2015 End of Year Book Survey

 Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner has once again created her annual End of Year Book Survey and I thought I’d join in the fun!

2015 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 165 (actually 167, since I edited two books that aren’t on Goodreads yet)

 

As I mention all the time, the unrated books are books I edited or proofread in 2015 (since I don’t review those due to the conflict of interest).

You can see that I read significantly less than I did the last two years, but I knew that was going to happen since I was a lot more busy this year. First off, I did more editing (those books are included in my total read, of course, but it’s not like I just quickly read the book – and books I edit, I typically read at least three times while working on them). And, secondly, I taught a homeschool co-op writing class and grading papers every week for twelve kids kept me busy!

For the fun of it, I thought I’d also include my page count.

Number of Re-Reads: 2 (or 4, depending on how you look at it)

I’m not even going to bother apologizing for this anymore. I’m just not a re-reader. The only books I re-read this year were Tuck Everlasting and Island of the Blue Dolphins because I included them in my homeschool co-op writing curriculum (and I read them when I was a girl). BUT my family listened to the first two Harry Potter books while driving on our vacation. (We’re now listening to the third book, but we don’t have a lot of long drives, so it’s slow going.)

Oh, and I kind of skimmed the first three Unwind books before I read the series finale, but I definitely don’t count that.

Genre You Read The Most From:

This is such a tough stat to come up with because so many books cross genres, but I once again did my best with this (I just chose the genre that I thought of most for each book).

Anyway, here’s what I ended up with:

I was surprised to see how many more YA contemporaries I read than anything else this year. In previous years, paranormals and fantasies always way outweighed the contemps, but I shifted things this year. Of course, if you add up the paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian/retellings, I still tend toward the fantastical, but not by much!

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

This is so impossible. How about a few favorite contemps and a few favorite sci-fi/fantasy/dystopians?

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

I was really looking forward to both of these sequels, but they left me feeling underwhelmed.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 

For some reason, I was expecting a somewhat fluffy retelling based on the cover and synopsis, but this book was SO much deeper AND darker than I expected it to be. It was a fantastic read!!

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2015?

I adored Truest, and I wanted EVERYONE to read it!!

 

And this series. If you don’t like zombie books at all, you’ve probably gotten tired of me talking about it. If you do like zombie books, you should have picked this series up by now. You have, right?

 5. Best series you started in 2015?

This is actually kind of a hard one because most series I started this year, I’ve only read one book so far, so it’s hard to say if I LOVE the series itself. But I DID read both Book of Ivy and Revolution of Ivy this year and loved both of them!

Best Sequel of 2015?

This is the best one I read in 2015.

But this is the best one I read that was published in 2015. (Though, actually, these two were really close – I LOVED this book!)

Best Series Ender of 2015?

I’m horrible about finishing series, so I’m always behind the rest of the world – there are a few series enders that came out this year that I’ve yet to get to, but here’s the ones I read.

Again, read in 2015.

Published in 2015.

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

This is hard! I’m not counting debut authors here, since they’re new to everyone. So, I’m going with Carrie Ryan. Even though I haven’t read her most popular series yet, I was a big fan of Daughter of Deep Silence AND her middle grade books (which my kids loved too!). I’m guessing that Forest of Hands and Teeth will be a favorite of mine as well once I manage to read it!

Oh, and I’m a bit biased here, since I edited one of her books, but I also discovered S.J. Pajonas this year and I absolutely love her work – I love that her books are unique and diverse, infused with Japanese culture! Plus, I just think that Steph is a fantastic person that I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know!

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

Once again, I’m going with epic fantasy for this one. When I was younger, I read it a lot but, ironically, the older I’ve gotten the less patient I’ve gotten with loads of description. (Isn’t that strange – I don’t remember it bothering me at all when I read the Wheel of Time series as a teen, but now I get a bit bored with it – apparently, my tastes were more refined when I was a teenager!) Anyway, I still love the epic storylines, and this was my favorite of the year:

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

I don’t know if this one qualifies as the most unputdownable book I read this year, but The Scorch Trials was definitely the most action-packed!

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

Are you kidding? The only books I re-read are ones I read as a kid. Re-read a 2015 book again? Nope.

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

Both Firewalker and Their Fractured Light were stunning (I’m a fan of purple, in case you didn’t notice), but Wolf by Wolf really stands out for me for some reason as well – it’s just so interesting.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

From a book I read in 2015: Cress. She’s my favorite Lunar Chronicles character so far (though I haven’t read the last two books yet.)

From a book published in 2015: Caden. His schizophrenia made this book mind-boggling (and amazing!).

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

This one was easy. I’m not even bothering to pick one that was published this year because I can’t think past Jandy Nelson’s writing.

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

There were quite a few books that could fit into this category, but I think I have to choose this one:

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

Um, it’s utterly ridiculous how long it took me to finish this series. I listened to the books on audio, actually, and I think it took me at least six months to listen to all forty-some hours of this last book.

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

I’m horrible at keeping track of quotes from books, but luckily plenty of other people do that for me on Goodreads. I knew I wanted to use a quote from I’ll Give You the Sun. Here’s one of my favorites:

“Quick, make a wish.
Take a (second or third or fourth) chance.
Remake the world.”

― Jandy Nelson, I’ll Give You the Sun

16. Shortest Book You Read In 2015?

I don’t know that you can really even call this a “book,” but Goodreads lists “Icicles Like Kindling” – a little novella-ish prequel to Snow Like Ashes, which was only 28 pages.

Longest Book?

If you count audiobooks (909 pages): A Memory of Light

If you don’t: This was actually a much harder question than I imagined. The trade paperback version of The Lies of Locke Lamora I read was 736 pages, so I was all ready to use that one, but then I noticed that if I’d read it in hardcover it only would have been 499 pages. So calling it a 700-page book suddenly seemed like cheating. Illuminae was 599 pages, but a lot of those pages weren’t really full pages of reading because of the format – so does that count? I don’t know! After that was Cress, I believe, at 550 pages – that one was probably the most actual reading.

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

This book was incredibly hard to read and really tied my stomach into knots, so I’m using it for this category.

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

I know I’m weird in this way, but I don’t really get hung up on OTP’s for some reason. I’ll go with Emmy & Oliver, though, because I loved them together.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The Gentleman Bastards from The Lies of Locke Lamora!

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

All four of the fantasy/sci-fi/dystopians that I listed as my top reads of the year!

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

I read this book mostly because Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner raved about it so much!

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

Again, I don’t really get hung up on one bookish boyfriend – I usually fall in love with each one as I read about him and then move on to the next with the next book (I’m fickle that way). But I did love Silas Hart from Truest, so I’m going with him.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

This one’s easy.

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

This seems like a crazy answer, since this book was technically a contemporary, but the world inside Caden Bosch’s head is easily one of the most strange worlds I’ve come across in my reading. And the way that Shusterman fit all of the strange pieces together with the real world was brilliant.

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

Okay, this is an odd pairing since one is a Middle Grade book and the other is New Adult, but Middle Grade is always great fun (I especially loved all the goofy chapter names) and something about Ellie Cahill’s writing just makes me smile! (Incidentally, I haven’t actually posted my reviews for either of these yet.)

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

Way too many. This list could be miles long. But here are a few that really wrecked me:

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Sorry to keep repeating the same books, but …

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

All the Bright Places. (I’m not even going to bother with putting the picture up again).

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

Definitely Challenger Deep. (Again, you barely even need to scroll up to see it.)

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

.

The main character in this book just plain made me crazy and I really kind of hated the book. If it wasn’t a Kindle book, I think I would have thrown it at a wall.

My Blogging/Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015? 

With the start of the Discussion Challenge this year, I discovered so many new blogs that I love!! This is hard, though, because I’m having trouble remembering who I discovered just this year and who was already on my radar. (Is there some way to see when you started following someone on Bloglovin’?) And, of course, I hate these kinds of lists because you know you’ll inevitably forget someone. But are a few:

Boats Against the Current
Bingeing on Books
Chasing Faerytales
Rebel Mommy Book Blog
Emerald City Book Review
Fantasy of the Silver Dragon
Falconer’s Library
Second Run Reviews
Shooting Stars Mag

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015? 

My review for this book was so much fun because I followed the somewhat crazy style of the book itself.

