For our anniversary in May of last year, my husband Frank gave me probably one of the best gifts I have ever received: a gift-card for the Dussmann bookstore. In this place, one can also find the English bookstore, which is pretty well-stocked – and if your book is missing, they will order it for you in the shortest time possible. You can also go with your children. When my four-year old nephews visited us not long ago, they did not want to leave the place – yes, there is also a children’s corner with a nice view on Friedrichstraße. Also, if you remember A Garden in the Library post, this is where you can find this reading café-haven. At last, they also have a French section, although more confined in terms of choice.

Here are some books that made their way to my bookshelf this year. I shall share with you the anecdote when my bookshelf collapsed due to the heavy load a couple months ago: we saw every shelf falling on the one below and because of that, I had to store many of my books in the basement – in the hope that one day I will be able to afford a proper piece of furniture for them.

Quite surprisingly, my favorite readings this year were not necessarily the most famous. I enjoyed, above all, reading Le Petit Prince again and discovering Silas Marner and Washington Square for they contain a lot of meaning in fewer pages. As reading is a matter of taste, I will not give you more personal thoughts. The list below was classified in alphabetical order and by language.

In English

Emma, by Jane Austen

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Persuasion, by Jane Austen

Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter

Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James

Silas Marner, by George Eliot

The Book of Hours, by Davis Bunn

The Guernsey Literary and Potatoe Peal Pie Society, by A. Barrows and M. Ann Shaffer

Think Big, by Ben Carson

Reshaping it all, by Candace Cameron Bure

Washington Square, by Henry James

In French

Atala, by René de Chateaubriand

L’Appel de l’Ange, by Guillaume Mussot

Le Petit Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Madame Bovary, by Guy Maupassant

In German

Die Armenierfrage in der Türkei, by Sybille Thellen

Keine Grosse Sache, by Vanessa Kullmann

In Italian

Sabotaggio d’Amore, by Amélie Nothomb

Each reading on the list above has made me discover either a new style of writing, a writer’s universe, or some good insight and encouraging thoughts in specific areas. While my readings in previous years were more philosophical, this year saw novels and fictions added to develop my imaginary world. This year I plan on reading more about the Armenian case in order to get closer to my culture and History, but mostly because April 24, 2015 is the official date of the Armenian Genocide Centennial.

I would love for you to share with me what your 2014 library looked like and how reading brought you food for thought and what you think your reading will be like in 2015.

Happy new literary year folks!