Friday, December 29, 2017

End of the Year Book Survey 2017


And here we are, another year come and gone. Where does the time go honestly?

So here I am, filling out the 2017 version of the book survey, which looking back, I definitely did not blog as much as I did in the past years. Mainly because 2017 (like 2016) has been a mess. I'm hoping that 2018 will be the year where I get into blogging, as I kind of did in November (like seriously, I used to average 15 posts a month, now it's like 3). But nevertheless, I'M STILL HERE.

And now I'll go through my year in books! Woo.

(This was created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner, and here's the link back to the original post if you want to do your own!)


Number Of Books You Read: 66
Number of Re-Reads: 2
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy & Sci-fi (feels like a tie!)



1. Best Book You Read In 2017? Very close tie between the both of these, so I'm cheating again.

 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? You mean like, most of the new releases? Haha.

   

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? Surprised by the plot AND by how much I loved it.


4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? I made everyone read Starfish and they DID read it and loved it! So GO ME.


5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017? Surprise! I finished a series this year!

  

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? Akemi Dawn Bowman, author of Starfish. I will read everything you write.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? Was in verse and was just not something I thought I would enjoy at all! I was proven wrong.


8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? This was honestly NOTHING what I expected.


9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? Last year I said I would reread A Gathering of Shadows, and of course I did not. So this year, I would probably say...


10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? I just cannot get over how gorgeous the color scheme is. And of course cannot forget about Wild Beauty.

 

11. Most memorable character of 2017? Oh I don't know, there's Lila Bard from A Conjuring of Light, Agnieszka from Uprooted. KIKO FROM STARFISH. Basically all the books I've already listed haha.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? Most of the books I've read this year are incredibly written, but I'll go with...


13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017? This is a reread, but still one of my favorites, and SUPER thought provoking. Like what would you do if you knew how you died?


14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? I've been meaning to read this when it first came out. DON'T KNOW WHY I WAITED SO LONG.


15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017? From Good Omens

“He stared down at the golden curls of the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness.

"You know," he concluded, after a while, "I think he actually looks like an Adam.” 

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?


17. Book That Shocked You The Most. I just honestly cannot believe what I read, like this was phenomenal, and 100% nothing I expected.


18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) The Dragon and Agnieszka from Uprooted!

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year. Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens!

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: Let's be honest, all of Shaun Hutchinson's books are my faves.


21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: Vanessa pushed Good Omens on me, EVEN THOUGH SHE HADN'T EVEN READ IT. It was still a good pitch though. And in the end I LOVED it.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? No new fictional crushes for me this year!

23. Best 2017 debut you read? I don't think I can stress this enough, but


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

 

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? I mean, look, here's the pitch. Imagine the Anti-Christ accidentally switching places with a normal child from a normal family in England? And everyone in hell is freaking out because they LOST the Anti-Christ. Chaos ensues. AND A TV SERIES IS IN PRODUCTION AND I'M SO EXCITED.


26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017? Was not prepared for Goodbye Days.


27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? Not enough people are talking about this book. Which is why, yes, it's on my list like five times.



28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? None because I may have avoided all emotionally heavy books this year. Hoping to get to them next year, but not sure. NO SOUL CRUSHING BOOKS FOR ME, THAT ALREADY HAPPENS TO ME IN REAL LIFE.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?


30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Which I do feel sad about, but it did make me angry, and I felt attacked ("I came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now", fun story I recently pulled this line out in front of my parents, and they didn't get it. I don't know what I was expecting, but STILL.)



1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? I discovered so many blogs this year, but I'm going to have to go with Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017? I'm not sure because I feel like I didn't write as many reviews this year. I guess I'll say my review of Good Omens.

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? When I ranted about how I've been seriously slacking on blogging.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? When I went to ALA 2017, which was in Atlanta, with Holly, Shannon, and Rashika. It was a blast and hopefully we'll all be able to get together again soon! 

Also when Joey @ thoughts and afterthoughts asked me to participate in the Thinker Awards for 2017!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017? I guess this is more related to Instagram, but when I reached 500 followers on there, and just overall started having a better experience. (The app itself on the other hand is a piece of work)

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? My blogging and reading slumps. They were worse this year than usual, with this stupid presidency, all the work I had to do for grad school. Life is rough.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? It should be the Make Me Read It Readathon sign ups page! (There's also this one review that has about 700 views and I'm like...why? I don't think that's right?)

