2015 End of Year Book Survey!

The End of Year Book Survey is a annual feature hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner.  I’ve been looking forward to writing this post literally ALL YEAR LONG (because, let’s be honest: I knew I wanted to start a blog way before August 2015), so I’m ecstatic to finally be writing this post! Basically, this survey is a way of highlighting the best in books, bloggers, and moments of 2015.

On a side note: This post is going to be extremely long, but please bare with me! I mean, it’s basically a yearly wrap-up, so it should be pretty lengthy!

Alrighty, without further ado….I bring you the 2015 End Of Year Book Survey!

 

Number of Books You Read?

I actually took a Goodreads hiatus during the first 3/4 of the year, but assuming I distributed my reading pretty evenly throughout the year, it would be somewhere around 100 books based on the last few months.

Number of Re-Reads?

Once again, I have no idea due to the fact that I didn’t keep track of the books I read for the majority of this year, but I would guess it would be about 15 or 20.

Genre You Read The Most From?

I don’t need Goodreads to figure this one out. Judging from the fact about 95% of the books I’ve read in the past few months (no, I’m not exaggerating) have been contemporaries, my answer would definitely be YA Contemporary. *gasp*

 

Best Book You Read In 2015?

I’m pretty sure the phrase “best book” pertains to only one book, but I’m choosing 10. BECAUSE I CAN.

• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
• I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
• Isla And The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Sensing a theme here? YUP, THEY’RE ALL CONTEMPORARY.

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

• Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry- I’ve only ever given one book one star, and this was that book. I despised every part of it. Horrible and abusive love interest, terrible writing, lines that will make you cringe with cheesiness….THE LIST GOES ON.
• Nantucket Blue by Leila Howland- I read this a few days ago and thought I was going to LOVE it, but….I didn’t, unfortunately. It wasn’t horrible, but I would have changed a lot of things and the writing, once again, was cringe-worthy. Review to come.
• The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West- I was SOOOO looking forward to this because of all the hype surrounding this author, but I was sorely disappointed. I’ve heard her other books are much better though, so I may decide to give them a shot….

I’m sure there were many more, but these were the three I could think of of off the top of my head. All in all I’d say it’s been a pretty good year, considering that I could only think of three books for this category.

Most Surprising (In A Good Way Or Bad Way) Book You Read?

Probably Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, which I read a few days ago. For some reason I expected to dislike the main character and the book in general, but I loved it! It also has a plot twist near the end that completely shocked me. Highly recommend this one.

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Hardly any of my friends listen to my recommendations anymore (which I understand, I really do), but it would probably be All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I somehow convinced my mom, grandma, English teacher, and my friend’s older sister to read it….and they all loved it! Still, that list does sound a bit depressing….

Best Series You Started In 2015?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater.

Best Sequel Of 2015?

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey.

Best Series Ender Of 2015?

Isla And The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. (I don’t think this really counts as a series, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I actually completed a series….)

Favorite New Author You Discovered In 2015?

Definitely Patrick Ness. I adore all his books, especially A Monster Calls and More Than This.

 Best Book From A Genre You Don’t Typically Read/Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone?

Throne Of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. (This was technically a reread, but I read it so long ago that I barely remembered it. And yes, fantasy is out of my comfort zone.)

Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book Of The Year?

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver. It might not have been one of my favorite reads of the year, but I literally could not put it down.

Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

I’ll definitely be rereading The 5th Wave and The Infinite Sea next year because I barely remember anything from them, hopefully before The Last Star comes out….

Favorite Cover Of A Book You Read In 2015?

Am I the only one that thinks 2015 is the year for pretty covers? My absolute favorite would probably be Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, of which I own the hardcover copy and have displayed on my bookshelf because it was just that gorgeous.

Most Memorable Character Of 2015?

Definitely Tiger Lily from Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, which I did a review on yesterday. (I would link it, but gah, effort.) She’s now my absolute favorite character of ever.

Most Beautifully Written Book Read In 2015?

SO MANY. But my top 5 would probably be:

• Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang
• Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2015?

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited UNTIL 2015 To Finally Read? 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. (Which, for some unknown reason, I STILL haven’t read the sequel of.)

