2015 Reading Survey!

I love doing the end of year survey written by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner every year. It's a fun way to review the books you read this year. I read a lot of great and not-so great books this year.

Number of books you read: 100! I read the most books I've ever read this year, which is pretty exciting. I also branched out and tried audio books and graphic novels, which I'm very pleased with myself for doing.
Number of re-reads: 3, and they were all Harry Potter books.
Genre you read the most from: I read a lot of contemporary and a lot of fantasy this year. I read more fantasy this year than ever before.

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
Adult contemporary: Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.
Historical fiction: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I was so happy to see this book win a Goodreads Choice Award.
YA contemporary: Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen and All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Also I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios. I can't pick just one!
YA fantasy/retelling: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Can't wait for the next book!
Thriller/mystery: The Blue by Lucy Clarke and Those Girls by Chevy Stevens

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige was massively disappointing. I didn't love The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins as much as I thought I would, but I think that was because of the hype.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  
Night Film by Marisha Pessl. I was so drawn into this book and basically didn't put it down for two days.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?I pushed Lindsey Kelk's books quite a bit this year, such as the I Heart series and Always the Bridesmaid. Her books are always hilarious and fun to read.

 5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?The Falling Kingdoms series by Morgan Rhodes is fantastic so far. I also started and finished The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer and loved it. I started a few other series that only have the first book out so far. I'm excited for the next ones in the series, like An Ember in the Ashes and A Court of Thorns and Roses, and The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?
 Colleen Hoover. I have a love/hate relationship with her books.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?The Martian by Andy Weir. It was more science fiction than I usually read, but I loved it.

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?Any and all of the fantasy/thriller/mystery books I read.

 9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
 Honestly, probably the Harry Potter books again.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson because who doesn't like a taxidermy raccoon named Rory?

11. Most memorable character of 2015?I'm still thinking about Will Traynor.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?
The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin was beautifully descriptive of Paris.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?
The non-fiction books I read, such as Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, Big Magic by Liz Gilbert, and The Lost Girls.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 
Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I wasn't sure that they'd be 'me' books, but I liked them a lot.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?
I'm kicking myself for not making any notes on quotes/passages this year.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?
Shortest was Ms. Marvel, Vol. 3: Crushed at 112 pages and longest was Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon at 1,070 pages.

 17. Book That Shocked You The MostEach book in The Falling Kingdoms series. Don't ever think your favourite characters are safe because Rhodes is ruthless.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
All the pairings in The Lunar Chronicles. I sound like a broken record, but it's true.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
The female friendships in both of Emery Lord's books.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Always The Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk.

21. Best Book You Read In 2015That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
The Martian, The Girl on the Train, and probably other new releases.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?
I don't really have a fictional crush, but probably Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series.
 
23. Best 2015 debut you read?
An Ember in the Ashes.
 
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas or The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski.
 
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Anything by Lindsey Kelk. Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard.
 
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?
ME BEFORE YOU. That book hurt my soul.
 
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C. Corbett, and Amanda Pressner was a non-fiction book about three friends traveling. I loved it so much, but it did nothing for my wanderlust.
 
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Me Before You, again. I'm sorry, but that book killed me.
 
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?
An Age of License by Lucy Knisley is a travel memoir drawn and illustrated by the author. It was fantastic.
 
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
All The Rage by Courtney Summers definitely gave me all the rage, but I really liked the book.

Looking Ahead to 2016

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?
Ahh, so many. I don't even know if I can pick!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)? When We Collided by Emery Lord and The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. I also just learned that Jodi Picoult has a new one out in October and I NEED IT.
 
3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
I went through my shelves and couldn't pick any out. I'm sure I have one and I've just forgotten to shelve it.
 
 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?
I don't think any of my series are ending this year.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?
I want to read 50 books, and I want to read what I want to read. I don't want to feel pressured to read certain books. In my blogging life, I want to blog more and write different types of posts.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
I haven't finished it yet, but I'm currently reading Dark Territory by Susan Philpott and I think everyone should read the first book, Blown Red, and then read this one.

