My Favorite Books of 2014

Last year I resolved to read more slowly, to choose books of depth that would require thinking, meditating, and savoring rather than devouring.  I pretty much failed and ended up reading 90-100 books in 2014, very few of which were on my to-read list that I posted in January. My interests changed, and as I look over my list, I read 14 spiritual memoirs, which are currently my new favorite genre. 

Here were my favorite reads of 2014 that I would recommend:

Spiritual memoirs:

1. Faith Unraveled: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask Questions, by Rachel Held Evans  
2. Girl at the End of the World, by Elizabeth Esther
3. Flunking Sainthood, by Jana Riess
4. Rare Birds, by Anna Whiston-Donaldson
5. A New Kind of Christian, by Brian McLaren

 Spiritual Growth:

1. Mere Churchianity, by Michael Spencer
2. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, by E.R. Richards and B.J. O’Brien
3. The Jesus Creed, by Scot McKnight
4. Almost Catholic: An Appreciation of History, Practice, and Mystery, by Jon Sweeney
5. My Sisters, the Saints, by Colleen Carroll Campbell

Fiction (for the thrill of escape):

1. The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
2. What Kind of Mother Are You? By Paula Daly
3. Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty 

Other Nonfiction:

1. The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why, by Amanda Ripley
2. David & Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
3. Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, by Laurence Gonzales