2015 End of Year Bookish Survey

 

I'm a huge fan of Jamie's blog, The Perpetual Page-Turner, and have been meaning to get to this post for a while. I've been creeping on all my favorite blogs responses and now I'm finally ready to participate. The problem is I'm currently reading seven novels and will probably finish one or two before the official end of the year, but these are the books I'm reading:

   

 

Overall, I felt like I had a great reading year in comparison to last year and I'm so pleased with my overall accomplishments. As a reader I feel like I've really expanded and I'm just so proud of my personal growth and can't wait to see where I go next year.

 

 Number of Books You Read: 117 (so far as of12/27/15) 
Number of Re-Reads: 6 (which is more than I thought) 
Genre You Read the Most From: Romance & Fantasy


1. Best Book You Read in 2015?

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon was hands down my favorite this year. This book is an absolute masterpiece and is what I consider to be the pinnacle of Jame & Claire's love story.

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

 There are quite a few books that fall under this category, but the ones that stand out the most are The Road, Paper Towns, and What We Left Behind. The good thing is that these reads were spread out so it didn't make me feel completely lost.

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

I have two books that surprised me in the best way and both for different reasons. The first being Beauty Queens by Libba Bray which I was expecting to feel absolutely nothing for, but it is one of my favorite novels ever and the satire made me smile until my cheeks hurt. The next being Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen, a novella anthology that reignited my love for King and made me realize this man is freaking genius. 1922 was such a surprise!

4. Book You "Pushed" the Most People to Read (and They Did)?

 The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey was a read that I raved about to everyone. Already a few of my friends have read it. I'm book pushing strong. Plus it being a movie helped. 

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Best Series- Saga Volumes 1-4 by Brian K. Vaughn & Fiona Staples
Best Sequel- Night of Cake & Puppets (Novella) by Laini Taylor
Love in the Afternoon (Reread) by Lisa Kleypas
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Best Series Ender- Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo is the only series ender I gave a full 5 stars to.

6. Favorite new author you discover in 2015?

Neil Gaiman. There are a few authors in this category, but The Ocean at the End of the Lane won my heart in more ways than I would imagine. Absolutely stunning writing and a masterful story.

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

I'm a huge fantasy fan, but I don't read high fantasy. Naturally Game of Thrones is the most intimidating in that genre and the book I challenged myself to read. I loved it!

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

 Action-Packed- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Unputdownable- Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
I know I'm cheating by doing this, but it makes sense in my mind. I loved the action and pace I felt when reading ACoTaR especially when it gets good (if you've read the book I'm sure you can guess what I'm talking about). Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was just something I couldn't stop listening to I listened to this audiobook in a day! It was a beautiful heart touching read that I wish everyone knew about.

9. Book You Read in 2015 You Are Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year?

Rereads are rare for me and this year was the first time I really participated in doing that. It's something I really enjoyed, but I think the only book I will actually reread next year that I read this year is A Court of Thorns and Roses because of the sequel! But I do plan on rereading The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock in the future.

10. Favorite cover a book you read in 2015?
 
This cover steals the show in comparison to all the other books I've read this year.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?
 
Jamie & Claire Fraser because I absolutely love Jamie & Claire is just totally badass.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

Diana Gabaldon's books Dragonfly in Amber & Voyager
Georger R.R. Martin's book A Game of Thrones (the sequel was beautiful, but I had problems wit it)
Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Stephen Kings' Full Dark, No Stars
Truman Capote's collection of Breakfast at Tiffany's

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

 This is a hard one because I feel like books impact me small ways, but instead of continuing mention all things Outlander I'll mention something else. I still haven't given this book a concrete rating on GR, but Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad really made me think about war, commercialism, and so many other topics. The writing and story isn't for everyone, but I'm glad I read it.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read?
 
 Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead has been on my GR To-Read list since November 2011, but was on my radar about three years before I joined. I finally got to reading this novel and it was a pretty awesome novel! I gave it 4.5 stars and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Georgina's world.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read in 2015?
 All of Dragonfly in Amber & Voyager
A Court of Thorns & Roses
I'd be a little more than a lamb in a kingdom of wolves.
I would have more, but I read this so quickly I didn't annotate a whole lot.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Childhood memories are sometimes covered and obscured beneath the things that come later.

They would become whole, not be broken people,not any longer, because I had spoken the language of shaping.

Small children believe themselves to be gods, or some of them do, and they can only be satisfied when the rest of the world goes along with their way of seeing things.

I liked myths. They weren't adult stories and they weren't children's stories. They were better than that. They just were.
Adult stories never made sense, and they were so slow to start. They made me feel like there were secrets, Masonic, mythic secrets, to adulthood. Why didn't adults want to read about Narnia, about secret islands and smugglers and dangerous fairies?
 There are a lot more quotes in this novel I loved, but I don't want this whole post to be half the book.

The 5th Wave

I open up like a flower to the rain, achingly slow and dizzyingly fast, dissolving in the warmth, dissolving in him...

I open to him, a flower to the rain.

 I still obsess over this scene.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read in 2015? 

Shortest- Conquest: My Vampire Lover by Victoria Embers 8 pages

Longest-  Voyager by Diana Gabaldon 1,059 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

A Game of Thrones because I wasn't spoiled for anything and it was all so shocking.

