The Best Books of 2014

2014 was a great year of reading and as thousands of reviewers put out their best-of lists, I realized I had read 30+ books this year. There was no way I'd put every single one in, so I chopped the list in half. True to my goal to split time between both fiction and nonfiction, the list is about as close to 50/50 as you can get with a top-15 list. Within these fifteen standouts, there's a wide range of genres from sci-fi and romance to memoirs and history.

While most of my reading in 2014 was backlist titles, there were a few new books sprinkled in and a couple of books that just barely made it in before the year closed. Without further a due, here are the top 15 books I read in 2014...

15) Travels with Casey by Benoit Denizet-Lewis - 3.5 stars. A great travelogue about dog care in America, both at its admirable best and heart-breaking worst.

14) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - 3.5 stars. A wonderfully descriptive book about magicians pitted against each other that helped spark my current audiobook craze, thanks to Jim Dale's terrific narration.

13) As You Wish by Cary Elwes - 4 stars. A memoir of the making of the classic film The Princess Bride, the audiobook features commentary spoken by most of the cast, which creates a much more engaging read.

12) The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak - 4 stars. I bought this for my niece and nephew for Christmas and breezed through it as I was trying to figure out that all-important question "Would they like it?" Novak's book challenges the assumption that children's books have to have pictures to be entertaining and encourages interaction between children and their parents.

11) Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - 4 stars. Gut-wrenching tale of life in a Mumbai slum that served as a powerful reminder of how many in the world live in abject poverty and an unquenched desire to better their situation.

10) A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson - 4 stars. One of the funnier books I read in 2014, this one is considered a classic in the travel genre and it lived up to that reputation.

9) Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan - 4 stars. The quirkiest book I read and I mean that as a compliment. It's themes of digital information vs. old-fashioned printing are timely and make for a wonderful tale.

8) The Last Gunfight by Jeff Guinn - 4 stars. After watching the early 1990's film Tombstone, I read this definitive history of that famous shootout and it didn't disappoint.

7) The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - 4 stars. A genetics professor with autism seeks to find love in a story that says everyone wants to find their soulmate — even the socially peculiar ones.

6) Fantasy Life by Matthew Berry - 4 stars. The funniest book I read last year. There are fantasy sports team owners (me), fanatics, professionals and then there's the crazies in Fantasy Life.

5) Playing the Enemy by John Carlin - 4 stars. One of the most informative and impactful books I read in 2014. The story of South Africa's improbable 1995 World Cup victory that inspired the 2009 film Invictus isn't just a story of sports transcending the playing field — it's a story of a country healing.

4) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - 4 stars. I avoided this critically-lauded book for years because of fears it wouldn't portray autism and the struggles of those affected by it well. Shame on me for waiting so long.

3) Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 4 stars. Simply put, the most fun I had reading last year. The story of Wade Watts' quest to solve the OASIS scavenger hunt is a fun ride chock full of 1980's references and heart.

2) The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown - 5 stars. A wonderful true story about the University of Washington rowing team and its journey to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Brown tells the story with zeal and care and as the book progressed, the more I was cheering on the team. In any other year, this would have been No. 1.

1) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - 5 stars. After all the hype, I finally picked this book up in March and it became the pace-setter for the year. The life story of Louis Zamperini is meticulously told and delivered with powerful punch after punch. The ripples from this one are still being felt.

Film Friday: Unbroken

Every so often, a book comes along that has sky-high expectations and it manages to surpass them. That was the case with Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 masterpiece, Unbroken. After my stepmom wouldn't stop raving about Edward Herrmann's performance on the audiobook version, I finally trudged down to Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena and bought it in hardcover, a rarity for me. I was afraid the book would be a letdown after all the hype and praise showered onto it. Thankfully, the book was thoroughly and utterly impressive.

