Even though I’m very late, I decided to go ahead and do a wrap-up for December, especially since I wanted to do my challenge wrap-up for 2016!
My Goings On in December:
- I went to the 5th Annual Novel Cuisine Luncheon, which was lots of fun and very yummy!
- Christmas!!
On Instragram:
Most Popular Posts:
- Once again, A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Three Dark Crowns, which was posted at the end of September, was my top post. Apparently, I need to start writing more spoiler-filled discussions!
- My next top post for December was my List of 2017 Reading/Blogging Challenges. I’m so happy this has been a great resource for people!
- Next is the 2017 Book Blog Discussion Challenge Sign-Up. I hope lots of you will join us!
Other Features & Discussions:
Let’s Discuss the Book Blog Discussion Challenge!
Top Ten New to Me Authors I Read in 2016
My 2017 Reading/Blogging Challenges
Reflections on My Reading Year
December & Year-End Wrap-Up Round-Up – Feel free to link up your December and year-end wrap-ups still (as you can see, I’m running behind!)
The Gilmore Girls Reboot: I Spent Hours of My Life that I Could Have Been Reading on THAT?
Top Ten Books I Read in 2016
2016 End of Year Book Survey
My 2016 Reading Progress:
I ended up at 205 books for 2016!
December 2016 Reviews
I read and reviewed some really amazing books this month! It was a great way to end the year!
- Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin | Review | Rating: 5/5
- Iron to Iron by Ryan Graudin | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Hello? by Liz Weimer | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Aftermath by Clara Kensie | Review | Rating: 4.5/5
- Die for You by Amy Fellner Dominy | Review | Rating: 5/5
- A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig| Review | Rating: 4/5
- The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee | Review | Rating: 4/5
- The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson | Review | Rating: 5/5
- Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard | Review | Rating: 3/5
- Bone Gap by Laura Ruby | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick | Review | Rating: 4/5
- Highland Raven by Melanie Karsak | Review | Rating: 3.5/5
December Best of the Bunch:
(Best of the Bunch is hosted over at Cocoon of Books. We link up our favorite reads of the month!)
I was a bit torn over my three five star books this month, so I decided to give a three-way tie. I know, I’m a cheater—what can I say?
2016 Reading Challenges Wrap-Up:
Here’s my final stats for my 2016 challenges! I did pretty well overall, though I fell short on some of them. Still, I see challenges as more of a bit of a motivator than numbers I MUST achieve, so I’m happy.
Status: 43/49 Discussions posted
I’m being a little broad about what I’m considering “discussions” this month (for instance, using my year-end wrap-up). I didn’t even link all of these up to the challenge, but I felt like including them in my final numbers … so I did. 🙂 I still didn’t quite make my goal, but I knew that would be the case.
2016 End of Year Book Survey
The Gilmore Girls Reboot: I Spent Hours of My Life that I Could Have Been Reading on THAT?
Reflections on My Reading Year
Let’s Discuss the Book Blog Discussion Challenge!
Reflections on My Reading Year
Let’s Discuss the Book Blog Discussion Challenge!
Why I’m So Thankful for the Book Blogging Community
A NaNoWriMo Update
Introducing My NaNoWriMo Novel
A Recap of the YA Lit Conference & Fandom Frenzy
I Don’t Do Scary (But Books Don’t Scare Me).
I Have Giveaway Guilt!
I’ve Been Known to Go Off on a Tangent … Or Two.
A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
A Spoiler-Filled Discussion of Me Before You: Book and Movie
What Do You Think of Goodreads’ New Look?
Sex and Violence in YA Books: Is There a Difference?
How Reading Can Help Us “See” Hidden Disabilities
My Foray into Anime and Manga
Audiobook Acceleration
I Dream in YA!
The Perils of Growing a Bigger Blog
Is Celibacy Shaming a Thing?
Fun with Spam!
#BEA16 Day One Wrap-Up & Giveaway!!
#BEA16 Day Two Wrap-Up & Jennifer Niven Holding Up the Universe Giveaway!!
#BEA16 Day Three Wrap-Up and Giveaway
Do Stats and Reports Help You?
Do Author Bios Ever Make You Want to Read a Book?
BEA is Coming Soon! What You Need to Know. (BEA Tips)
A Completely Useless (but kind of fun) Bookish Infographic
The Series Dilemma
Sometimes You Just Need to Disappear for a Little While
How Much Do You Read?
The Fine Line Between “Inspired By” and “Copycat”
Can Book Blogging Lead to a Job
Some Books Just Aren’t All That Memorable
Books that Intimidate Us
2015 End of Year Book Survey
Replying to Comments on Older Posts
What Blogging Has Done to My Bookshelves
What Type of YA MC Would You Be?
Culling the TBR
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Feed Your Fiction Addiction & It Starts at Midnight
Status: 7/5 Books Read
Hello? was the only December read that fit this challenge. It was written in multiple styles: some chapters are done in the standard format, but some are in verse, screenplay format, or include artwork.
I went over my goal for this one!
Here are all the books I read:
Hello? by Liza Wiemer
Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Keep Her by Leora Krygier
The Memory Book by Lara Avery
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas
Identity Crisis by Melissa Schorr
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Shooting Stars Mag
Status: 23/12 Books Read
Blood for Blood and Iron to Iron both take place in an alternate WWII environment and the main character is Jewish, so those counted for December.
