As always, I'm taking part in the End of Year Survey that The Perpetual Page-Turner created.
Number of re-reads: 10
Genre read the most: Dystopia
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more than you did
Feed by Mira Grant, Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin, Read Me Like a Book by Liz Kessler, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This year was just full of disappointments.
Most surprising book read
milk and honey by Rupi Kaur purely because it wasn't as amazing as everyone was making it out to be. Also, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart as it was better than expected, although still not fantastic.
Book you pushed the most people to read
Maybe Mr Mercedes by Stephen King? I don't tend to recommend books that often, but I remember mentioning that one a few times.
Best series started/sequel/ending
Best series started would be The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan. Best sequel was World After by Susan Ee. Best series endings were End of Watch by Stephen King and Winter.
Favorite new author discovered in 2016
Ellen Hopkins. I tend to stay away from poetry but I'm so glad I gave Identical a chance as it totally captivated me. Really hope I get to some more of her books in 2017.
Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult, which I read when it was still #readwithoutprejudice. I'm so glad I requested (and was lucky enough to receive) an advanced copy from NetGalley as I actually really enjoyed it, despite it being an adult contemporary.
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year
The Wolf Wilder by Kathrine Rundell was very action-packed for such a short kid's book.
Book you read in 2016 that you're most likely to re-read in 2017
Binge by Tyler Oakley. I've already considered picking it up again to help get me out of this weird reading slump I've been in for a few months now.
Favorite cover of 2016
Most memorable character
Eadlyn Schreave from The Crown. But not for any good reasons.
Most beautifully written book
Identical as it's a novel written in verse. Hopkins manages to pack so much emotion into every line and the way the story is told is so clever.
Most thought-provoking/life-changing book
Some of the stories in The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King definitely made me think, but I don't think I read that many books that really struck me this year.
Book you can’t believe you waited until 2016 to finally read
World After by Susan Ee. I read Angelfall ages ago and actually had to re-read it in order to finally complete the series. Don't know why it took me so long to finally get to it.
Favorite passage/quote from a book read in 2016
“Death is not an exact science, which is irritating for those of us who appreciate precision.”
Paperweight - Meg Haston
Shortest and longest books
Shortest was Wailing Ghosts by Pu Songling at 64 pages. Longest was Winter at 823.
Book that shocked you the most
Bedlam by Nick Spencer. I was not expecting it to be so gruesome and gory!
OTP of the year
Nan and Florence from Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. After everything Nan went through with Kitty I'm glad she found someone who treated her properly and made her happy. Honourable mentions go to pretty much all the couples in Winter, though.
Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year
Charlie and Andy McGee from Firestarter by Stephen King. Also Feo and Marina from The Wolf Wilder. It was very refreshing to see such strong bonds between parents and children, as I feel that they're often overlooked - especially in young adult.
Favorite book from an author you’ve read previously
Winter, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, The Sword of Summer, and Outcast.
Best book read based solely on a recommendation/peer pressure
Either Tipping the Velvet or Small Great Things. The former was recommended by my friend Lucy and Twitter would not shut up about the latter. Very pleased I got to both this year as they're both fantastic.
Newest fictional crush
I honestly don't fall for book characters, sorry. And most of the characters I read about this year were annoying anyway.
Best 2016 debut
I don't think I read any debuts this year, and if I did they didn't leave a lasting impression.
Best world building/most vivid setting
The maze and the glade from The Maze Runner. This is possibly helped by the fact that I couldn't get the maze from the film out of my head, but it was so well done I don't think that's a problem.
Book that put a smile on your face/was the most fun to read
Binge for sure.
Book that made you cry or nearly cry
If I have to pick something then it'd be Pet Sematary by Stephen King. There are a few moments in it that I found incredibly creepy and I was very sensitive to everything surrounding Church. Thankfully, I'm a King veteran and also have a heart of ice, so no tears were shed.
Hidden gem of the year
Either The Wolf Wilder or Paperweight.
Book that crushed your soul
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was so bad. If I hadn't have had to read it for my A-Levels it would still be on my shelf. Still trying to get the time that I wasted on it back, which is a shame because I really wanted to like it.