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? I guess some of my mini-reviews of backlist books!

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? RivetedLit, because they had a free book to read a day up until Christmas!

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? Yes because GUESS WHAT. My Goodreads Challenge was 1 book, and obviously I was able to complete that! 


1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018? Oh hmm.

Some reasons why I just haven't gotten to THUG yet is 1) my friend had my copy for a long, long time, and 2) I didn't think I was emotionally ready for it. Am I now? Not sure, but I do seriously need to read it.

  

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)? Along with a bunch others that don't have covers yet!

   

3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? LOOK IT'S ANOTHER BOOK WITH A HALF ASIAN HALF WHITE MAIN CHARACTER. WOW.


4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018? 

  

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018? I really want to get back into the blogging "flow", and write an average of 10 posts a month. Like I did in the past. I also want to reach 1000 followers on Instagram next year, but it won't be a big deal if I don't since it's not in my control at all.

6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone: I'm cheating a bit because technically this already came out in the UK, but IT WILL COME OUT IN THE US IN 2018. And then I also really liked Meet Cute!

 


WHEW I ANSWERED ALL THE QUESTIONS.

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to another year of book blogging!

Comments (25)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
So I need to read Starfish?? I am very excited for Obsidio and want to read Meet Cute Happy New Year!!
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
Yes you absolutely need to read Starfish!!! Happy new year to you too Grace!!
Your graphics are adorable! And I'm still so happy that you recommended Starfish. I've lost track of how many people I've recommended it to, some of whom have read and loved it already.
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
Hahah thanks Maraia! I'm really happy with this graphic because PENGUIN. I'm so glad that the Starfish love is spread :D
I actually answered a few and then stopped. Because all my answers started to sound the same, and I was mostly talking about The 100 or something, Idk. I adore your graphics though! And I can't fully tell if you liked Starfish... hmmm... Also, are you pulling a Holly here, not linking to Goodreads?!
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
I AM PULLING A HOLLY haha. haha. :P

I feel like all of my answers were pretty much the same? Starfish starfish starfish Uprooted starfish. And YAY thanks! And idk I guess if you were only gonna talk about the 100, no harm done with not doing the post, right?
Haha, I guess I will be reading Starfish then! I've been so out of the book blogging scene for ages - it's good to have recommendations! Thanks! Have a happy new year!
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
Have a happy new year too Geraldine! Really hope you read Starfish :D :D
I love this survey so much, I wish I had found out about it a bit earlier, now it will be a bit late to do it, haha. Loved reading your answers, Valerie! <3
I really, REALLY want to read Starfish, I keep saying this and I swear it will be the next book I buy - I can't wait, it just sounds like my kind of book. Same goes for The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, it sounds so great and the cover is so stunning, I can't get over it, haha.
I hope you will read THUG soon, I loved this book, it was such a powerful read :) AND THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER. This book. I am so, so excited about this book! <3
Thank you so, SO MUCH for mentioning me on here, I didn't expect to be here and I am so honored and happy you thought of me, Valerie! <3 <3 <3
I wish you a wonderful new year, filled with happiness, love and books! xx
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
Hahah thanks Marie!! You can still do it! It's only Jan 1st/2nd :)

YOU HAVE TO READ STARFISH. WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU READ IT. And yes I think you will love The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, it was such a great read, and one I could just NOT put down. I need to read THUG, AND YES LETS BE EXCITED ABOUT THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER TOGETHER :D :D :D :D <3

Hahah you're welcome! I absolutely love your blog, posts, and just everything about it!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOOOOOOOO <3
Love reading people's answers to this survey! I agree; STARFISH WAS AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. I also thought Gemina and ACOL were fantastic installments in their respective series. I just finished Long Way Down a few days ago, and it was phenomenal! Ooh, I hope you get to THUG and Moxie soon; I really enjoyed them both. Happy New Year, and happy reading! <3
1 reply · active 378 weeks ago
Thanks Madalyn! I'm so glad that everyone loved Starfish!! And Happy New Year to you too!
I'm so proud of your book pushing on Starfish. I'm definitely glad I got to it faster than I would've because of your love for it. SO, SO AMAZING. And yay about Uprooted! And seriously how gorgeous is that Wild Beauty cover? Sad about Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. I enjoyed it, but I wanted to love it. :( LILA BARD IS THE BEST MOST CUTTHROAT BITCH QUEEN.

