I don’t often participate in memes, but when I do it is usually for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.
TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2014 I’M DYING TO READ
1. Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan. I like books about real people. This one is about Robert Louis Stevenson and his love affair with an American divorcee. Do I smell a little scandal? Also, I really liked Horan last novel Loving Frank, about Frank Lloyd Wright.
2. Local Customs by Audrey Thomas. Thomas is one of Canada’s best (under-rated) writers and it has been a long time since she’s had a new book. Local Customs is also based on real life characters – the Governor of an African colony and the mysterious death of his poet wife.
3. Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead. I don’t even know anything about this aside from the fact that it is by Maggie Shipstead and that is enough to have me sold!
4. The Setting Sun by Bart Moore-Gilbert. Moore-Gilbert is a South Asian historian whose stuff I read quite a bit of when I was in grad school. In this book he examines his family’s colonial past and the unwanted secrets that emerge. I can’t wait.
5. Worst. Person. Ever. by Douglas Coupland. This book is already available in Canada, but doesn’t come out in the UK until later in the year. It’s Douglas Coupland. What can I say? He’s the voice of Gen X.
Okay, so that’s only five books, but maybe you can suggest five more that I should be dying to read!
52 books or bust 
Harvest by Jim Crace – shortlisted for the Booker Prize. One of the best books I’ve read all year. http://wp.me/p2dBYt-Jm
I’m not going to lie to you, Harvest was the one Booker shortlisted book that did not appeal to me. It’s on my radar, but I’m not sure if it is a “must” read. More like, I’ll read it when it’s available at the library.
Nice choices, I will have to look into these ones
I’m totally looking forward to the new Nancy Horan, too – I adored Loving Frank.
I’ve paid dreadfully little attention to what’s coming up in 2014. I’ll most likely be reading mostly backlist, but I see some really promising books on your list!