The Best Books Of 2014

46:34

December 05, 2014

With guest host Jane Clayson.

“All the Light We Cannot See," "Fourth of July Creek," "Another Great Day at Sea" and more. The best books of 2014.

"Fourth of July Creek," "Another Fine Day At Sea" and "Lila" are among the best books published in 2014. (Courtesy Publishers)

It’s been a strong year for books. And no matter what the form--- bound pages or pure digital--- this year’s reads inspire, challenge, and transport us. This year’s crop is plentiful. From a backwater town in Ireland to a little house on the prairie. Great expeditions to the North Pole and deep soul searching. Back to World War Two and the Iraq War. Big family memoirs that kept us turning the pages. And, mind-bending journeys through a post-apocalyptic world. This hour On Point: the great reads and best books of 2014.
-- Jane Clayson

Guests

Janet Potter, staff writer at The Millions. Co-host of "The Book Report" on YouTube. (@sojanetpotter)

Laurie Hertzel, senior editor for books, Minneapolis Star Tribune. Author of "News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist." (@stribbooks)

Mark Laframboise, book buyer for the Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

From The Reading List

NPR Books: NPR's Book Concierge -- "Maybe you're looking to crack open a few books this holiday season. Maybe you're looking to buy some as holiday gifts. Well, we have for you a guide of sorts to 2014's great reads. We call it our Book Concierge. This is not a best-of list, but it's suggestions from NPR staff and critics about what they've liked in fiction, nonfiction, biography, young adult literature and plenty of other genres."

Publisher's Weekly: The Future of Reading: 10 Trends for 2014 and Beyond -- "The Internet has been disrupting the businesses of publishing and bookselling for the past two decades. Despite it all, a few stubborn concepts have retained their shape: the integrity of narrative (stories have a beginning, middle, and end); the book as container of ideas, fixed in time and place; the necessary involvement of authors and editors, as well as publishers and distributors; and, most remarkably to some, the boundary between physical objects and the digital domains."

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Our critics choose their 10 favorite books -- "Maybe you’re shopping for the holidays, maybe you’re just cobbling together your own reading list for the coming winter. Either way, here are recommendations for you, one suggestion each from 10 of the Star Tribune’s most trusted book critics. The best books of the year? Maybe. Books that you should read? Definitely. And books that will make fabulous gifts? Absolutely."