I don't usually like to be overly effusive in reviews with platitudes like "mesmerizing" or "triumphant," but Unbroken got those raves from book critics around the world and then some and earned every single one. The story of Louie Zamperini's upbringing, harrowing survival through World War II including a plane crash and POW camp, plus his rocky return home are expertly detailed, with no stone left unturned and every last detail written with a strong sense of empathy. That's classic Hillenbrand and a style I've tried to emulate in my own writing, particularly in two feature series I was writing for the newspaper this past spring, coinciding with me reading her book.

When reading the book, there were many times when I would gasp at what was happening to Louie, scaring my roommate in the process, then laugh at a humorous paragraph the next page over. Hillenbrand perfectly captured Zamperini's ability to overcome the horrors he was experiencing and pursue life.

As I set out to write this review, I grabbed my copy of the book and perused through it again, the first time in nearly a year. My roommate walked by and said with some exasperation, "You're reading that again?" I answered, "I'm writing a review on it, but I'd absolutely reread this. You should try reading it some time."

The last two years, my yearly reading seemed to have one book act as the cannon that propelled reading through the year. In 2013, that book was Jurassic Park. In 2014, after a couple of misfires with other texts, it was Unbroken. Like a pace car leading the pack at the Indy 500, this was the book every other one in the year, fairly or unfairly, was trying to chase in terms of quality.

Grade: 5/5. Only the second book in 2014 to earn that rating, mostly because I try to be judicious in handing these out (some reviewers, particularly on Goodreads, hand them out like candy). The other is here.

One quick note: My condolences to the families of Louie Zamperini and Edward Herrmann. Zamperini was named the Grand Marshal of this year's Rose Parade, but passed away in July at the age of 97. His son Luke filled in at the parade. Louie was an avid University of Southern California Trojan alum and made frequent visits there in his later years. Herrmann passed away earlier this week at the age of 71. I didn't have the pleasure of listening to the audiobook version of Unbroken, but based on my stepmom's reaction to his narration and the many glowing reviews of it online, it will be a hallmark of his career, along with his other narrations and acting performances such as Gilmore Girls, for years to come.

During the Sochi Winter Olympics in February, NBC aired a teaser trailer for the film version of Unbroken narrated by former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw...

To say that I was excited for the movie would be an understatement. I figured that it'd be a long movie, since the book itself tops out at more than 400 pages (excluding notes). When the run time of 2 hours 17 minutes was announced, I admit, I was getting concerned. Critic ratings started pouring in on websites like Rotten Tomatoes and the early word wasn't good (it started at less than 50% on the Tomatometer and as of this writing, it's at 51%). My worries were starting to come true.

In terms of the film's craftsmanship, Unbroken is excellent, particularly the cinematography by Roger Deakins and musical score by Alexandre Desplat. The production design is sound and Jack O'Connell delivers a fine performance as Louie as does Miyavi as the villainous prison warden nicknamed "The Bird." Much has been made of Angelina Jolie directing and for the most part, I thought she did a capable job.

However, my main gripe with the film stems from one issue that manifests itself in two different ways. Louie's fellow prisoners are fully fleshed-out in the book, whereas in the movie, they are seldom discernible from one another. That's not to say they were poorly acted, but rather they just didn't have much to do or say to distinguish themselves as more than fellow POW's. I was willing to forgive this though because of the film's run time. Some things were going to get trimmed from the word go.

But some of the most powerful moments in the book were trimmed as well, namely Louie's return home and some of his Berlin Olympics hijinks. When Louie returned home from the war, life was not as rosy as the film's final shot made it appear (I sat there in the theater muttering to myself "Don't end it here, don't end it here," only to groan when the credits rolled). Louie hit rock bottom and his wife nearly left him, but managed to convince him to go to a Billy Graham revival that would change his life in more ways than one. This is partly what lead him to want to forgive his captors, which is hinted at briefly in the closing seconds of the movie, but could have been greatly expounded on.

Louie's son Luke wrote an online column explaining the film's ending and giving it his approval, particularly that the film wasn't "forcing (Louie's Christian faith) down people's throats," to quote Louie's autobiography Devil at My Heels. However, I respectfully contend that there had to be a happier medium between full-blown dogma and what was on the final cut. It's quite the jump to go from him returning home, then a title card explaining that he forgave his captors.

