Books of 2014
Jan. 9th, 2015 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhHere is my complete list of books I read in 2014! Most of these you can find a review of by following the bookblogging tag, but I'm also always open to questions.
I read a total of 108 books last year, which is slightly less than I usually read, but not by much (about ten less). 72 were written or edited by women (66.7%), 35 by people of color (32.4%), 14 were rereads (13%) and 13 were non-fiction (12%). I had set a goal to read 50 books about South Asia, but only managed to finish 39. Though I've done that for the last several years, I think I'm not going to do it again in 2015. Mainly because I want to concentrate on working on my Hindi instead, but also because I'm starting to run out of easily available books on South Asia, at least in bookstores and libraries in the US.
January
2. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo - Tom Reiss
3. Hyperbole and a Half – Allie Brosh
6. Captured – Beverly Jenkins
11. Nagaland: A Journey to India’s Forgotten Frontier – Jonathan Glancey
12. The Cold Dish – Craig Johnson
16. Ice Cream: A Global History – Laura B. Weiss
21. Planet India: The Turbulent Rise of the Largest Democracy and the Future of Our World – Mira Kamdar
28. Wife – Bharati Mukherjee
28. Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold
February
1. Death Without Company – Craig Johnson
7. Freedom Song – Amit Chaudhuri
9. The Gods of Gotham – Lyndsay Faye
13. The Adventures of Feluda – Satyajit Ray
March
3. Dangerous Women – Eds. George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois
4. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy – Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal
10. Cyroburn – Lois McMaster Bujold
18. Laura’s Wolf – Lia Silver
21. Raj – Gita Mehta
25. Kindness Goes Unpunished – Craig Johnson
April
4. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War – Tony Horwitz
6. Good Man Friday – Barbara Hambly
10. The Heiress Effect – Courtney Milan
12. The Governess Affair – Courtney Milan
17. The Duchess War – Courtney Milan
19. A Kiss For Midwinter – Courtney Milan
22. The Countess Conspiracy – Courtney Milan
30. N0S4A2 – Joe Hill
May
4. The Far Pavilions – M.M. Kaye
7. Gifted – Nikita Lalwani
9. East, West – Salman Rusdie
10. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance – Lois McMaster Bujold
14. Clear Light of Day – Anita Desai
16. Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
17. Another Man’s Moccasins – Craig Johnson
18. Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch
21. Prince of Silk and Thorns – Cherry Dare
28. Shadow Lines – Amitav Ghosh
June
3. Those Who Hunt the Night – Barbara Hambly
5. Ethan of Athos – Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Death by Silver – Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold
12. The Dark Horse – Craig Johnson
13. Traveling with the Dead – Barbara Hambly
17. Falling Free – Lois McMaster Bujold
23. Ramayana – R. K. Narayan
24. Junkyard Dogs – Craig Johnson
30. Blood Maidens – Barbara Hambly
July
2. The Toss of a Lemon – Padma Viswanathan
9. The Immigrant – Manju Kapur
15. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction – Gabor Mate
15. Funny Boy – Shyam Selvadurai
22. Prisoner – Lia Silver
22. The Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri
24. Shielding Her Modesty – Sita Bhaskar
28. The Suffragette Scandal – Courtney Milan
August
1. A Free Man of Color – Barbara Hambly
2. Delhi – Khushwant Singh
5. The Freedom Maze – Delia Sherman
10. Fever Season – Barbara Hambly
12. The Weight of Heaven – Thirty Umrigar
15. Seven for a Secret – Lyndsay Faye
18. Graveyard Dust – Barbara Hambly
19. The Hundred-Foot Journey – Richard C. Morais
19. Crimson Angel – Barbara Hambly
21. Unveiled – Courtney Milan
22. Unlocked – Courtney Milan
23. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes – Shoba Narayan
24. Unclaimed – Courtney Milan
25. Talk Sweetly to Me – Courtney Milan
29. The Lowland – Jhumpa Lahiri
30. The Magistrates of Hell – Barbara Hambly
September
3. Unraveled – Courtney Milan
8. Traveler’s Tales India: True Stories – Eds. James O'Reilly and Larry Habegger
8. Sold Down the River – Barbara Hambly
12. Light Thickens – Ngaio Marsh
15. Die Upon a Kiss – Barbara Hambly
16. Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh
22. Wet Grave – Barbara Hambly
22. Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the World's Largest Democracy – Hindol Sengupta
29. Farzana: the Woman Who Saved an Empire – Julia Keay
October
2. A Bollywood Affair – Sonali Dev
5. Days of the Dead – Barbara Hambly
11. The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison
13. River of Smoke – Amitav Ghosh
16. The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
20. Dead Water – Barbara Hambly
21. Don’t Let Him Know – Sandip Roy
25. Chef’s Table – Lynn Charles
29. A Place Within: Rediscovering India – M. G. Vassanji
30. The Kindred of Darkness – Barbara Hambly
November
2. Dead and Buried – Barbara Hambly
3. The Girl in the Garden – Kamala Nair
8. A Breath of Fresh Air – Amulya Malladi
9. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
12. Knife Fight and Other Struggles – David Nickle
16. The Shirt on His Back – Barbara Hambly
17. Animal’s People – Indra Sinha
20. Foxglove Summer – Ben Aaronovitch
21. The Mango Season – Amulya Malladi
23. Waistcoats and Weaponry – Gail Carriger
25. Hell Is Empty – Craig Johnson
27. Song of the Cuckoo Bird – Amulya Malladi
30. Ran Away – Barbara Hambly
December
5. The Isolation Door – Anish Majumdar
9. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
11. Bombay Stories – Saadat Hasan Manto
12. Touched With Fire – Christopher Datta
17. The Cutting Season – Attica Locke
23. Blindspot – Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore
Five Worst Books of the Year
5. The Hundred-Foot Journey, Richard C. Morais. Boring, lacked the food porn promised by the premise, and squandered potentially interesting characters.
