2017 End of Year Survey

Happy New Year!  Here’s my annual end of year review, the first part is my typical wrap up and then a little farther down is the survey created by The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Challenges in which I participated:

Full House  (finished 23/25)
What’s in a Name?  (finished 5/6)
Monthly Motif  (finished 10/12)
R.I.P. XII  (finished 4/4)
# of books read:

61
Previous years:
35 in 2016
52 in 2015
58 in 2014
60 in 2013
75 in 2012
39 in 2011
30 in 2010
28 in 2009
48 in 2008
81 in 2007
Favorites (in order read):

Under a Painted Sky  by: Stacey Lee
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy  by: Rachel Joyce
Lightning  by: Dean Koontz
The Bear and the Nightingale  by: Katherine Arden
Call the Midwife  by: Jennifer Worth
A Conjuring of Light  by: V.E. Schwab
To the Bright Edge of the World  by: Eowyn Ivey
Oryx and Crake  by: Margaret Atwood
Doctor Sleep  by: Stephen King
The Radium Girls  by: Kate Moore
Beneath a Scarlet Sky  by: Mark T. Sullivan
Elon Musk  by: Ashlee Vance

Least favorite:

The Invisible Library  by: Genevieve Cogman

# of non-fiction:

7
Repeated authors:

Jennifer McMahon (2)
Katherine Arden (2)(Winternight Trilogy)
Jennifer Worth (3)(Call the Midwife)
Jay Kristoff (2)(Nevernight Chronicle)
V.E. Schwab (3)(Shades of Magic)
Pierce Brown (3)(Red Rising)
Agatha Christie (3)

 

Number of books you read:  61
Number of re-reads:  1  (Sabriel  by: Garth Nix)
Genre you read the most from:  Fantasy

1. Best book you read:  
The Radium Girls  by: Kate Moore (non-fiction)

The Bear and the Nightingale  by: Katherine Arden  (fantasy)

2. Book you were excited about & thought you were going to love, but didn’t:  A Court of Thorns and Roses  by: Sarah J. Maas

3. Most surprising (good or bad way) book you read:  A Monster Calls  by: Patrick Ness

I was surprised by how much it affected me.  I cried a lot and I thought it was an absolutely beautiful book.

 

 

4. Book you pushed the most people to read:  Wintersong  by: S. Jae-Jones (I recommended for my book club…which is 2 other people other than myself!)  I also recommended Nevernight  by: Jay Kristoff to my husband and he enjoyed it.

5. Best series you started:  Winternight Trilogy  by: Katherine Arden
Best sequel:  Doctor Sleep  by: Stephen King (The Shining #2)
Best series ender:  A Conjuring of Light  by: V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic)

6. Favorite new author you discovered:  Katherine Arden

7.  Best book from a genre you don’t usually read/was out of your comfort zone:  Saga Vol. 1  by: Brian K. Vaughn (graphic novel)

8.  Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book:  Lightning  by: Dean Koontz

9.  Book you are most likely to re-read next year:  I don’t typically re-read books, but if I had to choose it would be The Bear and the Nightingale  by: Katherine Arden

10.  Favorite book cover:  Wintersong  by: S. Jae-Jones

11.  Most memorable character:  Mia from The Nevernight Chronicle by: Jay Kristoff

Shadow from American Gods  by: Neil Gaiman

12.  Most beautifully written book:  To the Bright Edge of the World  by: Eowyn Ivey

I wanted to go to the setting of this book so badly just from the amazing descriptions.  Also, I loved how Ivey weaved reality and Native beliefs together.

 

13.  Most thought-provoking/life-changing book:
A Monster Calls  by: Patrick Ness
The Radium Girls  by: Kate Moore

14.  Book you can’t believe you waited until 2017 to read:  Doctor Sleep  by: Stephen King

15.  Favorite passage/quote:   “And now – now there was some truth to it, even if it was only the truth of a story that, once heard, becomes history.  You might forget a story, but you can never unhear a story.” -p. 140 of Hiddensee  by: Gregory Maguire

16.  Shortest book:  The Lightning Tree  by: Patrick Rothfuss (58 pages…it’s actually a short story)
Longest book:  A Conjuring of Light  by: V.E. Schwab (624 pages)

17.  Book that shocked you the most:  The Serpent King  by: Jeff Zentner

There was a part that I just couldn’t believe actually happened!

18.  One true pairing of the year:  Yeva & the Beast in Hunted  by: Meagan Spooner


http://meaganspooner.tumblr.com/

19.  Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year:  Necco, Theo, & Pru in Burntown  by: Jennifer McMahon

20.  Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read before:  To the Bright Edge of the World  by: Eowyn Ivey

21.  Best book you read that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else/peer pressure:  And Then There Were None  by: Agatha Christie

22.  Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017:  Stefan from Lightning  by: Dean Koontz

https://www.deviantart.com/art/Guardian-Angel-Lightning-78541828

23.  Best 2017 debut you read:  The Bear and the Nightingale  by: Katherine Arden

24.  Best world building/most vivid setting:  Red Rising  by: Pierce Brown

25.  Book that put a smile on your face/was the most fun to read:  Call the Midwife  by: Jennifer Worth

I literally laughed out loud (very rare for me!) reading about Fred’s pig.  That said, there were several heart-breaking parts of this book as well.

 

26.  Book that made you cry or nearly cry:  
A Monster Calls  by: Patrick Ness
Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse  by: Jennifer Worth

27.  Hidden gem of the year:  Under a Painted Sky  by: Stacey Lee

28.  Book that crushed your soul:  A Monster Calls  by: Patrick Ness

29.  Most unique book you read:  American Gods  by: Neil Gaiman

30.  Book that made you the most mad:  The Radium Girls  by: Kate Moore.  The horrors those women went through all so a company could make a profit.

1.  New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017:  Too hard to answer!  I have an entire list of blogs I’ve discovered since I re-started my blog in August.

2.  Favorite review you wrote in 2017:  Doctor Sleep which surprises me because it was so personal and I usually don’t share my feelings.  But that’s why it felt so good to write it.

3.  Best discussion/non-review post you wrote:  TTT book settings

4.  Best event you participated in:  Top Ten Tuesday and the R.I.P. XII challenge.

5.  Best moment of your bookish/blogging life in 2017:  Moving my blog and re-starting it as Carolina Book Nook in August.

6.  Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year:  This year hasn’t been nearly as challenging as previous years, but I suppose just finding the time to blog and managing the guilt when I spend a lot of time blogging/reading (like completing this long post that’s taking hours!!)

7.  Most popular post this year on your blog:  TTT 2017 Favorites

8.  Post you wish got a little more love:  Elon Musk review

9.  Best bookish discovery:  Silent Book Club on Facebook

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals you set:  Yes!  I exceeded my goal of 50 books on Goodreads by reading 61 books.  And I completed 4/4 books for the R.I.P. XII challenge.

 

1.  Book you didn’t get around to in 2017 but will be your top priority in 2018:  Saga Vol. 2  by: Brian K. Vaughn

2.  Book you are most anticipating (non-debut):  Obsidio  by: Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

3.  2018 debut you are most anticipating:  I don’t keep up with upcoming debuts.

4.  Series ending/a sequel you are most anticipating in 2018:  Obsidio

5.  One thing you hope to accomplish in your reading/blogging life:  Read at least 60 books and finish more challenges.

 

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