2016 End of the Year Survey

Hello friends! Did you guys miss me for the past two months?! If you didn't notice, I have been a little bit absent on my blog because of internet issues. Namely, our satellite internet stopped working so we disconnected it.

Conveniently we did this at the same time as the weather got REALLY cold and the fast internet people couldn't come out to hook us back up until it warmed up a little bit.

Thank goodness that happened before spring. I don't know how I would function. I seriously missed blogging and it was only like a month and a half or two months that I couldn't do it for.

Anyway, I guess it came at a good time because I have been feeling super lazy and now I have a better excuse for my lack of posting than "I didn't want to". I also haven't read a whole lot since this whole fiasco started so I'm not gonna bore you with a November/December recap. I'll just jump right into the 2016 end of the year survey!

Thank you to Jamie from Perpetual Page Turner for creating this! Here is a link to the survey if you would like it!

Number of Books You Read:

I think around 66-ish? Somewhere along the way I got a little lost. My Goodreads challenge and my wrap up post numbers don't match up.

Number of Re-Reads:

Four. All of them were Alexandra Bracken books.

Genre you read the most from:

I would say there was probably a lot of fantasy read this year.

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?

For 2016 releases, I would definitely say Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

For 2017 releases I've read so far, easily Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

For backlist stuff, my rereads of The Darkest Minds series take the cake.

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

The Girl From Everywhere

Black Dove White Raven

Soulmated

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

I was really pleasantly surprised by Whisper To Me. I wasn't expecting to like this one as much as I did, just because it's more contemporary and that's usually not my jam.

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

I really don't know if anyone read anything that I pushed, but I definitely pushed Salt to the Sea this year. And I am always pushing The Darkest Minds.

If you're reading this, I'm pushing you to read them if you haven't. Report back.

5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?

Best series I started: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Best sequel: The Chasm by S. Usher Evans

Best series ender: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

I think that those are almost the only 2016 sequels and series enders that I read this year. 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?

So many! Maggie Stiefvater, Tricia Levenseller, Kerri Maniscalco, Roshani Chokshi, Ruta Sepetys.

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

This book is both adult fiction (I think?) and contemporary. Both of those are things that I don't tend to read, but I really enjoyed this book.

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

Daughter of the Pirate King was definitely my most unputdownable book this year! Seriously, it was so good.

9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

I don't usually do a lot of rereads, but I would say I could reread The Darkest Minds again. I could definitely listen to that audio again.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?

This book wasn't really even remotely close to one of my favorite books I read this year content-wise, but that cover is so gorgeous I could die.

11. Most memorable character of 2016?

Alosa Kalligan from Daughter of the Pirate King! A female pirate who is the captain of her own ship almost exclusively manned by other woman pirates? A badass lady who is ruthless, stubborn, and isn't afraid to kill a man? How will I ever forget about Alosa? She's so amazing!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi! If I could describe Roshani's writing in one word, that word would definitely be beautiful.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?

The answer to this one is so easily Salt to the Sea. Almost the entire reason I made up my A Glimpse Back in Time feature was so that I could talk about this book. I could not stop thinking about it after I read it. The history behind this book is so so so sad and interesting.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?

The Raven Boys!! I really didn't think that this was going to be a book I was going to like! I can't believe how wrong I was! I adored this series so much and I'm glad I finally read it!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

Give 'em hell, darlin'.

From the mouth of Liam Stewart in Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken.

For anyone who is interested to know, I am going to get this tattooed on me soon.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?

Shortest: A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

Longest: Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Salt to the Sea. This book was seriously so amazing, you guys. It's about the worst maritime tragedy in HISTORY and I NEVER EVEN KNEW THIS THING HAPPENED! I was floored and the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff was the only thing I searched on the internet for probably a week or more.

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

Since I reread The Darkest Minds this year, I can say Liam Stewart and Ruby Daly!! I love them to pieces!!

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Noah and Blue in The Raven Cycle series! I love their scenes together so much.

Or

Iseult and Safi in Truthwitch. I love love love their friendship and how deeply they care about each other!

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I'll have to go with Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken on this one.

21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

There wasn't any person in particular that pushed me to read anything this year that I can recall, but the internet in general pressured me into reading The Raven Boys finally and I can not believe I waited so long to read it!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?

