Favorite Books and Movies of 2014

Happy Friday! How was your first full week of 2015?

I returned from vacation a few days ago and really enjoyed being off grid. Now I have to find my cell phone and remember my social-media passwords.

I might be a little late but wanted to post my list of favorite books and movies from 2014 before I start discussing new releases. Click on the links to read my full reviews.

Favorite movies

The first two are for pure entertainment value because I enjoyed the heck out of them, and the last two are gut-wrenching films—coincidentally both about war and its effects—that haunt me still.

maleficent-stills-24Maleficent

Edge of Tomorrow

Last Days in Vietnam

American Sniper

 

Favorite Books

big little liesBig Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Closed Doors by Lisa O’Donnell

The Intern’s Handbook by Shane Kuhn

Love Story, with Murders by Harry Bingham

North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo

Malice by Keigo Higashino

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

Watching You by Michael Robotham

Which movies and books did you enjoy from last year? Which are you looking forward to in the next few weeks and months?

 

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Lauren
    January 9, 2015 at 10:21 am

    I was horrible at movies this year, but a few I enjoyed were:

    All Is Lost
    Blue Ruin
    Bad Words
    Locke
    The Rover

    Books are another story and hard to narrow down. In the interest of picking things different from yours, these were high on my list:

    The Martian, Andy Weir
    Bird Box, Josh Malerman
    The Blackhouse (and rest of Lewis Man series), Peter May
    Shotgun Lovesongs, Nikolas Butler
    Alex, Pierre LeMaitre
    Norwegian by Night, Derek Butler
    Wolf in White Van, John Darnielle

    And that doesn’t even include non-fiction. An embarrassment of riches.

  • Reply
    EIREGO
    January 9, 2015 at 12:22 pm

    Yeah, still getting used to writing 2015 on things and dreading doing my taxes. I will not miss 2014 necessarily, but I’m completely dumbfounded it’s over.

    I do agree with your list of films and would add:

    Gone Girl
    The Drop
    Big Hero 6

    I always agree with your book choices, but have not made it through the whole list. The only additions for me would be:

    SPARK

    BTW:
    If I read one more positive review of ONE KICK, I’m going to track that reviewer down and give them a swift one! Thanks, as always, for having taste and steering us away from overly hyped trash like that one. Oops, I ranted, didn’t I? Well, not apologizing for being honest is a resolution I intend to stick to this year.

    Looking forward to the next one, PCN!

    • Reply
      Paulette
      January 9, 2015 at 12:54 pm

      Haha….I enjoy the rant!

  • Reply
    Paulette
    January 9, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    I did not get to the movies this year…
    Of the books on your list, I have read three ( Big Little Lies, Those Who Wish Me Dead and The Intern’s Handbook) and will work my way through the rest. Enjoyed the ones I read! I also Wicked Girls. Have not read any on Lauren’s list. What have I been doing with my time? Reading crap, escapist genre I suppose.

  • Reply
    stacybuckeye
    January 9, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    Edge of Tomorrow and Aj made my 2014 list too 🙂

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