2014 was a surprising year in books! There were definitely 5-6 standout books to me and I found myself wanting to repeat them over and over again (which I somewhat did) but I also tried to look over everything I read. Which was a whole lot of contemporary and paranormal (unsurprising!) and totally not enough fantasy (very surprising!). The one thing I am very happy about though is that my books were really varied and covered more genres than usual and I read more adult fiction. Yay me.
Thank you Jamie for hosting this survey every year! Now here are my answers:
2014 Reading Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 202Number of Re-Reads: 7
Genre You Read The Most From: YA Contemporary
Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2014?
Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #4) by Sarah J. Maas
Ruin & Rising (The Grisha Trilogy) by Leigh Bardugo
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
Isla & the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Let's be real, I can never pick one book for this question.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Talon by Julie Kagawa
3. Most surprising (in a good way) book you read in 2014?
Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry (hopefully they will read it!)
5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?
Started: Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch
Sequel: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Series ender: Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?
Emery Lord! She's so nice, an amazing writer and a huge Dawson's Creek fan.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. I don't normally read mystery/crime thriller type books but I kept hearing so many good things about this one and for good reason.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Rites of Passage by Joy Hensley
9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Isla & the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?
100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith. There's just something so striking about it.
11. Most memorable character of 2014?
Male: Rowan Whitehorn (Heir of Fire)
Female: Meira (Snow Like Ashes), Isla (Isla & the Happily Ever After), Reagan (Open Road Summer)
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?
The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith
13. Most Thought-Provoking of 2014?
Life by Committee by Corey Ann Haydu
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?
Jojo Moyes books period. I read Me Before You at the beginning of 2013. Fell completely in love with it and then didn't read another Jojo Moyes book until this past year. I read 3 in 2014 (Silver Bay, The Girl You Left Behind, Last Letter From Your Lover) and I plan to read more!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?
“His eyes are somewhere between gray and blue, and his hair is somewhere between brown and blond, and I am somewhere between hostile and attracted.” Emery Lord, Open Road Summer
Longest - City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Shortest - A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
Strange & Ever After (Something Strange & Deadly, #3) by Susan Dennard
18. OTP OF THE YEAR
Katy and Daemon from the Lux series.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Reagan and Dee from Open Road Summer
Celaena and Rowan from Heir of Fire
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #4) by Sarah J. Maas
Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally
Isla & the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
Love, in English by Karina Halle, which was recommended by Kelly.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?
Rowan Whitehorn (Heir of Fire), Jeremiah (Breathe, Annie, Breathe), Josh (Isla & the Happily Ever After), Matt Finch (Open Road Summer)
23. Best 2014 debut you read?
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face?
To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?
A lot of books made me cry! (It's almost embarassing.) But I'm going to pick one I haven't mention at all yet on this survey: Nowhere But Home by Liza Palmer.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?
Sorta Like a Rockstar by Matthew Quick
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle. I really liked this book but Juliet made me so angry!
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014?Oh, the Books! I just love how these three ladies bring their three perspectives to their blog.
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014?
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
Thinking about friendship + 7 Apps I Can't Blog Without
BEA! This was my third year going and my most enjoyable experience. I felt a lot more relaxed, had Alexa as my partner-in-crime for most of it and attender publisher events which was new for me.
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?
Being one of the organizers for the unofficial blog tour for Heir of Fire with my fellow #MaasThirteen ladies. I was Day 12! And then getting to see Sarah during said tour to give her (along with Alexa) a present from everyone who participated. She was really touched and I felt so proud of us for doing something special for an author we love.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
31 Things You Didn't Know About Me (+ Giveaway!)
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Featurette! Adi Alsaid + Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I personally love what he wrote (but I also kind of wish my Featurette! posts in general got a little more love!)
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
I can't think of anything new I've discovered this year. But in general, I did notice more this year that there a ton of cute bookish things on Etsy.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I had a few goals this year. I challenged myself to read at least 175 books which I surpassed. I was also determined to finally read A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, re-read books and read more adult fiction. All of which I did!
Looking Ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?I don't know if these will be #1 priorities exactly but I really want to get to The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter. I own both so I must read them!
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?
Book 4 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) by Victoria Aveyard
4. Series Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?
Book 4 of the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?
I want to read all my purchased, unread books that are currently piled up on the floor of my apartment. It's around 20+ books so I think it's doable!
6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Talon was also my biggest disappoint this year. My feature co-host gave me a beautiful hardcover of Ruin and Rising for my birthday in October, but I have been so bogged down with ARCs and other review books I haven't had the time to read it. Someone commenting on a spoiler free review ruined the ending for me, but I love Bardugo's writing style so much it has still been killing me not to read it. Everyone has been urging me to read the Throne of Glass books, so I bought the novella compilation and the first two books. I am armed and ready to get my Maas on soon! I guess, according to you, and about a gazillion other bloggers, I need to read ACOTAR, too!! I want to read all of the unread books on my shelves, also, in fact I grouped them all on one shelf, and was surprised it wasn't nearly as many as I thought. My big problem is all of the unread books on my Kindle!
ReplyDeleteIt was great to be part of Maas Thirteen! I still feel lucky I was chosen to help you guys. I wish I could go to BEA, it sounds like such a fun event - it would be amazing to see all my blogging friends. I'm going to buy Princess of thorns soon and I wish I had A court of thorns and roses in my possession. It sounds like everything I could ever wish for.
ReplyDeleteYaaaaay Love, in English!!! And holla back to #MaasThirteen! That was such a great tour! OMG I got Rites of Passage from Alexa for Christmas and I see it on SO many lists! I need to read this very, very soon. Like top 4 of TBR pile for sure! Love your list!
ReplyDelete202 BOOKS?!?! I AM SO IMPRESSED. Wow thats awesome. Also, so awesome that you orgranized the Maas Thirteen!
ReplyDeletePrincess of Thorns is definitely a hidden gem! I just read it last night and loved it!
What an amazing year you had this year!!! I can't wait to see what the next year will bring. I only recently started following you and I love everything you post. I hope you had a great holiday. Have a safe and Happy New Year!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteHelena @Book Nerd Addicts
Yayyyy Jojo Moyes, Nowhere but Home, Emery Lord and Sarah J. Maas! I agree with so many of your choices, and I hope you have an equally wonderful reading year in 2015!
ReplyDeleteI think we should totally just challenge each other to keep reading TBR books! (I'm honestly shocked that you only have 20+. I'm pretty sure I have waaaaay more than that. But I think I can get a good chunk of them read if I try really hard and stop buying new books.) Other than that, we pretty much have the same choices for books! Honestly, not too surprised because our tastes are so very similar <3 I am surprised that we both didn't read as much fantasy as we thought we did though! Here's to remedying that in 2015 ;)
ReplyDelete