Riden from Daughter of the Pirate King

Julian from Caraval

23. Best 2016 debut you read?

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse (Was this a debut? I don't even know, but I liked it.)

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

I really loved the world building in Passenger. I loved seeing all the different places that Etta and Nicholas travelled to. I loved learning about the travelers and how the traveling worked. I just generally loved that book.

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

In Real Life by Jessica Love was a really fun book to read. It felt kind of like a teenage Hangover and the romance was super cute and I just really enjoyed that book.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?

SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

IN THE AFTERLIGHT by Alexandra Bracken

(Seriously, this book has a sad part when you read it. But if you listen to the audiobook and hear all the emotion the narrator puts into the words, you will die.)

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

The Island by S. Usher Evans! This is my favorite self-published book ever. More people need to know about this series. Please go find this gem and read it.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Can I answer all of these questions with Salt to the Sea? My tears...

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?

I'm going to go with Whisper To Me by Nick Lake. This was a really good book, it's about mental illness and the format of the book is interesting. It's written in the form of an apology letter and the person it's written to is only ever referred to as 'you'.

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

Empire of Storms!! I did enjoy this book, but there were some things in this book that just annoyed me beyond all belief. The fact that Aelin's powers kept being referred to in such obnoxious detail. We know she's powerful, holy god, we don't need TWO SEPARATE LONG PASSAGES ABOUT HOW DEEP HER POWERS GO. And the words that were overused in this book... I never want to see the word incarnate again. I have seen that word in a couple other books since I read EoS and it made me angry all over again to see it.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2016?

Now that I have beautifully fast internet, I have been able to get more into booktube. So I have been watching a lot of whittynovel's videos and I kind of love her. She's hilarious.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?

I have been feeling very poorly about my review writing this year, so I'm not going to answer this question.

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

I would definitely say that my A Glimpse Back in Time post about Salt to the Sea is my best non-review post. I'd love it if you'd check it out if you haven't!

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

I went to my first bookish event this year! In January I got to go to the PassTruth Tour in Minnesota and meet Alexandra Bracken (I died) and Susan Dennard! I was so nervous about meeting Alex, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting it to be and she gave me a huuuuug.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?

The two times that Alexandra Bracken has tweeted at me in regards to my epic collection of her books.

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

For pretty much the entire month of November/most of December I was without internet. That really brought my blogging to a screeching halt for a good long while.

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?

I would say either my Salt to the Sea or Front Lines posts for A Glimpse Back in Time. I don't necessarily know that they were lacking in love, but I think that they deserve more.

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

Novelly Yours candles! I am so so in love with her candles! I have only bought three (and two of them were the same), but I love them. She took my feedback about a type of candle that I wanted and created a Liam Stewart candle. It's so perfect. :')

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

Lol, no.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?

Replica by Lauren Oliver. Lauren has been one of my favorite authors ever since I was completely destroyed by her Delirium series. I am super disappointed that I haven't gotten around to reading her latest yet, but it is currently sitting in my pile of books I plan to read ASAP.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?

Given to the Sea sounds so amazing. I have really started to love Mindy McGinnis lately. Honestly, I have only (shamefully) read one of her books so far, but I have hear so many good things about her books that it's getting me really super jazzed to read more of them. I need to read Female of the Species as soon as humanly possible.

3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

There are so many amazing sounding debuts in 2017, but I'm going to go with Wintersong and Wait For Me for this one. I think a retelling of Labyrinth sounds like a SUPER fascinating read. And historical fiction is my jam so I need Wait For Me like, yesterday.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?

A Crown of Wishes. I'm so excited to get a book about Gauri. She seems like she will be SUCH an interesting character to read about. I'm so pumped for this book.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?

I hope that I actually hit my Goodreads goal for once. Lolllll. I also really want to incorporate bookstagram into my routine more.

6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KIIIIIING. Seriously, this is going to be my new pushing book. It was amazing. I am going to need you to read it like, right now.

Can you guys tell that I liked Salt to the Sea and Daughter of the Pirate King? Haha! I can't even believe that 2016 is over already and we're in 2017 right now! I hope time slows down a little bit because I'm gonna need some extra time to read all the amazing books coming out!

So how was 2016 for you? Pretty good? Pretty bad? Have I convinced you to read Salt to the Sea and look out for Daughter of the Pirate King? I hope so! :)