2014 End of Year Book Survey!

One of my favorite bloggers, Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner, hosts a wonderful thing called the End of Year Book Survey. I had an absolute blast completing the survey for 2012 and 2013 so I was excited to hop on board for the 2014 END OF YEAR BOOK SURVEY!

As usual, all links will take you to my reviews for these books so if you see something you’re curious about, check out my reviews!

reading-stats-2014

Number Of Books You Read: 116… goal is 120!
Number of Re-Reads: Nine. Definitely way more than last year!
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy! (At least it looks like that according to my Goodreads stats) Doesn’t that surprise you? Or at least it surprises you from 2012 and 2013 Brittany!

 best-YA-books-2014

1. Best Book You Read In 2014? YES, I will have to cheat.
Actually Read in 2013: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) – Marissa Meyer
Contemporary YA: Open Road Summer — Emery Lord // Nantucket Red (Nantucket #2) – Leila Howland
Contemporary New Adult: When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill // Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler
Dystopian: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) – Veronica Rossi
Fantasy YA: Heir of Fire — Sarah J. Maas
Fantasy Adult: Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson // The Lies of Locke Lamora & Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
Historical Fiction: Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) – Robin LaFevers (though this is really also fantasy/mythology)
Magical Realism:
Blue Lily, Lily Blue — Maggie Stiefvater (maybe this is fantasy?)
Mystery/Thriller: Dangerous Girls – Abigail Haas
Sci-Fi: Dissonance — Erica O’Rourke

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? I think #scandal by Sarah Ockler was my biggest disappointment this year after LOVING The Book of Broken Hearts last year. 

 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? Probably Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) – Sarah J. Maas because I did not like it when I first tried it in 2012 (I think I wasn’t ready for fantasy) and ended up loving it (and binge read the rest of the series). Also my new favorites which are NEW ADULT BOOKS ooooh! When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill and Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014? I book push The Lunar Chronicles on people constantly but I think most people have read that… I did join the #SandersonArmy and book pushed The Mistborn Trilogy on a lot of people this year AND THEY READ IT. That was pretty exciting!

 5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?
Best series I started
were probably two that I binge read (or at least caught up to the current place in the series): Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas and the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.
Best Sequel: Ugh. So hard. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) – Marissa Meyer, Blue Lily, Lily Blue — Maggie Stiefvater, Heir of Fire — Sarah J. Maas. I think that covers most.

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014? Brandon Sanderson! Sarah J. Maas is a close second right now.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I’ll say the two new adult books! When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill and Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

 8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3), Dangerous Girls – Abigail Haas, Blue Lily, Lily Blue — Maggie Stiefvater though I did read quite a few books in one day this year…

 9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? The entire Lunar Chronicles series before WINTER comes out (I’ll probably host a read along so be on the lookout!), Dangerous Girls – Abigail Haas, probably read the entire Raven Cycle series before book 4 too.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014? I knew this question was coming and somehow I don’t ever keep track of covers. I really need a Goodreads shelf for cover love.  These are ones that I loved but also not all of the covers I’ve loved the most because I just don’t remember them!

          

11. Most memorable character of 2014? Oooh that’s a hard one. SO many to choose from but I’m going to say Locke Lamora. The characters in that book/series are just SO much fun and so dynamic.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014? Blue Lily, Lily Blue, for sure.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2014? Probably The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3), Blue Lily, or my re-read of Walk Two Moons… All for very different reasons.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? Hmmm probably White Cat (Curse Workers #1) – Holly Black. I read a few older titles but I didn’t really KNOW about them until this year so I wouldn’t really could those! I did know about White Cat for a while now though.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014? Um. That’s way too hard so I will go with a fan-favorite and an easy one for me to actually memorize: “Your cats! Give us all your gods-damned cats!” [Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch]

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014? Shortest (non-novella): Something Like Normal – Trish Doller and Kiss of Broken Glass – Madeleine Kuderick (both 224 pgs) // Longest: My re-read of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) – J.K. Rowling (870 pgs)

17. Book That Shocked You The Most: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas — WHEW BOYYYY

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!):
Omg that’s kind of hard! Well, I re-read Anna and the French Kiss this year and that is one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE, FOREVER AND EVER OTPs. Also Reagan and Matt Finch from Open Road Summer.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year:
Friendship:
Reagan & Dee (Open Road Summer)
Bromance: Locke and Jean (The Lies of Locke Lamora)
Mentor: Vin & Kelsier (Mistborn)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) – Marissa Meyer, Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) – Marissa Meyer

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Nikki/There Were Books Involved), Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas (TONS of blogger reviews but mainly Estelle‘s & Jamie‘s stick out to me!)

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014? Connor from Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler, Matt from When Joss Met Matt (these new adult guys just GOT TO ME). Also Matt Finch (Open Road Summer), Braden (On the Fence)

23. Best 2014 debut you read? Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? Mistborn, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? When Joss Met Matt, On the Fence, re-reading Anna and the French Kiss

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014? The Well of Ascension AND The Hero of Ages (oh god), legit had “omg wtf is happening I’m scared” tears in Blue Lily, Lily Blue, and The Assassin’s Blade novellas

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? Althea & Oliver – Cristina Moracho

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? It’s not even out yet but I read it in 2014 so I’m going to say The Winner’s Crime.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014? Probably Blue Lily, Lily Blue. I mean, I can’t even classify a genre! It’s so interesting and incorporates so many amazing things.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Probably Evidence of Things Not Seen. It was kind of offensive in the beginning (like weird things that didn’t seem to have anything to do with what the synopsis said the book was about) and I made it fairly far into the book and nothing was happening at all. Very frustrating.

