I Belonged to You by Zhang Jiajia[Photo provided to China Daily]

While this heartwarming collection of bedtime stories by micro-blogger Zhang Jiajia was published in November 2013－and many of its stories were already online－the book sold very well this year.

"It's popular because the short stories are unrelated so readers can start with any page, which fits city life's fast pace," says Sun Qian. "Such lighthearted short stories are easier to sell than novels nowadays."

While new literary icons emerged this year, others passed away.

Sun Zhongxu, the translator of works by JD Salinger and George Orwell, committed suicide on Aug 28, provoking discussions about translators' low pay.

Philosopher, Sinologist and professor Tang Yijie died on the eve of Teacher's Day on Sept 9, leaving unfinished his ambitious Confucian Canon－a comprehensive collection of the Confucian classics, estimated to have around 1 billion words.

Zhang Xianliang, who's known for breaking the Chinese taboo on sex in literature with his works after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), died at 78 on Sept 27.

Some old names have come out with new titles this year. Jia Pingwa published his novel Lao Sheng, which literally translates as Old Man, after the 62-year-old's novel Dai Deng, literally translated as To Bring a Light, hit bookshelves last year.

And 103-year-old Yang Jiang's After Baptism－the sequel to her 1988 novel Baptism about Chinese intellectuals' "ideological reform" after New China's founding－exceeded expectations.

China Daily asked authors, critics, editors and scholars to suggest the best books of 2014.