Best of 2014

This survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner

 

Number Of Books You Read: 75

Number of Re-Reads: 1

Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary

1. Best Book You Read In 2014? This is the hardest question, so I will break it down by genre.

Adult Contemporary: Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult. Chances are, if she has a new book out, it will be my favourite of the year. A close second are both books by Lucy Clarke - Swimming at Night & A Single Breath

 

Young Adult: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson. It was heartbreaking, beautiful, and real.

 

Thriller/Mystery: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas kept me guessing until the very end, and beyond.

Fantasy: City of Bones & City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. I just loved the urban fantasy setting, and the banter.

 

Non-Fiction: I only read two non-fiction books this year. That's terrible, especially since I really enjoy non-fiction. From the two I read, I loved 'The 13th Gift' by Joanne Huist Smith. Definitely a good story to read at this time of year.

 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? The Silent Sister by Diana Chamberlain. It was good, and thrilling, but I didn't like it as much as I liked her other novels. It didn't quite hit the mark for me. Also, We Were Liars got a lot of hype and I didn't love it nearly as much as others.

 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014? City of Bones. This book is a love or hate book/series, and I'm a little surprised how much I loved it.
 

4. Book you read in 2014 that you recommended to people most in 2014? Leaving Time (always recommending Jodi Picoult) & I forced my mom to read quite a few books.
 

5. Best series you discovered in 2014? This is hard because I started a few series this year: The Mortal Instruments, Outlander, Throne of Glass, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Greatcoats series. For contemporary, I'm really enjoying the Lowcountry Summer series by Mary Alice Monroe. This was a year all about series apparently.
 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014? Lucy Clarke for adult, Morgan Matson & Cassandra Clare for YA.

 

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you? I read Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson, which was definitely out of my normal genres. I enjoyed it, and found some of the poems really inspiring. It's a beautiful, visual book.
 

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2014? I hate to repeat, but Second Chance Summer. I read the majority of that book in one night.

 

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? I don't really re-read any books other than the Harry Potter books, and I did re-read the first one this year. I want to re-read the last one because I haven't read that one since it came out. Plus, the movie marathons on TV this time of year are making me crave a re-read.

 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014? That Night by Chevy Stevens. That cover is just beautiful. The Mortal Instrument covers are really pretty, too.
 

11. Most memorable character in 2014? Magnus Bane.

 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014? While I didn't love it as much as everyone else, We Were Liars was beautifully written.

 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2014? The 13th Gift really made me remember what Christmas is about. I think of it when the holidays seem to be too much, which is often.

 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? Anne of Green Gables! I read a childrens version of this when I was a kid, but it took me until 2014 to finally read the full book.
  

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014? It's actually a poem from Chasers of the Light. "Will you follow me down that old dirt road and get lost inside those mountains? Will you rip up that map and dance inside the confetti? Let's chase the horizon and find ourselves along the way. These are wandering feet and they wish for yours to join them."

 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014? Longest was Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon at a whopping 947 pages. Shortest was Chasers of the Light at 144 pages.
  

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!: Many scenes in Outlander.

 

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2014 (be it romantic, friendship, etc). Romantic: Jamie and Claire
Friendship: Rachel, Emilie, and Matthew from The Single Girl's To-Do List.
Family: The Edwards' family in Second Chance Summer

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain. It's an older release, but I really liked it. Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf was really good, too. 

20. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else? Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.
  

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2014? Contemporary, but I found myself picking up a lot of fantasy this year.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014? I feel too old to have crushes on literary characters. I read a lot of YA, and it feels pervy to crush on a 16-18 year old.  

23. Best 2014 debut you read? You by Caroline Kepnes. That book was disturbing, but so good.

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2014? Any of the fantasy books I read - Throne of Glass, The Mortal Instruments, Traitor's Blade.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2014? The Single Girls To-Do List by Lindsey Kelk was a lot of fun to read, and got me out of a reading slump.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014? Second Chance Summer definitely made me weepy.
 

27. Book You Read in 2014 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out? A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke, That Night by Chevy Stevens.

  

LOOKING AHEAD

 

 

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015? The rest of the Mortal Instruments. I would have read them all in 2014, but I ran out of time.
  

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)? Probably The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. She is another of my favourite authors. For YA, it's Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen.

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? Probably An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.

4. Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2015? I don't think I have any series that are ending in 2015.
  

