books i read in 2014.

first things, first.  i am sorry that this post is happening on the 8th, but hey, it's happening.

this year i challenged myself on goodreads to read 80 books.  i am happy to announce that i read 90! 113%.  i feel like i have to admit that a handful of kid novels may have helped my number, but hey they still take time to read and have very valuable lessons, so don't get too judgy.

i also challenged myself to read more women in 2014! i found out about #readwomen2014 from flavorpill, author and artist, johanna walsh started the project and made these awesome bookmarks with female authors. (which i need to buy even though 2014 is over).  i am happy to announce that i read 58 books written by women!

2014 was also the year of the short story for me.  i never thought of myself as one that enjoys a collection of short stories, but i totally am.  in fact, some of the best books i read this year were in fact a collection of short stories.

so here are my favorite books of 2014:

novels:
"americanah" chimamanda ngozi adichie
"crazy rich asians" kevin kwan
"how to build a girl" caitlin moran
"a constellation of viral phenomena" anthony marra
 "this is where i leave you" jonathan tropper

short stories:
"the unamericans" molly antopol
"self-help" lorrie moore
 "bad behavior" mary gaitskill

memoir:
"i know why the caged bird sings" maya angelo
"fresh off the boat" eddie huang
"not that kind of girl" lena dunham

young adult/children's novel:
"holes" louis sachar
"like no other" una lamarche

collection of essays:
"bad feminist" roxane gay

and a special shout out to a work that surprised me with how much i enjoyed,  i seriously had no idea i would love it as much as i did:  

"we have always lived in the castle" shirley jackson

here is the list of all 90 books!