 18. OTP of the Year (you will go down with this ship!)

My OTP for life so far has been Jamie & Claire Fraser. They are my definition of a couple. They balance each other out beautifully and I just love their devotion to one another. 

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year

Marilla Cuthbert & Anne Shirley have one of the best relationships I've come across this year. Anne wasn't what Marilla was expecting to adopt. She happened to be a girl and also a girl that is just so full of life. Marilla and Anne have a deep bond, but Marilla is also a very strict woman. Completely different from one another.

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

Really almost the books I read this year fall under this category, but I'm going to continue to say Dragonfly in Amber.

21. Best Book You Read in 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY on a Recommendation from Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

There are a few that were recommended by a lot friends and Instagram pictures:

ACoTAR

Illuminae by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

BookTube:

Saga

Charming by Krystal Wade

Saw a Review:

The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre

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

 

Tamlin from ACoTaR

Evan Walker from The 5th Wave

Mik from Night of Cake & Puppets (I loved Mik originally, but this story made me swoon over him.)

Alexander Waters from How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

I suck at reading debut authors, but the best one I read was Hour of Mischief by Aimee Hyndman.

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

 Dragonfly in Amber

A Game of Thrones

ACoTaR

Anne of Green Gables

The Veldt by Ray Bradbury

25. Book That Put a Smile on Your Face/ Was the Most FUN to Read?

Beauty Queens (satire)

Night of Cake & Puppets (Zuz & Mik have the best personalities)

Anne of Green Gables (Anne of course)

The Princess & the Penis by R.J. Silver (satire)

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti (Casserole Club were the best)

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

I cry easily so:

 

Dragonfly in Amber

Voyager

Love in the Afternoon

Ruin & Rising

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Anne of Green Gables

Descender Vol. 1:  Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

The Road

27. Hidden Gem of the Year?

How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Dragonfly in Amber & Voyager 

Diana Gabaldon is EVILLLLLL

29. Most Unique Book You Read in 2015?

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Illumiane

30. Book that Made You the Most Mad?

What We Left Behind was a book that had me raging most of the time.

  

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

I'm addicted to finding new people to follow, but my favorite find has been The Perpetual Page-Turner, the creator of this. Her blog layout is beautiful. Her reviews are thought-out and you can feel the effort and time to make each edit to correlate with the review.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

I love to write reviews. It's one of my favorite things, but this year I really fell behind on reviewing. I'm almost 100 reviews behind total and I need to hop on the game. I love writing so I'm not going to be able to pick just one. Here are my favorites and why:

What We Left Behind- it's very rare for me to give a novel one star. I've only given 25 total on GR, but writing a review in detail about my problems with this novel was therapeutic and something I needed to do. I also reviewed it within a few days of reading so it was fresh in my mind.

Stay Out of the Basement- I did a few Goosebumps reviews and had a lot of fun. I'm actually planning to continue because I still have about nine to review, but this was the first book I reviewed from the series and one that I smiled with while writing. I smiled throughout writing most of my Goosebumps reviews. They were just a lot of fun to write.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- This is not my favorite HP novel and I still haven't reviewed the other four in the series  despite having read them over a year ago, but I loved the style and voice in this review. I felt like it's a review for me because it's a hundred percent my feelings.

Wintergirls- I read this book ages ago and none of the books in my to-review queue and I decided to review this. This review just means a lot to me.

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

I prefer to do video discussions instead of written ones and my thoughts don't seem to get a lot of views, but I enjoy making them.

Discussion on why I keep buying books buy authors I don't like 

Discussion on ten books I didn't think were worth the hype  

Discussion on my love for fanfiction

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

I didn't go to any signings or events this year sadly. Hopefully next year! I did have fun doing the How to Seduce a Scot blog tour though. 

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

I think the best moment for me this year bookish wise was going onto my GR page and seeing that I was in the most popular reviewers list. It was something I never would've thought I would ever be on. It was very humbling. 

  

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

Blogging and time will always be the hardest thing for me to balance out.

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

My Aesthetically Reading #2 post in which I show my copy of 17 & Gone has the most views this year at 60.

8. Post You Wished Got a Little More Love?

I would love for all my posts to get more views, but I know that my content isn't going to appeal to everyone especially since I changed my name this year I lost a lot of traffic and followers. That's okay though. I'm happy with content and appreciate all the views I get.

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

My love for BookTube. It has really blossomed this year and I love being a small part of the community. 

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

I read a 117 books this year and my goal was 115. I'm so happy with this because I only read 89 books last year. I also challenged my self to read A Game of Thrones. I did this and read A Clash of Kings as well. I wanted to read a Sarah J. Mass book, Stephen King book, and Mistborn. I did all these except for reading Mistborn.

  

1. One Book You Didn't Get to in 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2016 (non-debut)?

 

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

 Assassin's Heart by Sarah Ahiers

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

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 

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

I want to get on a blogging schedule as well as a BookTube schedule. It's something I hope to do. I also want to catch up my Netgalley ARCs and only request them if I really want them this year. I would also like to finish at least five series in the next year. Since I'll be starting college next fall I would like to at least post a little bit during that time without feeling too swamped or overwhelmed.

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

Nothing because I'm horrible at reading ahead. Oops. Oops. Oops.

What is you 2015 Bookish Survey? Leave your links down below in the comments!