Sharing 14 of my favorite reads this year. Here they are in no particular order (except for the first one, which was my absolute favorite):

  1. The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver

    From The Poisonwood Bible's beginning: Leah Price: We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle. My sisters and I were all counting on having one birthday apiece during our twelve-month mission. "And heaven knows," our mother predicted, "they won't have Betty Crocker in the Congo."

    From the beginning: Leah Price: “We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle. My sisters and I were all counting on having one birthday apiece during our twelve-month mission. “And heaven knows,” our mother predicted, “they won’t have Betty Crocker in the Congo.”

  2. War Sebastian Junger
  3. A New Leaf Alyson Martin & Nushin Rashidian
  4. Orange is the New Black Piper Kerman
  5. Sex at Dawn Christopher Ryan, PhD & Cacilda Jethá, MD
  6. Swamplandia! Karen Russell

    As I said on Twitter, I could go Pentecostal over how much I loved this book.

    Chapter One of Swamplandia! and as I said on Twitter, I could go Pentecostal over how much I loved this book.

  7. More than Conquerors Megan Hustad
  8. Don’t Cry Mary Gaitskill
  9. Vanity Fair William Thackeray
  10. Self-Help Lorrie Moore
  11. Why We Broke Up Daniel Handler & illustrator Maira Kalman

    In Why We Broke Up, an illustration of an unfolded note.

    In Why We Broke Up, an illustration of an unfolded note, confessing: “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  12. Cut Me Loose Leah Vincent
  13. Drift Rachel Maddow
  14. The New Digital Age Eric Schmidt & Jared Cohen

To buy these books, check Indie Bound to see if your local, independent bookstore already has a copy.

Happy reading in 2015! Any recommendations?