books of 2014

1.  "fraud" david rakoff

2.  "bad behavior" mary gaitskill

3.  "the little prince" antoine de saint-exupéry

4.  "americanah" chimamanda ngozi adichie 

5.  "& sons" david gilbert

6.  "self-help" lorrie moore

7.  "eleanor & park" rainbow rowell

8. "flora and ulysses" kate dicamillo

9.  "one more thing" b.j. novak

10.  "little failure" gary shteynart

11.  "the watsons go to birmingham-1963" christopher paul curtis

12.  "super sad true love story" gary shteynart 

13.  "kristy's great idea" ann m. martin

14.  "kristy's great idea:  a graphic novel" ann m. martin and tania telgemeir

15.  "esperanza rising" pam muñoz ryan

16.  "native speaker" chang rae lee

17.  "turn around bright eyes:  the rituals of love & karaoke" rob sheffield

18.  "holes" louis sachar

19.  "the interestings" meg wolitzer

20.  "lupita mañana" patricia beatty

21.  "just before dawn" joshua hernandez

22.  "the westing game" ellen raskin

23.  "foxfire:  confessions of a girl gang" joyce carol oates

24.  "how a person should be?" sheila heti

25.  "birds of america" lorrie moore

26.  "the cricket in times square" george sheldon

27.  "when you reach me" rebecca stead

28.  "bark:  stories" lorrie moore

29:  "taipei" tao lin

30.  "we have always lived in the castle" shirley jackson

31.  "a little princess" frances hodgson burnett

32.  "the fun parts" sam lipsyte

33.   "a wrinkle in time: graphic novel" madeline l'engles and hope larson

34.  "fresh off the boat" eddie huang 

35.  "island of the blue dolphins" scott o'neill

36. "the unamericans" molly antopol 

37. "the stranger" albert camus

38.  "innocent eréndira and other stories" gabriel garcía márquez

39.  "tuck everlasting" natalie babbit

40.  "i know why the caged bird sings" maya angelo

41.  "blubber" judy blume

42.  "on such a full sea" chang-rae lee

43.  "crazy rich asians" kevin kwan

44.  "here's to you, rachel robinson" judy blume

45.  "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius" dave eggers

46.  "the other language" francesca marciano

47.  "relish" lucy knisley

48.  "a story lately told" anjelica huston

49.  "the fault in our stars" john green

50.  "the group" mary mcarthy

51.  "boy, snow, bird" helen oyeyemi 

52.  "everything leads to you" nina lacour

53.  "the lottery and other stories" shirley jackson

54.  "heartburn" nora ephron

55.  "the sleepwalker's guide to dancing" mira jacobs 

56.  "astonish me" maggie shipstead

57.  "the book of unknown americans" cristina henriquez

58.  "friendship" emily gould

59.  "like no other" una lamarche

60.  "this is how i'd love you" hazel woods

61.  "wallflower at the orgy" nora ephron

62.  "confetti girl" diana lopez

63.  "the calder game" blue balliett

64.  "this one summer" jillian tamaki and mariko tamaki

65.  "dandelion wine" ray bradbury

66.  "goodnight june" sarah jio 

67.  "the heart says whatever" emily gould 

68.  "the vacationers" emma straub

69.  "the awakening" kate chopin

70. "the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian" sherman alexie

71.  "bad feminist" roxane gay

72.  "2 a.m. at the cat's pajamas" marie-helene bertino

73.  "this is where i leave you" jonathan tropper

74.  "adam" ariel schrag

75.  "love me back" merritt tierce

76.  "not that kind of girl" lena dunham

77.  "james and the giant peach" roald dahl

78.  "a wild sheep chase" haruki murakami 

79.  "i am malala" malala yousafzai with christina lamb

80.  "the bell jar" slyvia plath

81.  "belzhar" meg wolitzer

82.  "ugly girls" lindsay hunter 

83.  "the goldfinch" donna tartt

84.  "a constellation of viral phenomena" anthony marra

85.  "we were liars" e. lockhart

86. "adverbs" daniel handler

87.  "how to build a girl" caitlin moran

88.  "the virgin suicides" jeffrey eugenides 

89.  "mr. fox" helen oyeyemi

90.  "can we talk about something more pleasant?" roz chast 

books i read in 2013.

this post is a day late.  i like to post it on the last day of the year but britney spears took everything out of me, so inwas too lazy to do it yesterday.

so sadly only read 70 books, 7 less than last year.  and even sadder is last year i read two tolstoy's books and this year alot of children's and ya classics so i am disappointed with my book count for 2013.  boo to me for regressing but next year will read 80!!!  

so here is what i learned in 2013:

-jhumpa lahiri is an amazing short story writer and i am glad mindy kaling posted the intrepeter of maladies on her instagram which inspired me to pick it up.

-celebrities give good book recommendations on instagram.

-i regret not reading great expectations in high school though i have to admit that i was prolly too young to enjoy it as i did.

-it's never too late to read children/ya classics that you missed as a kid.  i read the phantom tollbooth for the first time thanks to my friend juliana and regret that  it took me so long to pick up.  bridge to terabithia was another book that wowed me!

-zelda fitzgerald was the source of the magic behind f. scott fitzgerald's classics.  he literally took the words out of her mouth or journal and into his characters.

-j.k. rowling should have just stopped writing with the harry potter series.

-don't judge a book by a title, middlesex as a title never interested me when i saw it at used book sales, but thanks to flavorpill picked it up and it was absolutely amazing!!!!

-john steinbeck is not an okie those his characters are.  and he writes beautifully.

-james franco does not deserve finding for his books.

-don't knock graphic novels until you have read one.

-it's hard to choose what books everyone should have read by the time they are thirty.

books of 2013

1.  "this is how you lose her" junot diaz

2.  "midnight's children" salman rushdie 

3.  "i just want my pants back" david j. rosen

4. "the secret history" donna tartt

5.  "the visible man" chuck klosterman

6.  "truth in advertising" john kenney

7.  "fairy tales from the brothers grimm" philip pullman*

8.  "the casual vacancy" j.k. rowling

9.  "where'd you go, bernadette" maria semple*

10.  "the love song of johnny valentine" teddy wayne

11.  "flimsy little miracles" ron currie jr.

