2014 Book List *Updated 07/01/14 - 2 books read*

15) American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis

Darkly hilarious, bloody and disturbing. I quite like the film of this book (I think that has a lot to do with Christian Bale's 6 pack) so have wanted to read it for a while. Sometimes this book is so disgusting it's funny. You so have to worry a little about a man who comes up with some of the things that Pat Bateman does in this book... Ellis does however develop the character and his worsening psychosis very well. Good read - 7/10.

Awesome typo on page 198:

Mr Ellis read the future it seems.

12. The Gringo Trail by Mark Mann: Well I only picked this up as it was 99p in the Works and have always fancied going to South America, it was funny (in a dark way), slightly informative however I just didn't get on with Mann's writing style. Wouldn't particularly recommend 5/10

13. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling: Actually really enjoyed it, a detective looks into the suicide/murder of an it girl. The majority of the book is based in the area where I work which is why I really liked it the pacing was great and a few twists and turns along the way - good read 8/10

16) The Good Parents - Joan London

I quite enjoyed this book. Not often you come across a book set in Australia. Maya is 18 and has moved from a small country town to the city, and she goes away without telling her parents who are due to stay with her. Her parents have to return to and deal with their own past to bring her home. The characters are developed well and their stories well told. 7/10

17) Cold In Hand - John Harvey

I really enjoyed this book - Nice to have a crime novel based in somewhere other than London. This one centring mainly in Nottingham. Well written and 'with the times' as well as fast paced and emotive. 8/10

I'm late to the party, and not a regular poster on OT, so I hope it's OK to post my list! disclaimer: I am an English PhD student, so a lot of these are books for my thesis/books I taught last semester - I don't have much time to read for pleasure!

1. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria Von Trapp - a Christmas present, this is the book the Sound of Music was based on. Pretty poorly written, and heavy on the religious side, but an interesting read. 6/10

2. Lara, Bernardine Evaristo - a novel-in-verse, the story of a mixed-race British woman's childhood which traces her family genealogy across both her mother's German & Irish and father's Nigerian heritage. Love this book. 9/10

3. Soul Tourists, Bernardine Evaristo - a novel-with-verse, a rollicking journey through Europe's geography and history, it follows an odd couple as they drive across Europe and the male protagonist is "haunted" by ghosts of black Europeans past. Really interesting and unusual story. 9/10

4. 26a, Diana Evans - a novel about Nigerian-British twins. Can't say much without giving away the plot, but this is an amazing novel which had me in tears by the end, even second time around! 10/10

5. A History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters, Julian Barnes - another Christmas present. Episodic multiple re-tellings of Noah's flood. This was interesting but got a little wearying, I made it to the penultimate chapter and gave up. 4/10

6. The Deportees, Roddy Doyle - a collection of engaging short stories set in present-day Ireland. 8/10

7. The Commitments, Roddy Doyle- a fun novel about a group of lads starting a covers soul band in Ireland. 7/10

8. England, England, Julian Barnes - A media mogul opens an England-themed holiday resort on the Isle of Wight, recreating landmarks Vegas-style and luring the Royal Family with promises of share rights and limited working hours. Really, extremely good, it really opens up the hypocrisies of modern life. 9/10

9. A Tale for the Time-Being, Ruth Ozeki - a Japanese-American writer finds the diary of a young Japanese girl washed up on the shore near her home in northwestern Canada. I liked this one, although it felt like the author had read a little too much Murakami. 7/10

10. The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri - the story of two brothers swept up in nationalist movements in 60s/70s India. good, but not riveting. 7/10

11. The Hunger Angel, Herta Muller - absolutely harrowing but hauntingly poetic, this is the story of a work camp in Soviet eastern europe. 8/10

12. Anil's Ghost, Michael Ondaatje - a forensic pathologist travels to her native Sri Lanka to attempt to gather evidence of war crimes during the civil war. Vivid and engrossing, far better than the English Patient in my opinion. 9/10

13. Home, Toni Morrison - a black GI returns to America a broken man after the Korean War, and sets out to rescue his sister from a geneticist physician conducting experiments on her womb. Disappointing for a TM book, but it does deal with some hidden aspects of the pre-Civil rights era race relations in the US. 8/10

14. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn - an excellent holiday read, but as others have said, a very disappointing ending. 6/10

15. NW, Zadie Smith - another case of a poor ending ruining a pretty decent read. Traces the inhabitants of a London high rise council estate. Enjoyed this one 8/10

16. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte. Heathcliff, Cathy. What else to say? 9/10

17. First Love, Last Rites, Ian McEwan - McEwan's first book, a collection of short stories. Extremely mysogynistic, so I can't like it despite the lovely prose. 3/10

18. Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter - perfect antidote to McEwan, Carter's effusive, larger-than-life magical realism is captivating. 10/10

19. Trumpet, Jackie Kay - Kay's first novel, telling the story of a jazz musician with a wife and adopted son exposed as transgender on his death. 9/10

20. A Distant Shore, Caryl Phillips - the best asylum/refugee/state of the nation novel, period. 10/10

21. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro - SO much better than the film. You'll never see Norfolk the same way again! 9/10

22. Heat and Dust, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - married Olivia outrages colonial Indian society by running away with an Indian prince. Half a century later, her step-granddaughter follows her to India and retraces her story, whilst falling into her own troubled love story. Good, but pretty hegemonic. 5/10

10 - The First Last Kiss by Ali Harris. Not sure on the writing style and the jumping back and forward but I did have a wee cry at the end. Even though I'd kind of sussed out the plot, I still felt really sad at the end! Especially as I didn't feel they worked as a couple throught the majority of the book anyway! 8/10

16. Insurgent book 2 of America's future by Charles Sheehan-Miles. 3/10 a terrible sequel, the first half of the book was too dragged out but the second half wasn't too bad. I won't be buying book 3 I just couldn't bare having to read through terrible writing again.

17. The boy who sneaks in my bedroom window by Kirsty Moseley 7/10 I gave the book this mark as it was such an easy read that had a little twist but nothing to get too excited about. A teenage love story, beach material or a book to read after struggling with an awful one for a month!

Welcome Sambarine! For while there I thought I was reading on my own!

Have been updating the spreadsheet and we have read 160 books so far in 2014. Any that have been duplicated have not been counted towards the total tally, however I have counted it towards that hitcher's tally.

18) The Hollow Man - Oliver Harris

I really enjoyed this book. Centred around a bankrupt and alcoholic police detective who sees a missing person as his chance of a new life. But someone else gets there first. Well written and action packed, with a great ending. 8/10

23. Sarah's Key, Tatiana de Rosnay. Watched the brilliant film adaptation with Kristen Scott Thomas a year or so ago, so when this popped up on my kindle list I downloaded it on a whim. The book is as devastating as the film, and I wish wish wish I had read it first. Difficult to describe without giving away the plot, but it deals with family secrets, the horror of occupied France, and collective cultural amnesia. Highly recommended. 8/10.

I thoroughly 'enjoyed' the film (can one enjoy a film that has such a horrific subject matter?), it's stayed with me for years as it was so incredible. I hadn't thought of reading the book as, like you, I prefer to read the book before a film and I as I hadn't in this instance I thought I never would, but after your review I think I'll give it a shot!

19) The Expats - Chris Pavone

I really cant describe how much I enjoyed this book without giving too much away. An American couple move to Luxembourg as the husband has landed a lucrative new job. But is someone's past catching up with them?

From the outset, the characters are developed wonderfully and Pavone keeps the reader interested through twists and turns, some that you wouldn't expect. Brilliant Book! 10/10

Pompey, I've read The Ex Pats and it is a brilliant book.

18. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. My favourite book of the year so far. It took a while to understand the narration as it's narrated by death but it's a poignant, well written and moving book. I loved it 10/10

I've been telling everyone to read it! ?

24. A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf. Still surprisingly relevant, this meandering essay opining the obstacles facing women is thoughtful and prosaically written. difficult to score - 7/10

25. A Room with a View, EM Forster. Slowly making my way through Forster's body of work - in my opinion this is nowhere near as good as Howard's End or A Passage to India, but still has his signature ironic humour and caustic wit. An easy read, and lovely if you've actually visited Italy and the South Downs, very evocative. 8/10

and a belated thank you for the welcome!

