Happy New Year everyone!! I hope that everyone has a fantastic year! This year I have again decided to do the year end survey prepared by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. Lots of great comprehensive questions. I tried not to do duplicates but you will see a few mostly because they were just so damn good! Enjoy!
2016 Reading Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 155
Number of Re-Reads: 50 (all audiobook re-reads, which means I have read them in print but this time around read them via audio)
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy
Best In Books
Best Book You Read In 2016?
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child…. I ended up loathing this.
Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson in a very good way. I wasn’t expecting much when I started that book but I ended up falling in love with it.
Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Definitely The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner.
Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?
Series Started: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Best Sequel: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Best Series Ender: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson
Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?
Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King and the upcoming Goodbye Days
Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
I don’t normally read a lot of solid SciFi but I read Seveneves by Neal Stephenson and it was absolutely fantastic!
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Honestly any of the Colleen Hoover books that I read.
Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Most memorable character of 2016?
Travis from The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Most beautifully written book read in 2016?
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?
“So when I watch trains, it makes me think about how much movement there is in the world. How every train has dozens of cars and every car has hundreds of parts, and all those parts and cars work day after day. And then there are all these other motions. People are born and die. Seasons change. Rivers flow to the sea. Earth circles the sun and the moon circles Earth. Everything whirring and spinning toward something. And I get to be part of it for a little while, the way I get to watch a train for a minute or two, and then it’s gone.”
― Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King
Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?
Shortest: The Crown & the Arrow by Renee Ahdieh (9 pages)
Longest: The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (1443 pages)
Book That Shocked You The Most
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon – So much happened during this book and I’m trying to deal with all of the changes still.
OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Jamie and Claire Fraser of the Outlander series. They will always be my #1 OTP as long as I keep reading the books.
Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Kelsier and Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?
Rafe from The Remnant Chronicles (The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal, The Beauty of Darkness) by Mary E. Pearson
Best 2016 debut you read?
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
An Idiot Abroad by Karl Pilkington
Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Bury the Living by Jodi McIsaac – I was a part of the blog tour for this book and I really enjoyed it! I think fans of the Outlander series would like this book a lot.
Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes – total tearjerker
Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?
I suppose I’ll have to go with Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman because of the formatting.
Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I was surprised just how much I disliked this book. And yes, I realize it’s not meant to read like a novel… that’s not what I didn’t like about it. It just felt very un-Harry Potter like. All of the characters felt different, etc. I don’t want this to turn into a rant though so I’m going to stop talking about it lol.
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
New favorite book blog you discovered in 2016?
Honestly I didn’t do very much with reading new blogs so I don’t know if I discovered any new ones this year.
Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?
Probably my review for Nevernight by Jay Kristoff.
Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
One of my most viewed that also wasn’t a Top Ten Tuesday post was probably my Hoarders: Book Nerd Edition post.
Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Without a doubt that would be my trip to California for the Shattered Blue book tour with author Lauren Bird Horowitz. We had a fantastic time which you can read about here.
Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?
I think for me the biggest thing that happened was that I reached 750 followers on my blog! When I started blogging I never thought I would ever have that many people following my blog.
Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
Time management really. I’ve always struggled with balancing out my time so that is one thing I would like to work on next year. I haven’t been posting regularly this year at all so I’d like to do better.
Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
That would be my post about my new Star Wars BB-8 Moleskine notebook. I’m surprised how many views this post got!
Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
I don’t really have one.
Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
I don’t know if this really counts but I started a bullet journal and on Pinterest I found a really cool way of keeping track of some extra stats so I can see my reading trends based on things like author gender, genre, year published, etc.
Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I completed both of my main reading goals for the year. My Goodreads Challenge was to read 110 books and I read 155. And for the 2016 Read My Books Challenge I wanted to read 60 of my owned but unread books. I ended up with 75 read.
Looking Ahead
One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?
Wow, there were actually so many including The Rose Society, Blood of My Blood, Ten Thousand Skies Above You, and Library of Souls.
Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?
Windwitch by Susan Dennard
2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?
Renegade Red by Lauren Bird Horowitz, book 2 of The Light Trilogy
One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?
In general I would like to be more organized when it comes to blogging. Regular posting schedule, book reviews, etc.
A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
Love At First Sight by Josh Sundquist. I think that is the only one I’ve read for 2017 so far but it was really cute and puts an interesting perspective on being blind.
I also decided that I would include a few of the graphics that Goodreads provides at the end of the year with my books read.
So that was my year in books! I am really looking forward to taking a more low pressure take on reading in 2017. How was your year of reading in 2016?
Great job on exceeding your goals!
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Thank you!
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Okay, okay. I’ll read The Serpent King. 😉 Great job this year!
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Yes! 🙂 Thank you!
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Fab post 😊 Is it bad I haven’t heard of the Serpent King 😯
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I wouldn’t say it’s bad but I definitely recommend that you check it out! 🙂
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I will have to! It sounds like I have been missing out 🙂
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As always, wow! You really do read a lot! I also had a good, enjoyable year of reading – my numbers are down but not the quality 🙂 Happy reading in 2017!
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That’s great! Quality over quantity is always a plus. That is something I will be working on this year. I’m lowering my # goal to concentrate more on reading a variety and reading some of those books that I’ve been putting on hold. Happy New Year!
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What a great reading year – awesome job!! I’ve enjoyed seeing everything you’ve read this year. You always read a good variety and give me lots of recs. I need to read more fantasy this year. I was thinking I need to start the new year with a good fantasy book/series. I have The Kiss of Deception series…
And I have The Serpent King, too. I didn’t realize that was your favorite book of the year! Now I need to read it soon. Maybe that should be my first book of 2017! I’m struggling with what book to pick, lol. I feel like it has to be epic.
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Thanks 🙂 I would say either The Kiss of Deception or The Serpent King would be a great way for you to kick off 2017! I think you would really enjoy both.
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You did awesome this year! Totally agree with you on Me Before You … that book totally crushed me! As for Harry Potter, I kind of liked it. I wouldn’t say I hated it, but I didn’t love it, but it was an enjoyable read. I like that I read it during the hype. Here’s to a great 2017 in reading!
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Happy New Year to you and happy reading this year! 🙂
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Awesome! I’ve been reading/listening to more audiobooks as well. I sometimes dislike listening to something I’ve previously read, though, and vice versa. It depends on the narrator and the book, I suppose.
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I am the opposite haha. I can only listen to audiobooks that I’ve already read. I space out a lot when I listen to things so I end up missing a lot of the book and get super lost.
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Yeah. I can space out occasionally too but I’ve gotten better about it. They’re great for when I’m driving or at the gym.
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Great post! We had a few of the same answers! 😀 And a lot of books in your post that I still need to read! I hope that my TBR jar helps with getting to some of those books that I always skip over. I have no clue what I even want to read this year, to be honest LOL.
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Wow, there is so much love around for The Serpent King! I love that passage you shared — amazing. It’s confirmed my desire to read the book! I also really want to read (from this post): Me Before You; Nevernight; and Mistborn. Mistborn especially, I’ve heard the worldbuilding is amazing. I’m really sorry you didn’t like The Cursed Child — I took the decision not to read it, and I’m glad I did!
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Oh yes, the world building in Mistborn is fantastic! I can’t wait to continue the rest of the series. I wish I hadn’t read The Cursed Child haha! Oh well.
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