Top 10 Books of 2014

Reading books is one of the simplest and, at the same time, the most effective ways of self-improvement. Reading books, we are transported in time and space. We plunge into the magical world of the author’s fantasy.

Books give us food for thought, they provide answers to many questions that have long faced humanity. It is books that bring up the best qualities in us, give food to our mind and space for imagination. Happy is the person who has been accustomed to reading since childhood, because a huge and magical world opens before him, which cannot even be compared with anything.

Reading for the development of our intellect, performs the same role as the gym for our muscles. Reading takes us away from everyday reality, but at the same time it fills our lives with high meaning.

Unfortunately, modern people began to read less. TV, and recently the computer is gradually replacing reading from our lives. We have prepared a list for you that includes best books of 2014. The reader rating that was used in compiling this list speaks of its objectivity. The list includes both books that saw the light of day in 2014 and old books that have been published more than once. We hope that our list will help you find an interesting book.

10 Robert Galbraith. call of the cuckoo

This is a wonderful detective story, the novel takes place in London. The author of this book was the famous writer JK Rowling, the creator of the world of Harry Potter. The book was published in 2013, in 2014 it was published in Russia.

In the center of the plot is an investigation into the death of a famous model who suddenly falls out of a balcony. Everyone believes that this death is a suicide, but the girl’s brother does not believe in this and hires a detective to look into this strange case. During the investigation, the detective gets acquainted with the environment of the deceased and each of the people included in it will tell his story.

It turns out that the girl’s death was not a suicide at all, she was killed by one of the people closest to her. Investigating this case, the detective himself falls into mortal danger.

9. Stephen King. The side of joy

The recognized master of exciting stories pleased his readers with another book. It was released in Russia in early 2014.

The genre of this work can be called a mystical thriller. The events of the book unfold in one of the American amusement parks back in 1973. An employee of this park suddenly falls into a strange parallel world that lives by its own laws. In this world, everything is different, people speak their own language and really dislike those who ask too many questions, especially regarding the murder that recently happened in the park.

However, the main character begins to investigate the secrets of this strange world and his own life changes dramatically from this.

8. George Martin. Chronicles of a Thousand Worlds

This is a collection of fantastic works written by the brilliant author who created the legendary Game of Thrones saga. The genre of this book is science fiction.

Martin created a special fantasy world of the Federal Empire, which consists of hundreds of planets, inhabited by the descendants of colonists from Earth. The empire got involved in two armed conflicts, which led to its decline. Then the Time of Troubles followed, each of the planets wanted to live its own life, and ties between earthlings began to weaken. There is no longer a single political system, the human world is rapidly plunging into intrigues and conflicts. Martin’s brilliant style is still felt in this book.

7. Sergey Lukyanenko. school supervision

Another book that is a continuation of the popular series about magicians living among us.

This work tells about teenagers with magical powers. They constantly create problems for both the Night and Day Watch, like any teenagers, they are uncontrollable and prone to maximalism. They do not honor the Great Treaty, and in order to facilitate control over them, they are collected in one boarding school. One thing is for sure – any teacher of this educational institution can only sympathize. Children must prepare themselves to enter the world they do not know and make as few mistakes as possible. They must learn to manage their gift.

6. Darya Dontsova. Miss Marple Private Dance

Another book written in the ironic detective genre, which was released in early 2014.

The main character of this book, Daria Vasilyeva, agreed to take part in a theatrical production in which she had to play the role of a magic palm tree that fulfills any desire. However, the premiere did not take place: before the start of the performance, the actress, the wife of a local businessman, suddenly died. The next day, Vasilyeva goes to the house of the deceased, where she accidentally finds evidence of the death of the businessman’s four previous wives. A brave woman begins her own investigation, which will bring all the villains to clean water.

5. Viktor Pelevin. Love for Three Zuckerbrins

This dystopian novel went on sale in the fall of 2014. Each new novel by Pelevin is always an event.

