My Favorite Books of 2014.

In 2014 I read 58 books, and these are my 5-star picks. I am very happy that I get to sit down with my children at bedtime (Ron and I alternate reading nights, and each have our own book we're reading with them), because this allows me to read more books and push my own reading agenda.

Of the 58 books, 12 were books I read aloud to them.

43 were either middle grade or young adult, but most of those 43 were definitely middle grade. I love middle grade children's literature.

In my 5-star Top Ten here, all but two are either middle grade or young adult, five were read aloud to the kiddos, and two (Flora & Ulysses and The False Prince) were books I re-read from previous years.

Notes about some:

I'll Give You the Sun Goodness those chapters were long, which is not my preferred style of book, as it is harder to feel accomplished if you're endlessly in the middle of the chapter, but it was so worth seeing those two perspectives come together by the end.

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and A Man Called Ove tied for my favorite books of the year, though I'll Give You the Sun was close behind.

It is really too hard to pick a favorite middle grade book, so I'll single out Rain Reign, simply because it is the only middle grade of the bunch that I read on my own, versus to the kids.

For read aloud, though, you really cannot go wrong with anything by Jonathan Auxier, and I have a feeling we'll be in withdrawal a bit this year without one of his splendid adventures.

I've now perused the Best of lists from all.the.places. and have made quite a ginormous list to read in 2015. It's quite laughable, however, when I compare the "official" to-read list with what I actually end up reading. Invariably, a kiddo will thrust something surely spectacular in my hands, or something new will show up on my radar, and every December I am left wondering why I didn't stick to my list? Why did I ever make the list?

Because for a reader, half the fun is in the discovery of new books, especially, with the goodness of Goodreads, as they appeal to others.

May 2015 be a happy reading year!