4. A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev. Every terrible romance novel cliche, poorly done.
3. Chef’s Table, Lynn Charles. Every terrible romance novel cliche, poorly done: the m/m edition.
2. Dangerous Women, Eds. George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois. OH MY GODDDDDD. How was it possible to take an idea with so much potential and turn out such dreck? Did they actually audition writers for stories that least fit the idea of strong female characters?
1. The Far Pavilions, M.M. Kaye. It's got racism! It's got sexism! It's got terrible romance novel cliches! It mocks the idea of strong female characters! Basically it's the other four books rolled into one and with any positive values cut out.
Five Best Books of the Year
5. Animal’s People, Indra Sinha. Mostly for the writing, which is just so lovely and well-done, but also a great story about power and tragedy and recovery.
4. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, Tony Horwitz. Really fantastic and enthralling non-fiction. So smart and so relevant.
3. Sea of Poppies/River of Smoke, Amitav Ghosh. Absolutely beautiful writing, great historical research, and fantastic characters. I can't wait for the third in the trilogy, which is supposed to be out this year.
2. The Brothers Sinister series, Courtney Milan. Lovely, funny, optimistic historical novels. It is everything I want.
1. Crimson Angel, Barbara Hambly. I feel like this is sort of cheating, because OF COURSE this was my favorite, but I don't even care. IT WAS SO GOOD.
I read a total of 108 books last year, which is slightly less than I usually read, but not by much (about ten less). 72 were written or edited by women (66.7%), 35 by people of color (32.4%), 14 were rereads (13%) and 13 were non-fiction (12%). I had set a goal to read 50 books about South Asia, but only managed to finish 39. Though I've done that for the last several years, I think I'm not going to do it again in 2015. Mainly because I want to concentrate on working on my Hindi instead, but also because I'm starting to run out of easily available books on South Asia, at least in bookstores and libraries in the US.
January
2. The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo - Tom Reiss
3. Hyperbole and a Half – Allie Brosh
6. Captured – Beverly Jenkins
11. Nagaland: A Journey to India’s Forgotten Frontier – Jonathan Glancey
12. The Cold Dish – Craig Johnson
16. Ice Cream: A Global History – Laura B. Weiss
21. Planet India: The Turbulent Rise of the Largest Democracy and the Future of Our World – Mira Kamdar
28. Wife – Bharati Mukherjee
28. Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold
February
1. Death Without Company – Craig Johnson
7. Freedom Song – Amit Chaudhuri
9. The Gods of Gotham – Lyndsay Faye
13. The Adventures of Feluda – Satyajit Ray
March
3. Dangerous Women – Eds. George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois
4. Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy – Sugata Bose and Ayesha Jalal
10. Cyroburn – Lois McMaster Bujold
18. Laura’s Wolf – Lia Silver
21. Raj – Gita Mehta
25. Kindness Goes Unpunished – Craig Johnson
April
4. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War – Tony Horwitz
6. Good Man Friday – Barbara Hambly
10. The Heiress Effect – Courtney Milan
12. The Governess Affair – Courtney Milan
17. The Duchess War – Courtney Milan
19. A Kiss For Midwinter – Courtney Milan
22. The Countess Conspiracy – Courtney Milan
30. N0S4A2 – Joe Hill
May
4. The Far Pavilions – M.M. Kaye
7. Gifted – Nikita Lalwani
9. East, West – Salman Rusdie
10. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance – Lois McMaster Bujold
14. Clear Light of Day – Anita Desai
16. Heat and Dust – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
17. Another Man’s Moccasins – Craig Johnson
18. Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch
21. Prince of Silk and Thorns – Cherry Dare
28. Shadow Lines – Amitav Ghosh
June
3. Those Who Hunt the Night – Barbara Hambly
5. Ethan of Athos – Lois McMaster Bujold
10. Death by Silver – Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold
12. The Dark Horse – Craig Johnson
13. Traveling with the Dead – Barbara Hambly
17. Falling Free – Lois McMaster Bujold
23. Ramayana – R. K. Narayan
24. Junkyard Dogs – Craig Johnson
30. Blood Maidens – Barbara Hambly
July
