Top ten books of 2014 (according to me)

I was down in Kilkenny for a day out and I wandered into Dubray books for a look. I couldn't help noticing (somewhat jealously)  that they have all their new January titles in while in work we are impatiently awaiting a delivery and trying to hide the many gaps on our shelves. So I got all excited taking photos of new books that I really want to read (while my boyfriend looked on and laughed at me for being a nerd) because I am hoping they will all be arriving into the shop next week and I will have saved myself loads of time by choosing what's next in my to be read pile. Apparently wandering around the shop choosing books to read is not actually part of my job description. Anyway while I was wandering around this bookshop glad that I don't own a credit card I started seeing books that I read in the last few months and really enjoyed and thought I should really do a top 10 of the books I had read in the last year. Its difficult sometimes for me to recall exactly what I have read in recent months ( of the top of my head) for two reasons. Firstly I read so much, even on a bad week I am averaging 3-4 books and secondly I don't usually get to keep the books. We are allowed to borrow books provided we return them in good condition which is a good and bad thing. As I said to the book manager recently, If I didn't work in a book shop I could not afford my book habit and it is true. I remember my pre bookshop days when buying myself a book was the ultimate treat or when my sister ( a prolific reader like myself) would tell me that she had some books I might like, my little book nerd heart would flutter with delight.

Anyway here are my top books of the year. They are not in any particular order. It was tough enough to get it down to 10. I could never possibly decide the exact order in which I love them. 

1. Let's start with the book pictured above. 'The last days of rabbit hayes' by Anna mc partlin

This book was so good that I think all the women in my workplace read it and we all like very different books. It's about the last days of a woman, Rabbit, who is dying. Now I am aware you must be thinking that is a very grim topic altogether and I know there will be people who steer clear of the book for that reason and those people are missing out. It's a beautiful story, absolutely heartwarming. It's also not as sad as you might think although I did cry a lot while reading it. I started it while getting my hair cut but got so teary within a few pages that I was forced to put it away in case the hairdresser started to think I was really upset about how my hair cut was going. so not one to read in public ( unless you are made of steelier stuff than me) but definitely one to read. I think it comes out in paperback this month which means it's just gotten a whole lot cheaper, yay for you ( if you haven't already bought it)

2. Big little lies - Lianne Moriarty 

Lianne moriarty is a great storyteller. Her stories really take you in. A lot of people will have read the husband secret ( another great book of hers) and this one is definitely worth a look. I got this one as a proof which is a terribly exciting thing. Sometimes publishers send uncorrected books that have yet to be published into bookshops and then you can read said book before everyone else. We usually only get one copy per book so you have to fight for the good ones. I think I remember squealing excitedly when I received this. The basic plot is that an incident occurs at a parent teacher meeting

in a primary school and someone gets hurt but the story is told through the eyes of several different characters so that you get to piece it all together. It starts with the incident and then works backwards so you don't really know what has happened until the very end and it requires the discipline to not just skip to the end and find out. It wont disappoint even if you have to go buy it instead of getting to take it home for free (like me)

3. Burial rites - Hannah Kent 

I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I am always doing it and there's nothing you can do to stop me. I liked this cover so much that I set it to one side the day it arrived in the shop. I was supposed to be helping put stock away but I can't help scanning book piles for books to read. Burial rites is loosely based on a true story about an Icelandic woman who was accused of murdering two men and at the time there was no established prison system so she was sent to live with a family and work for them while awaiting trial. The true accounts of this crime are said to have villainised (possibly not a word but you get what I mean) the woman so the author wanted to give it a different perspective. Its a beautifully told story and the slight element of truth fascinated me. I frequently recommend this one and it winds me up no end when a customer says it looks great and acts as though they are going to buy it  but then leaves it somewhere on their way to the till. I don't actually write books so I am not likely to take it personally if I recommend something that is not to their taste. I do think they are missing out though.

4. The girl who saved the king of sweden - Jonas Jonasson 

The second book from the author of the 100 year old man who climbed out a window and disappeared. I read his first book because we had so many people asking for it that I was intrigued and I wanted to see what the hype was about. Sometimes this pays off and you discover an author like Jonas Jonasson and other times you end up reading 50 shades of grey and you can never unread it.

