Six Months of Books - 2014

I took part in this half-year round up last year and enjoyed it very much; rather than just trying to write a list of best books read so far in 2014 it highlights different aspects of our reading. It was introduced by Jo at The Book Jotter and you can adapt the categories to suit. The same book can feature in more than one category. All you have to do is pick 6 categories that you want to use - there are lots of category suggestions by Jo here or you can choose your own. Then pick 6 books that fit into those 6 categories and post to your blog in July. 

Here are my six sixes from the first half of 2014 - six authors or books in six different categories, covering some of the books I've read in the past six months! (You'll find reviews of many, though not all, of them, here on the blog.)

Six authors who are new to me:

1. Grace and Mary by Melvyn Bragg
2. The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
3. Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens
4. Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff
5. Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
6. In Too Deep by Bea Davenport

Six authors I've read before:

1. Perfect by Rachel Joyce
2. Fire and Brimstone by Colin Bateman
3. The Goddess and the Thief by Essie Fox
4. Brilliant by Roddy Doyle
5. The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
6. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

Six books that I particularly loved and would recommend:

1. The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan
2. Lacey's House by Joanne Graham
3. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
4. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
5. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
6. The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden

Six debut novels I've been impressed with:

1. Lacey's House by Joanne Graham
2. The Book of You by Claire Kendal
3. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
4. The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull
5. The People in the Photo by Helene Gestern
6. Jellybird by Lezanne Clannachan

Six books I've read in an English translation:

1. Lifetime by Liza Marklund
2. Cold Hearts by Gunnar Staalesen
3. Zenith Hotel by Oscar Coop-Phane
4. The Blue Room by Hanne Orstavik
5. The People in the Photo by Helene Gestern
6. ...eek, it appears I need to get more translated fic read this year!!

Six books that took me by the hand and led me into the past:

1. The Lost Duchess by Jenny Barden
2. Ghostwritten by Isabel Wolff
3. Before the Fall by Juliet West
4. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
5. Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
6. The Visitors by Rebecca Mascull

And, as a little extra 'six', though goodness knows there are far more than six sitting patiently waiting...

Six books I wanted to have read by now, this year, but haven't yet! (Very soon, I hope):

1. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
2. Fallout by Sadie Jones
3. The Spring of Kasper Meier by Ben Fergusson
4. Wake by Anna Hope
5. A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
6. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker

How about your choices this year so far?