Five Favorite Books of 2014

I've read thirty books this year, almost exclusively on my phone. Let's break it down into my five favorites. Okay, and five runner-ups.

1. Favorite Fiction: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simpson

About an Australian professor (with Asperger's, we're lead to believe) falling for a PhD candidate. The second book, in which the couple have wed and are expecting their first child, comes out in a few weeks.

Runner Up: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

2. Favorite Nonfiction: The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

About the University of Washington crew team training for and competing in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It's got a similar feel to Unbroken, but it's way less intense. Plus, the author lives in my town!

Runner Up: David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell

3. Favorite Royal Biography: Elizabeth The Queen by Susan Bedell Smith

I just have a thing for the British royal family, okay? The Vanity Fair Royal Watch is one of my biggest guilty pleasures. I think I'll tackle the massive new Queen Victoria biography next year.

Runner Up: Kate the Future Queen by Katie Nicholl

4. Favorite Foodie Memoir: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Out of all the books I read with recipes at the end of each chapter, this was the only one that really stuck with me. I made her pasta carbonara last night. This was a close, close race though. I'm still dreaming about the meal we enjoyed at Delancey last month!

Runner Up: Delancey by Molly Wizenberg

5. Favorite Catholic Mom Memoir: The Appalling Mercy of the Strangeness of God by Ruth Pakaluk

I am fascinated by this family. I listened to an interview with Catherine Pakaluk on the Read Aloud Revival podcast. I was insanely impressed that she birthed six young children while completing her PhD in economics at Harvard, so of course I had to Google her. She also mentioned something about her husband having children from a previous marriage. It turns out her husband (a philosophy professor) married his college sweetheart, Ruth, and had seven children with her before she died of breast cancer. Then he got married to Catherine and had six more children! This memoir is his first wife's story, mainly told through her letters and speeches. Ruth was a pretty well known pro-life activist and all-around amazing person.

Runner Up: Something Other Than God by Jennifer Fulwiler

What were your favorite books of 2014? And what are you most excited to read next year? I know I'm highly anticipating Gretchen Rubin's latest book in March!