The year is almost over, which means it’s time for the End of Year Book Survey, brainchild of the wonderful Jamie from The Perpetual Page-Turner! My reading goal for this year was to read 35 books. It was a bit lower than previous years, but I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself, especially considering the fact that at the beginning of 2017 I had no idea what my life would look like at the end of it. I managed to read those 35 books, and I’m currently half way through the 36th. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to finish that one before the new year, though, because I’ve got over 250 pages left to read and there’s only 4 more hours in 2017, which I won’t be spending with a book unfortunately.

I had a fun reading year! Of course, there were so many more books I wish I’d read this year, but that would be the case even if I’d read over a 100 books. So, I’m pretty content! Most of my reads were 4 or 5 star ones; I guess that’s the advantage of not being able to read that many books and being extra picky about choosing my next read.

Anyway, there are about a million questions to get through, so let’s get to it!

2017 reading stats

Number Of Books You Read: 35
Number of Re-Reads: 4
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy

I made pie charts! I got kinda nerdy about them and had to restrain myself from making about a million of them. They do illustrate my reading year pretty well, though. I’m especially pleased with having read 60% female authors.

Best in books

1. Best Book You Read In 2017?

I can’t pick between these two, so I won’t. It’s The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. They both blew me away for different reasons and really made an impact on me as a person. They’re both definitely new all time favourites.

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

I’m a big fan of Paul Auster’s writing, but I didn’t much like The Book of Ilusions, which I read recently. The story was alright, but the women in it were written terribly. I’m just really really done with that.

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

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I know everyone and their mothers raved about this, but I was a little sceptical because of the unusual format. But I loved it, and all the twists and turns shocked me in all the good ways.

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

Probably The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. The title of my review of it is “5 Reasons Why Everyone Should Read The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas“. Kind of says it all, right?

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5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017?

I wanted to say Illuminae, but let’s mix things up (I’ll be answering Illuminae to loads more questions to come…) and say Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, which I loved!

For sequel and series ender… I only read one sequel and one series ender, both of the same series. So let’s just say The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater in its entirety.

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6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017?

Angie Thomas, but also Leigh Bardugo and Laini Taylor (I’m currently reading Strange the Dreamer).

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

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I started reading more graphic novels and comics this year and this was one of the first ones and it’s autobiographical (I don’t read much autobiographical work). It’s also about life in Iran and I know very little about that. It was both a very good book and very educational. I loved it!

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

Illuminae. See, there it is again! The format together with the bone-chilling, high stakes story made it nearly impossible for me to put down this book!

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9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

The Hate U Give or The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I didn’t include that one with my favourite books, but it’s a close third.

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10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?

Once more: Illuminae! That cover is just gorgeous. Exhibit A:

11. Most memorable character of 2017?

Starr from The Hate U Give. She’s one of the best charactes I’ve read this year and the first one to pop into my mind. Another one would be the foetus from Ian McEwan’s Nutshell. 

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12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017?

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s writing style hits me in all the right places, man. I cried reading this book. I never cry when I’m reading.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017?

Predictable but true: The Hate U Give. It’s such an important book and I still think everybody should read it! I was so happy to see it topped so many “best books of 2017” lists in mainstream media as well!

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14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Yep. It was about time, wasn’t it? I liked it, but didn’t love it.

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15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017?

I made tons of pictures of the pages while I was reading Turtles All the Way Down, because I wanted to remember basically all of it. Here are two of my favourite quotes:

True terror isn’t being scared; it’s not having a choice on the matter.

and

“Actually, the problem is that I can’t lose my mind,” I said. “It’s inescapable.”

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16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?

Shortest: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamande Ngozi Adichie: 52 pages (not really a book, perhaps, but it came in book form, so I’d say it counts).

Longest: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley: 1009 pages (it took me over 3 months to finish this one).

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17. Book That Shocked You The Most

There it is again: Illuminae! This book was dark, man. I did not see that coming.

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

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

This would be a pairing from The Raven Cycle that I cannot mention because of spoilers. I don’t really do OTPs, but I will go down with that ship!

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19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

I’m all about realistic families in YA novels, so my answer to this one is the entire family dynamic in The Inexplicable Logic of My Life.

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20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I feel like I’m just repeating the same 4 or 5 books, but the answer to this one is Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. I’ve read all of his books and liked them all, but this is by far my favourite.

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21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Hmm, I don’t really give into peer pressure when it comes to reading, but I finally read The Mists of Avalon this year, which was partly due to my friend Aline’s recommendation.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017?

I really don’t know – I don’t think I’ve really had any fictional crushes this year. Maybe Kaz from Six of Crows?

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23. Best 2017 debut you read?

The Hate U Give. Obviously.

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

I want to say Strange the Dreamer, but I haven’t finished that one yet so it isn’t part of the 35 books of this year. Perhaps it’ll be my answer for next year! So, the next best thing would be the island in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Or Six of Crows. I can’t choose!

