This survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. It looks like a good way to sum up a year of reading.
2014 Reading Stats
Number of books you read: 30 (I read 58 in total, including picture books, novellas & short stories)
Number of re-reads: 0
Genre you read the most from: contemporary fantasy
Best In Books
1. Best book you read in 2014? Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor
2. Book you were excited about & thought you were going to love more but didn’t? A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman. (This is the first verse novel I've read that I really haven't liked.)
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. (I had no idea I would dislike it as much as I did.)
4. Book you “pushed” the most people to read (and they did) in 2014? I don't really push people to read books... and I would have no idea if they'd actually read them or not!
5. Best series you started in 2014? Best sequel of 2014? Best series ender of 2014? Best series I started: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen.
Best sequel: Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor.
Best series ender: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014? I'd like to read more of Julie Berry's books. I really enjoyed All the Truth That's in Me.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber. I haven't read a lot of books that feature characters with disabilities, so this was a different one for me.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? Stolen by Lucy Christopher. I'm not sure if I'd call it "action-packed", but I sure wanted to find out what happened next!
9. Book you read in 2014 that you are most likely to re-read next year? I don't re-read. At some point in the future, though, I might like to read Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone series again. But it probably won't be next year.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014? Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. I know I've mentioned my love of this cover on my blog before, but I have to mention it again. It's something about the colours combined with the silhouette of the little girl and her book. It's just so pretty!
11. Most memorable character of 2014? Ty from Stolen by Lucy Christopher.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014? Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor. I have to keep a dictionary on hand when I'm reading Taylor's writing, but it's just so beautiful that I don't care.
13. Most thought-provoking/life-changing book of 2014? Surrender by Sonya Hartnett. It wasn't life-changing, but it was certainly thought-provoking. I'm still trying to decide exactly what happened in that story!
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I actually did pick it up years ago, but couldn't get into it then. I'm surprised that, once I found out how much I liked verse novels, I didn't pick it up again sooner!
15. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2014? The feeling, it was the sense of waiting drawing to an end. Not dread
waiting, but excited waiting of the best kind: waiting for magic. ~ from Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor
16. Shortest & longest book you read in 2014? I read a number of 32-page picture books, but I'm not going to count those.
Shortest novel: Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber.
Longest novel: Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor.
17. Book that shocked you the most
(because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)? Surrender by Sonya Hartnett. (This book will mess with your mind.)
18. OTP of the year (you will go down with this ship!)? Alex & Blue from The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare. I can't wait to see where this relationship goes in the sequel!
19. Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year? Po & Bundle from Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver. I don't think I've ever seen a ghost/ghost-pet relationship before. It was so cute!
20. Favorite book you read in 2014 from an author you’ve read previously? Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor. (I read the first book in the series, Daughter of Smoke & Bone, last year.)
21. Best book you read in 2014 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else/peer pressure? Well, it wasn't solely based on recommendations because I'd already read the first book and enjoyed it, but I was told I needed to read the sequels. So the answer is Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor. (This book is sure turning up on this list a lot. And we're not done yet!)
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014? Hazael from Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor. Give me Haz over Akiva any day!
23. Best 2014 debut you read? The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen.
24. Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting you read this year? Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson.
25. Book that put a smile on your face/was the most FUN to read? Journey by Aaron Becker. This wordless picture book actually got my highest rating in 2014!
26. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2014? Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor.
27. Hidden gem of the year? Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber. I'd never even heard of it before I read it. It's too bad that more people haven't discovered it... because it's really quite good!
28. Book that crushed your soul? The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. (I lost a lot of faith in humanity -- or at least in readers -- after this one. Why is this awful book so popular?!)
29. Most unique book you read in 2014? You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey & Soyeon Kim. (The message and the art in this picture book were like nothing I'd seen before... especially in a book aimed at children.)
30. Book that made you the most mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Oh, but I didn't like it! The winner in this category goes to Vivian Versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle. (This was the worst novel I read this year, and the only one to get my dead ladybug rating. I'm mad that I wasted time on it when I could've been reading something less pointless.)
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? Paper Fury.
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? Neverland by Anna Katmore. (I had way too much fun snarking on the ridiculousness of this book. Sorry!)
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? I didn't really have many of those this year. That's something I hope to change in 2015.
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? I always enjoy participating in Top Ten Tuesday.
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014? Finishing Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke & Bone series and realizing that I'd really enjoyed it! (I don't have the best luck with series enders.)
7. Most popular post this year on your blog (whether it be by comments or views)? I have no idea. Blogger doesn't exactly make it easy to track these things.
8. Post you wished got a little more love? I can't think of one post in particular. I do wish my review posts got a little more attention, though.
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? Riffle Select's newsletter. My TBR pile has grown at an insane rate since Riffle started letting me know about bookish deals.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I did the Goodreads challenge and decided to read 13 books. I finished that back in June!
Looking Ahead
1. One book you didn’t get to in 2014 but will be your number one priority in 2015? Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. (I think I'm the last book blogger in the world to read this one.)
2. Book you are most anticipating for 2015 (non-debut)? The Untimely Deaths of Alex Wayfare by M. G. Buehrlen.
3. 2015 debut you are most anticipating? The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes.
4. Series ending/a sequel you are most anticipating in 2015? End of Days by Susan Ee.
5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2015? I want to enjoy more of the books I read. Allowing myself to DNF when I need to should help with this.
6. A 2015 release you’ve already read & recommend to everyone? I haven't read any 2015 releases yet!
So that was my bookish year!
How was 2014 for you?
I think Daughter of Smoke and Bone was my favorite in that series. I so want to start a real Poison Kitchen
ReplyDeleteMissie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Enter my blog birthday giveaway!
The Poison Kitchen was cool. I wonder if there's actually a place like that in Prague that was the inspiration...
DeleteOh my gosh yes you need to read Throne of Glass! CHAOLENA FOR THE WIN!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! <33
I've got a request in for a NetGalley book, and if that doesn't come through (and it probably won't; I haven't had any luck with that publisher), I'll probably make Throne of Glass my first read of 2015!
DeleteI'm hacing so much fun going through the Perpetual Page Turner link-up thing, discovering new blogs and titles for my TBR!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, you're not the only one who's been putting off Throne of Glass. Everyone raves about it but I just haven't been able to pick it up yet. It does look good, though.
I do wish Blogger had better stats-tracking tools. I'm using Google Analytics right now, which is OK. I mean, it is free & detailed but also a little bit confusing. Oh, well.
Happy New Year!
I'm having fun reading through other people's surveys, too. And my TBR pile is growing. Drat!
DeleteI had a look at the Google Analytics site and got confused just on the front page. Kind of reminds me when I tried to use AdSense years ago, and couldn't figure out how. I don't know why they have to make everything so complicated.
I'm trying to remedy the Throne of Glass problem as we speak...
ReplyDeleteI loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone too! I love rereading books and I'm so rereading this series! Never be sorry for snarkyness! :) Throne of Glass is on my list for next year too, you aren't the only one! Yes, I need End of days!
ReplyDeleteIf I were to re-read books, I might re-read the Daughter of Smoke & Bone series... though maybe in a few years when I've forgotten some of the details.
DeleteI started Throne of Glass on New Year's Day. It's slow going, but that's just me. So far, the story is pretty good (I'm having some issues with the writing, though).
Lots of Laini Taylor love in this post! Glad to see you enjoyed her series so much. It is definitely beautifully written! I wish I loved it more than I did >.<
ReplyDeleteHaha, you and your dislike for The Fault in Our Stars. I actually enjoyed it, but I read it ages ago so don't quite remember what. But hey, I don't think liking that book is a reason to question humanity! Different books appeal to different readers. :P
Ooh Throne of Glass! I'll echo everyone else and say you should give it a go :) I didn't absolutely love it like everyone else (I didn't get all the Chaol love), but I still definitely enjoyed it. I'm actually read the sequel Crown of Midnight right now! But really, if you do decide to hold off longer, that probably won't be a bad thing - it's a six-book series so the longer you hold off the less you have to suffer like the rest of us between each book!
I'm reading Throne of Glass right now. Based on my impressions so far, I'm not sure if I'll continue with the sequels. I don't mind the story, but I'm finding more issues with the writing as I go (and writing issues are something I find difficult to overlook). I'm hoping the author will do some awesome plot-twisty thing before the end and make me consider continuing with the series!
DeleteI realize different books appeal to different readers. It's just that I found The Fault in Our Stars so disturbingly pretentious and unrealistic, and I find it slightly worrying when so many people gush over it as a wonderful example of the teenage experience. What teenage experience were those people having?! In fact, just now I read a post where a blogger gushed all about TFIOS... while simultaneously acknowledging that the dialogue is not at all realistic. I'm completely fine with that. It's okay to like a book for what it is... but it's another thing to hold it up as something it isn't. It's kind of like saying that Twilight is fine literature just because you enjoyed reading a story about sparkly vampires. Uh... no.