Your best read in 2014

[Linda Anderson]

Scott, I'm interested in reading that book, too - is it easy to follow? But first I'm waiting ever so patiently to receive and read "The Cause of All Nations".

I found Conroy's book easy to follow. It was also a pretty quick read as the narrative flowed pretty well and, for me at least, the book got better as it went along. My one dislike was that there were no reference citations within the narrative.

I also liked Our One Common Country. Conroy often uses contemporaries' descriptions of the different characters to great effect. There are almost 60 pages of end notes.

My favorite CW novel that I read this year was Good Lord Bird by James McBride which was very funny and moving.

I also started reading Bring Up the Bodies, the second in Hilary Mantel's trilogy on Thomas Cromwell who worked his way up from being the son of a blacksmith to become Henry VIII's chief minister. It's a fascinating story and very well written.