This book recalls the best examples of the author’s work. In it, he reflects on the most topical issues of modern society, on the social problems inherent in the era of consumption, on the symbols of this era. Zuckerbrin is a symbol created from two iconic figures of our time – Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin. The book touches upon such topics as social networks, Internet addiction, consumer culture, tolerance of modern society, and the Ukrainian crisis. The protagonist of the work is the “technical rescuer of the world.” This symbol displays the hopes of mankind for technological progress, which will make our world a better place.

The book mentions the Ukrainian Maidan, Crimea, Yanukovych and his golden loaf.

4. Dmitry Glukhovsky. Future

This novel is the most popular writer in Russia, the creator of Metro 2033. The book is set in XNUMXth century Europe. Scientists have long invented a vaccine that protects people from aging and death. Now the planet is inhabited by immortal people, but another problem immediately arose – overpopulation.

People of the future consciously refused to continue their kind, they no longer have children, but, despite this, the world of the future is too overpopulated. There is no free space left on the planet, human cities stretch up and go underground.

The protagonist of the book, professional soldier Yang, must kill an opposition leader on the orders of the leadership of the ruling party. He opposes universal immortality.

Immortality completely changed people’s lives, they created a different culture, came up with new laws and rules of conduct.

The main character faces a difficult dilemma: he must choose between immortality and his own happiness, and this choice is very difficult.

Glukhovsky believes that humanity is on the verge of immortality. In the near future, the experiments of geneticists will give us the opportunity to live a very long time, if not forever. This will be the most important scientific discovery in the history of mankind. What will humanity be like after him? What will happen to our culture, how will our society change? Most likely, soon we will know the answers to all these questions.

3. Tatiana Ustinova. One hundred years of travel

This is a detective, the events of which partially unfold a hundred years ago. The murder committed in modern Russia is closely connected with the events that took place on the eve of the Russian revolution of 1917.

A professor-historian from Moscow State University is involved in the investigation. He must restore the events that took place a hundred years ago. At that time, Russia was at a turning point in its history, which ended in tragedy. The main character has to deal with many things, including the feelings that arise in his soul.

2. Boris Akunin. fire finger

The well-known author of detective stories about the adventures of the detective Erast Fandorin, Boris Akunin, seems to have seriously taken up the history of the Russian state. Several of his works devoted to this genre are published almost simultaneously.

“The Fiery Finger” is a book that consists of three stories describing different periods of the existence of Kievan Rus. All three works are united by the fate of one kind, whose representatives have a specific birthmark on their faces. The first story “The Fiery Finger” describes the events of the XNUMXth century. The protagonist of the story, Damianos Lekos, is a Byzantine scout who was sent to carry out an important task in the Slavic lands. This story is full of adventures, it describes the life of the inhabitants of the steppes of the northern Black Sea region, Slavic tribes and Vikings.

The second story is “The Spit of the Devil”, its events take place in the XNUMXth century, during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise. This is the heyday of Kievan Rus.

1. Boris Akunin. History of the Russian state

This is the first part of a large historical work that Boris Akunin planned to write. It will be devoted to the history of Russia from the time of the birth of the first state to the beginning of the twentieth century.

In the first part, the author talks about ancient, almost legendary times. About the foundation of Kyiv, about the invitation of the Varangians, about the legendary Oleg, who nailed his shield on the gates of Constantinople. Was it all? Or are all these events and personalities nothing more than legends invented later by the chroniclers? For us, this time seems legendary, almost like the time of King Arthur for the British. The Mongols, who invaded the lands of Kievan Rus, destroyed this state. Muscovite Rus had a lot of fundamental differences. The author examines in detail the issue of the formation of the Slavic ethnos, the formation of the ancient Slavic state.

If you forgot your history course, you can use this book and improve your erudition. Professional historians are unlikely to discover anything new in this book. Rather, it is an attempt to popularize national history. Perhaps it will push someone to a more in-depth study of the history of the Russian state. Akunin in his work tries to bypass controversial or little-known issues.

After the first part of the book, the author has already published several more volumes that dealt with the Mongol invasion and the formation of the Muscovite state.