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

The BFG by Roald Dahl! Such a wonderful read.

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26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017?

There’s only one book that made me cry this year (or in the past 10 years) and that’s The Inexplicable Logic of My Life.

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27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I’d have to go for the last book I read, which is Vincent by Barbara Stok, which is a graphic novel about Vincent van Gogh’s life. It’s a Dutch book originally, but it’s been translated into English as well. I first came across it in a BookTube video by Ariel Bissett (who’s Canadian), and didn’t find out until later that it was a Dutch book! In fact, Barbara Stok is from the same city as me. Coincidences, eh? Anyhow, I’d definitely recommend this one to anyone interested in van Gogh!

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28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

The Hate U Give, Turtles All the Way Down or The Inexplicable Logic of My Life. So, all the favourites.

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29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017?

Illuminae! Because of the format, but also because of the story. It was so much darker than I expected it to be.

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

The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. I was just so disappointed! Auster is (or was – the jury is still out) one of my favourite authors, and it made me so mad and sad that an author I look up to so much appears to have such old-fashioned ideas about femininity and how women should be written.

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Your blogging/bookish life

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017?

Oh man, this is bad, but I really don’t know. I spent a good deal of 2017 not blogging because of various reasons, and I’m still in the process of getting back into the “frequently reading other blogs” deal. I read blogs, but I’ve known most of them for longer than a year.

I have discovered a few new BookTubers, though, my favourite of which must be Katherine Lyle. Her voice is so nice and relaxing to listen to and I love what she has to say about books. Go check her out!

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2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017?

My review of The Hate U Give! I’ve been wanting to mix things up a bit with my reviews to make them more interesting; working with lists or subheadings – that kind of stuff. My review of THUG was my first experiment and I think it worked really well!

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

I guess I’ll have to choose my favourite recipe of the year! Even though that’s an impossible task, I’ve managed to pick one favourite: these cinnamon sugar blondies, which were divine.

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

The only things I participated in this year are two readathons: Bout of Books 19 in May and BookTubeAThon in July and I had an absolute blast with both of them. I hope I’ll be able to participate in more readathons in the new year!

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5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017?

When Benjamin Alire Sáenz retweeted my tweet about his book! He’s one of my favourite authors, so that was really cool!

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

Making time for it all. This year was a bit all over the place for me, what with graduating and being unemployed, then working irregular hours at a book store and then finding a job with actual hours. It wasn’t until I started my current job in October that I really managed to get back into blogging – something I wanted to do since February. But now I’m back and I’m planning to stay!

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

I’ve looked at this by views, because that’s way easier. The post that’s been viewed most this year is 20 Desserts Inspired By Literature, which is a post from 2015. The most popular post that I’ve actually written this year is: Why La La Land is My New Favourite Film of All Time. Which has nothing to do with what my blog’s about, of course, so let’s also mention the most popular post written this year that’s actually on topic: Turtles All the Way Down and the Importance of #ownvoices.

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8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

My most recent recipe, which I’m really proud of! I made Christmas tree meringues, but according to my stats, it didn’t get a whole lot of views. They’re adorable!

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

The only thing that comes to mind is that this is the year I worked in a book store! That’s the dream, right? I only worked there for four months and I didn’t have regular hours, but I’m so happy I now have the experience of working in a book store It’s hard work, and I found out retail isn’t really my thing (my anxiety didn’t always agree with the work), but it was so much fun as well. And I got a staff discount, which was nice.

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

The only reading challenge I set for myself this year was the Goodreads one and I completed that one. I read 35 books!

Looking ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018?

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Okay, so that’s two books, but I don’t care. I bought Tower of Dawn immediately after it came out because I just had to read it, and now I still haven’t… And I’ve been saying “I’m going to read that next!” about The Handmaid’s Tale, so that has to happen soon as well. Both are on my January TBR!

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2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)?

I have no clue what is or isn’t coming out in 2018 except for Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff; the third book in the Illuminae series. I still have to read Gemina first, but I have high hopes of that happening semi soon.

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3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews a.k.a. our community’s own Paper Fury! I’m so excited to read Cait’s first (published) novel!

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4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018?

…Obsidio again? Like I said, I have no clue what’s coming out in 2018.

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5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018?

I want to keep up with blogging regularly and get back into reading and commenting on others blogs more as well. I’ve also decided I really want to start working on my Instagram and post more and better shots on there. There’ll probably be a more elaborate post on my reading and blogging resolutions in a couple of days, though, so look out for that!

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6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

I haven’t read any 2018 releases yet. I’ve got so many 2017 releases to read still! And 2016, and 2015…

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That’s it! Holy guacamole, that was a lot of questions. If you’ve read it all up until now, I applaud you. Now, all that’s left to do is this:

Happy New Year!