2015 End of Year Book Survey

Hosted by: Jamie @ the Perpetual Page-Turner

2nd annual book survey! This is about the books I’ve read in 2015 😀

2015 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 168
Number of Re-Reads: 2
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

Oh this one’s hard!!!! I read a LOT of good books this year (68 five-star reads!). If I have to choose one though, it would be….

While I didn’t get a chance to write a review on Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses, it is my favorite read of 2015. I love her Throne of Glass series, but ACOTAR blew me away! It is the perfect balance of fantasy, romance, and fairy tale. I can’t wait for it’s sequel later next year.

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

I was so disappointed in Mitch Albom’s The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. I LOVE this author! I’ve read everything he’s written, I OWN everything he’s written and frequently reread his work, BUT this one….I didn’t even finish it. I DNFed at around the 45% mark 🙁

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

I was skeptical to start Tessa Elwood’s Inherit the Stars, but I can tell you that I adored this book. I devoured it in one sitting, forgoing sleep to do so. It was perfect! Lots of suspense, action, sci-fi, and a little YA romance too. My kind of read!

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

Hands down Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is my most pimped book this year. I’ve told everyone I talk to about it. I’m in love and cannot wait for it’s sequel…only a few more weeks *squee!!!

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Okay I KNOW she’s not new, BUT I adore her okay!!! Why did I wait so long to read her books?!

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

I don’t typically read adult romance, just not a big fan of the erotic scenes. However, Hanna Peach won me over with her Girl Wife Prisoner which is a romantic suspense standalone. It was great!!!

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

I read this book in one night! It was a great conclusion to the series and I loved the interaction between the characters and even the author’s redemption of Beliel.

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

I feel like I didn’t understand this book as well as I’d like too. Scarlett Dawn is one of my favorite authors, but this book is the start of the second saga of her Forever Evermore series which I’ve not read. So this year, before book 5 comes out, I plan to go back and reread this series.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Do I even NEED to say who this is? I can’t believe I didn’t read the Lux series until this year. BUT Daemon Black….this quote from the first book sums it up nicely:

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

The Lady and the Mountain Man….I could go on for days about this book. It is perfect!!! Wonderful characters that come to life as you read and the setting, 1870s, the author just brings you there. Perfection!!!

13. Most Thought-Provoking Book of 2015?

After reading this book, I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. It’s a very dark, almost gothic, retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it is a MUST read!

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

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

From The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J Maas

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

 

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

The ending….OMG!!! That ending!!!! I was so distraught for DAYS after the end of The Clouded Sky. Definitely one you want to read with the next book on hand!

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

I might make a few people mad with this one, but my OTP (one-true-pairing) pick of the year is….

Feyre and Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses

Don’t get me wrong I LOVED Tamlin, but I don’t know….there’s just something about Rhysand that has me shipping these two together.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

No question on this one. I loved Esther and her maid Ruti from Esther. Ruti is really Esther’s conscience and keeps her focus on why she has become Queen. She was a wonderful side character and brought out the best and worst in Esther.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

This book is the conclusion to Sarah Fine’s new adult series Servants of Fate and it was fantastic!!! The whole series is good, but this one was amazing!

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On Peer Pressure:

I had heard over and over again that I NEEDED to read Obsidian that I just had to fall in love with Daemon. Well, I took the plunge, LOVED it and read the entire series in a week 😀

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

Can I just say that Sarah J Maas KNOWS how to write good characters 😀 At the beginning of the year, I would’ve answered this question with Chaol….BUT having finished out the series to date I have to answer with Rowan from Heir of Fire. 

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

It’s set in Wonderland…how much more vivid can it get 😉

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

I’ve never laughed so hard reading a book! If you enjoy epic fantasy, I highly recommend you read this satire by debut author Joe Duck. It’s hilarious!!!

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

This is possibly because the main character has a miscarriage and I read this book two days after we lost our angel baby. Not smart on my part…I squalled like a baby!

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I loved this narrative style book! I know a lot of people that gave up on it around the 20% mark because of the odd writing. If you’re one of them I highly suggest you go back and keep reading. Around the 25% mark you realize that the narrator is actually one of the characters of the story “writing” the book. It’s such a unique twist on your usual fantasy/dystopia genre.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

I really have no words for this book. It was a fantastic conclusion to the series but heartbreaking all at the same time! It took days to recover from it!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

I had never read a book as complex as this one before AND I absolutely loved it. I loved the multi-dimensions and all the different versions of the main characters. I just got the sequel from the library and cannot wait to read it!

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

The ending of this book left me in utter shock and hyperventilating!!! I’m still reeling. I even threw my poor kindle down when I realized there were no more pages!

My Blogging/Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

My review of Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas is my favorite that I wrote this year. I just had fun with it. Honestly, my thoughts were “This book has been out so long no one will read it, let’s have fun.” Lots of gifs and just my opinion, very little substance 😉

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

My best discussion post happens to be a top ten post from April, TTT #29 – Authors I Live For, listing my favorite authors. Apparently a lot of people hadn’t heard of some of my favorite indie authors and it brought a lot of discussion.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

This year I decided to participate in some reading challenges and joined the #COYER challenge at the beginning of the year. I LOVED it. I’ve met a lot of great book bloggers through it and it’s so much fun discussing what we are reading and sharing sales with each other on the Facebook group throughout the year.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?

An author emailed me asking if I would rewrite her blurb for one of her books this year. I was thrilled with the opportunity! I love to write and do a lot of it on the side, but I’ve never seen my writing in print before, even if my name isn’t with it 😀 She liked what I did too and said she may use me again in the future for all her blurbs. I may have squealed a bit….

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

This year was a really hard year in my personal life. We had a miscarriage at the end of March and then in September my grandfather passed away suddenly. This affected my blogging and reading. At times I wanted to disappear into my books, but not review them and other times I didn’t even want to read. I think I’m finally getting back into a routine now.

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

My most popular post this year by views is an interview I did with author Michelle Bryan during the week of my blogaversary.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

As I was looking back at my posts from the year, I found this one: It’s a NEW DAY! I had a particularly rough day the day before I wrote this one and really it is applicable for my year. If it could go wrong, it has. BUT hey, tomorrow it’s a NEW YEAR! Let’s start it off right, shall we 😉

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Hands down, my best bookish discovery of the year is BookOutlet.com. I haven’t bought real, actual books with pages in them in YEARS, but I stumbled across this site and I’ve now got stacks of books everywhere! We’re talking brand new books for pennies people. PENNIES!!!! I got the entire Lux series in paperback for $5. That’s a $1 a book. Go check them out!

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

So this year I challenged myself to read 100 new-to-me books, which I blew out of the water by reading 165 new books. I also joined the #COYER challenge last winter and this summer and did well with those too.

Looking Ahead to 2016

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

The Legend by Melissa Delport is one of those books that I cannot believe I haven’t read yet. The books prior to it in the series made my end of year survey last year as favorite books. So it is a number one priority next year!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

This is about a girl and boy with extraordinary powers, a king who needs an enchanter, and a fight to the death. I’m thinking Hunger Games meets Beautiful Creatures meets the Young Elites….so of course I NEED to read this one!

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?

With ACOTAR my favorite book from 2015, I think my response to this question should really be “duh!” 😀

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?

My biggest goal this year is to catch up on my review copies. I fell behind this year and my goal is to end 2016 with no leftovers unlike this year.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

I’ve only read two books that come out next year, but I highly recommend that everyone should read Kathy MacMillan’s debut Sword and Verse. It’s a fantastic read, combining elements of fantasy with dystopia.

YOUR TURN!! What are some of your favorite reads from 2015?

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