I went over my goal for this one too! Books I read for this challenge:
Blood for Blood and Iron to Iron by Ryan Graudin
Red Winter by Annette Marie
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
Momotaro: Xander and the Island of Lost Monsters by Margaret Dilloway
Assassins: Discord by Erica Cameron
Copper Gauntlet & Bronze Key by Holly Black
Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall
Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
How to Keep Rolling After a Fall by Karole Cozzo
The Wrath & the Dawn Series by Renee Ahdieh
Moonchild by Kate L. Mary
The Guardians by Elise Marion
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
The Daydreamer Detective by S.J. Pajonas
Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
Soundless by Richelle Mead
Siren’s Song by Mary Weber
The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine
Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Chasing Faerytales & Read Sleep Repeat
Status: 12/21-30 Books Read
This was my biggest challenge fail. I only got half my goal for this challenge. BEA makes reading backlist books REALLY hard, but next year should be better, so I signed up for this challenge again!
Broken Stories by Kate L. Mary
The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black
The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless by Liz Czukas
The Cage by Megan Shepherd
Soundless by Richelle Mead
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Paradise Road by CJ Duggan
The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller
World After & End of Days by Susan Ee
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Chapter Break, Second Run Reviews & Bookworm Brandee
Status: 14/12 Series Finished/Caught Up On
I finished the Wolf by Wolf Trilogy and The Remnant Chronicles and I got myself caught up on The Red Queen Series this month.
If I were only counting actual finished series, I wouldn’t have managed this one, but the rules said you could also include series that you caught up on (by reading two or more books), so it’s a win!
Completed Series:
The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson
Wolf by Wolf Trilogy by Ryan Graudin
Bloodmark Trilogy by by Aurora Whittet
Broken World Series by Kate L. Mary
The Wrath & the Dawn Series by Renee Ahdieh
Hex Hall Series by Rachel Hawkins
Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee
Series that I’m Caught Up On (and read more than two books in a month):
The Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard
The Others Series by Anne Bishop
The Sin Eater Series by Melinda Salisbury
The Cage by Megan Shepherd
Dead Things Series by Martina McAtee
Magisterium Series by Holly Black
Nocturnals Series by Tracey Hecht
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Love at First Page
Status: 8/9-10 New Series
I didn’t do as well with this challenge as I’d first hoped. BUT I did start several new-to-me series that everyone else has already been raving about, so this is still a win for me!
The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
The Wrath & the Dawn Series by Renee Ahdieh
The Cage by Megan Shepherd
Hex Hall Series by Rachel Hawkins
The Others Series by Anne Bishop
Air Awakens by Elise Kova
A Daring Sacrifice by Jody Hedlund
Penryn & the End of Days by Susan Ee
HOST/SIGN-UP LINK – Lisa Loves Literature
Wrap-Up Round-Up!
Don’t forget to link your December and year-end wrap-up posts up to the Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up! And check out the giveaway, which will be posted here on Feed Your Fiction Addiction sometime later this week!
Well it’s ok to fall short on some and win others, right? That’s how goals and challenges end up working haha.
Yeah, that’s how I see it too. I think this year will be better!
I think you did awesome with all of those challenges!! You did a lot and did well on so many!! Maybe I should start some spoiler filled reviews too and see if it helps my views 🙂 Have a great January!
I’ve been shocked at how many views that post has gotten. WAY more than any other post for the year. I definitely think I should try this type of post again sometime, but I feel like I have to be inspired to do it—it doesn’t seem like it would be great for just any kind of book. Three Dark Crowns was one of those books that had my mind buzzing after I put it down. I think it needs to be that way to make a spoiler-filled discussion work.
I’m also impressed at how you did on all those challenges. I can only manage two or three! Most of all, I hope you found they enriched your reading life.
I like the fact that they give me that little extra boost of motivation to get to certain books that I’ve really wanted to anyway.
I really need to read that series by Ryan Graudin! I have both books and you’ve all flailed about how great it is! You are going to have a busy year, girl!
Happy reading!
I hope you get to it! I thought it was a fantastic series!
Yay for going over for the Unique Format Challenge. I didn’t do one for this year, but I’m still hoping to read a lot of uniquely formatted books.
Glad you had a nice December!
Me too! I really enjoyed the ones I read!
Nice year, in 2016. Can’t wait to see how you do this year!
I’m hoping I do even better!
Looks to me you’ve done a great job with your challenges last year overall! I hope you’ve had fun with them. 😀 Hope January is treating you well!
I did have fun with them. I think it’s nice to get that little extra push to read the books that could fall through the cracks otherwise.
You did awesome on your challenges. I failed at a few of mine last year, so I’m doing fewer challenges this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete them.
I failed the Shelf Love one miserably, but that’s okay. I’m doing it again anyway. 🙂
I love how you share the My Books – Stats from Goodreads. You’ve been doing it for *a while* now and I always tell myself it is wonderful and “Ooohhh, look where all Nicole’s books are. I should do this” and then I forget. You did so well on all of your challenges! Congrats!
I like it too—it seems like anytime you can add pictures or graphs it grabs the eye and people pay a little more attention.
Your list of all the 2017 challenges is very helpful! I went there several times myself as I worked on deciding which ones I was going to do. Thank you so much for participating in my pretty much fizzled out “It’s New to Me” Challenge, I think I got some new series started as well, so at least that was good. And hey, as to being late with this post? Well, better late than never, right?
Better late than never is right! It seems like at the very beginning and very end of the year, there are a million things to post and I can’t quite keep up!
You had a great reading month, Nicole! A whole lot of 4 and 5 star books – that’s awesome!
Yes! I was very happy with my end-of-year reads!
Oh, that stuffed moose is beyond adorable! I love him!! And congratulations on a fabulous reading month and for hitting many of your goals! Especially the Series Finished/Caught Up On! It seems as though each time you added another completed series to your list, that that would be the best feeling ever! Here’s hoping 2017 is just as fabulous to you for your reading and reading goals!
We put him out every year for Christmas. I love him!!