Nov 25 2014

Books I’ve Read in 2014

Total Pages Read: 7,295
Shortest Book: 144 pages
Longest Book: 514 pages
Fiction: 16
Non-Fiction: 3
Cookbook: 4

Last Book Read:
23. The Son by Jo Nesbø. A young man is in prison for crimes he didn’t commit in exchange for a steady supply of heroin. When he learns some new details of his father’s death, he becomes the center of a web of corruption and vengeance. 386 pages. (Finished 25 Nov 14).

Past Lists:
2013 List
2012 List
2011 List
2010 List
2009 List
2008 List
2007 List

  1. Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller.  Sheldon is 85 and newly living in Norway with his granddaughter and her husband. One day a fight from the neighbor upstairs spills into his world and he must protect a small boy in an unfamiliar country. 304 pages. (Finished 3 Jan 14).
  2. The Cold Cold Ground by Adrian McKinty. Detective Sean Duffy is a Catholic in the mostly Protestant RUC in a small suburb of Belfast during the “Troubles.” He comes across a case that could be Northern Irelands first serial killer. The first of The Troubles Trilogy. 320 pages. (Finished 9 Jan 14).
  3. I Hear the Sirens in the Street by Adrian McKinty. Its been a little over 8 months since the end of A Cold Cold Ground. Now recovered and having been awarded a Queens’ medal, Detective Inspector Duffy finds the torso of an American in a suitcase in a dumpster.  He must carefully navigate the politics of religion to try and find out the truth about the murder. Book 2 of the Troubles Trilogy. 320 pages. (Finished 11 Jan 14).
  4. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. A suspenseful story of a high school senior (who has moved around the country her whole life with her dad), the death of a beloved teacher at the high school, and a complex mystery based around the syllabus of a Great Works of Literature class. 514 pages. (Finished 31 Jan 14).
  5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Nick’s wife Amy disappears on their 5th wedding anniversary and all signs point to him as having done something to her. The story switches between Nick and Amy each telling the story leading up to and after the disappearance.  434 pages. (Finished 17 Feb 14).
  6. Next by James Hynes. Kevin is going to Austin for a job interview he’s told no one about the day after multiple terrorist attacks Europe. He’s also questioning his current relationship and reminiscing his past relationships. The question is, what comes next? 308 pages. (Finished 28 Feb 14).
  7. All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost by Lan Samantha Chang. The story of some classmates in a graduate poetry seminar at a renowned midwestern institution and the teacher/poet they all look up to. 208 pages. (Finished 7 Mar 2014).
  8. Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. A fun little pop science book about sex and some of the scientific studies that have occurred over time. 336 pages. (Finished 21 Mar 14).
  9. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. Two brothers from Calcutta are inseparable as kids. In college one gets involved with radical movement while the other ends up moving to America. A story of family and separation and how it can travel through generations. 344 pages. (Finished 31 Mar 14).
  10. The Circle by Dave Eggers. Mae is hired at The Circle, a post-Google (but Google/Apple-like) company that has overtaken Google, Facebook & Twitter to dominate the social presence on the web. It has also effectively eliminated the anonymity of the web as well. The Circle also has an insatiable appetite for growth. Will Mae be just another thing swallowed by The Circle? 508 pages. (Finished 5 Apr 2014).
  11. Cockroaches by Jo Nesbø. Book 2 of the Harry Hole series. The Norwegian ambassador turns up dead in a less than reputable hotel on the outskirts of Bangkok. The government back home wants to keep things quiet and Harry is sent because they think he’ll just bungle the investigation and it’ll be swept under the rug. 464 pages. (Finished 11 Apr 2014).
  12. In The Morning I’ll Be Gone by Adrian McKinty. Book 3 of The Troubles Trilogy. Detective Sean Duffy has been demoted after ruffling a few too many feathers in his last major case. A group of IRA bomb makers escape from a Northern Irish prison, one of whom is a childhood friend of Duffy’s. MI5 recruits him to help find his old friend before he can set off a new bomb. In order to find him, Duffy must solve another case…the death of a girl in a locked room. 300 pages. (Finished 18 Apr 2014).
  13. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach. The story of us…from mouth to tail. How we work and why certain things do what they do. 348 pages. (Finished 16 May 2014).
  14. Weird Oregon: Your Travel Guide to Oregon’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Al Eufrasio & Jefferson D Davis. A collection of stories about the oddities that make Oregon just a little weird. 272 pages. (Finished 23 May 2014).
  15. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini. Two siblings are separated at a young age. Their stories are told as they each age and they echo back and forth between each other. 404 pages. (Finished 1 Jun 2014).
  16. Josey Baker Bread: Get Baking – Make Awesome Bread – Share the Loaves by Josey Baker. A gift of a sourdough starter and a simple recipe starts a obsession with bread that builds into a bakery in SF. A beginners guide to making great bread at home. 224 pages. (Finished 21 Jun 14).
  17. How Soccer Explains the World: an {unlikely} theory of globalization by Franklin Foer. Looking at everything from gangsters to some of the most famous rivalries in football to national politics, Foer explores how soccer has influenced the world. 261 pages. (Finished 6 Aug 2014).
  18. Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom by Deborah Madison. A close look at vegetables from twelve families of the plant kingdom and how to get the most out of them. 416 pages. (Finished 6 Aug 2014).
  19. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami. Tsukuru becomes very close friends with four “colorful” kids while volunteering the summer before high school. His four friends all have a color as part of their names, only Tsukuru is colorless. When it is time for college, all of them remain in their hometown, while Tsukuru goes to school in Toyko. One day during his sophomore year, he returns to his hometown for a visit and one of his friends tells him that they do not want to see him ever again. He returns to Toyko in shock and never finds out why. Eventually he meets someone who encourages him to go back and find out what really happened. 386 pages. (Finished 22 Aug 14).
  20. The New Indian Slow Cooker: Recipes for Curries, Dals, Chutneys, Masalas, Biryani, and More by Neela Paniz. Some neat recipies, but still have a lot of ingredients (mainly spices) that you might not have on hand already. 144 pages. (Finished 7 Oct 2014).
  21. Under The Skin by Michael Faber. A female driver cruises the Scottish Highlands picking up hitchhikers. She listens and prods to find out if anyone will miss them if they disappear. Also very different story than the recent film based on this novel. 320 pages. (Finished 6 Nov 2014).
  22. Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats by Casey Barber. DIY versions of Twinkies, Funyons, and other classic snacks. 160 pages. (Finished 18 Nov 14).
  23. The Son by Jo Nesbø. A young man is in prison for crimes he didn’t commit in exchange for a steady supply of heroin. When he learns some new details of his father’s death, he becomes the center of a web of corruption and vengeance. 386 pages. (Finished 25 Nov 14).

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