Most unique book
Identical, purely for the fact that it's written in verse and I've never come across that before. Atlanita was also unique in the fact that it's set underwater but has absolutely no mermaids.
Book that made you the most mad
Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa and The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. I have a full review on Goodreads that covers my thoughts on the former, and if you follow me on Twitter you'll have no doubt seen me complaining about the latter.
A Frolic Through Fiction and Readabilitea
Favorite review that you wrote
milk and honey by Rupi Kaur
Best discussion/non-review post
Am I Too Old For YA?
Best event that you participated in
A read-along for The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
Best moment of bookish/blogging life
Hitting 10,000 pageviews and still gathering more!
Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year
Coming up with discussion ideas. They're my favourite post to read on other people's blogs and also to feature on my own, but I find writing them up to be very difficult. And that's when I've even thought of a good enough idea.
Most popular post
TBR Feature #14. For some reason it has over 500 pageviews.
Post you wished got a little more love
To Medicate or Not. Out of the mental health posts I made this year, this was the least popular. Don't get me wrong, it still did well. Just not as well as I would have liked, as I do feel very strongly about medication.
Best bookish discovery
In December I decided to make proper spreads for the books I'm reading in my bullet journal. Not so much of a discovery as it was a brainwave, but it's been much better than just scribbling notes in my blogging notebook that never get seen again.
Did you complete any reading challenges/goals that you'd set for yourself?
I met my Goodreads goal and actually stuck to some of the resolutions I made at the start of the year - I definitely reviewed more and I re-read more than I ever have.
Dark Tide by Jennifer Donnelly. After I've re-read the first two books, that is.
Most anticipated book
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Most anticipated debut
One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus
Most anticipated series ending or sequel
The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan
One thing you hope to accomplish in your reading/blogging life
Sticking to the plan of posting at least three times - hopefully four - a week.
A 2017 release you’ve already read and recommend
None, I'm afraid.
I feel like Milk and Honey is not worth the hype. Idk but in my opinion, that kind of free verse poetry just doesn't interest me and just seems like reading a book to me. I'm kind of reluctant to read it. But I also really want to read Binge this year because I feel like it's different than the usual YouTube books and Tyler is so funny!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm just not a poetry fan in any way. There were some I liked in it, but it's mostly
Deletejust typing
like
this.
Binge is very funny but the ending is also very sober and kind of sad! I've only read Girl Online to compare it to and it's much better and very different to it.
I still haven't read Winter, and I don't really know why? I really enjoyed the previous 3 books! Also I am SO GLAD that you didn't like Frankenstein. I had to read it for my A Level and I will NOT be rereading that book anytime soon. I couldn't believe how much I disliked it, and whilst it was very good for the essays I was writing I just couldn't enjoy it. Ugh. Victor Frankenstein makes me so angry.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for linking to me! I'm glad you enjoy reading my blog, I really enjoy reading yours :)
I think Winter is a bit intimidating because of its size and the fact that you know you won't get to have any more adventures with the team once you've finished it :( Totally worth it, though! Ugh, tell me about it?! Isn't Victor the worst, most entitled little brat you've ever come across? So woe is me when actually... he's the biggest arse in the book!
DeleteYou're welcome! SO glad I stumbled across you as you've had some great posts and recommendations (which isn't so great for my TBR :P)
OMG WINTER. <3 I read it in 2015 and it was definitely one of my favorite books of the year without a doubt. So glad you enjoyed it as well. Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous recap! <3
ReplyDeleteI would have read it in 2015 but I HAD to re-read the first three in order to remember things! And I'm SO glad I did because it really cemented my love for the series <3 Thanks for reading, Zoe!
DeleteCongrats on hitting 10k!!!! Onwards & upwards!!!!
ReplyDeleteCaraval is ok... but I'm not entirely sure it's deserving of the hype. I'll be reviewing it soon(ish - I have a butt-tonne of stuff to review) so I can probs explain better what I mean then.
Thank you, Cee!
DeleteOh boo, that's a shame! I've hear so much good about it so far, but I'll definitely give your review a read when it's up! I'll probably still read it eventually, but I might end up taking it all with a pinch of salt.