Skip to main content

End-of-Year Book Survey 2017

It's time for one of my favorite posts of the year - the 2017 end-of-year book survey! This is a tag-like thing made by Jamie @ Perpetual Page-Turner, and I love seeing everyone's responses to it.
Number of books you read: I'm just gonna go ahead and say 140, since I'm pretty sure I'll make my reading challenge by the end of the year. As of this moment, it's technically 138, but I'm going to finish 2 books that I'm already in the middle of, and I'm going to make it.
Number of re-reads: 19 (included in the number above)
Genre you read the most from: contemporary, with roughly 45 books

1. Best book you read in 2017? THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES by Katherine Webber! I'm never going to stop gushing about this book. I loved it so much that I read it twice in a row, which never happens.
2. Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn't? I had high hopes for NORA & KETTLE by Lauren Nicolle Taylor, but it just annoyed me so much and there weren't really any moments that I enjoyed
3. Most surprising (in a good way or a bad way) book you read? Most surprising in a good way probably goes to HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME by Adam Silvera. I'd heard a ton of good things, so I wasn't too surprised, but I also wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did.
4. Book you pushed the most people to read (and they did)? I'm not usually all too sure about whether people read the books that I push them to read, but I know I recommended WONDERFUL FEELS LIKE THIS by Sara Lovestam to someone and she read it and loved it!
5. Best series you started in 2017? Best sequel of 2017? Best series ender of 2017?
SERIES STARTER: LADY MIDNIGHT by Cassandra Clare, the first book in The Dark Artifices series
SEQUEL: I really didn't read a ton of sequels this year! But GEMINA by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, the second book in the Illuminae series, was pretty great.
SERIES ENDER: INTO THE BRIGHT UNKNOWN by Rae Carson, the last book in the Gold Seer Trilogy
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? My top two books of the year were both written by new-to-me authors, so I'm going to say both Katherine Webber and Krystal Sutherland for this one.
7. Best book from a genre you don't typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I didn't read a ton that was really out of my comfort zone this year, but I don't read a lot of adult fantasy and A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab was pretty great.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? Not action-packed in a traditional sense, but I was practically glued to THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis.
9. Book you read in 2017 that you are most likely to reread next year? I'm pretty sure I'm going to want to reread YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon because I just can't stop thinking about it!


10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? Gotta be INTO THE BRIGHT UNKNOWN. Or maybe THE NAMES THEY GAVE US. They're both absolutely stunning.
11. Most memorable character of 2017? Adina from YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE. I was really thinking that Tovah would be the more memorable/relatable character of the book, but Adina really stole my heart.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? Have I talked enough about THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES yet? On my reread, I found that every once in a while I would just stop reading to let myself soak in the words that I had just read because they were that good.
13. Most thought-provoking/life-changing book of 2017? I kind of had to sit and reconsider everything after reading 10 THINGS I CAN SEE FROM HERE by Carrie Mac.
14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? I finally read A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC by V.E. Schwab! It was so good (though with all the hype, I wasn't really expecting anything else). And now I just have to get around to reading the rest of the series.

15. Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2017? I haven't been great at keeping up my quotes list this year, but here's one of many that I love:

"Sometimes it's okay to be surprised. It's going to sound stupid, and I wouldn't ever say this out loud, but the way Theo and I came out to each other was sort of like getting caught in a thunderstorm. Storms can suck when they're knocking out power and ripping apart houses, no doubt. But other times the thunder is a soundtrack to something unpredictable, something that gets our hearts racing and wakes us up. If someone had warned me about the weather, I might have freaked out and stayed inside.
But I didn't."
- Adam Silvera, History is All You Left Me
16. Shortest & longest book you read in 2017?
Shortest: All of the Little Golden Books I read were 24 pages each, but the one that it took me the least time to get through was probably I AM A DROID.
Longest: By quite a bit, LORD OF SHADOWS by Cassandra Clare (701 pages).

