My year of reading began with returning to a book I first read in 1999, and ended with a book I first read in 2012.

From Les Miserables to Catching Fire, I only made it through 15 books this year, which is tied for my lowest since I began keeping track in 2008.  But thanks to Les Mis and an equally gargantuan oral history of ESPN, the average length of the books I read was by far my highest and my total pages for the year ended up just about at my now six-year average.

Last year, I noted that I went to the theater to see the movie version of two of the books I read.  This year, I crushed that, seeing three of them (Les Mis, Great Gatsby, Catching Fire) and saving a fourth in my Netflix queue (Spectacular Now) for when it becomes available in a few weeks.

By tradition I’m supposed to now show you all the books stacked up in an impressive tower:

This was way more impressive in 2008 when I didn’t read most of my books on a Nook.  (You can find all my yearly book recaps here.)

In list form, with links to their respective blog posts:

–Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
–Flatland by Edwin Abbott
–The Great Society Subway by Zachary Schrag
–Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
–The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
–Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
–Those Guys Have All The Fun: Inside The World of ESPN by James Miller & Tom Shales
–Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
–Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry
–Quiet by Susan Cain
–A Hologram For The King by Dave Eggers
–The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp
-David And Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
–The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
–Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Somehow I completely spaced on writing about David And Goliath.  Sorry, Malcolm.  I’m not going to go back and do it now, but like all of Gladwell’s books, it’s an interesting look at some things we assume about our world, but may not be as they seem.  Just read it!

If you read five of them:  Les Mis, Gatsby, Beautiful Ruins, Dash & Lily, Quiet.

If you read one:  Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.  By far the most fun read I’ve come across in a while.  I even give you permission to stop reading here and start it right now!

Would have skipped: Those Guys Have All The Fun.  Not at all because of the content — I rather enjoyed it — but because it was my second MASSIVE book of the year, I was ready to move on before I was halfway through.  New rule: one book over 500 pages per year.

Most through-provoking/happiest to share with others: Quiet.  It’s a book that gave me a better view of myself and one that a few of my friends said they were now excited to read as well.  I can’t ask for much more than that.

If you live in DC, you should also check out The Great Society Subway.  I found it fascinating to learn all the history of how the Metro got built, and how some of those decisions account for the way the system is today, both good and bad.

For 2014, I’m returning to the roots of how this book data started and setting a goal of reading 20 books again.  I hadn’t really paid that much attention to my number this year until I sat down to write this, and even though I did read longer books, I was disappointed that I only hit 15.

So 20 it is.  I’m about a third of the way through the first one (Lush Life) and then will be diving into Divergent.  As always, recommendations are greatly appreciated!