I like to think I'm pretty stingy with 5-star ratings but 2014 was an especially strong year for me with nine(!) 5-star books. To compare, I had seven in 2013, four in 2012 and two in 2011 (when I first started keeping track by year). I hope it's because I'm getting better at picking great reads by the year rather than just getting more lenient as I get older! Although, I did only give two 5-stars in the first half of 2014 (along with a whopping seven in the second half that includes an even more whopping three in December alone) so that gives me faith that I can still refrain from doling them out willy-nilly.
Anyway, here's the nine 5-stars from 2014:
A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Surfing and Health by Dorian Paskowitz
The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk
Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy