December 31, 2018

2018 End of Year Survey

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read: 103

Number of Re-Reads: 4

Genre You Read The Most From: Young Adult Fantasy (seriously, it was overwhelmingly the year of catching up on all the fantasy novels.)

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2018 release vs. backlist)

Fantasy - A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2) by Sarah J. Maas. I mean, I got my tattoo based on the book. So clearly I have a lot of love for it!

Contemporary - A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Sci-Fi - Definitely a tie between Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff and Nyxia Unleashed (The Nyxia Triad #2) by Scott Reintgen

Dystopian - Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi I mean, I finally jumped to team Warner so. Yeah. Plus Juliette is the ultimate badass by the end of it!

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

Tie between Warcross (Warcross #1) by Marie Lu and Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber. Both were just so hyped up and fell flat for me. Warcross was VERY predictable to me and I just didn't enjoy Caraval. I am REALLY not a fan of Scarlett!

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

Good Way - Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer

Bad Way - Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber

 

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

Uh. I didn't really push you guys to read certain books did I?? Besides those of you that haven't read the ACOTAR series! LOL. I know one person that I pushed ACOTAR on hasn't yet. But that's kinda cuz I'm holding my copy of the book hostage from her until I get a second one because she *cough* DOESN'T GIVE MY BOOKS BACK *cough*

5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

Series Started - An Ember In The Ashes Series by Sabaa Tahir

Sequel - Muse of Nightmares (Strange The Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor

Series Ender - Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas. Guys... My girl Manon. AHHHHHH. So many tears for her. In one book I went from seriously disliking her to her being one of my faves. Definitely worthy of best series ender.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Scott Reintgen

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

Raise The Titanic by Clive Cussler. I think any of you that have been around since like 2011-2013 know I literally only ever read YA. This year I dived into adult and I've genuinely fallen in love with the Dirk Pitt novels. Seriously good reads.

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

This is hard to choose cuz theres so many good ones. I think I'm gonna have to go with Illuminae again. I mean I was glued to that book with everything going on. Its over 600 pages and I read it in like 3 hours. Doesn't get anymore unputdownable than that.

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. I think we've covered how much I love this particular book. LOL.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

Tough Choice but Sky In The Deep by Adrienne Young. I love the axe. Lol. But also, I just love the way the black and gold compliment each other. Such a beautiful cover. 

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

Um. Tie?? Sarah J. Maas is just fantastic with her characters. So. First is definitely Manon!! Like I mentioned, I went from really disliking her to genuinely loving her character and even bawling over her losses at the end. 

And of course Feyre! Duh. Feyre is my girl! High Lady of the Night Court. Put Tamlin the tool in his place. Badass. Seriously, Feyre is freaking awesome and I love her to death.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor. My review literally talks about how beautiful and magical the writing is. I just love the Strange The Dreamer duology guys. So much love for Lazlo & Sarai!

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Absolutely 100% is A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. The book was just filled with such raw emotions. Reading it really made you take a step back and think about things. The shit Shirin deals with in AVLEOS is still incredibly relevant and happening today. And it really makes you open up your eyes. And it makes things so much more real since a lot of things in this book were based of Tahereh's own experiences post 9/11.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Yeah... I mean, I've literally had this on my kindle since it came out and just never decided to read it before this year. Lol. Shush, don't judge.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

"To the stars who listen and the dreams that are answered" - A Court of Mist and Fury by SJM

Come on guys. Did you really expect something different?? I mean I love this quote so much I got it tattoo'd on me. 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

How I did this: Went to my read books on Goodreads and sorted by page number and just looked for what I knew I read this year that was the shortest and longest.

Shortest - London (Surviving The Evacuation #1) by Frank Tayell: 205 Pages

Longest - Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas: 992 Pages

I'm not counting short stories/novella's for this.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas - So yeah, I'm being vague for those of you who haven't read it, but the certain group of people that sacrifice themselves that left all of us freaking bawling our eyes out. I'm still not over this happening. My heart still genuinely hurts over this.

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

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

 Aelin & Rowan. The freaking love with these two. Don't get me wrong. I definitely liked Sam, who I think was the only other person Aelin had truly loved at one point. But Aelin and Rowan. <3 He never gave up on finding Aelin after Maeve took her and his love and dedication to her is just so pure. Ahhhh. Guys, Sarah J. Maas is ruining guys in the real world for us giving us such loving characters like Rowan and Rhysand.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Juliette and Kenji! I love the best friend relationship these two have! Especially in Ignite Me and Restore Me!

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. This was has been literally all over everything. LOL. Full on enticed me to get it and buy it. Plus it helps I got to meet Holly Black and get it signed.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

Sorry guys, I'm gonna be a broken record. But Rhysand and Rowan. I've literally gone through all the books I read and so many fictional crushes aren't actually new ones this year. LOL.

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orisha #1) by Tomi Adeyemi!

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

Strange The Dreamer/Muse of Nightmares. Laini Taylor just writes such vivid, beautiful details to describe Weep and you really feel like you're there.

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

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas. I loved seeing all the fun little things the group does for the solstice. And the adorable as hell getaway for the guys. I know this wasn't everyone's favorite book, but I just loved seeing everyone living and enjoying life after the war.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

Um, well. Here's a list:

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas - MANON. AHHHH.

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - Freaking Katy's dad and his notes to everyone saying they have a family with him. Genuine tears were shed over those. 

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas - AELIN. Knowing she has to sacrifice herself. Marrying Rowan so Terrasen could have a king. My poor heart was broken at all this. 

A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOTAR #3.1) by Sarah J. Maas - Feyre realizing she wants to try having kids with Rhys sooner rather than later because of the woman she met who lost her chance at it. The tears. 

Guys, I think we've established SJM makes her readers an emotional wreck.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Nyxia & Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen! Seriously. Amazing sci-fi but I see like no one reading these.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

How many times do I need to talk about Kingdom of Ash on this??? A certain group of people that died. Hello!!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

Journey To The Black City by Keith Mueller. My literal words in my review are "this book has a very unique mix of things to make up the story."

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

Tie between P.S. I Still Love You and Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. I swear the stupid high school angst issues regarding Peter and Lara Jeans relationship in both these drove me up the freaking wall!!!

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

Blog - Elley The Book Otter

Youtube Channel - Brittany the Bibliophile

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

I think I'm gonna go with my review of A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. I honestly think it was one of my strongest reviews this year and didn't focus so much on fangirling so much as focusing on the issues presented in the book.

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018?

My picture with Kristen Simmons. I met her in March at the TFOB and we had such a great conversation about the Article 5 series, which is one of my favorite dystopian series. So super thrilled and I just love this photo.

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

Tucson Festival of Books. I met Holly Black and Kristen Simmons. I was freaking thrilled!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?

I honestly think it was getting out of my reading slump at the beginning of April. I STRUGGLED the first 3 months of 2018 to read. 

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

The slumps. My mental health really takes a toll on my reading/blogging.

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

By views its overwhelmingly the sign-ups for the 2019 Dystopia Reading Challenge. LOL. 

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I think my review of Kingdom of Ash honestly. I had so many feels I wanted to talk with people about but it didn't get much love at all. Come on guys! Talk about your KOA feels with me!!!

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

I think I'm gonna have to go with the indie bookstore I found in Tucson called Mostly Books. They have a great supply of signed YA books and I didn't even know this gem of a store had them until I just decided to wander in one day. 

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

Lots. I went over my Goodreads goal. 102 books read when my goal was 75. 

Dystopia Reading Challenge - 22 books, Goal was 16. Also, not including books that are dystopian but their main genre was fantasy or sci-fi. There would definitely be another 15-20 if I included those. 

Beat The Backlist - First goal: 15. Beat that in 4 months. Upped it to 50. Beat that as well. Total finished 68 backlist books. 

A few other challenges I got really close on but just barely didn't reach my goals. 

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

The Wicked King by Holly Black

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

I'll get back to you. I'm just drawing a huge blank right now. 

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

Series Ending - Nyxia Uprising (The Nyxia Triad #3) by Scott Reintgen

Sequel - Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

I think this one is going to go to reading life. I want to catch up on all the Shadowhunter books. Which means rereading and finally finishing The Mortal Instruments, Rereading and finishing The Infernal Devices, and finally reading The Dark Artifices! Then I can read the short stories and be ready for the new series! 

6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):