Today is the first day of July meaning that the year of 2014 is halfway over! We are six months gone guys! Where has it disappeared to!? Wow! Well, to celebrate passing the halfway point I am going to count down my Top 5 Reads of 2014! You read right, my top 5 favorite reads of 2014 thus far! This list has been chosen from books I have read that were released in 2014. While I have read many, many amazing books in 2014, unfortunately many of them were older reads so this has been rather difficult to come up with 5 (sorry JLA). This list also covers all genres I enjoy. I plan on doing a top 10 list in December with my list for the entire year so be on the watch for that. Not only will I be sharing my top 5 of 2014 so far list, I have gather a handful of other bloggers, authors, and readers who may be familiar to you guys to share with me their Top 5 of 2014 (so far) list as well! Without farther adieu, here we go!
Ethan's Top 5 Reads of 2014 (so far):
Check out each book below by clicking on the title to be taken to my review of the novel!
Click the link below each cover/synopsis to be taken to the official Goodreads page for each novel!
A new series returns to the world of Beautiful Creatures. Some loves are cursed...others are dangerous.
Ridley Duchannes will be the first to tell you that she's a bad girl. She's Dark. She's a Siren. You can never trust her, or even yourself when she's around. Lucky for her, Wesley "Link" Lincoln can never seem to remember that; quarter Incubus or not, his heart is Mortal when it comes to Ridley. When Link heads to New York City to start a music career, Ridley goes along for the ride-and she has her own reasons. As if leaving small-town Gatlin for the big city, trying to form a band, and surviving life with a partially reformed Siren isn't hard enough already, Link soon learns he has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of Beautiful Creatures, are back and casting another magical spell. Their signature mixture of mystery, suspense, and romance, along with a dash of fun and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.
Ridley Duchannes will be the first to tell you that she's a bad girl. She's Dark. She's a Siren. You can never trust her, or even yourself when she's around. Lucky for her, Wesley "Link" Lincoln can never seem to remember that; quarter Incubus or not, his heart is Mortal when it comes to Ridley. When Link heads to New York City to start a music career, Ridley goes along for the ride-and she has her own reasons. As if leaving small-town Gatlin for the big city, trying to form a band, and surviving life with a partially reformed Siren isn't hard enough already, Link soon learns he has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of Beautiful Creatures, are back and casting another magical spell. Their signature mixture of mystery, suspense, and romance, along with a dash of fun and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.
In Texas, two things are cherished above all else—football and gossip. My life has always been ruled by both.
Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.
But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.
Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.
Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.
And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.
Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.
But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.
Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.
Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.
And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.
Pixie and Levi haven't
spoken in nearly a year when they find themselves working―and living―at
the same inn in the middle of nowhere. Once upon a time, they were
childhood friends. But that was before everything went to hell. And now
things are... awkward.
All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.
All they want to do is avoid each other, and their past, for as long as possible. But now that they're forced to share a bathroom, and therefore a shower, keeping their distance from one another becomes less difficult than keeping their hands off each other. Welcome to the hallway of awkward tension and sexual frustration, folks. Get comfy. It’s going to be a long summer.
Seventeen year old Ollie Miller is ready to leave all of her
hurt feelings behind, but moving on seems impossible while living next door to
her ex-best friend, Mateo. When curious earthquakes begin to shake and rip open
the foundation of her small town, the ground becomes as unsteady as her
feelings for him. When they fall, they fall hard…
Ollie’s disastrous attempt to save Mateo’s brother from falling into a
curious chasm results in their descent into a cavernous wonderland. Ollie,
Mateo, Jesse, and Alexis search for a way back home, and encounter a mysterious
tribe of natives. Gabriel, the next in line to lead his people, is granted
permission to guide them to the surface. On their treacherous journey, an
overzealous elder threatens all of their lives, because he can’t risk them
exposing his people, or the power he wields. The group discovers ancient
secrets, unexpected truths, and uncharted feelings. Ollie must find a way out
or risk being stuck in the caves forever—or worse, dead.