17. Book that shocked you the most? Gotta be LORD OF SHADOWS. I kind of saw the ending coming, but I didn't want to believe it would be true, and then when it actually happened I just sat in shock (and tears) for like half an hour.
18. OTP of the year (you will go down with this ship!)? Lee and Jeff from the Gold Seer Trilogy!! I've loved them in every single book, but this last one just solidified their status as #1.
19. Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year? Gotta be Adina and Tovah from YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Or maybe Eugene and Esther from A SEMI-DEFINITIVE LIST OF WORST NIGHTMARES by Krystal Sutherland. It was a good year for twins in books.

20. Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you've read previously? Definitely HISTORY IS ALL YOU LEFT ME by Adam Silvera. It made me so excited to read more of his books!
21. Best book you read in 2017 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else/peer pressure? Not solely, but I put I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE back on my list based on recommendations. I was too scared of the secondhand embarrassment, but that wasn't an issue.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? I'm not usually one for fictional crushes, but this one's gotta go to Jamie from PRINCE IN DISGUISE. Cheesy as hell, which is what I live for.
23. Best 2017 debut you read? I've already said this about 40 times, but THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES. Just...yes.
24. Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting you read this year? THE CROWN'S FATE by Evelyn Skye (but really the whole duology). All of the descriptions of the magic just make it come to life!
25. Book that put a smile on your face/was the most FUN to read? NOTEWORTHY by Riley Redgate! I laughed out loud so many times that I lost count.
26. Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2017? Oh, there were quite a few of these. But the one that made me sob the most was THE NAMES THEY GAVE US by Emery Lord. I was very much Not Okay after that one.
27. Hidden gem of the year? SO many of my favorites are hidden gems! Like A SEMI-DEFINITIVE LIST OF WORST NIGHTMARES, NOTEWORTHY, and THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES.
28. Book that crushed your soul? There are so many, so let me give a shout-out to one I haven't mentioned in this post yet: WE ARE OKAY by Nina LaCour. Devastatingly wonderful.
29. Most unique book you read in 2017? THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis! I don't read a lot of thrillers, and that was unique even for a thriller.
30. Book that made you the most mad (doesn't necessarily mean you didn't like it)?: I definitely got mad at NORA & KETTLE because the main thing on the back of the book didn't happen until 70% of the way through and it made me so frustrated.


1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? Just discovered this one earlier this week, but Elise @ The Bookish Actress has a fantastic blog!
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017? I really liked my review of WONDERFUL FEELS LIKE THIS! I got to gush about the characters and really shine a spotlight on an underrated book.
3. Best discussion/non-review post that you had on your blog? I really liked my post about how I Don't Like Series Finales. It brought out some interesting discussions!
4. Best event that you participated in? I went to my first book signing for - guess which book - THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES! And it was so fantastic to be able to go after I had already read the book so that I could properly gush about it.
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017?
6. Most challenging thing about blogging your your reading life this year? Finding time. My blogging has really suffered because of the academic stress I've been under, and I miss it!
7. Most popular post this year on your blog?
By comments: Four of my Top Ten Tuesdays from the first few months of the year got 16 comments each: Top Ten 2017 Debuts I'm Excited For, Ten 2016 Releases I Didn't Get To (But TOTALLY Plan To), My Ten Most Disappointing Reads, and Ten Unique Books I've Read.
By views: My August Wrap-Up was bizarrely popular.
8. Post you wished got a little more love? This one got quite a few views, but it's never a bad time to have a list of book recommendations for people who want to punch Nazis.
9. Best bookish discovery? I'm really not sure! Maybe all the Black Friday sales that I totally took advantage of this year.
10. Did you complete any of the reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I actually have a whole separate post about this that's going to be up later today! TL;DR: I completed most of them, but my failures were pretty spectacular.

