My Top Ten Books of the Year 2014

Happy new year everyone! Personally, I'm not fussed about new year, it's nice to have the time off work, but I've got a thing about looking at people while counting - I just find it awkward.

Anyway, as promised in my post yesterday I've put together a countdown of my top 10 books of the year. It was so difficult to come up with this list, firstly to cull the list from 103 to 10, then put them in some kind of order. The closer to number one it got, the harder the decision process was, the final 4 are pretty much all on equal billing.

drum roll please......

A Year in Books

It's new years eve today (obviously) so I'm going to reflect on my year in books.

By my count I've read a grand total of 103 books this year, the reviews for which can be found in either my review tag, my year in books tag or on my alphabetised list page. 

Under the jump is a general sort of breakdown of the books I've read, plus the worst 5 reads of the year. Not sure if this post will be of any interest to anyone, other than me, but I had fun looking back and considering what I've read this year.

If your a bibliophile I highly recommend recording (either on blog form, or just in a notebook) what you've read.  

why I love Haruki Murakami

Whilst having a peruse around Amazon, (even though I'm on a self-imposed book buying ban) I found out that one of my favourite authors Haruki Murakami will be publishing a new book this summer, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Which got me thinking about why I like Murakami so much. 

Fun fact for you- aside from some giant electronics manual, the most stolen books when I worked at Waterstones was Haruki Murakami's. Regularly I would go to put out the delivery and there would be a gap on the bookshelf where Murakami's books should be.

source

 Most of Murakami's novels, apart from Norwegian Wood, are really surreal; talking cats, astral projection, shifts in time and rainstorms of fish are not out of place in Murakami's work as he blends together the ordinary with the fantastical. You'll either love it, or hate it (or attempt to steal it from Waterstones).

Murakami's style is instantly recognisable, he is experimental without being indecipherable. The alternate realities and characters he creates are unique and unsettling. Murakami is the master of the uncanny and incredibly quotable.

If you're new to Haruki Murakami I suggest you start of gently with Norwegian Wood, as it is the most normal of his novels. It is a story about love, mental health and music. Give it a go first to see if you like if writing style. Then increase the weird and move on to 1Q84, which includes cults, mystic beings and a female assassin.

My favourite Murakami is possibly The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, a truly strange book about a missing cat.