This book follows a similar pattern to his first book in that it is utterly mad and incredibly entertaining. In the beginning of the book he introduces to two different characters who seem totally unconnected and then slowly weaves their stories together. It's unlike anything else that's coming out of Sweden ( which seems for the most part to be brilliant but utterly grim crime fiction) and it is light and funny but really well written to boot. Just the thing to pick you up once you are done crying about Rabbit Hayes (see book 1)

5. I am pilgrim - Terry Hayes

One of things I love about twitter is that when I follow publishers and writers and book bloggers I start to hear chatter about books that might have otherwise passed me by. I kept seeing things about I am pilgrim on twitter and I was intrigued. Was it really the thriller of the year? I had to find out for myself. I am glad I did because I must admit the mammoth size of the book and the dark cover had put me off and I do hate to miss out on a good book. The plot centres on a character called pilgrim  who is committing untraceable murders using information he garnered by reading a book on forensics written by a former CIA agent.There is so much more to it but I don't know how much else I can tell you without giving central parts of the plot away but I was drawn into the story immediately. I didn't even notice the book was so big, I just disappeared for two days until I had read it all. Mind you I am a fast reader with no kids and a fairly undemanding job so don't feel bad if it takes you a little longer. I am not a big reader of thrillers but I really enjoyed this.

6. The one plus one - Jojo Moyes

This is the book I kept calling the one before the one when I was telling people about it. Possibly because I was getting confused with her other popular novel 'me before you'. Jojo Moyes is a really lovely writer and she's my go to author when someone requests something lighter but still well written. I admittedly don't read a large volume of popular fiction because it can be very samey and there seems to a lot of romance by numbers and honestly where is the fun in reading if you have worked out the ending by page 2. Yes it is a romance but its unconventional and its better quality than a lot of the competition in the field. She has a way of telling a story that sucks you in. Everyone should have a Jojo Moyes on their bookshelf.

7. The paying guest - Sarah Waters

I love Sarah Waters book. She knows how to spin a tale. We got this one into the shop as a proof but another member of staff had baggsed it and as I had managed to procure three proofs for myself that week I wasn't really in a position to complain. So I had to wait several months for it to be released like a civilian but it was worth the wait. The paying guests tells the story of a young woman (living with her mum) who rents out a room to a married couple but becomes embroiled in their lives. It has intrigue, action and a bit of a love story although not the one you would expect (unless like myself you have read Sarah Water's back catalogue and then its precisely what you would expect) but I think that all adds to it. I had trouble putting this one down but I refuse to call it unputdownable on principle. Mostly because my inner grammar nazi would never allow me.

8. Elizabeth is missing - Emma Healey

Elizabeth is missing tells the story of an older woman battling dementia who becomes convinced her |friend Elizabeth is gone missing but she can't get anyone to take her concerns seriously. I spent much of the novel trying to work out if it was just her memory slipping away or if something really had happened to Elizabeth and the way the central character is losing her own memories seems to be the most terrifying concept of all. Excellent writing and a story that combines both a sense of mystery and the very real fear we all have of getting older and slowly losing our capacity to remember anything but fragments of our lives. As ever Emma handles this delicately. Also worth noting that this just came out in paperback so its a steal ( don't steal it though).

9. A man called ove - Frederich Backman

A book I had skimmed past many times until I picked up on the excellent viral marketing campaign the publishers did on twitter. Call me a sucker but I was intrigued so I perused the blurb and gave it a shot. Ove is a very unlikeable character to begin with. He is unpleasant and wary of pretty much everyone around him but as the story goes on you start to warm to him and he realises that life might not be as awful as he thought. A man called Ove is more than a book because it's like an introduction to this grumpy old man who will stay with you long after you have put the book down.

10.The miniaturist - Jessie Burton

Last but certainly not least is the miniaturist by Jessie Burton. I got a proof of this and I put it to one side  because I am not one to turn down free literary fiction and suddenly I started seeing things online about it, lots of bookshops were putting together these fantastic window displays using detailed miniatures (to promote the book)  and I was duly impressed plus my sister had borrowed the book and given it back raving about how much she enjoyed it. She has great taste so I trust her recommendations. The miniaturist is about a young woman who marries a man she barely knows that is many years her senior and discovers he is hiding many secrets from her. As a wedding gift he buys her an incredibly detailed miniature model of the house they live in and this leads her to forming an unlikely friendship with a miniaturist. It took me about half way before I really got into the story but I am glad I stuck with it. If you haven't read it already you should really rectify that.

I know I have probably left some great books off my list but you can't get mad because I might not have read the book you are thinking of or I might not have enjoyed it. These are my favourite reads of the past year and I can't wait to discover what my books of 2015 will be.