Once again it's time for Jamie's annual survey. I love filling these out - I always learn something about my own reading habits.
Number Of Books You Read: 110
Number of Re-Reads: 8 - I only officially counted the books that I reread in a different format in this case all books I listened to on audio for the first time.
I do a ton of re-reading, but it’s too hard to keep track of. I frequently return to my favorite parts of books, but I don’t always read again from start to finish.
Genre You Read The Most From: Contemporary Romance
1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
Adult Fiction - Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Nonfiction - Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir– This was just REALLY heavy so while the story was good I just didn’t love it. I’m still planning to read the sequel.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I was really expecting this to be cheesy, but there was a lot of depth to the story.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
b. Best Sequel of 2015? Career of Evil also by Robert Galbraith
c. Best Series Ender of 2015? No surprise here, Winter by Marissa Meyer was the perfect conclusion to The Lunar Chronicles.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015? This is the hardest question for me. I read quite a few freshman novels, but I’m hesitant to add them to favorites until the sophomore book lives up. I’m going with Juliette Mariller and honorable mentions to Becky Albertalli and Celeste Ng in anticipation of book 2.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
When I read nonfiction it tends to be somewhat in story form. I rarely read history nonfiction and I LOVED When Books Went to War by Molly Guptil Manning.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith and Winter by Marissa Meyer
9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center - This is SUCH a Brandy book. I love flawed main characters who give me all the feels. Definitely a reread for 2016. Thanks to Elizabeth for the recommendation.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
I also love the Winter cover, but it’s already been in this post at least three times.
11. Most memorable character of 2015?
Winter is a crazy memorable character. Catch the double meaning? She’s crazy memorable, but also just a little crazy.
I also adore Sorcha/Jenny from Daughter of the Forest.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?
I tend to notice the writing in books if it’s super basic or just bad, but beyond that I just read. That said, Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Mariller is beautifully written and I NOTICED.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?
Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski. I can’t remember the last book that challenged so many things I thought I knew. So imformative and interesting. I just recommended it to a friend of my mom’s. Kinda weird, but cool. Side note: The author narrates the audio book and it’s really good.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I mean I can totally believe I haven’t read it cause I’m just not a classics person, but since the end result was LOVED IT…Why didn’t I read this years ago?
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?
Shortest: Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn 205 pgs
Longest: Winter by Marissa Meyer 827 pgs
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
The Royal We by Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Jane/Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre
Helen/Jake from Happiness for Beginners
Sorcha/Red from Daughter of the Forest
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Scarlett/Winter, Cinder/Thorn, Cinder/Iko all from Winter by Marissa Meyer.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Winter by Marissa Meyer, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas, The Cuckoo’s Call by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure
Daughter of the Forest/Jane Eyre
I think these are the two of Elizabeth’s recommendations that she had to PUSH the hardest to get me to read.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?
Jake from Happiness for Beginners
23. Best 2015 debut you read?
Simon vs the Homosapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Winter by Marissa Meyer
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Simon vs the Homosapien’s Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?
Lots of them. Probaby 60% of them. But “Cried the Most”? The Royal We.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Mariller. It also put everything back together again
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?
Winter by Marissa Meyer
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Dating Husbands by Lindy Zart – I thought the writing was bad. The author did a find and replace every time the main character said fuck and changed it to flip. SUPER distracting.
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan – for two reasons – first of all I felt like I was able to clearly articulate my feelings for the books without giving away key details. Also I’d been attempting to get the “picture partially in the color box” HTML effect FOREVER and finally got it. Unfortunately, I hit a blogging rough patch shortly after that so I’m going to have to figure it out again.
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I’m really happy I did the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge.
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?
It was pretty quite this year… probably Rainbow and David’s signing at the Bookworm in Omaha.
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
I’ve had pretty major family issues since September and my blog has been my last priority. That’s really disappointing because I was having a fairly consistent year until then.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
The Trouble with Ratings
I was shocked by this one. I figured my most viewed post would be a Top 10 Tuesday.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
In general my blog did better on traffic this year. I wouldn’t mind a little more comment love in general, but no biggie and no specific posts.
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Book Outlet – this might be the worst actually. I was doing SO much better NOT buying books this year and using the library instead, but I purchased an embarrassing about from Book Outlet starting in September.
Bookriot – They have a great mix of bloggers and I get an interesting mix of recommendations across genres. This is where I heard about Come as You are by Emily Nagoski.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I read more than 100 books, but did not complete the Read Harder Challenge.
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?
I don’t have one specific book. My number 1 priority in 2016 is going to be completing my Big Fat Book Challenge.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?
Is the fourth Cormoran Strike coming out in 2016?
3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
No idea – I have no idea what’s coming out this year. Suggestions?
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?
City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin!!!!!!! Finally!!!!
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?
Continue to challenge myself by reading diversely – I’ll be participating in the 2016 Read Harder Challenge.
I really nailed my recommendations to you this year, haha. (I may feel a little smug about this.) That said, I've got The Royal We, Come As You Are, and the rest of the Lunar Chronicles on my TBR for the year, so I am making use of your recs, too! Happy reading in 2016! And hope everything is going ok with the family-- you are always welcome to email/text if you need to chat.
ReplyDeleteYou totally deserve to be smug. I'd make you a Champion Book Recommend-er metal if you lived nearby:)
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