I’m a slow reader. I love books and reading, but I can never consume books as fast as I’d like to. At the beginning of the year, I set a modest goal to read 12 books in 2014 – one a month.

I kept track of what I read in a notebook (one that I picked up at City Lights Books in San Francisco, it seemed fitting).

Well, it’s December 31st and my total books read for the year is 15. Not bad! Here’s what I read:

1. The Best American Essays 2013, Edited by Cheryl Strayed
   I ask for this compilation every Christmas, and earlier this year I ordered a bunch of previous years. I’m currently about halfway through the 2012 edition.
2. No Greater Love Than This (short story), by Joel Kelly
   Joel Kelly is a close friend, so I was particularly excited to read this story. He’s working on a novella now, which you’ll surely see on my list of books read in 2015. Check him out at http://www.joelkelly.ca.
3. Wild, by Cheryl Strayed
   I’m going to see the movie adaptation later today, and can’t wait.
4. NW, by Zadie Smith
   I’ll admit, I struggled to get through this one.
5. The Best American Travel Writing 2008, Editing by Anthony Bourdain
6. Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain
7. Bad Feminist, by Roxane Gay
8. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace
9. Tender at the Bone, by Ruth Reichl
10. Comfort Me With Apples, by Ruth Reichl
11. Garlic and Sapphires, by Ruth Reichl
    I read all three of these memoirs by food critic Ruth Reichl while I was traveling in Italy earlier this year, and I adored them. Her life is so interesting, and the way she writes about food made me enjoy my own meals even more.
12. Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery, by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
13. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
14. Yes Please, by Amy Poehler
15. Not That Kind of Girl, by Lena Dunham

What books did you read this year? Share in the comments!