The review that got the most pageviews, though, was Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers (because it got picked up by StumbleUpon).

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

At the beginning of the year I wrote I Wasn’t Stressed About Blogging Until I Found Out I Was Doing it Wrong, and I’m happy to say that just the simple act of writing this post helped me rid myself of some of the insecurities I force on myself as a blogger.

Surprisingly, my discussion with the most pageviews in 2015 is a post I wrote in November of 2014 – Why I Can’t Choose a Favorite of Anything. (Apparently, lots of people have this problem.) My most viewed discussion that I actually wrote in 2015 was Based on a True Story – where I talk about my affinity for books that are somewhat (but not exactly) based on reality.

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

RT 2015 was a blast! I’m bummed I won’t be able to go to this one in 2016 (because it falls during my final week of homeschool co-op.)

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

Sitting and chatting with authors at RT. It was so laid back and casual, so there was plenty of time to talk.

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

The most visited post this year was the 2015 Book Blog Discussion Challenge Sign-Up (which I actually posted in December of 2014). The 2016 Discussion Challenge Sign-Up post is also gaining steam but hasn’t quite caught up to my Comprehensive List of 2016 Reading and Blogging Challenges. (I’m so glad that’s been useful for people!)

I don’t know an easy way to see how many comments my posts have gotten and sort by that (if anyone else does, please let me know!).

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Probably my reviews for all of my five star books – because I want everyone to know about them!!

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

#OTSPSecretSister! This has been so fun!

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

I’m pretty horrible about resolutions (bookish or otherwise) – I tend to write them down and then forget about them. I looked back at my list from last year and found:

• Put up a discussion post every week – I didn’t get one up every week, but I did do pretty darn well on this one. I’m calling this one GOAL ACHIEVED.
• Finish writing my book – COMPLETE FAIL – I barely even looked at the book I wrote for last year’s NaNoWriMo.
• Request some physical ARCs – SEMI-FAIL – I did request a few, but mostly heard nothing back. Sigh. Guess I should just stick to NetGalley and Edelweiss. (Since I’m auto-approved for Harper Teen on Edelweiss that takes away some of the sting of being ignored when it comes to physical ARCs). I did get onto a Penguin/Random House list and they just sent me my first book right before Christmas.
• Find someone to guest post or co-blog – COMPLETE FAIL – I’ve put feelers out there a couple of times, but nothing ever really came of it. What I really wish is that someone I knew IRL would want to join me (or maybe a blogger I knew well), but I just don’t know if that will happen.
• Exercise more – GOAL ACHIEVED then COMPLETE FAIL then GOAL ACHIEVED – This one’s not bookish, but since I included it on my list of resolutions, I thought I’d put it here too. I did what I always do – I was really good about exercising for a while, then really horrible, and now I’m back to being really good about it. I’m sure that will change again soon.

Looking Ahead

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

Yikes! How about 5,000 books I didn’t get to in 2015 that make me want to weep every time I see the list because I just know I’m missing out on so much awesomeness?!!

(Seriously, you think I’m joking, but I literally had this horrible feeling of anxiety overwhelm me at just the thought of all the books I still want to read and the knowledge that I absolutely can’t read them all. There might be tears pricking at the back of my eyes right now as I’m writing this and my chest might be tightening up in a feeling of dread. And I’m pretty sure that if my husband reads this post he’s going to tell me I’m INSANE. Luckily, this post is really long and he probably won’t get down this far.)

I just got these two recently, though, and I plan to make them top priorities:

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

Here are a few that I have ARCs of, so I’ll definitely be reading them (the ones I’m especially looking forward to):

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Another really easy one! I have ADORED this author ever since I read her short story, “The Chemistry of You and Me” (click on the link to see what I had to say about it). The story has stuck with me, and I still think about it often. When I found out, Evelyn had a book coming, I was jumping up and down with happiness. The fact that it’s gotten SO much buzz? I’m thrilled for her!!!

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

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

I plan to do a few reading challenges to go along with my Discussion challenge this year.

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

I LOVED this book! Go read it now!

Whew! So that’s it! Now I need to go read everyone else’s 2015 recaps! Let me know in the comments one bookish stat from your blog in 2015 – or anything else about your year!

 

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