5. One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do in Your Reading/Blogging in 2015? Be more consistent. There are months where I hardly blog at all. I also want to keep a paper journal with all the books I read, and include my favourite quote of the book.

I really want to read more non-fiction this year, and maybe some classics. I've never read The Great Gatsby! Crazy, I know, but my classes never had to read it.

This was fun! It was interesting to go back over my Goodreads and see what I read early in the year. It's easy to forgot those early in the year reads, but I definitely read some good ones early on.

End of the Year Book Survey!

 

Since this is my first year with a book blog, I thought I'd participate in The Perpetual Page-Turner's End of Year Book Survey. It sounded like a really fun way to go back over what I've read this year. Let's get started!

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? This question is far too difficult, so I'm going to break it down into genres.

Adult Contemporary: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. Jodi Picoult is definitely one of my favourite authors. Her books always suck me in and don't let me go, even after the book is finished. 

 

Young Adult: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did.

 

Thriller/Mystery: This has to be a tie between Reconstructing Amelia, and If You Find Me. I loved all three books I read by Chevy Stevens, too. I suck at picking just one book per question!

 

Non-Fiction: Brain in Fire: My Month of Madness. This book was terrifying because it was true. What happened to Susannah could happen to anyone. How scary is that?!

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? Fly Away by Kristin Hannah. I LOVED Firefly Lane, but Fly Away kind of fell flat for me, and I was really disappointed. It was still a good book, and I'd recommend reading it if you loved Firefly Lane, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013? The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013? Probably the Chevy Stevens books that I lent to my mom because I know she likes thrillers.

5. Best series you discovered in 2013? Lindsey Kelk has another book following Tess coming out, so I guess that's considered a series. It also looks like the Cormoran Strike books are going to become a series.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013? Chevy Stevens,  and Lindsey Kelk

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you? A Christmas Carol. I don't read a lot of classics, so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. You can't go wrong with Dickens.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013? Reconstructing Amelia, If You Find Me, Always Watching, Still Missing, basically every thriller I read.

 

9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? I don't really re-read books often. The only books I tend to re-read are the Harry Potter books.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013? Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. So wintery, so fun.

11. Most memorable character in 2013? Tris Prior

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013? The Silver Star. It read like prose.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013? It may be cheating a bit because I'm currently reading it, but Wild by Cheryl Strayed is leaving an impact on me.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read? Insurgent. I don't know why I waited so long, but it might of been because I hate waiting forever for the next books in a series.
 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013? From Allegiant: “I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.”  It spoke to me.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013? Longest: Allegiant, though the print was pretty big so it may not be accurate. Shortest: A Christmas Carol.
 

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!: I guess that scene from Allegiant.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc). Romantic: Reena and Sawyer from How to Love, Cath and Levi from Fangirl, and Alex and Leo from The F-It List.
Friendship: Alex and Becca from The F-It List, and Cath and Reagan from Fangirl.
Family: Carey and Jenessa from If You Find Me.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult.

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else? Probably How to Love. I kept seeing it recommended everywhere, so I had to check it out for myself. That, or Fangirl. Both books were everywhere, but they didn't disappoint.
 

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013? Adult contemporary, for sure. Lots of YA, too.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013? I don't have one.

23. Best 2013 debut you read? How to Love, or Someday, Someday Maybe.

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013? Insurgent and Allegiant.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013? Fangirl, any of the thrillers I read, Let it Snow, and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013? Henry's Sisters. Read it. You'll fall in love with Henry.

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out? I've only just started hearing more about If You Find Me, which I think more people need to read.

 

 

 

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2013 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2014? The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I just haven't touched this yet because I'm trying to reach my 50 book pledge goal, but it's on the top of my list.
 

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2014 (non-debut)? What a Girl Wants by Lindsey Kelk, the next Cormoran Strike novel, Landline, & That Night by Chevy Stevens.

3. 2014 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? Hm, I don't actually know!

4. Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2014? I have a few next books in a series on my list, but I don't think they're the end of the series.
 

5. One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do in Your Reading/Blogging in 2014? Set up a better blogging schedule! One that isn't so random and all over the place.

This was fun! It was interesting to go back over my Goodreads and see what I read early in the year. It's easy to forgot those early in the year reads, but I definitely read some good ones early on. This will definitely be a survey I come back and do every year.