How did A Conjuring of Light not crush your soul

ALA midwinter was the actual best. How has it been almost a year since I've seen you and Rashika? *cries forever*
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
A CONJURING OF LIGHT DID CRUSH MY SOUL BUT I WASn'T LIKE CRYING ABOUT IT. It was so good though. And I wanted to love Forest of a Thousand Lanterns tooooo. Guess it just wasn't meant to be.

We need to go to New Orleans.
Nereyda Gonzalez's avatar

Nereyda Gonzalez · 378 weeks ago

Most of my 2017 reads were either audiobooks or rereads, or reread audiobooks. I jusg didnt read very much last year but thats okay. I had a lot going on. I wosh Obsidio is as amazing as Im hoping it will be. Happy 2018!
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
Thanks Nereyda!! I'm hoping to read a lot more this year haha.
Vaaaal it's been so long! I haven't been blogging either, and I hope 2018 is the year we both get back to it. <3 I really enjoyed Uprooted and am so glad you loved it! Wild Beauty is SO pretty and I hope the book is as beautiful as the cover. I will DEF read The Hate U Give this year too, since everyone's been loving it. Happy new year, lovely!!! <3

- Aimee @ Aimee, Always
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
Haha welcome back Aimee! Wild Beauty is just as beautiful as its cover, so I'm sure it won't disappoint! And happy new year to you too!
Yes! Uprooted! That was my favorite book in 2016 AND it was also my husband's favorite read! He still recommends that book to everyone he can. We both loved it.
Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
Hahah I would be recommending it too! It's so good!
Almost everyone I've seen has loved Starfish, except one person who complained about it but it reminds me that I have a copy that I need to read. I can't believe I didn't have Long Way Down added to my Goodreads! I'm a fiend for books told in verse, I find them incredibly moving and powerful for so few words. You take the loveliest photos Val, how do you not have thousands of followers by now? Honestly, I see the most boring accounts on there that take the same images over and over sitting on 50K and you can't even find the book in all the clutter but you have girls in white dresses standing in lakes struggling to get to 120 followers. I actually really dislike Instagram. Boooooooo!
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
Hahaha I completely agree with you Kelly. To be honest, I think the reason I don't have as many followers is because I don't participate in a million shoutout for shoutout things. Or care really haha. Having followers is just a byproduct of me liking to take pictures :P ALSO INSTAGRAM ITSELF AS AN APP IS VERY ANNOYING TO SCROLL THROUGH THESE DAYS.
<3 <3 read starfish <3 <3
I'm happy you're still blogging, Valerie! 2017 sounds like it was a mess for a lot of people (myself included), but I find the quantity of posts doesn't matter as long as they're really engaging like yours are!

I still need to read Uprooted. Like you, I've been meaning to read it since it first came out, and I have had a copy sitting on my shelf for the past couple of years, just collecting dust. As you recommend it so highly I feel like I must read it now - and hopefully 2018 will be the year where I finally get to those books like Uprooted that have similarly been at the bottom of my TBR for too long!

I desperately need to read Starfish! I remember seeing on the author's twitter that it's being released in the UK so I'm hoping I can grab myself a copy soon and be totally moved by it like everyone else has! I feel like The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is something I'm also really going to love, as is Strange the Dreamer, and they are both very high up on my TBR.

I hope your reading and blogging year ends up being even better in 2018 <3
1 reply · active 377 weeks ago
Haha thanks Helia! I hope to keep blogging until the end of time, hopefully. Or when life finally decides to catch up with me. <3

I'm hoping that 2018 will be the year that I finally get through most of my TBR too, but who knows, especially when I just keep adding more and more to it. BUT YES READ UPROOTED. AND STARFISH. And I didn't know it hadn't been released in the UK yet, but get it when it does!!!

Post a new comment

Comments by

This site uses IntenseDebate to manage comment data. Learn more about how that is processed here.