6th Annual End Of Year Survey!

Number Of Books You Read: 

S: 135 books.

Number of Re-Reads:

S- 1: Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler. Wow, I really need to step up my re-reading game!

Genre You Read The Most From:

S- Contemporary YA, to the surprise of literally no one!

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

S: I have decided on Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler. I will not stop talking about this book because I just love it so much. It’s both so much fun, but also brings up important questions that I adore. Read it!

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

S: Like No Other by Una LaMarche! I’ve been waiting SO LONG to read this book and I loved the first half but the second half was so so sooooo disappointing for me.

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

S: Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern! I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did!

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

S: I hope it’s Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez! I’ve barely seen anyone read it but you should all read it!

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

S: Best series I started is Illuminae by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman, Best Sequel was The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick and Best Series Ender must go to Winter by Marissa Meyer

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

S: Hannah Moskowitz! I’ve heard of her but it wasn’t until after I read A History of Glitter and Blood that I really started paying attention to her. The novel was definitely weird (and not something everyone will enjoy) but I honestly loved it!

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

S: I did read a nonfiction book this year which I never ever do. The book I read was Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and I highly recommend it to all.

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

S: Winter by Marissa Meyer, literally 800 pages of unstoppable action!

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

S: Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler. I’ve taken to periodically re-reading half the novel (only the parts in one character’s POV) so I can tell I will keep doing this.

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

S: A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria Schwab

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

S: So hard to choose! I’m going to cheat and choose two, one character one love interest. Blue from Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and Vanessa from Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

S: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez! This was a hard one for me (The Weight of Feathers was close!) but I just loved the writing of Out of Darkness.

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

S: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. I know, it doesn’t seem like something that is very though-provoking but I did think a lot about how certain things were discussed in this book. Still thinking about it. (I was going to write a discussion post but most people have not read it yet so *shrugs*)

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

S: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill. It’s been highly recommended to me for so long and I finally read it!

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

S: “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femaleness and my femininity. And I want to be respected in all of my femaleness because I deserve to be.” – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, We Should All Be Feminists. A great short essay about the need for feminism. To me, this quote just helps me express and accept that yes, I can like Disney princesses and rom-coms and wearing bright lipstick but that does not make me inferior to anyone else, especially to a man, nor does that define me. 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

S-Longest: Winter by Marissa Meyer (824 pages!)
S-Shortest: We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (42 pages!)
How I did this: Went to my read books on Goodreads and sorted by page number and just looked for what I knew I read this year that was the shortest and longest.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

S: The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I didn’t expect this to be so twistey!

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

S: Scarlett/Robin in Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen!
(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

S: I very much liked Jared and Mikey’s friendship in The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. Such good friends!

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

S: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons. So good, and definitely underrated.

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

S: I’ll try to go a bit outside my zone. I think Kaz or Inej from Six of Crows. Depends on the day, really.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

S: The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore

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

S: Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. Lovveee.

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

S: Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler. Read it.

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

S: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez! SO MANY TEARS

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

S: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez! I’ve seen so little people read it and I just love it.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

S: (Can you guess what it’s going to be?) Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez! I can’t shut up about this book so READ IT!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

S: None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio. It’s not unique for its writing or anything I guess but I just think it really illuminates a topic we tend to see ignored in mainstream YA and I think it does some important work in terms of how we read and respond to gender and the way we act about it.

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

S: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed, so maddening to see how Nalia’s parents treated her!

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

S: Octavia can choose! I hate picking favourites, I just love all the bloggers I follow! *hugs and kisses to all*

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

S: uhmmmm. Uhmm. I really like a review that I wrote for 2016! But not sure I have a really memorable review for this season.

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

S: Did I even have any discussion posts this year?

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

S: I did so many great blogging things this year but I think I’m most proud of #RSRDiversityMonth! It was such a great event and I really can’t wait to do it again.

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

S: So many great moments! I think my biggest accomplishment is the same one as above. I just loved it so much.

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

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

S: I’m so bad at these! I really have no idea.

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

S: I love Book Riot! They are just awesome and have amazing podcasts as well and great store merch.

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

S: I forgot to keep track of the books and the only challenge I did was the LGBT challenge and I don’t think I got t0 15, unfortunately.

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

S: More Happy That Not by Adam Silvera

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

S: You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

S: The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Strutskie.

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

S: A Gathering of Shadows by Victoria Schwab! _{(Okay, I technically already read it but it was so good so I am already hyped again)}

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

More posts! More things! More everything!

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

S: This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp!

 

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You probably noticed that all the answers above belong to Shelly.  Well I made it to question 30 and instead of my normal joy and nostalgia I normally feel while doing Jamie’s survey, I was feeling down and guilty and just all around crappy. I read 45 books this year and to be honest, besides Six of Crows, How To Love, The Dead House and Vision in Silver, they were all pretty lack luster and forgettable by this point in the year. So, I’m bowing out of the survey this year. Next year will be better, but for now enjoy Shelly’s flailing and recs. 🙂