Books That I Liked in 2018

Hey, everyone! I am still uploading my lists of 2018, but I have no regrets. I read a lot of books in 2018. 121 to be exact, which is my most read books to date! I also have a list for books that I wasn't a huge fan of, but recommend based off niche topics within the novels. I read so many books that I rated highly and I want to shine a light on those titles. These aren't my favorites of the year, but they held a special place in my heart and some of them really made me happy and squeal. They must be talked about! (Also I'm extra so these are ranked!)

4.25 stars

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton 

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Circe by Madeline Miller

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Click-clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman

Lady in Waiting: Becoming God's Best While Waiting for Mr. Right by Jackie Kendall & Debby Jones

4 stars

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

You Know How the Story Goes by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? by Ethan Brown

The Master Plan of Evangelism by Dr. Robert E. Coleman

3.75 stars

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg

The Sins of Lord Lockwood by Meredith Duran

Child of the Moon by Jessica Semaan

3.6 stars

 

A Wilderness Station: Selected Stories, 1968-1994 by Alice Munro

3.5 stars

 

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Nightingale by Amy Lukavics

Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Hello, Moto by Nnedi Okorafor 

A Passage to India by E.M. Forester

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

I read books that stuck with me exponentially and left an impact on me. I also had fun. The majority of these books are fun. 

Have you read any of these books? Are you interested in picking any of them up? Let me know down below in the comments!

Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav

Love Looks Pretty on You Releases January 29th!

Love Looks Pretty on You by Lang Leav

4.75 stars

“She felt a surge of joy that warmed her so unexpectedly, so completely—it was as though it had been waiting for her all this time. Waiting among the flowers.”

Lang Leav is a famous name that is synonymous with modern poetry. Her works have taken the publishing industry by storm and influenced a lot of poets in the process. This is my first time picking up one of her works and this is the most cohesive of the poetry collections I’ve come across. I want to say that I loved this collection. There are poems that I adore, liked, and then there are poems that I hated. So, it is a mixed bag, but my love for the poems outweighed my distaste for a handful of them. I can’t remember a time when I’ve come across a collection that has so severely touched me. Leav tackles feminism, abuse, consent, love, what is to be a woman, and the main theme of this is a love letter to women. A celebration of a woman’s psyche and her desire to be loved and the hurt that sometimes come from being loved. It’s a beautiful collection. I will preface this by saying it is poetry and prose. There are a lot of pages with just a sentence or two and that was a little off-putting to me at first, but as the collection went on, I became so immersed that I cared more about the words themselves than the blank space on the page.

“My mother, my safe passage
into this world, fought a war
to show me wars can be won.”

Let’s tackle the poems I had issues with. There are some poems in here that are aggressive to the point of me feeling uncertain if the poet means ill will toward someone or if they are making a statement. I like statement poetry, I can get behind that. I can’t, however, get behind the niggling against a human being for the actions and decisions that they make. Whether those decisions or actions are right is besides the point, they deserve grace and implying that if they so much as think about you will bring your wrath upon them is dramatic and unnecessary. This collection focuses heavily on consent, but there is one poem that makes me feel a bit uncomfortable and slightly under the impression that consent is being thrown into the wind. I don’t believe this is Leav’s intention, but to a young impressionable teen who may not be able to read into the subtext it could potentially encourage a decision that is questionable. I will leave the poem in a spoiler tag in case you are curious about the content:

“He only wants you
when he can’t have you.
So why don’t you give him
what he wants.

The one poem I can’t stand though is Obsession. It made me think of Hypodermic Sally from Hotel when she sews herself to that boy and girl because she was so in love with them and then they died on her. Ew. I just can’t get behind the weird obsessive tattoo your name on my face and bind myself to you forever. NOPE. I also wasn’t a fan of Unforgiven, but I don’t want to keep focusing on the things I didn’t like because look at all that I loved.

Poems/Prose I Recommend:
Making History
More or Less
Vultures
Pandora’s Box*
Letter to the Past*
Idols*
Before*
Refugees
Slut Shaming*
First Steps*
Flowers*
One day a moment will come to you.
Saltwater
Woman’s Anthem
Abusive Relationships*
True Love
The Gift of Everything
Rebirth
This Was the Year*
From My Heart 
What He’s Lost
Reflection
A Meeting of Selves*
The Present*
Youth
These Years
Elements
House of Straw*
Write for Yourself
Love and Loss
Springtime
A Long Time Ago

I adored this collection. There are some fantastic poems in here. They truly hit me in an unexpected and beautiful way. Poetry is hit or miss with me and it’s usually more miss with me because I prefer spoken word poetry. Here is a poem that I loved:

“When my best friend told me

she was in love

my first thought was,

I hope he is good to her.

And it suddenly occurred to me,

what I held in my heart for her

was hope, when it should

have been expectation.”

Please check out this collection. I’m serious. It’s worth reading. Despite the few poems that I found to be unsatisfying and the good overweighs the bad by far. This collection is eloquent, gripping, and emotional profound. Its an intimate look at women through the lens of a poet celebrating womanhood.

“Chased away the cobwebs that I had let linger for far too long. Told the moon I was sorry, but this is now my time in the sun."

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5

Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I am obsessed with this cover and the colors. The two colors are just so striking and I love everything about it.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

 Have you read a Lang Leav collection? Are you a fan of poetry? Are you interested in picking up this collection? Let me know down below in the comments!

Books That Weren't For Me, But You May Love (2018 Reads)

Hey, everyone! Yes, I'm that blogger that is still posting about 2018 reads because I'm a college student and I don't always stay on top of things. So, I have four posts lined up in a series of sorts. I decided to start here. These are books that I thought were decent reads, but were not favorites or books that I liked. This is the "meh" book that usually works for others, but just didn't work for me. However, I wanted to start on a lighter note and also give recommendations without just revealing all the best books. So, these are potential recommendations for niche areas! (Links lead to my reviews of the books.)

Unique Premise:

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz 3.25 stars  

The Selling Point: ORPHANED SEA MONSTER HUNTERS!

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg 3.25 stars 

The Selling Point: Houses, dogs, and servants made out of paper. Plus traveling into the heart of a magician. 

Social & Political Commentary:

Against Forgetting:Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness edited by Carolyn Forche 3.25 stars

The Selling Point: Poetry from all around the world written by people who have witnessed war.

Song of Blood &Stone by L. Penelope 3.25 stars

The Selling Point: Focuses on concepts of being biracial, immigration, and xenophobia in a fantasy setting!

the witch doesn’t burnin this one by Amanda Lovelace 3 stars

The Selling Point: Poetry through the lens of witchcraft (think The Crucible!).

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk 3 stars (may change)

The Selling Point: It's a satire written with tongue in cheek humor.

Intense Books Are Intense:

  

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter 3.25 stars

The Selling Point: A look into the missing sister from Pretty Girls the days before she went missing. 

Heaven by V.C. Andrews 3 stars

The Selling Point: Taboo family saga. Child sold by father after drama occurs and then a romance with step-dad ensues. TABOO. (I'm shouting taboo because that's a niche thing I love.)

 Fluffy and Sweet:

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 3 stars

The Selling Point: Closeted gay teen has a secret online relationship and discovers how to be confident with who he is.

The Luck of the Bride by Janna MacGregor 3 stars

The Selling Point: Heroine swindles money into her account and falls in love with the man who was supposed to be watching the account in the first place.

Newborn on HerDoorstep: Harlequin Manga by Ellie Darkins & Yuki Mizusawa 3 stars

The Selling Point: A woman finds a baby on her doorstep (her niece) and falls in love with her best friend's brother.

Deadly Sweet by Lola Dodge 3 stars

The Selling Point: A witch who uses magic to bake and has to solve a mystery.

Dystopian Doom:

Dimension DriftPrequel by Christina Bauer 2.5 stars

The Selling Point: A scientist opens up a time dimensional drift and there's an alien boy, but has to cover up the drift being open before the government captures her.

Childhood Stories Revisited:

Manga Classics: TheJungle Book by Rudyard Kipling & Julien Choy 2.75 stars

The Selling Point: A manga collection of Kipling's famous stories: The Jungle Book, The White Seal, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and more!

Are any of these books in some of your niche tastes? Do you plan on picking up any of these books? If you have already read them what were your thoughts? Let me know down below in the comments!

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

4 stars

“We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognize them ourselves.”

An Anonymous Girl follows Jessica Farris, a young freelance beauty makeup artist working in New York and struggling to make a living and keep secrets. One unlikely job opportunity arises when a girl she is working on for a job mentions her opportunity to make money for a survey at her university. Jessica takes this time to pose as her and enter the study. The study focuses on morality and ethics. At its core, the questions make Jessica feel exposed, but they also strike something within her—an obsession and an awareness that she didn’t have before. Dr. Shields is the woman behind the survey and she has taken an interest in Jessica. As Jessica begins to work for Dr. Shields outside of survey, the questions of morality go to questioning tasks that make Jessica feel used and degraded. Dr. Shields’ manipulative schemes have caught Jessica into a web and she has to understand how to outwit the spider before she finds herself eaten. I was so excited for this book. I had heard great things about this writing pair’s debut thriller and I couldn’t believe that the publisher was inviting me to read this novel. An Anonymous Girl is a fun thriller. It starts out incredibly strong and is steeped in intrigue as we walk through Jessica taking a morality survey as well as a second person POV that observes her and is very unsettling. The stakes are high at the beginning of this novel and they made me excited to turn the page. I had to know where this novel was going and what was going to happen next. I never lost that feeling throughout the novel. This is a page turner for sure. However, the first half of this novel feels different from the last half. I thought this was going to be a 5-star thriller based off of the first handful of chapters, but it’s not. Somewhere amidst all the revelations the storyline’s level of intrigue shifts from moral to drama. I love a good drama, so I’m not complaining, but I think many readers may feel a bit bereft and underwhelmed at where the story goes. I really enjoyed the story that Hendricks and Pekkanen set up. It was unputdownable and had an air of moral twistedness that appeals to my weird reading taste.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.25

“The project you have become engaged in is about to evolve from an academic exercise into a real-life exploration on morality and ethics, you are told.”

The main female character is Jessica. Jessica is an odd character. She seems really boring and normal at first and then all of a sudden, the morality survey reveals her to be a multi-layered human being who sleeps with men all the time, feels guilt over her sister with a traumatic brain disorder, and is supporting her sister’s bills without the knowledge of her family. She has a lot to offer as a thriller heroine and I really enjoyed following. I will admit that the longer I followed her the more annoying she became. A lot of her decisions towards the end were just plain dumb. She is not the best character, but I did enjoy following her and she made the story interesting.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4

The Villain- There are two potential villains here and it’s really a game of which one is eviler and has done more harm and manipulation. There is Dr. Shields and her husband, Thomas. Dr. Shields controls the study and Jessica. She is a well-inept manipulator and is quite cold. Her level of morality is skewed and definitely unsettling. Thomas is just as skewed, but is less of a manipulator and has intentions that the reader has to decipher. Are his intentions as good as he makes them out to be or is he a philander looking to manipulate all women? The plot is fast-paced, but I wanted more from this dynamic. I wasn’t unsatisfied, but the outcome felt cheap and kind of disgusting (I don’t mean Karin Slaughter disgusting. I mean just plain unethical and unfair to those who may have experienced suicide
  .)


Villain Scale: 3.75

There aren’t a whole lot of characters in this thriller. It’s a very concise and claustrophobic cast. Jessica starts up a relationship with a chef and that was kind of fascinating, but didn’t really do anything for me and felt kind of silly as the story progressed. I did like Jessica’s female friendships and I wish that they would’ve been showcased more. Jessica became isolated very quickly and even after she saw everything unraveling, she stayed in solitude to work things out which seems dangerous and dumb. I did like her dynamic with her family a lot, but still I feel like something was missing. None of the side cast really stands on their own or is memorable. I really did like seeing the inclusion of traumatic injury into the story because it is rarely touched upon in media but does happen and I thought it was handled pretty well.


Character Scale: 3.5

Overall, An Anonymous Girl is a fun psychological thriller that left me on the edge of my seat and incited a desire to turn the page at rapid pace. I flew through this one and I think a strong-suit of the story is the pacing. It doesn’t lag severely and keeps a pretty even tone throughout even with the awkward transition between the story as it tries to become more cohesive. I think that this will be a hit with fans of the thriller genre; especially those who like morality studies and affair drama.


Plotastic Scale: 4.25

Cover Thoughts: I like the cover well-enough for a thriller. It isn’t amazing by any means.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

 

Have you read An Anonymous Girl or plan to? What are some thrillers that you are excited to read this year? Any 2019 releases that you need right now? Let me know down below in the comments! 

IT by Stephen King Video Review

 

Hey, everyone! Today I'm discussing my reread of Stephen King's IT. I listened to the audiobook during the summer of 2018 and it was an interesting experience. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the novel and the film adaptations.

What are your thoughts on IT? Are you a fan or can't stand It? Let me know down below in the comments!

2018 End of the Year Survey

Hey, everyone! I am participating in Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner's yearly survey. I've participated for several years and I always love walking through the year with prompts. It makes it a bit more fun to reflect. I'm still going to be posting many 2018 reflection and favorite posts, so stay tuned.
2018 Posts I've Posted So Far:
2018 Releases That You Should Check Out! (Part 2)
A Walk Through My 2018 Ratings & Genres 
Bible Plans on the App That I Recommend (Ones I Did in 2018)

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read: 121 books!
Number of Re-Reads: 4 (which is more than I usually do and this is thanks to audiobooks!)
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy (combined YA and adult)

 

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?

 

These are my TOP three reads of the year in actual ranking, but I'm also listing them like this because these are my favorite genres- fantasy, horror, and Christian living.

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

   

I have a lot of disappointing books in 2018, but I'm doing a post on that. Here are my top two biggest disappointments for a sneak peek.

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

  

My whole year was surprising in terms of reading. I picked up so many books I thought I would just like only to be blown away. This is the definition of surprising book. Horrifying, guttural, and chilling. This book stuck with me in a way that no other book did in 2018.

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

 

Hi, I am a book pusher. My fall book push was You. My spring book push was The Hate U Give. Gerald's Game is my King book push for the year. Uninvited was the book push I talked about all the time to any Christian woman I could. I book pushed The Sun Does Shine in my social justice education. Pretty Girls was my weird niche for weird people book push. An American Marriage was my book push for book I didn't expect to love as much as I did.

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

 Best Series Started:

 

 

Best Sequel:

Hands down the best sequel I've read all year. This was fantastic. It blew so many sequels out of the water. I read a lot more than usual, but I refuse to put them on this list because they pale in comparison.

Series Ender:


Child of the Prophecy destroyed me, but it was FANTASTIC. The Last Star delivers and blew me away (slight pun).

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Lysa TerKeurst is my favorite writer, speaker, and author that I've discovered in 2018. Proverbs 31 Ministry is such a fun part of my devo time.

Karin Slaughter is my new favorite author whose books I just had to get my hands on.

Riley Sager- I'm sold and will check out all his books. 

A.C. Gaughen- I was apprehensive of her other books, but Reign the Earth convinced me to check out her backlist (which I will get to!)

Rachel Hartman- I've heard about her, but I didn't think I'd love her. I was WRONG.

Angie Thomas- What a woman and writer! I love her because she goes there and that's so important for literature for teens.

Christina Henry- The Mermaid destroyed my soul and I will hunt down her books because OMG.

Paul Tremblay- His books are dark and I know I will love his other stuff.

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

Before 2018, I didn't read Christian nonfiction, but that's changing in 2019!

Anne Frank Remembered is one of the best memoirs I've ever read and I read so many I really enjoyed this year. Before I listened to audiobooks I never read memoir, but I discovered I love them!

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

Action-Packed/ Thrilling

Unputtdownable 

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

I would actually reread a vast portion of the books I picked up, but not in 2019. More so down the road. A lot of what I read in 2018 is meant to be read and digested for years before being picked up again. I did just finish my first reread of 2019 and it was from a 2014 read.

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

    

 

So many beautiful covers. Not all of these books were great reads, but their covers are still gorgeous and need to be celebrated!

11. Most memorable character of 2018?

So I read so many incredible characters this year and here are the most memorable:

Joe from You is the definition of memorable character. He has all the factors and characteristics of an unsettling human being and he is a character that I will always remember.

The Torrance Family (Jack, Wendy, and Danny) from The Shining. What a family dynamic. An alcoholic, a mother who feels unfit, and a boy with psychic abilities. Danny was my absolute favorite of the bunch.

The Overlook Hotel from The Shining is probably one of the creepiest non sentient beings I encountered in 2018. This is a place that shouldn't be able to think for itself, but clearly can. 

Liadan & Bran from Son of the Shadows stole my heart. The whole cast from Sevenwaters has my soul entwined in theirs. I love these people so much. I can't even begin to express my love for all of them. It was amazing to see Sorcha, Red, Finbar, and Connor again.

Jessie Burlingame from Gerald's Game. I will never forget this woman and her backstory. My heart aches every time I think of this novel and am recounted with the graphic images of her past. She is a character I weep for.

The Carters from the Hate U Give are another memorable family. I absolutely adored following them and learning more about these characters.

Ray Garraty from The Long Walk makes my feet hurt. That poor sole soul. This is a character who has one of the most interesting deterioration due to his circumstances. 

Romy Grey from All the Rage has this deep rage that is quietly bubbling and waiting to break free. Her rage is the rage of all rape victims who are not believed and I love her.

Sally Horner from Rust & Stardust is one of my all-time favorite fictionalized characters. Wow. She is such an innocent and trusting soul. My heart hurts for her and the trauma she was forced to experience.  

Jimmy "Snowman" from Oryx and Crake is one of the most unlikable and yet memorable people I've come across all year. He's horrible, but he steals the show and without his stunning introspection, honesty, and fear to drive this narrative the story would have failed.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

I can't even give you a solid answer because I read some beautifully written books this year, but if I had to choose only one, it's this one:

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

Thought-Provoking:

Life Changing:

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

On my Bookshelf for TOO LONG:

 

TBR OLDIES:

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

 "Because 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess. A slit's not even a person. Just an opening."- All the Rage by Courtney Summers (because I read it recently and those quotes hit me hard)

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

 

In order of how shocking I found them!

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

 

Bran and Liadan are my OTP of the year. OMG MY HEART. 

Runner Up:

 

Shalia and Galen from Reign the Earth. The steam and the swoon. So much swoon.

My Biggest OTP Hope:

  

Nesta & Cassian from ACOFAS

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

 

The Losers Club from IT. This is the ultimate friendship group. I absolutely love all of them, their individual personalities, their interactions with each other, and their lust for adventure.

Danny Torrance and Dick Holloran from The Shining This friendship warms my soul.#ShineOn

Light and Ryuk from Death Note I love this dynamic so much (especially when thinking about how the series ends).

Fainne and everyone from Sevenwaters, Ciaran (her dad) from Child of the Prophecy I love Sevenwaters and when Fainne goes there to take down the family it broke my heart. But the dynamic and relationship that was built stole my heart. Also I love Ciaran. My heart still hurts over his love for Niamh and how it went.

Amelia and P.T. Barnum's family from The Mermaid. I love a good friendship and the way the kids look up to and love Amelia. My heart.

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

 

Besides Stephen King, I'm going to choose Salt to the Sea which blew me out of the water (eh, poor word choice). I love this one more than Sepetys' debut novel!

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

Friends in Real Life:

 

BookTubers:

Pretty Girls from ChapterStackss I always respect and usually add Katie's recommendations in the thriller and horror genre! This was a spot on recommendation! 

Big Little Lies from Peter Likes Books Peter absolutely loves and raves about this novel. It was on my TBR, but really Peter made me excited for it. It delivered!

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle from BookswithEmilyFox I remember when Emily talked about this on her channel, I was so excited. I was even more excited when I was approved for it on Netgalley. Sadly, this is one of my biggest disappointments of 2018.

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

Bran has my heart!

I also got my Scottish fix in Callum MacCreath. What a man. No other HR lead held up to the standard he set this year.

Galen is a sweetheart and Commander of the royal gaurds in the kingdom. He is so swoony.

23. Best 2018 debut you read?

 

The 2018 debuts I read were all mediocre, but this memoir stood out!

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

@ Sevenwaters trilogy There is no better place than Sevenwaters. (fight me)

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

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

I'm a crybaby. So all the books. Literally probably almost books I read this year had me crying. Unless I rated them low, but even then... maybe?

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

The Mermaid has 1,982 ratings on GR. 

Reign the Earth has 2,672 ratings on GR.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror has 3,412 ratings on GR.

Rust & Stardust has 3,499 ratings on GR.

Tess of the Road has 4,037 ratings on GR.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

See all books listed in previous questions. I have a crushable soul.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

 

When I hear the word unique, I immediately think of Gaiman.

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

 

These characters and their actions made me so mad I almost DNFed it because the turmoil was too much for my soul. Of course, I naturally love it and it a 4.5 star-rating.

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

So many blogs and BookTubers!

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

A Journey into Social Media Fasting (How I Read More in a Month)
January-June 2018 Releases That You Should Check Out!
Couples I Shipped and Didn't in 2017
All my wrap-ups!

3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018:?

 

This is me standing in front of Hogwarts before Christmas. My dream came true all because my school's football team went to the Orlando Bowl Game and I had to be there because of my contract. I have never been so blessed to have been under a contract in my life.

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

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing, but it's even more amazing if you get to see a light show on Hogwarts castle. I was also there with my some of my Life Group and it was spectacular.

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

Being a more consistent blogger and reviewer. I'm still not great, but I have gotten so much better. This is shocking because I'm a very busy person.

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

Finding time in the fall semester was tough. I'll be honest. I barely blogged, read, or wrote reviews. I wrote to God and did devotionals, so I wrote, but not everyday.

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

Most Commented On:

The Price Guide to the Occult Review

Most Viewed:

The Merry Spinster Review with 117 views!!

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I wish that I had more interaction and commenters. I try to comment on as many blogs as possible if I have something to say, but I am not good at having as social media presence in connection to this blog and because of that it suffers.

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

2018 is the year my love for Mardel's blossomed. I love that store!

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

Yes! I completed all of my goals except one.

I wanted to finish at least three series! (I actually finished four)

I wanted toread five sequels! (I read 11! Who is this sequel reading machine?)

I wanted to read four short story collections! (I read six.) 

I wanted to read three classics that were not Stephen King! (I read 19!)

I wanted to read the books I posted on end of the year survey last year! ( I read 7/18)

I didn't read five SK novels (only four and I was reading one at the end of the year which I finished at the beginning of 2019!)

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

I have so many. I'm actually making a list of books I want to try to read this year.

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

 

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

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

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

I want to continue posting regularly on my blog and on YouTube. I want to be more consistent with my Netgalley ARCs and read some of my backlist titles. I want to just have fun! I also want to incorporate more of my relationship with God onto the blog!

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

 

Out of the three I've read so far, this is the best!

I'd love to read you 2018 End of the Year Survey! Please leave your link down below if you participated! If you didn't participate, answer one question from the survey down below in the comments!:)