12.  "1984" george orwell

13. "ender's game" orson scott card

14.  "lolita" vladmir nabokov

15. "maus" art spiegelman*

16. "ghost world" daniel clowes

17. "middlesex" jeffrey eugenides*

18. "the great gatsby" f. scott fitzgerald

19. "beloved"- toni morrison

20.  "life after life" kate atkinson

21.  "z:  a novel of zelda fitzgerald" therese anne fowler

22. "macbeth" william shakespeare

23. "much ado about nothing" william shakespeare

24.  "the catcher in the rye" j.d. salinger**

25.  "catcher, caught" sarah collins honenberger 

26. "glover's mistake" nick laird

27. "are you there god? it's me, margaret" judy blume**

28. "zelda" nancy milford*

29.  "the last tycoon" f. scott fitzgerald

30.  "beautiful fools" r. clifton spargo

31.  "call me zelda" erika robust

32.  "superzelda:  the graphic life of zelda fitzgerald."  tiziana lo porto and danielle marotta.

33.  "office girl" joe meno*

34.  "peter pan" j.m. barrie

35.  "palo alto" james franco

36.  "the impossible lives of greta wells" andrew sean greer

37. "the descendants" kaui hart hemmings

38.  "literacy and longing l.a." jennifer kaufman and karen mack

39. "map of tulsa" benjamin lytal

40.  "the hundred dresses" eleanor estes

41.  "the phantom tollbooth" norton jester*

42.  "interpreter of maladies" jhumpa lahiri*

43.  "i wear the black hat" cluck klosterman

44.  "gone girl" gillian flynn

45.  "fantastic mr. fox" roald dahl

46.  "persepolis" marjane satrapi*

47.  "the bluest eye" toni morrison

48.  "bridge to terabithia" katherine paterson*

49.  "the giver" lois lowry

50.  "of mice and men" john steinbeck**

51.  "grapes of wrath" john steinbeck*

52.  "the love affairs of nathaniel p." adelle waldman

53.  "the namesake" jhumpa lahiri

54.  "unaccustomed earth" jhumpa lahiri

55. "the lowland" jhumpa lahiri 

56.  "love, dishonor, marry, for, cherish, perish" david rakoff

57.  "harriet the spy" louise fitzgerald 

58.  "kiki's memoirs"  alice prin

59.  "kiki de monteparnasse" catel and nora mahony

60.  "the book thief" markus zusak

61.  "anne frank:  diary of a young girl."

62. "night" elie wiesel*

63.  "adé:  a love story" rebecca walker

64.  "matilda" roald dahl**

65.  "the secret garden" frances hodgson burnett

66.  "great expectations" charles dickens*

67.  "milkweed" jerry spinelli

68. "tales of a fourth grade nothing" judy blume

69.  "superfudge" judy blume**

70.  "the immortal life of henrietta lacks" rebecca skloot

*my favorite this year

**my favorite reread/i will love forever

books i read in 2012.

sadly i did not reach my goal of reading 100 books in 2012. i was on track in june but the second half of the year just didn't happen. any hoot, as of right now i have read 77 books this year. i am currently reading junot diaz's latest book so it might be 78, if i finished by midnight. but technically it should be like 87 books considering how long tolstoy's novels are!

here is what i learned from this year of reading:

-i was born in the wrong era. i should have been an ex-pat in paris with the lost generation (yes this is also the plot for woody allen's "midnight in paris").

-if you aren't reading a work in its original language, research about the translation! and most of the big publishers often use outdated translation. (ie the barnes and noble classics, the prices for the classics are good but you are kinda of getting what you paid for.)

-ray bradbury is a poet and not a sci-fi writer and his books are filled with great gems about life.

-don't forget children's classics. when i read "the borrower" i listed out all the childern's books rebecca makkai alluded to in the novel, so i could read them now. i am disappointed i didn't read them but i'm getting caught up. and i have to add, i should have read "the hobbit" when i was younger. why did i wait so long?

-reading the books that were assigned in high school would have my helped SAT verbal. because those vocab words everyone thinks that no one ever uses, are actually being used.

-ereaders are overhyped. i won one this year and sadly have only read 2 books on it. i need a physical book, my eyes scan too quickly on a screen. oddly enough i buy ebooks just in case the future world is more reliant on ereaders.

