So Far So Good - Books of 2014

I didn't have any kind of resolution or goal to read more in 2014 but at the start of the year I was getting through a book a week. I can be pernickety about things anyway but when it comes to reading, if I find myself uninterested after a couple of chapters I tend not to continue. Happily all of the books I have been drawn to this year have been great reads.
While unintentionally they are mostly non-fiction the books have one thing in common  (except for The Outsider which was a Christmas present) - they were all borrowed from the library. 

I went for many years without making full use of this fantastic resource - yes you can wait months for your turn with the most popular titles but I have been amazed at being able to get newly-published and what I thought were fairly obscure books, and all for free. While admittedly I do wish I could afford to buy armfuls of shiny new books (I do have a Kindle but it is rarely used) for now I am more than happy to rely on the provisions of the state - while I still can...
There can be something calming and reverential about libraries and it is heartening to see some actually opening instead of closing.
There is something oddly satisfying anyway about the date-stamped paper inside a library book - its own hidden biographical story of who borrowed it previously and what they made of it.
You can, if you feel the need, recreate this at home...which is probably taking things a bit far.

Mind you, I could do with the extra cash from the late fees.