Chuck Wendig asked us what our favourite things of 2014 were. I’m stealing his list and posting a link to this because it’s my blog and I can do what I want!

(Also, because lists like this are fun, and it’s a lovely way to wrap up a year!)

1) Favorite novel of the year?

Gonna cheat on this and say favourite novels. It has got to be the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Eliza introduced me to these books and they blew my fucking head off. I am desperately in love with all of the central characters. I’m so into these books that I legitimately looked up a bunch of fan art and listened to fanmixes whilst re-reading the Dream Thieves because I just love Ronan Lynch that much.

Stiefvater is three books in (Blue Lily, Lily Blue just came out) of the four book series and I am sure that something terrible is coming, but I cannot look away. Go pick up The Raven Boys. Then come back and tell me how much you love it.

2) Favorite non-fiction book of the year?

I didn’t read much non-fiction in terms of books, but I’d probably have to say Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It’s one of those writer bibles. Very good, practical advice.

Other than that, I must recommend Aeon for non-fiction. Their articles are gorgeous and always beautifully written.

3) Favorite short story of the year?

Easy. The Fisher Queen by Alyssa Wong. Bloody brilliant story.

4) Favorite movie of the year?

I really liked Captain America: Winter Soldier. I have a man-crush on Chris Evans in that role. Love me some Steve Rogers.

5) Favorite TV show of the year?

Orange is the New Black! Love it. Uzo Aduba is my hero. Someone PLEASE cast her in the new Ghostbusters.

6) Favorite song of the year?

Chandelier? Yeah, probably that.

7) Favorite album?

Hmmmmmmm. My music brain has been a little skewed this year. For various reasons, I was quite shut down to my back catalog and sort of filtered out a lot of new stuff. I’m going to take a pass on this.

8) Favorite video game?

Pokemon Y. I HAD THE BEST TIME.

9) Favorite app?

8 tracks. Curated playlists with every imaginable theme. A lot more reliable than Pandora if you’re in a mood/want something to match a book/character/genre/whatever.

10) Favorite [something else] of the year?

I traveled like a mofo this year. Europe for a wedding (plus a lot of side-tripping around Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland) and an impromptu birthday trip to New York for my 30th (thanks, Eliza!) in which I met Margaret Atwood and a bunch of amazing authors and agents (and saw Chuck and his lovely wife! Yay!)

This year has been an emotional rollercoaster (more about that some other time) but it has landed well. I’m 30 now and that’s totally OK, and it’s sort of nice to be able to say ‘OK, that was my 20s, and this is all new’.

I’ll leave you with my favourite photo of the year, taken while we were road-tripping through the Swiss alps. Because I’m a bastard.