Having someone recommend a good book to read is a gift. So, consider this a little something extra for you! We’ve collected our favorite reads of the year. Enjoy and let us know what you think. In fact, what was your favorite book this year? We would love to know!
Sandy Alsammour
The best book I read in 2014 was In Stitches by Anthony Youn, MD. I loved this book. It’s a biography of a plastic surgeon and his road to success. The book has a very off-centered, non-clinical style. It’s a great read.
Secondly, I am completely obsessed with Karin Slaughter — Grant County and the Will Trent series. She writes about cop mysteries from many points of view — from the investigator to medical examiner. Slaughter whirlwinds everyone’s past into what is happening in the present time. I adore her writing.
Leslie Brennan
Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood was the best book I read this year. I’ve loved literature and reading for as long as I can remember, and in high school, Hemingway was required summer reading every year. So reading Mrs. Hemingway, although fiction based on truth, offered a fascinating look at the gifted but plagued author and the life events that influenced such great works as The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Moon Chang
My favorite book of the year was Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. First of all, how can one not love a book written by Banana Yoshimoto? The way she describes food, peeling vegetables, life and quirky characters makes for the perfect combination. It was like a Wes Anderson movie with food. It’s simplistically written and very Japanese in style — simple, modern, edgy and delicious. Actually, I almost cry when I tell people about because it was such a beautiful read. It’s fiction — a novella of two stories. Hands down, forget the classics and Lolita, it’s my favorite book of all time.
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan is another book I loved this year. It’s not good because of the beautiful writing. It was good because it was like Real Housewives Asian-style. At this point in life, if the writing is dull or predictable, I can’t read it. This book kept me interested because the characters’ antics were so outrageous.
Jan Risher
I didn’t read as much in 2014 as I usually do, but the best book of the year for me was Written in my own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon. It’s the eighth book in her Outlander series. Things you should know – I’m not usually into series of books; I’m not into science fiction at all; I’m not a typical fangirl; I’ve been reading these books since 2005. With all that said, these books require a certain suspension of disbelief related to science fiction. They are smart, smart reads. Gabaldon has a Ph.D. in biology, and that deep understanding of science comes through loud and clear in her writing. One of my favorite aspects of reading her work is that I learn so much about medicine and plants – and plants in medicine. Plus, Jamie is hot.
Joelle Polisky
This year, I loved The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I read it in one sitting. I was drawn into the characters and felt like I was living their torment right along with them. The book really gave me a different level of insights into the hard times of plantations and slavery. It was one of those books that forced me to keep reading because I had to know what happened next with the characters.
Mary Margaret Sabatier 
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was my favorite book this year. The book is about a boy who loses his mother in an explosion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The narrative deals with tragic loss and what art can mean to us. I loved it.
Tiffany Wyatt
I’ve mainly read kids books this year, of course (with two young kiddos), but I love Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen. It’s beautifully illustrated and very well written in rhyme. The moral is about protecting animals and how they can have a special place in our hearts.