2014 Staff Picks: Part 3

Throughout the month of January I'm sharing our staff picks in a multi-part series. You can read the previous installments here and here. In today's installment I'm sharing my picks for the previous year. All of my picks for books have been reviewed here on the blog, and I encourage you to click the link to read the review for each pick.

Favorite Books

An Inquiry Into Love and Death and Silence For The Dead, both by Simone St. James: thus far, I've read and reviewed all of St. James' novels after falling in love with her debut novel, The Haunting of Maddy Clare. These novels are must reads for anyone who loves a good period piece with more than a dash of terror and/or suspense of the supernatural persuasion thrown in.

The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, A Plotting Duchess & A Family Secret by Catherine Bailey: if it seems like these picks have theme so far, sorry, that's just the way my picks shook out this year. I think the title pretty much says it all--it's British drama, it's a mystery, there's a family secret, there's sleuthing involved, and there's DRAMA, oh, and a scheming duchess.

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand; Hilderbrand writes stories set on Nantucket Island, and I've become a fan of these family dramas. This particular one requires tissues at the end (really, get ready to cry your heart out at the end of this one).

The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon: This is a very tense, suspenseful thriller with a supernatural twist.

Those are my favorite books from the previous year (in no particular order).

Favorite Movies

I used to also review movies sometimes on this blog before I switched the sole focus to books and began reviewing every book I read. I still watch a lot of movies, and I wanted to share some favorites from the previous year. Usually I wait until the movie comes out on DVD and one of the library's acquires it before I borrow it and watch it, but sometimes there's a movie that I'll want to see in theaters because I can't wait for the DVD. I had to see The Dark Knight Rises, the last of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (and before the sacrilegious re-casting of Ben Affleck in the role; for real, BEN AFFLECK. WHY.), in theaters. I also had to see Avengers (the first one) in theaters (did not regret it). I also saw Man of Steel in theaters. But all of those were not from 2014. And in case you noticed a theme to these movies, well, you won't be disappointed in my pick.

Captain America: Winter Soldier is the only movie I saw in theaters this year. At first I was just going to wait for the DVD, but then the previews sucked me in and made me incredibly anxious about what was going down in the movies--so much so that I was obsessing about the movie to my cousin on facebook ["Steve Rogers is a fugitive and he needs to STAND DOWN. WHAT IS HAPPENING"]. This particular cousin was the one that was going with me to see the movie, and I'm sure she was glad when we finally saw it because then I could stop posting about it on her facebook page. It was a great movie, and we were not disappointed.

Literary website

I just wanted to share with you a website dedicated to books that I discovered a while ago. It's called Book Riot. And if you're a book lover, you have to check it. There are articles about upcoming books, reviews, discussions about books, literary links, AND there's a shop that features literary themed wares plus so much more.

Those are my picks for 2014. What are yours?

--written by Ms. Angie

In The Woods by Tana French

"What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with the truth is fundamental, but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies ... and every variation on deception. The truth is the most desirable woman in the world and we are the most jealous lovers, reflexively denying anyone else the slightest glimpse of her. We betray her routinely ... This is my job ... What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this--two things: I crave truth. And I lie." opening lines of In The Woods chapter 1, pages 3-4 In The Woods by Tana French, an Irish writer, is an extremely well-written and well-crafted mystery novel. The downside is that this is French's debut novel, and her website (located at http://www.tanafrench.com/ ) does not off

Broken by Karin Slaughter

Before I begin the formal review there are a few things I need to get off my chest in the wake of finishing this book; I'll do so without giving away too many (or any) spoilers. The OUTRAGE!: the identity of Detective Lena Adams' new beau; the low depths to which Grant County's interim chief has sunk and brought the police force down with him; agent Will Trent's wife, Angie's, sixth sense/nasty habit of reappearing in his life just when he's slipping away from her. Thank God for small miracles though because while Angie was certainly referred to during the book, the broad didn't make an appearance. One sign that I've become way too invested in these characters is that I'd like to employ John Connolly's odd pair of assassins, Louis and Angel, to contract out a hit on Angie; do you think Karin Slaughter and John Connolly could work out a special cross over? Hallelujah: Dr. Sara Linton and agent Will Trent are both back. There is no hallelujah fo

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline is the first book by this author that I've read. I'm not sure how I first came across it, but it's been on my books-to-read list for a while. Recently my library acquired a copy, and since I was between books, I thought, hmm, let me try this one and see if it sticks. Sometimes when I'm between books I have a problem starting and actually sticking with a book to the end. The historical part of the story of Orphan Train is actually inspired by true events. There really was a train in the 1920's that took orphaned children from the Children's Aid Society in New York City out to the Midwest in a quest to find families to place them in. Some of these children are still alive today. However, I don't think that the characters of Molly and Vivian are based on any real life people. Molly Ayer has spent the last nine years bouncing among over a dozen different foster homes. She's developed a tough shell and a ha

A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

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