Best books of 2014Like this list

17 items

1. 1. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

   a Novel

   Valentine, Genevieve, 1981-

   Add The Girls at the Kingfisher Club to your for later shelf

   A retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses, set in the 1920s. 12 brilliant girls and their love for sneaking out and dancing all night, 12 sisters with different relationships with each other, and one tyrannical father trying to control everyone. A…Read moreRead more of this annotation

2. 2. Bugs

   Hereaka, Whiti

   Add Bugs to your for later shelf

   I was gutted that this didn't win the NZ Post Book Award that it was nominated for; it was TOTALLY the best one. I loved the main characters, their relationships with each other, their parents, the school. A great book about racial identity in New…Read moreRead more of this annotation

3. 3. Through the Woods

   Stories

   Carroll, Emily

   Add Through the Woods to your for later shelf

   Creepy, gorgeously drawn stories. Best read at night in a cabin in the woods but will give you shivers in a staff room during the day as well.

4. 4. The Pied Piper of Hamelin

   Brand, Russell, 1975-

   Add The Pied Piper of Hamelin to your for later shelf

   Part fairy tale, part poo jokes, part inquiry into the mysteries of human existence. Excellent kids book all round!

5. 5. The Cracks in the Kingdom

   Moriarty, Jaclyn

   Add The Cracks in the Kingdom to your for later shelf

   Totally magical. As in, magical characters magical prose magical plot. Yet there are so many aspects of this book that are so grounded in humanity. This one absolutely illustrates the reasons why I love fantasy as a way of looking at the real world…Read moreRead more of this annotation

6. 6. I Am Malala

   The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World

   Yousafzai, Malala, 1997-

   Add I Am Malala to your for later shelf

   Malala <3

7. 7. The Impossible Knife of Memory

   Anderson, Laurie Halse, 1961-

   Add The Impossible Knife of Memory to your for later shelf

   One of the first books I read this year and it set the standard. Excellent contemporary fiction, PTSD, familial relationships, character development, this book just works so well.

8. 8. Saga. [Volume Three]

   Vaughan, Brian K.

   Add Saga. [Volume Three] to your for later shelf

9. 9. Sex Criminals. [1], One Weird Trick

   Fraction, Matt

   Add Sex Criminals. [1], One Weird Trick to your for later shelf

   Basically the funniest graphic novel about a woman who stops time when she has sex ever. (Well, okay, maybe the only graphic novel about a woman who stops time when she has sex, but still!)

10. 10. Dreams of Gods and Monsters

    Taylor, Laini, 1971-

    Add Dreams of Gods and Monsters to your for later shelf

    Such a great end to a series that just got better and better with each book! Agonisingly good! I read some of the most dramatic parts in public and made rather desperate flailing noises. Love it when books do that.

11. 11. Evil Librarian

    Knudsen, Michelle

    Add Evil Librarian to your for later shelf

    I was absolutely DELIGHTED by this book. A great mix of ridiculous fun, and danger, and wicked characters, and excellent one liners.

12. 12. Cuckoo Song

    Hardinge, Frances, 1973-

    Add Cuckoo Song to your for later shelf

    I just love a creepy changeling story, guys. I love stories that investigate what makes a person a person.

13. 13. Complicit

    Kuehn, Stephanie

    Add Complicit to your for later shelf

    Actually the scariest book I've read this year. Completely twisted. I love it. Disturbed all my flatmates, we all made lots of screams of despair and agony in the living room while reading multiple copies. Yeah we're nerds. A++.

14. 14. Charm and Strange

    Kuehn, Stephanie

    Add Charm and Strange to your for later shelf

    Yeah, Stephanie Kuehn makes it onto the 2014 list twice because she's REALLY DISTURBING and I can't get enough.

15. 15. Lies We Tell Ourselves

    Talley, Robin

    Add Lies We Tell Ourselves to your for later shelf

    So good - a brutal read, though.

16. 16. Fangirl

    Rowell, Rainbow

    Add Fangirl to your for later shelf

    I WISH I'd had this book in my early years of university, but even now it's great, it's so familiar, it celebrates fandom and the different relationships people can have with it, as well as the way relationships change in first year uni,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

17. 17. Beauty Queens

    Bray, Libba, 1964-

    Add Beauty Queens to your for later shelf

    A few years older but it took me this long to get around to reading it and it NEEDS to be on a Best Of list. "Best of Ali's Wow-Why-Didn't-I-Read-This-Years-Ago Books' maybe.