1. One book you didn't get to in 2017 but will be your number one priority in 2018? Definitely BEFORE THE DEVIL BREAKS YOU by Libba Bray! I love the Diviners series, and I'm really surprised I didn't read this as soon as it came out.
2. Book you are most anticipating for 2018 (non-debut)? Oh gosh, there are so many good ones, but at the moment I'm most excited for THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL by Maurene Goo.
3. 2018 debut you are most anticipating? I've heard so many great things about LOVE, HATE, & OTHER FILTERS by Samira Ahmed - I'm so excited to finally read it! (This would have been YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon, but I was lucky enough to get an early copy of that and it's already made my favorites list!)
4. Series ending/a sequel you are most anticipating in 2018? Does LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT count? It's more of a companion than strictly a sequel, but I'm so ready for it!

5. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2018? I really want to post more consistently. I have a feeling I'm going to be saying this forever, but I really want to put more time into this! Of course, I have other priorities, but I know I can make more time for this.
6. A 2018 release you've already read and recommend to everyone? As hinted at before (ha, imagine me gushing subtly), YOU'LL MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE by Rachel Lynn Solomon! And it's almost here!! (Also, I can't believe that I get to answer this question? Last year I had barely been approved for any books on NetGalley and none of them were far enough in advance to be next year releases, and now, if I had been caught up on my review books, I would have had so many to choose from!)


Have you done this survey? What were some of the highlights of your 2017? Tell me in the comments!

Comments

  1. I LOVE all the wrap-ups at the end of the year. I seriously can't get enough of them! I think I remember reading about The Heartbeats of Wing Jones (maybe here?), but I'll confess that I didn't hear much about it, so it escaped my radar. I'll have to change that. And I really want to read You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's such an underrated gem! (I think you probably heard about it here, because a) I unfortunately haven't heard much about it elsewhere and b) I never shut up about it.) And You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone is so good - only a few more days until it's out!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Books I Need More People to Love

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke and Bookish. This week's theme: Top Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Books You've Read in the Past Year or So. One of my favorite things to do is get other people to read books I love. That way, I can discuss the boo ks with them, and if I know their tastes well enough, I know I'm givin g them something that they'll love! Unfortunately, I can't do this with the entire world. And that means that there are books that I've really enjoyed t hat just aren't widely loved. Why ? I don't know. And that's why I spend so much time trying to get other people to read them. Here are ten books I've read some what recently that I think really deserve some m ore lo ve. IRON CAST by Destiny Soria: I'll never get tired of diverse books, I 'll never get tired of historical fiction, and I'll never get tired of positive female friendships. When you pu t those all together, they ma ke a book tha

Most Anticipated Reads: First Half of 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature at The Broke a nd the Bookish . This week's theme : most an ti cipated reads for the first half of 2017. Wow, it's been ages since I've done a most anticipated list! In case you were wondering, my excitement for upcoming books is a s high as ever. It was so hard narrowing this list down to just ten, but I think I figured out the ten books that I'm most excited for in the first half of next year! I have a good mix of sequels and standalones (but onl y one debut, so there won't b e a lo t of overlap wi th the de buts TTT in a few weeks). Here are some of the books that I just can't contain my excitement about : OUR OWN PRIVATE UNIVERSE by Robin Talley - January 31: I love Robin Talley, and this book sounds like it's going to be so good! And it's going to have so much intersectionality! And the colors on that cover are just so aesthetically pleasing. DREAMLAND BURNING by Jennifer Latham - February

In Which I Consider My Ideal Post Length

I seem to be constantly going back and forth between having too many post ideas and not having enough. The thing is, though, that when I don't have a lot of ideas, it usually just means that I don't think I have enough to say about anything to actually make a post. Which poses an interesting question: how long do posts need to be? In particular, I'm thinking about discussion posts. I have a lot of bookish things I want to discuss, and discussion posts seem like one of the best ways to share my thoughts. But sometimes, my thoughts aren't fully-formed, or aren't that complex. I usually shy away from writing about those ideas because I don't think I have enough material to justify a post. But why don't I think I have enough? I've been a little behind on wr iting posts in advance, so it seem ed like I was running into th is question more and more often. And after a while of thinking about that, I had m y little breakthrough : I'm thinking a