Five Friday Faves: Favourite Books of 2014 So Far

Five Friday Favourites is a weekly meme hosted by Amanda over at Book Badger. Every Friday she chooses a new topic – full list of topics can be found here.

I only just discovered this meme (thanks to the lovely and super sweet Stacie from Books Galore), but damn girl picks some good topics! This week’s topic is, “Favourite Books of 2014 So Far.” I’m pretty sure this means any five faves I’ve read so far – not books necessarily published in 2014 – so that’s what I’m going with!

This small, unremarkably-packaged book stole my heart. It’s exactly the type of dry, subtle, unmistakably British humour I so love. And it’s about the discovery of reading and all the amazing doors it opens – both to experience other lives, and within oneself. Not only that, but the main character is none other than Her Royal Highness herself. It’s a quick but satisfying read.

I love sassy, spunky, resourceful, intelligent yet stupidly fearless ladies. Veronica Mars is all these. And more. I was so sad that the show got cancelled – particularly with such a blunt, unfulfilled ending. So to have the movie AND book both come out within a month of one another totally let me binge on my favourite tiny blonde detective!

I loved the authenticity of the Will Graysons – and their friends. It’s also one of the first LGBT books I’ve read in the YA genre (though I know of – and have – many more) and it gave me all kinds of feels. John Green and Davide Levithan each take on one character named Will Grayson, alternating chapters in first person narrative (another reason I found this book fascinating). They tell the stories of two teenagers struggling to figure out where they fit in the world and who they want to become. It was heart-wrenching, nostalgic and in many parts, deeply funny. Also my second favourite of John Green’s works to date.

I’d been meaning to read Ask the Passengers forever when I got my hands on this new A.S. King book. But it was a great introduction to her work. I have a soft spot for misfit, odd, outcast characters, so Gerald was easy to get into. One of the things I liked best about this book was that it captured the feeling of being a kid stuck in a home situation that you can neither escape nor endure. And that first, complicated, confusing experience of falling in love. King has a true talent for writing how it felt to be a teenager, so total props for that.

My final book choice is a tie between two of the strangest, most disgusting, and confusing books I’ve not only read this year, but in my entire reading history. Worst. Person. Ever. is by an author whose work I’ve been reading for nearly a decade, who comes from my part of the world, and who I am a devoted fan of. He is unflinching in his writing, often taking risks with both plot and character that few authors would be able to pull off. I love his originality, tone and ability to dabble in the absurd. In his most recent book he created one of the most pathetic and vile characters I’ve encountered in literature, and yet I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I’m still confused by this.

Grasshopper Jungle is the first of Smith’s books I’ve read, and I went into it already feeling entirely out of my element. That feeling only intensified as I read. The book is all about a bug-pocalypse – the end of the world brought about by 8-foot praying mantises. Nearly all of the characters in this book are multi-dimensional and contradictory. And the bi-sexual love triangle was a first in my reading experience and certainly created an unsolvable emotional mystery. It’s not the sort of book I normally would have even considered reading, but by the end I had to admit that it was excellent.

Alright, that’s my top 5 of 2014 so far! What were yours? Share in the comments! //<![CDATA[ var sc_project=10144299; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="82f610c9"; var scJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://secure." : "http://www."); document.write("”); //]]>