Goodreads and my record book and I put our heads together and decided that the total number of books I read in 2014 was 97. As always, that covers anything Goodreads calls a book, including plays, novellas, Kindle Singles and individual short stories. Here’s a look at some of the highlights (linked titles go to my reviews). And if you missed my top-ten list from a few weeks ago, you can find that here.Classics this year were mainly represented by a re-read of Tolstoy’s War and Peace; I also made the acquaintance of a third and final Bronte sister with Agnes Grey (that would be Anne). I have continued to tentatively feel my way deeper into the world of poetry: I greatly enjoyed Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism; also read Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads and sampled a first volume by Emily Dickinson.
One thing that I read quite a bit of this year was plays. The Mikado and The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan, The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Man From Home by Booth Tarkington and Harry Leon Wilson, Our Town by Thornton Wilder (which, on the page, lived up to nearly everything I’d heard said of it), and a first serious effort at Shakespeare with The Tempest. I tracked down a copy of A.A. Milne’s rare Miss Elizabeth Bennet—and shortly afterward made the discovery that two volumes of Milne’s plays, appropriately titled First Plays and Second Plays, are available in the public domain and delightful besides!
In a switch from last year, I read very few Westerns—a couple by Louis L’Amour (The Burning Hills and The Iron Marshal, both pretty good), a couple by B.M. Bower (The Quirt, good; The Parowan Bonanza I liked less)—but quite a few mysteries. I’ve been continuing with Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey series, which, after a couple of rather uneven books to begin with, has really begun to hit its stride with Unnatural Death, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, and Strong Poison. Also read a decent but not brilliant Georgette Heyer mystery, Detection Unlimited; the first of a brand-new series that promises very well, Rachel Heffington’s Anon, Sir, Anon; and Ethel Lina White’s Some Must Watch.
Speaking of Heyer, after the success of The Grand Sophy I was emboldened to try more of her Regency books: I loved Frederica and the short story collection Pistols For Two. And speaking of short stories, I seem to have read proportionately fewer collections of those this years, compared to novels: I revisited Katherine Mansfield’s The Garden Party and Other Stories and appreciated it much better this time, and found F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tales of the Jazz Age to be well-written but horribly bleak (excepting one hilarious story with no pretensions beyond comedy). The Five Glass Slippers anthology of Cinderella-themed novellas was a great read as well, and Just Patty by Jean Webster was light cheerful fun.
Historical nonfiction largely reflected my growing interest in World War II history: The Miracle of Dunkirk and Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway by Walter Lord, They Were Expendable by William L. White. I also found some interesting reads among the ranks of Kindle Singles this year. Three Days in Gettysburg by Brian Mockenhaupt was interesting; Peace on Earth: The Christmas Truce of 1914 by David Boyle was excellent, and so was my favorite, Operation Cowboy by Stephan Talty—finally, a nice clear account of the true story of the rescue of the Lipizzaner horses during WWII.
In other nonfiction, I was happy to finally read How The West Was Written, Vol. I by Ron Scheer, a fascinating study of early Western fiction whose progress I’ve been following for a long time on Ron’s blog. Theological highlight, The Kingdom of God by Martyn Lloyd-Jones—and, a little harder to classify, A Turtle on a Fencepost by Allan C. Emery, which I’d describe as an anecdotal memoir of events from a Christian life. You may remember my mentioning Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, which came highly recommended and is a great little book for any creative type. And Leaving A Trace: On Keeping a Journal by Alexandra Johnson also proved unexpectedly interesting and inspiring.
Last but not least, novels of all varieties! A number of good reviews by friends and acquaintances convinced me to finally read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and also Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay (yes, you read that correctly: I read a contemporary novel). This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart, and also Madam, Will You Talk?, which I think is the weakest of hers so far story-wise, but her writing is always a delight. The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth, a short Christmas novella; Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge, a children’s fantasy I adored for the writing and characters in spite of mixed feelings about elements of the plot. No Highway by Nevil Shute, Miss Buncle Married by D.E. Stevenson, Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes by Ella Cheever Thayer, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.
Ooohh! What a good lot of interesting-looking books. I love Gilbert and Sullivan!
MADAM, WILL YOU TALK? *was* weak, but I LOVED the heroine's racing-car skills. I haven't read LINNETS AND VALERIANS (and it does sound flawed) but we adore Elizabeth Goudge's other novels for children, SMOKY-HOUSE and THE LITTLE WHITE HORSE.
WIRED LOVE! I think I have it on my ereader; it sounded charming!
I should read The Little White Horse. With my horse-crazy roots, and if it's as beautifully written as Linnets and Valerians, I ought to love it!
I thought the flaw in Madam, Will You Talk was that for a good half of the book you didn't know what the heroine was running from, exactly; she just had indefinite suspicions. (Plus the love interest developed way too quick.) And Wired Love is really cute; I enjoyed it!