*I'd also like to point out that this was the debut novel by Mrs. Kallie Ross and it was absolutely amazing. PLEASE check out the review, you will NOT regret this read!*
Finally, the moment of truth. My TOP read of 2014 thus far; the book I had to read over and over again and STILL couldn't get enough, AND the debut novel from one of the most promising and upcoming authors I've read:
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.
What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.
So there's my list! Here's a graphic I made to recap it for you guys!
After I made my own list, I really wanted to hear the input of my fellow bloggers, readers, and authors! I invited everyone to tweet me some their favorites using the hashtag #TopReads2014 and here are some of the amazing responses I got! Some even submitted graphics for me! Here we go!
Revolution, Best Kind of Broken, Sentinel, Dorothy Must Die! Not actually all released in 2014 but oh well lol #TopReads2014
— Megan West (@meg_west) June 30, 2014
Liz Long, author of Gifted and Burned (The Donovan Circus Series) and Witch Hearts, and one of my current favorite people joined in with her favorites:
@egrgry Hokay: Nature of Grace series, SR Johannes; One Tiny Secret, TA Kunz; Don't Look Back, J Armentrout. I have a thing for mysteries.
— Liz Long (@LizCLong) June 30, 2014
The absolutely amazing Chelsea Fine, author of The Archers of Avalon and Finding Fate series wanted to give a shoutout to her newest favorite series of 2014 with this graphic she sent in:
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| Chelsea speaks VERY highly of this series so I WILL be adding it to my TBR! Can't wait to check it out! Learn more about Chelsea Fine and her many amazing works at http://www.chelseafinebooks.com/ |
Another one of my top 5 authors also participated with us! Here are a couple of tweets from Mrs. Kallie Ross about her favorites of 2014 so far:
@egrgry ok, so I'm cheating by including @RLLaFevers' Mortal Heart... I got an ARC at BEA, & it's not out yet! I'm in love with this book!!!
— Kallie Ross (@Kallieross) July 1, 2014
@egrgry I'll also say it's the year of conclusions to series, & I love me some happy endings! #TheSelection #MortalInstruments #Bloodlines
— Kallie Ross (@Kallieross) July 1, 2014
Here's some graphics from some of the other awesome bloggers who wanted to put in THIER top 5 reads of 2014 so far! Click each graphic to be taken to that blogger's page!
Amber, Christina, Ursula, and Carmen from GrownupFangirl had this to say:
Kaitlan from Between Order and Randomness picked these for her top 5:
Yesi from Literati Book Reviews chimed in with her top 5 and a message:
Betsy from Book Drunk Blog gave me these for her top 5:
One of my favorite people ever, the awesome Christine from i*Heart*BigBooks (and i cannot lie...) sent in her amazing graphic with her top 6 reads (she couldn't pick just 5!):
And last, but certainly not least, the absolutely amazing Stephanie from Smart & Savvy with Stephanie sent in her top 5 graphic:
**Anyone wanting to add their Top 5 graphic, please contact me ASAP and I will happily put it on, this will be a work in progress. Don't hesitate to holler if you want to be added!**
Alright readers, this has been one of THE most fun posts I have ever done and I have loved sharing all these Top 5 Reads of 2014 (so far) with you. Here are 14 different bloggers, authors, and readers opinions. I would love to hear what some of yours are! Feel free to create a graphic or a list and hit me up either via twitter with the hashtag #TopReads2014 and I'll grab them and add them to the list or via email at oneguysguidetogoodreads@gmail.com! I would absolutely love to hear YOUR top 5 reads for 2014 (so far)! The year is only half over and we still have TONS of exciting upcoming releases! I plan on checking back with everyone here come December and we will see how the year rounded out for everyone. I am anxiously awaiting all the fun comments and suggestions from you guys! Feel free to share this post, tag the authors mentioned and add them all to your TBR! Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
FANTASTIC lists Ethan! I definitely found a few to add to my TBR list!! thanks for letting me play along....so SO much fun! ♥
ReplyDeleteLove this! Thanks for featuring us!!
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