2014 Rewind: Most Anticipated Reads of 2014

At the start of 2014, I made myself a list of the most anticipated reads of the year from a variety of genres and categories. Throughout the year, this list has been constantly on my mind because I was really excited about these books, and I know that sometimes books get buried at the bottom of my TBR list and never see daylight ever again, so I swore that this list will take priority because SHINY BOOKS ARE SHINY. Let’s see how well I did!

BOOKS READ: ✅

• A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd / Definitely one of my favorite books last year! I don’t read a whole lot of middle grade books nowadays, but A Snicker of Magic was just magical.
• Hungry by H.A. Swain / I was disappointed with this one. The storyline was exciting and dramatic, but there was just too much going on and I didn’t know where it was going. Meh.
• Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub / Ah, good memories of this book! Not something I would try (because, I mean, 🍪🍫🍩!!!) but Schaub’s humorous narrative and detailed experiences were worth the read.

BOOKS I’VE DROPPED: ↩

• Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige (Goodreads) / It started off okay, but I kind of lost interest in the middle of it. I’m going to drop this book as my new year’s resolutions are allowing me to, yippee!
• How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer (Goodreads) / Put it down a few pages in and haven’t picked it back up. (This hasn’t happened to me since A Game of Thrones – I can taste the freedom of not finishing books, wow.)

BOOKS I’M STILL INTERESTED IN: 🅾

• I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora (Goodreads) / Um yes! Eventually, haha. I like the literary reference in this one!
• On the Road to Find Out by Rachel Toor (Goodreads) / Running running running yes.
• Ha! by Scott Weems (Goodreads) / I’ve obtained this book and I will read it eventually. Lots of ‘eventually’s on this list, haha. (WAS THAT A PUN?)
• We Are All Stardust by Stefan Klein (Goodreads) / This was the book on this list that I was most excited about a year ago. Still excited about it, so hopefully I can check this one off my list this year!

BOOKS THAT HAVE FALLEN OFF THE MAP: ❎

• Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington (Goodreads) / I’m slowly falling off of the middle grade bandwagon, unfortunately… especially if it sounds cute-but-normal. 😦
• Cell by Robin Cook (Goodreads) / My first Robin Cook experience didn’t go too well, so I think I need some more time before going back to him.
• Resistant by Michael Palmer (Goodreads) / Not feeling the medical thriller vibe this year – I don’t think I need more suspense or nightmares about my research in 2015!

I guess it’s good to be able to look back and remove the books that I know I won’t be reading so that my TBR pile looks somewhat normal-er… and most anticipated reads of 2015, you ask? I think this year I’ll stick with the books currently on my to-read list as well as some rereads, and less of the new shiny stuff if I can help it. New books are amazing, but so are old ones, right? 😉

Did you read everything on your 2014 list? What were some of your favorites?