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

I have a lot, but here’s one of my favorites:

“My sister will die over and over again for the rest of my life. Grief is forever. It doesn’t go away; it becomes a part of you, step for step, breath for breath. I will never stop grieving Bailey because I will never stop loving her. That’s just how it is. Grief and love are conjoined, you don’t get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy.”

-The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

The shortest book I read was probably Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (which, by the way, is an AMAZING, inspiring, heartfelt book that absolutely everyone should read), which was about 180 pages. I have no idea what the longest book I read is; I don’t think I read any super long books this year.

Book That Shocked You The Most?

Definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I honestly didn’t see that plot twist coming from anywhere and had to read it several times to actually understand what had happened.

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

• Tiger Lily and Peter from Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Audrey and James from Audrey, Wait! By Robin Benway
• Blue and Simon from Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
• Aristotle and Dante from Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
• Finch and Violet from All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

• Patrick and Charlie from The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
• Audrey and Victoria from Audrey, Wait!
• Celeana and Nehemia from Throne of Glass

Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Um….like, all of them.

Best 2015 Debut You Read?

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

Book That Put A Smile On Your Face?

A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall was so adorable and fun to read!

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

I’ve never cried so much over a book as much as I cried during Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Ever.

Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

Pretty much all of Patrick Ness’s books are incredibly unique….I mean, seriously, where do authors come up with these things?

Book That Made You The Most Mad (Doesn’t Necessarily Mean You Didn’t Like It)?

Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry made me so angry, to the point where I was ready to throw in across the room in frustration. (Don’t worry, I didn’t. If it wasn’t a library copy I definitely would have, though….)

New Favorite Book Blog You Discovered In 2015?

I started blogging in August 2015, so I think you can safely say pretty much all the blogs I’ve discovered this year are now favorites.

Favorite Reviews That You Wrote In 2015?

Probably my reviews for Tiger Lily and More Than This.

Best Discussion/Non-review Post You Had On Your Blog?

I haven’t published very many discussions yet (but trust me- I have a lot of discussion posts coming up soon!), but my favorite one so far would probably my discussion on Banned Books Week.

Best Event That You Participated In (Author Signings, Festivals, Virtual Events, Memes, etc.)?

My favorite book signing I’ve ever gone to was probably my first event ever, which took place in early February when I got to meet Gayle Forman. I had never met an actual author before, so I was so nervous and excited!

Best Moment Of Bookish/Blogging Life In 2015?

This would definitely be when I got my first review request- you should have seen my face! I swear, I was wearing a ridiculous grin for weeks after I received that email.

Most Challenging Thing About Blogging Or Your Reading Life This Year?

Finding time. Especially as a newbie blogger, it definitely takes a while to figure out the most effective way to balance your schedule with blogging, reading, school, and extracurricular activities. Most people outside of the blogosphere don’t realize how much time and energy blogging takes, and if they do, they probably think we sit at home on our butts all day on the internet. Sure, blogging takes time, but we still manage to have a life! Just because we’re bloggers doesn’t mean we have hours of free time every day- we MAKE time.

Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

My “100 Followers! Wait….What?!” post got the most comments.

One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

SO MANY. I need to catch up on….basically all the series ever. Some of which include:

• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (I actually purchased Cinder today so I’ll definitely be getting to this soon!)
• Finishing the Throne Of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas (I finished the first book and need to buy the rest of the series.)
• The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
• Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge
• The Winner’s trilogy by Marie Rutkoski

2016 Books You Are Most Anticipating?

• The Last Star by Rick Yancey
• This Is Where The World Ends by Amy Zhang
• Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
• The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry
• The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Things You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

• Actually set up a Goodreads challenge and read 100 books.
• Write more discussion posts!
• Um….maybe go self-hosted?
• Reach 300 WordPress followers by the end of the year.
• Start writing more guest posts, author interviews, giveaways, etc.-so, basically more variety in general!

Congratulations- you made it to the end of this post! Now, let us chat!

How was your year of reading? What were your top books of 2015? Which upcoming releases are you most excited for? Let me know in the comments!