Best of 2014

I'm doing Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner's annual End of Year Book Survey again this year.  I love looking back on all the books I've read.  This year hasn't been my favorite year of reading.  I read a lot of amazing, life-changing books, but I also read a lot of mediocre stuff.  I hope in 2015 I gravitate towards the books I get joy out of instead of the latter :)

2014 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 53

Number of Re-Reads: HAHAHA Yeah Right

Genre You Read The Most From: YA Contemporary

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

•  YA Contemporary Romance: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (#1) by Jenny Han
• YA Out of My Comfort Zone: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
• YA Mystery: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
• Debut: Tease by Amanda Maciel
• OVERALL BEST: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

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

• The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) by Michelle Hodkin- I really liked the first 2 books and was eagerly awaiting the finale.  But I didn't get the great ending that I wanted :(
• Some Boys by Patty Blount- This book started out strong, but then took a giant nose-dive.  I was really happy when I bought it, but ended up wishing I just borrowed it from the library.
• Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira- This book sounded SO cool.  It was one of my most anticipated books of 2014.  But I ended up really really disliking it.  It felt very amateurish and the letters were super forced.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 

• Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn- Surprising is an understatement.  This book shocked the hell out of me and really made me question what goes on in this author's head.  She should definitely be a candidate to write for American Horror Story.
• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas- I wasn't sure I would like this book.  I had read something else by this author and REALLY didn't like it, so I was apprehensive.  But WOW.  This book was amazing.  I loved every thrilling second of it.
• Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican- Some girls in my book club warned me that this book was a little graphic and tough to read.  Some of them had to DNF it because of the details in the first chapter.  I was nervous... but it ended up not bothering me at all.  I REALLY REALLY loved this book.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas- This book was SO addictive that I've been telling as many people as possible to read it.
• Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight- I loved this book.  And I feel like it's broad enough to appeal to a lot of different age groups.

 5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

• Series Started: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
• Sequel: Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2)
• Ender: Ashes to Ashes (Burn for Burn #3)

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

• Gayle Forman
• Marissa Meyer

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

• Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer- Totally out of my comfort zone, I mean, cyborgs and robots and people that live on the moon???  But no this book was great.  SO glad I gave it a try.

 8. Most unputdownable book of the year?

• Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
• To All the Boys I Before (#1) by Jenny Han
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

 9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

• I don't ReRead... If I did: Dangerous Girls- so I could see if there are clues I passed over now that I know how it ends.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

• Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour- Are you seeing this??  It's perfection.

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

• Iko from Cinder, Scarlet, & Cress by Marissa Meyer

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

• Ketchup Clouds by Anabel Pitcher
• Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
• Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King
• Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

• Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King- WOAH.  Mind Blown.
• Tease by Amada Maciel- Because the perspective in this book was from the bully's POV, it really made me think about how there are multiple sides to everything that happens.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? 

• If I Stay by Gayle Forman

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

• "Free yourself, have the courage."
• "I am no one special.  You are no one special.  Most people can't handle it." ~Both from Glory O'Brien

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Longest- Ashen Winter 576 pages
Shortest- If I Stay 201 pages

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

• Blood of My Blood (Jasper Dent #3) by Barry Lyga
• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

• Lara-Jean & Peter- To All the Boys I've Loved Before- These 2 were so cute.
• Jules & Sawyer- The Vision Series (Crash, Bang, Gasp)- Another adorable couple.  I loved reading about these 2 over the course of this series.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

• Song sisters- To All the Boys I've Loved Before- I thought these sisters had such a nice developed relationship with each other.  It's so nice to see sibling relationships being shown like this.
• Emi & Charlotte- Everything Leads to You- Genuine besties.  I loved reading about their friendship.
• Hernandez sisters- The Book of Broken Hearts- Chaotic, sometimes tumultuous  these sisters had an age gap, but they overcame it and really warmed my heart.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

• Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins- Loved Isla and thought this was a perfect ending to an awesome "series".

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

• Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer- It seemed like EVERYONE had read and loved this book, so I had to give it a try.  Plus my Broke and Bookish Secret Santa from last year Danielle told me I would love it.... and I did!!!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

• Loncoln- The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
• Knox- The Blackcoat Rebellion series (Pawn, Captive)
• (and MAYBE Captain Thorne of Scarlet & Cress, I'm still on the fence)

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

• Tease by Amanda Maciel

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

• Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican- set in a Catholic school in Pittsburgh in the 90's and the setting was SO important to the book.  I loved getting lost in the way my hometown was described :)

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

• To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• License to Spill (Pretenders #2) by Lisi Harrison- 2nd book in a guilty pleasure series.  It was pure fun to read :)

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014?

• Torn Away by Jennifer Brown- SOBFEST

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

• Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

• Me Since You by Laura Weiss- God this book was just death, depression, and sadness that wouldn't let up.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

• Tease by Amanda Maciel
• Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski- The narration in this book was very cool... plus I loved the idea of a flu shot making people mind-readers.

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

• Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty- NO, just NO!!!  I LOVED the first 2 books in this series, but this book?!?!?!?!  I wanted to stab it.
• Ask the Passengers by A.S. King- I did like this book... but the love interest in it annoyed me... and the people in the town/the mother????  MADE ME SO MAD!!!

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? 

• The Turning Pages- okay I technically discovered this blog at the end of last year when Heather was my Secret Santa for the Broke and Bookish Secret Santa Exchange... but I really started following her and Christie's cool blog in the beginning of 2014... and then I went to BEA with Heather.

• Andi's ABC's- Love this blog.  Met her at BEA, but followed her long before that.  She always comes up with creative things.... and I love her ABC's (Accessory, Clothes, Books) posts.

• Pivot Book Reviews- This was Becca's first year blogging, and she had an amazing year.  I love her "letters" that she writes to books... and her totes that she makes for Etsy.  She's really cool.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? 

• Everything Leads to You
• Dangerous Girls

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

• My issue with Book Anxiety

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

• BEA
• FYA Summer Showdown

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?

• Meeting R.L. Stine
• Going to BEA with Heather
• Book Club FYA Summer Showdown 2014- 3rd runner up!!

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

• My post of Harry Potter inspired gifts

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

• My BEA post- It got a lot of views, but not as many comments.  I was hoping to talk to more ppl that I saw at BEA I guess.

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

• Etsy!!  I didn't realize how much book related goodness you could find on there!

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

Looking back on my goals for 2014, I'm impressed with how much I accomplished.  I went to BEA, I self-host, I've been to a lot of book signings and lots of book club events.  However I did NOT get a job in my field.  It's a full-timer, just not in my field.  And I'm still too lazy to cook regularly.

I'm also pretty disappointed with the number of books I read 53??  That's still 1 book a week, but I've been wanting to hit 100 ever since I started blogging :(

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?

• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• Even In Paradise by Chelsey Philpott

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?

• All the Rage by Courtney Summers- Seriously... I can't wait much longer!!!

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

• Please Don't Tell by Laura Tims
• First, There Was Forever by Juliana Romano

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?

• Lair of Dreams (The Diviners #2) by Libba Bray- April 2015
• Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer- November 2015
• Stand-Off (Winger #2) by Andrew Smith- September 2015

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?

• Posting more/Being more creative with content