries by Robert Aickman
The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski
A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor
The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith. (Funniest book of the year, barely edging out Ada Leverson.)


message 19: by [deleted user] (new)
Jan 03, 2015 07:11AM

Ryan wrote: "Here are my 10 favorite books out of the 60 or so I read this year.

Looking forward to reading a few of these, queued 'em up. Thanks again Ryan.


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Books mentioned in this topic

Bullfight (other topics)
Tatlong Gabi, Tatlong Araw (other topics)
What Now, Ricky? (other topics)
The Last Novel (other topics)
The Leprous Bishop (other topics)
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