14. It's All About Treo by Dave Heyhoe and Damien Lewis: Never something i'd pick to read but was chosen for our book club. It's about a cool little dog who sniffs out bombs. 2/10

15. The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden: 7th (and last book) in the Tomorrow When the War Began series. Can't really give a review as it spoils the previous books but they all center around a group of kids and their battle for survival after Australia is taken over 9/10

20) The Flowers of the Field - Sarah Harrison

The first epic novel I've read in a long time. This book interested me because it was set just before and throughout WW1. The character development was very good, and there were a few weepy moments as you felt close to the characters, however, the author tended to waffle in parts. Good historical knowledge and content. 6/10

19. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth 9/10 Set in the 1600's and flitting between some fact and lots of fiction it intertwines 3 stories that has quite a good twist at the end A good book that was a pleasure to read.

21) All the Hopeful Lovers - William Nicholson

I don't really know what to say about this book. It wasn't badly written or boring, it just seemed a bit hard to take in. I thought it would be an interesting insight to love and infidelity. 5/10

16. The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer - Essentially a story about a little boy who dies and how the family deal with grief. Incredibly poignant, dark, emotional - excellent read. 9/10

22) Man Walks into a Room - Nicole Kraus

From reading the back of this book I thought it would be deep and meaningful. I found it somewhat boring and obscure. It's all about a man who wakes up in hospital having no memory of his life past the age of about 9. I felt like I was wading through custard with this book, although it's not very long it seemed to take an age to get through and the ending left a lot to be desired. The character development was poor and it was hard to identify or like any of them. 2/10

26. 12 Years a Slave, Solomon Northup 6/10 - an important read, but i found it rather dry. The film was far more evocative, and i usually always prefer the book to the film.

27. The Orchard of Lost Souls, Nadifa Mohamed. Set during the first days of the Somali civil war, the novel charts the experiences of 3 women - a widow, a refugee child, and a soldier - as they grapple with the downfall of their society. Very evocative of the "banality of evil", I enjoyed it up to the final section, when the war begins and it becomes hopelessly depressing. But it is beautifully written, and exposes a history that we know little about. 10/10

20. Take me home by Daniela Sacerdoti. 7/10 A tale of a broken love affair, dying sister and psychic abilities. Not a bad read, could have been a bit spooky in the right atomosphere but nothing horrendous.

I'm going to download The Orchard of Lost Souls after reading Sambarine's report.

23) Under The Dome - Stephen King

This book is AMAZING!! Anyone who is watching the series needs to STOP now, and read the book. Stephen King hates most TV/film adaptations of his books and I can see why (I believe he was executive producer for a few of the TV episodes, but quit as he hated it)

I can safely say that this quickly became my favourite ever Stephen King book and I read all 876 epic pages in less than 2 weeks.

The character development is amazing, the storyline brilliant and it's darkly funny in places. 10/10

24) The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

I laughed, I definitely cried and once again enjoyed the book way more than the film. 8/10

This is one of my favourite books! I started watching the tv show but quit as soon as I heard it was going to be padded out to fill more than one season.

Have you read 'The Stand'? It's been on my list for ages but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm a bit of a Dark Tower geek but haven't read too many of King's others.

The Stand was my favourite until I read this!! I love Stephen King.

MF was watching the TV programme last night and I got about 15 minutes in before I was swearing at the telly....

25) Barbara Erskine - River of Destiny

I really enjoyed this book. It was a supernatural, spooky journey through the ages, well written and easily read. The author jumped from Anglo-Saxon, Victorian and present day Suffolk. 7/10

21. I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou. 10/10 After the death of Maya Angelou this year I vowed to read at least one of her books and I'm so glad I did. This is the first of her autobiography and it is fascinating, moving, funny and insightful. The book is incredibly well written and I enjoyed every minute, I will download and read the rest of her autobiography.

26) Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Didn't enjoy this as much as I have her previous offerings. Took a while to get into it and the character development wasn't great. Overall, not a bad read and an emotive story. 5/10

27) The Phantom of the Opera - Gaston LeRoux

Love, hate, horror, all in this book which makes it quite captivating. It tells the tale of Paris Opera house and its resident phantom. The was created by the author after a thorough investigation and brings a believable portrayal of the events that had occurred at the time. Its basis on realistic facts makes it all the more believable.