 

book-blogging

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? Lots! I’m pretty sure I knew Nikki (There Were Books Involved) and Angie (Disquietus Reads) before 2014 but I didn’t really get to KNOW them well until this year. I also met the WONDERFUL Andi (Andi’s ABCs)!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? Wait, for real? That’s like picking a favorite child! I will just tell you my post popular review of the year and it was CRESS! (Well this was one of my favorite reviews so that works.)

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? As far as traffic goes, it was my Book Addict’s GUIDE to Crossover Books! (YA books for adult readers and vice versa)

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? Definitely the 2014 Fall Fierce Reads tour where I got to interview the authors AND moderate the event! It was a dream come true.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014? Fierce Reads tour again!

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? It wasn’t posted this year but it still has the most hits in 2014! The Best-Friend-Turned-Boyfriend Romance. I think I need to do a Part II this year!!!

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? Hmmm, probably just the Book and a Beverage posts in general. I know people LOVE participating and being featured but they don’t get a TON of hits and/or comments. I think it’s because it’s a weekly feature and not one that everyone participates in (like TTT or WoW). I think people tend to skip over blogger spotlights in their feeds because they have so many other posts to read? I just feel bad for the bloggers I feature! I want them to have more hellos 🙂

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? Hmmm not NECESSARILY bookish but I’ve started obsessing over My UPS and My USPS to track things that come to the house (let’s be honest. They’re mostly books) and using Wunderlist for the lists I need to keep!

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I actually didn’t take on too many challenges because I knew my wedding was going to take up a lot of time. I will be completing the Goodreads challenge BUT I also lowered my goal like three times because I just couldn’t keep up with the amount of books I was reading last year.

looking-ahead-books-2015

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015? I have a few that I’m already planning to read in 2015 but I promised I would read My Life Next Door and I STILL DIDN’T.  Seriously. Someone make me read that.

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

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? I usually don’t get AS excited for debuts just because I don’t know anything about the authors or writing yet but I’m really looking forward to Last Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca! BEST FRIENDS FALLING FOR EACH OTHER. REUNITING AFTER TIME APART. GAH. Those are my two faaaaavorite tropes. I have high hopes for it!

 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015? Well Winter. I did just say that… I’ll say it again. (I’m so excited. I’m so scared.)

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015? I really have no idea. I don’t have TOO many “big” plans… Whenever things happen they sort of just come out of nowhere.  It’s not really a reading/blogging thing, but I’ve actually been considering becoming a virtual assistant (for an author possibly? Something book-related because I need some sort of connection to this hobby that I love) but I have no idea where to start or how to approach that so seriously, if you know anything or have any ideas, let me know!

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone: I’ve read four so far already (haha!) and the winner for top 2015 rec so far is WHEN JOSS MET MATT by Ellie Cahill (aka Liz Czukas). Even if you’re not a new adult person, it’s still very much in the realm of YA readers, I think. I absolutely LOVED it.

Another big thanks to Jamie for organizing this survey! I always have so much fun with it every year and I am SO excited for what 2015 has in store for me!

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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9 thoughts on “2014 End of Year Book Survey!

  1. Morgan @ Gone with the Words

    So many books! Good job!! I’ve never broken 100 but maybe someday 🙂

    Cress! BLLB! Heir of Fire 😀 So many good books! I need to try Locke Lamora again, I read 50 pages and liked it but couldn’t give it my full attention. And I really want to read Dissonance!

    I thought Throne of Glass was good, not great, when I first read it. But I fell in love with CoM and now I want to read the first book again to see if my opinion has changed. Probably 🙂

    Open Road Summer does have a gorgeous, summery cover. Like a sunset.

    ANNA AND ST. CLAIR <3 <3 <3

    Ooh Braden in On the Fence was super cute!

    Loved reading your survey, lots of books I need to check out!

    Reply
  2. Ashley @The Quiet Concert

    Cress is probably one of my favorites for this year as well! Blue Lily, Lily Blue, truly fantastic book, it is so different than almost anything other book that I just love it. I do really want to read Dangerous Girls, everyone’s reviews make it seem awesome and that it keeps yo on your toes!

    Reply
  3. Dahlia Adler

    <333 Thanks so much for all the LWaT love! And I'm so excited at how excited you are for LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE – I think you're gonna love it!!! (And big yeses to OPEN ROAD SUMMER and DANGEROUS GIRLS, obviously.)

    Reply
  4. Candice @ The Grown-Up YA

    Yay! This is one of my favorite things to do each year and I love reading everyone else’s! I have read very few of these books but your excitement over them makes me want to jump on board and read them! Very excited about Winter too… will definitely be rereading the series to get even more pumped up for it! Yay!

    Reply

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