My 10 Favorite Books of 2014

Few things make me happier than finding a book that I absolutely love. Once drawn into a book, it's not easy for me to put it down. This year there were many that kept my attention, but these are my ten favorites.
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Few things make me happier than finding a book that I absolutely love. Once drawn into a book, it's not easy for me to put it down. This year there were many that kept my attention, but these are my ten favorites.

An artist escapes the city for bucolic country life and finds love with a much younger man. A lovely little story from the brilliant writer Anna Quindlen.

The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters

Society in post-World War 1 England is no place for a woman to fall for a woman. But fall she does - and disaster follows. Romance, crime, drama...it's all here.

The Wives of Los Alamos - TaraShea Nesbit

What happened to the families that were part of the secret world of Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project? This novel tells the story of those husbands, wives, and children.

Rick Steve's Italy - Rick Steves

Our trip to Italy this year wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable without this book. I am a Rick Steves convert!

Casebook - Mona Simpson

A boy's family falls apart in a strange way. An L.A. story that conjures the atmosphere of the city in the way only Mona Simpson can.

Florence Gordon - Brian Morton

An elderly, cantankerous feminist, New Yorker Florence Gordon comes up against the most exciting and most difficult experiences of her life.

Lucky Us - Amy Bloom

A family in trouble in the 1930s and 1940s. From New York to California to Long Island, wonderful characters in need of each other.

Lila - Marilynne Robinson

You will be amazed by Lila. And by Marilynne Robinson's writing. The depression did terrible things to people, but Lila survived and thrived.

Some Luck - Jane Smiley

I'm so glad that this is the first in a trilogy, because I've kind of fallen in love with the Langdon family.

We Are Not Ourselves - Matthew Thomas

This was my favorite book of 2014. The story of a family of 3, the people they came from, and how their lives are deceptively simple. A character study of the best kind. Read this!

Previously published on Empty House Full Mind

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