I challenged myself to read my way through 2014 last January. Over the course of the year, I read 34 books. Throughout all the reading, I learned that I tend to navigate towards female writers, I’m not a huge lover of fiction, and that not all bloggers make great authors. Not every book was a new favorite, but there were quite a few that I recommend.

Books everyone should read:

Daring Greatly, Brene Brown

Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning

Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo

I Am Malala, Malala Yousafzai

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

Half the Sky, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Locust Effect, Gary A. Haugen and Victor Boutros

Boundaries, Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Speak, Nish Weiseth

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee

 

Honorable Mentions:

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion

Interrupted, Jen Hatmaker

Where Did You Go Bernadette, Maria Semple

A Million Little Ways, Emily Freeman

That’s Why We Broke Up, Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, Anna Quindlen

The Best Yes, Lysa TerKeurst

Deepening Community, Paul Born

Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist

 

I’m always looking for new reads, so I would love to hear recommendations.