Grade: B-. It's not a bad movie per se, but as seems to be the case with most adaptations, my first recommendation is the book.

Have you seen or read Unbroken? What did you think?

Holiday Movie Preview

Picking up where the fall movie preview ended, the holiday season is chock full of high-quality films that are vying for awards contention. Many are based off books this year and stand a real chance to be mentioned come Oscar time (along with fall preview mentions The Theory of Everything and Foxcatcher. Here are the eight films that will be making the jump from page to screen...

Nov. 21 - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Lionsgate)
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) returns in the penultimate episode of The Hunger Games series as Panem is in full-blown civil war. While I liked the book in general, I really don't care for studios to split a single book into multiple parts, whether it is Harry Potter or The Hobbit or The Hunger Games. I remember walking out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 saying, "WB just sucker-punched us." At least with that movie, it was only an 8-month wait until Part 2, whereas Mockingjay's conclusion won't be in theaters until November 2015. In these split films, plot lines tend to get super-stretched and because Mockingjay's book wasn't that long, I suspect there will be plots divergent of the source material when there didn't need to be. And yet, I'll still see it opening weekend. Yes, I'm a sucker. Below is the final trailer.

Nov. 28 - The Imitation Game (The Weinstein Co.)
Based on the book Alan Turing: An Enigma by Andrew Hodges, the film details the efforts of British mathematician Alan Turing to build a computer in order to break Nazi codes. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, the film has already garnered major awards buzz (as of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes already posted a score of 86%). I'm really looking forward to this one, especially to see Cumberbatch in light of his excellent job in the BBC's Sherlock series. The film is opening in limited release, likely focusing on New York and Los Angeles, so the release date may be later for other audiences. Should it gain traction in the Oscar race, expect a wider release in January. See the trailer below.

Dec. 5 - Wild (Fox Searchlight)
Debuting in limited release, Academy-Award winner Reese Witherspoon stars in this take on the Cheryl Strayed memoir about her discovering herself on the Pacific Crest Trail that stretches from Southern California to Washington. Witherspoon jumped all over the film rights for the book and it is a passion project of hers and based on the awards buzz, it looks like it paid off. I still think of her from Walk the Line and Sweet Home Alabama, though she was really good in this fall's The Good Lie. Director Jean-Marc Vallee also knows his way around awards season after directing last year's Dallas Buyers Club. The teaser trailer is right here...

Dec. 12 - Exodus: Gods and Kings (20th Century Fox)
Movies based on the Bible are a complete crapshoot, given the inevitable controversy that stirs. One could argue that The Ten Commandments could not be made in today's era of cinema. Darren Aronofsky's Noah ran into a buzzsaw of controversy earlier this year, but still managed to make $100 million Stateside. For Exodus, director Ridley Scott looks to do for biblical movies what he did for ancient epics with Gladiator, one of my favorite films. I won't be expecting this one to be anywhere close to the text, but consider me somewhere between cautiously optimistic and excited on this one.

Dec. 12 - Inherent Vice (Warner Bros.)
It's amazing that a writer of Thomas Pynchon's storied reputation and caliber has waited this long to get a film adaptation, but his 2009 novel is getting the Silver Screen treatment. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and featuring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, and yes, Reese Witherspoon, the film is a drug crime caper in 1970's-era Los Angeles. The movie will debut in limited release before expanding nationwide January 9.

Dec. 17 - The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Warner Bros./MGM)
The trilogy is mercifully ending. I never thought I'd say that about The Hobbit, since the Lord of the Rings finale is my favorite film (and series) of all time. But, I've watched the previous Hobbit films with dismay after seeing plot lines stretched out, characters doing really dumb things, and plot rehashes from Fellowship of the Ring that cause continuity problems down the road. I have many friends who love the Hobbit films and I'll likely see it with them since they enjoy it so much and I love Tolkien's book, but my enthusiasm for the movie is very dampened compared to what it was prior to An Unexpected Journey. Here is the most recent trailer that's making a lot of noise online.

