Why 9, and not 10? A couple of reasons.
First, there were a couple of books I really wanted to read in 2014 that I suspect would’ve made this list if I’d only managed to fit them in before the end of the year (based in part on how much I’ve enjoyed past books by their authors), so I’m kind of leaving that spot open for those honorary favorites that I haven’t actually gotten to read yet. I’m looking at you Seahorse Legacy and Love Unexpected. (Why only 24 hours in the day? Why!)
Secondly, even taking into account only those books that were A) published in 2014 and B) read by me in 2014, there would’ve been a tie between about six different books for that tenth spot. Rather than feature 15 books, I went with 9, because I really wanted to emphasize the absolute tops among my favorites.
Here they are, organized by genre, with links to my reviews:
Contemporary Romance
- A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert
- All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti
Historical Romance
- The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron
- Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer (audiobook review coming in 2015)
- Out of the Storm by Jody Hedlund
General Fiction
- Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay
Biblical Fiction
- In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar
- A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker
Speculative Fiction / YA
- Cloak of the Light by Chuck Black
So those were my favorites of 2014. What were yours?
Update: Okay, so apparently I can’t stand to leave it at just 9 books after all, when there were so many amazing books published in 2014. So here’s the rest of my top 15!
For a few more Contemporary Romance picks, there’s Princess Ever After by Rachel Hauck and the Winter Brides collection featuring novellas by Denise Hunter, Deborah Raney, and Betsy St. Amant. In mystery/suspense I loved Heather Day Gilbert’s Miranda Warning. For romantic suspense, my favorite was Deceived by Irene Hannon. And if you like novels with a medical or a military flavor, I recommend Lip Reading by Harry Kraus and Raptor 6 (review to come) by Ronie Kendig.
Katie’s and Katherine’s were both beautiful in their own rights! Now I keep reminding myself to read Kristy’s, which I’ve heard is a keeper. Soon. I hope. 😉
Thanks for stopping by, Rissi! All three of the ones you mentioned are ones I’d love to read again. I hope you do get a chance to read The Butterfly and the Violin. Such a touching book, and I loved the way the historical and contemporary threads intertwined. Would’ve nominated it for the INSPYs if someone else hadn’t beat me to it.