2. The Toss of a Lemon – Padma Viswanathan
9. The Immigrant – Manju Kapur
15. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction – Gabor Mate
15. Funny Boy – Shyam Selvadurai
22. Prisoner – Lia Silver
22. The Death of Vishnu – Manil Suri
24. Shielding Her Modesty – Sita Bhaskar
28. The Suffragette Scandal – Courtney Milan
August
1. A Free Man of Color – Barbara Hambly
2. Delhi – Khushwant Singh
5. The Freedom Maze – Delia Sherman
10. Fever Season – Barbara Hambly
12. The Weight of Heaven – Thirty Umrigar
15. Seven for a Secret – Lyndsay Faye
18. Graveyard Dust – Barbara Hambly
19. The Hundred-Foot Journey – Richard C. Morais
19. Crimson Angel – Barbara Hambly
21. Unveiled – Courtney Milan
22. Unlocked – Courtney Milan
23. Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes – Shoba Narayan
24. Unclaimed – Courtney Milan
25. Talk Sweetly to Me – Courtney Milan
29. The Lowland – Jhumpa Lahiri
30. The Magistrates of Hell – Barbara Hambly
September
3. Unraveled – Courtney Milan
8. Traveler’s Tales India: True Stories – Eds. James O'Reilly and Larry Habegger
8. Sold Down the River – Barbara Hambly
12. Light Thickens – Ngaio Marsh
15. Die Upon a Kiss – Barbara Hambly
16. Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh
22. Wet Grave – Barbara Hambly
22. Recasting India: How Entrepreneurship is changing the World's Largest Democracy – Hindol Sengupta
29. Farzana: the Woman Who Saved an Empire – Julia Keay
October
2. A Bollywood Affair – Sonali Dev
5. Days of the Dead – Barbara Hambly
11. The Goblin Emperor – Katherine Addison
13. River of Smoke – Amitav Ghosh
16. The Curse of Chalion – Lois McMaster Bujold
20. Dead Water – Barbara Hambly
21. Don’t Let Him Know – Sandip Roy
25. Chef’s Table – Lynn Charles
29. A Place Within: Rediscovering India – M. G. Vassanji
30. The Kindred of Darkness – Barbara Hambly
November
2. Dead and Buried – Barbara Hambly
3. The Girl in the Garden – Kamala Nair
8. A Breath of Fresh Air – Amulya Malladi
9. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
12. Knife Fight and Other Struggles – David Nickle
16. The Shirt on His Back – Barbara Hambly
17. Animal’s People – Indra Sinha
20. Foxglove Summer – Ben Aaronovitch
21. The Mango Season – Amulya Malladi
23. Waistcoats and Weaponry – Gail Carriger
25. Hell Is Empty – Craig Johnson
27. Song of the Cuckoo Bird – Amulya Malladi
30. Ran Away – Barbara Hambly
December
5. The Isolation Door – Anish Majumdar
9. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
11. Bombay Stories – Saadat Hasan Manto
12. Touched With Fire – Christopher Datta
17. The Cutting Season – Attica Locke
23. Blindspot – Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore
Five Worst Books of the Year
5. The Hundred-Foot Journey, Richard C. Morais. Boring, lacked the food porn promised by the premise, and squandered potentially interesting characters.
4. A Bollywood Affair, Sonali Dev. Every terrible romance novel cliche, poorly done.
3. Chef’s Table, Lynn Charles. Every terrible romance novel cliche, poorly done: the m/m edition.
2. Dangerous Women, Eds. George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois. OH MY GODDDDDD. How was it possible to take an idea with so much potential and turn out such dreck? Did they actually audition writers for stories that least fit the idea of strong female characters?
1. The Far Pavilions, M.M. Kaye. It's got racism! It's got sexism! It's got terrible romance novel cliches! It mocks the idea of strong female characters! Basically it's the other four books rolled into one and with any positive values cut out.
Five Best Books of the Year
5. Animal’s People, Indra Sinha. Mostly for the writing, which is just so lovely and well-done, but also a great story about power and tragedy and recovery.
4. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War, Tony Horwitz. Really fantastic and enthralling non-fiction. So smart and so relevant.
3. Sea of Poppies/River of Smoke, Amitav Ghosh. Absolutely beautiful writing, great historical research, and fantastic characters. I can't wait for the third in the trilogy, which is supposed to be out this year.
2. The Brothers Sinister series, Courtney Milan. Lovely, funny, optimistic historical novels. It is everything I want.
1. Crimson Angel, Barbara Hambly. I feel like this is sort of cheating, because OF COURSE this was my favorite, but I don't even care. IT WAS SO GOOD.