Christmas Day - American Sniper (Warner Bros.)
Starring Bradley Cooper, directed by Clint Eastwood and based on the Chris Kyle memoir, the teaser trailer for this movie was fantastic. Kyle was the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history and was infamous among Iraqi insurgents. The movie will debut in limited release and barely qualify for Oscar contention before expanding nationwide January 16 (typically, most Oscar films this late in the season have a limited release run in order that they can qualify for awards, then expand in January. Last year, Lone Survivor used the same tactic). I'll be reading Kyle's memoir for sure before I see this at my local multiplex. Below is the riveting teaser trailer.

Christmas Day - Unbroken (Universal)
This one's the big one. The adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand's memoir of World War II hero and Olympian Louie Zamperini's life was one of my most eagerly-anticipated films of the year. The book, which I read in the spring, is currently my No. 1-rated book of the year. Directed by Angelina Jolie with a screenplay written in part by the Coen brothers, the film has pedigree up and down the credits list. This is clearly a project Jolie cared deeply about, met with Zamperini multiple times and lobbied Universal to direct the film. So while she has little directing experience, I'm optimistic that she's up to the task. Below is the most recent trailer.

Is there a movie you are most looking forward to this holiday season?

Film Friday: The Year in Film So Far

Rather than do a Film Friday review, I thought I'd just take a look at what the film landscape has been like this year and what lies ahead as we get into the good season.

My top 5 films so far are as follows:
1) Guardians of the Galaxy
2) The Lego Movie
3) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4) Gone Girl
5) X-Men: Days of Future Past

The year has been dominated by the superhero genre, in part because of just how much better Guardians of the Galaxy and the Captain America sequel were than most people expected. The Lego Movie has been the surprise of the year so far. I went into it with minimal expectations and came out loving it. When a movie (or book) surpasses the expectation, I tend to give it a bump in the ratings. Would I give Guardians the Best Picture Oscar over Gone Girl? No. Did it exceed expectations more than Gone Girl did? Absolutely.

But as good as those five films are, we've had an unusually high number of films that were less than stellar. I went with friends to The Expendables 3 expecting nothing and found myself underwhelmed. Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Maleficent were easily the two biggest disappointments of the year. I thought Godzilla was just okay and unintentionally hilarious in some scenes.

Based on the upcoming fall and holiday slate, I fully expect my top 10 to look radically different come January. In terms of other book-based movies, The Fault in Our Stars is in the top 10, but Divergent missed the cut. Frankly, I thought Divergent could have been trimmed, but it was by no means the worst adaptation of the year. That honor belongs to Maleficent. Audiences can tell when a script or book is written scattershot (this summer's Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a textbook example of how not to create a superhero movie — and audiences promptly blasted it online for its shoddy plot). Guardians, Lego and Gone Girl were the total opposite and very well composed. Other factors I look at include the acting, the level of anticipation vs. the payoff and memorable dialogue. In these categories, all five of the top films delivered.

Comparative to last year, I think the quality is down. We had an amazing October last year (Gravity, Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave were released in back-to-back-to-back weeks) after a decent summer. Because some films underwhelmed in public opinion this summer, the market feels more down than it probably is. I don't think we're going to get that same kick in quality we got this time last year until late November.

As far as upcoming films go, the schedule is dominated by Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Arguably the most important movie to come out of Hollywood in years and my No. 1 overall most anticipated of the entire year, the film could allow certain filmmakers to pursue original projects. Audiences like to rip the industry for running out of ideas and at times, that pessimism is warranted (Exhibit A: The Transformers series). If Interstellar is as good as it looks, audiences and the industry as a whole could get a lasting ripple effect of quality, original films that tout ideas and make viewers think rather than cater to the lowest common denominator.

Other films I'm dying to see are Unbroken and Big Hero 6. I'll do a more detailed look at the holiday slate as it gets closer, but now it's your turn: What was your favorite movie this year so far? Is there one you're looking forward to later this year?