2014 In Review

2014 was a crazy year! I graduated from College, spent a few weeks in New York City, went to Disney, got my first professional performing job, participated in a bunch of Blog Tours, read 82 books, participated in NaNoWriMo (sadly, did not finish-next time I will!), and those are just the highlights! What a busy year its been! I hope I’ll have a similar list of awesomeness at the end of 2015!

Check out my favorite books and movies of 2014! I’ll be doing a TV Recap post later this month to talk about what shows I think are hot this season and which ones need to go!

Top Five Books of 2014:

Choosing my top five books of 2014 was really difficult. I read so many amazing books this year—you can scroll down to see my full list of books read—and I obviously couldn’t list all of the ones I loved in my top 5. These definitely stood out to me though, and they were the ones I just raved about in my reviews.

The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas

• I almost didn’t read this book; my friend had to convince me to read these novellas before I read HEIR OF FIRE (another really great read of the year). I was shocked by how much I loved THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE. You really get to know how Celaena became the way she is in the series, and you will fall madly in love with Sam. It’s inevitable. This book definitely made me cry.

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

• This is one of my brother’s favorite books and he tried to get me to read it for months. I wasn’t disappointed; Sanderson does an incredible job crafting the plot up until the mind-blowing ending. Awesome fantasy action, a touch of romance, and lots of character development.

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

• The best time-travel book I’ve read; now I haven’t read many, but ALL OUR YESTERDAYS is so ridiculously clever and brilliantly plotted, it’ll have you going WHAT JUST HAPPENED at the end of each chapter.

The Collectors’ Society by Heather Lyons

• The was an unexpected new love. I was on the blog tour for this one a few months ago, and I fell in love with Lyons’ writing and characters on the first page. It’s basically all of your favorite literary characters (led by Alice of Alice in Wonderland fame) getting together and fighting bad guys across dimensions. It’s just as amazingly awesome as it sounds.

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout

• JLA is pretty much my favorite author ever. I will read anything she publishes. And she never disappoints. WHITE HOT KISS was the beginning of a new YA Paranormal Romance, and it was awesome. Romantic, interesting paranormal elements, action, and plenty of kissing, it fits in with JLA’s epic resume of awesomeness.

Most Read Author of 2014: Jennifer L. Armentrout-is anyone surprised? I read 7 of her books this year! (and I think they were all published in 2014! She’s a writing machine!)

Top 5 Movies of 2014:

Another really hard pick; there were some great movies out this year! Plus, I didn’t even get to see many of the movies that came out (still haven’t seen The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, and I’m a major LOTR fan!) These aren’t in any order.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

After seeing Moonrise Kingdom, I knew I had to see Grand Budapest; it’s hilarious, quirky, brilliantly acted, and whimsically directed. I loved every second of it. Disclaimer: it’s probably like nothing you’ve ever seen, unless you’ve seen other Wes Anderson movies.

The Fault in Our Stars

This one will make you laugh and then it will rip your heart to shreds. I loved the book (cried all the way through) and Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort did a spectacular job bringing Augustus and Hazel Grace to life. A Really fantastic adaptation.

Edge of Tomorrow

I went into this movie with no idea what to expect, and was so pleasantly surprised. Crazy sci-fi ideas rule this film, with wonderful performances from Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. A big blockbuster summer fun movie, and so worth every second.

Guardians of the Galaxy

After seeing the trailer, I was certain I would not like Guardians. I was proven completely wrong and it immediately became one of my very favorite films of the year. I would love to see Chris Pratt in pretty much everything in 2015. Which it seems that he is, so yay.

Into the Woods

As a self-proclaimed musical theater aficionado, I was very concerned about this adaptation. I wasn’t too impressed with Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables (one of my favorite musicals of all time) last year, and I didn’t have much hope for any other stage to screen adaptations. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed Into the Woods, even with it’s script cuts and generally less than stellar singing. The entire cast held their own, and created a lovely version of the incredible show, something I will be thrilled to watch again and again.

Honorable Mentions: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Interstellar, Divergent, Big Hero 6

Did I mention any of your favorite books or movies? What did you love in 2014? Leave me a comment or a link to your 2014 Recap post!

Books Read in 2014:

1. Splintered by A.G. Howard
2. Freak of Nature by Julia Crane
3. The Atomic Circus by K.C. Finn
4. Trust in Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
6. White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout
7. The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa
8. Found by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
9. A Matter of Temperance by Ichabod Temperance
10. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
11. United We Spy by Ally Carter
12. All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
13. The Break-Up Artist by Philip Siegel
14. Strikestone by Stella Atrium
15. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
16. Divinity by Patricia Leever
17. Pulse by H. J. Daly
18. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
19. Pieces of Me by Carrigan Richards
20. Synchrony by Cindy Ray Hale
21. The Blonde by Anna Godberson
22. Fighting for Infinity by Karen Amanda Hooper
23. No One’s Angel by Kelly Walker
24. The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
25. The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead
26. On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
27. Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
28. Take Me On by Katie McGarry
29. Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey
30. Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger
31. Sapphire Blue by Kirsten Gier
32. The Wanderers by Jessica Miller
33. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
34. Foreplay by Sophie Jordan
35. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas
36. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
37. The Jewel by Amy Ewing
38. Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
39. Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
40. Summer Demons by Mia Hoddell
41. Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
42. The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
43. Love’s Prey by Meg Xuemei X
44. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
45. One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
46. At Grave’s End by Jeaniene Frost
47. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
48. Unhinged by A.G. Howard
49. Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
50. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
51. Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter
52. When the World was Flat (and We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach
53. Stay With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
54. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
55. Angel Burn L.A. Weatherly
56. The Collectors’ Society by Heather Lyons
57. The Falconer by Elizabeth May
58. Virtual Arcana: The Fool by Karen Amanda Hooper
59. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
60. Cloven by Georgeann Swiger
61. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers
62. Virtual Arcana: The Magician by Karen Amanda Hooper
63. Reluctant Prince by Dani-Lyn Alexander
64. The Queen of Zombie Hearts by Gena Showalter
65. Alienated by Melissa Landers
66. Persistence of Vision by Liesel K. Hill
67. Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout
68. Forbidden by Kimberley Griffiths Little
69. Virtual Arcana: The High Priestess by Karen Amanda Hooper
70. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
71. Foretold by Rinda Elliot
72. Awaken by Sarah M. Ross
73. Be With Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout
74. Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout
75. Thimble Down by Peter Prown
76. Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper
77. Lux: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
78. Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
79. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
80. Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter
81. Alice in the Country of Hearts by QuinRose
82. A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Did we read any of the same books last year?