-i have a book addiction. i love roaming $1 bookstores and goodwills for books and can not resist a bargain. seriously the amount of books i have purchased this year is prolly equivalent to how many i have read, luckily for me they were only a dollar! lol

books of 2012
1. "dream school" blake nelson
2. "the sun also rises" ernest hemingway
3. "for whom the bell toll" ernest hemingway*
4. "save me the waltz" zelda fitzgerald
5. "tender is the night" f. scott fitzgerald*
6. "the beautiful and the damned" f. scott fitzgerald
7. "the family fang" kevin wilson*
8. "a farewell to arms" ernest hemingway
9. "the old man and the sea" ernest
hemingway
10. "three lives" gertrude stein
11. "the autobiography of alice b. toklas" gertrude stein
12. "ten thousand saints" eleanor henderson
13. "the borrower" rebecca makkai*
14. "the search for delicious" natalie babbitt*
15. "friends like us" lauren fox
16. "the day of the locust" nathanael west
17. "miss lonelyhearts" nathanael west
18. "madame bovary" gustave flaubert
19. "bossypants" tina fey
20. "james and the giant peach" rolad dahl
21. "love with tear us apart" sarah rainone
22. "guns, germs, and steel" jared diamond*
23. "the bfg" rolad dahl
24. "is everyone hanging out without me? (and other concerns)" mindy kaling*
25. "the lover's dictionary" david levithan*
26. "tuck everlasting" natalie babbitt
27. "leaving the atocha station" ben lerner
28. "to kill a mockingbird" harper lee**
29. "the fault in our stars" john green*
30. "everything is illuminated" jonathan safran foer**
31. "dash & lily's book of dares" rachel cohn & david levithan
32. "charlotte's web" e.b. white
33. "steve jobs" walter isaacson
34. "an object of beauty" steve martin
35. "stuart little" e.b. white
36. "from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler" e.l. konigsburg
37. "franny and zooey" j.d. salinger
38. "we the animals" justin torres*
39. "extremely loud & incredibly close" jonathan safran foer
40. "paul's boutique" dan leroy (331/3 series)
41. "defiance" nechama tec
42. "eeeee eee eeee" tao lin
43. "no one belongs here more than you" miranda july*
44. "wonder" r.j. palacio
45. "raise high the roof beams, carpenters and seymour-an introduction" j.d. salinger
46. "fahrenheit 451" ray bradbury
47. "dandelion wine" ray bradbury*
48. "richard yates" tao lin
49. "pride and prejudice" jane austen
50. "pride and prejudice and zombies" jane austen and seth grahame-smith
51. "lord of the flies" william golding
52. "romeo and juliet" william shakespeare
53. "their eyes were watching god" zora neale hurston
54. "the martian chronicles" ray bradbury
55. "the emperor's children" claire messud
56. "you don't love me yet" jonathan lethem
57. "howl and other poems" allen ginsberg
58. "anna karenina" leo tolstoy
59. "most talkative: stories from the front lines" andy cohen
60. "to the lighthouse" virginia woolf
61. "the magicians" lev grossman
62. "eat pray love" elizabeth gilbert
63. "paris, i love you but you're bringing me down" rosecrans baldwin
64. "nw" zadie smith
65. "mr. penumbra's 24 hour bookstore" robin sloan*
66. "the witches" roald dahl
67. "something wicked this way come" ray bradbury
68. "the house on mango street" sandra cisneros**
69. "caramelo" sandra cisneros
70. "you lost me there" rosecrans baldwin
71. "have you seen marie?" sandra cisneros
72. "war and peace" leo tolstoy
73. "the secret book of frida kahlo" f.h. haghenbeck
74. "two from galilee" marjorie holmes
75. "the perks of being a wallflower" stephen chbosky**
76. "a christmas carol" by charles dickens
77. "the hobbit" j. r r tolkien*

*my favorites this year
**my favorite re-reads/i will love forever

friends please comment any books you suggest i should read in 2013 or your favorite books of 2012!