2014 End of the Year Book Survey!

Posted December 29, 2014 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Fun Stuff / 12 Comments

2014-end-of-year-book-surveyThe 2014 End of Year Book Survey is hosted by Jamie at the Perpetual Page Turner! It’s a great way to organize your reading and blogging thoughts at the end of the year and reflect on your favorite books! This year is the 5th annual survey, but it’s my first time participating.

2014 Reading Stats

Number of Books You Read: 67

Number of Re-Reads: 9

Genre You Read the Most From: YA Paranormal/Fantasy


 

Best in Books

Best Book Read in 2014?

Contemporary: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Paranormal/Fantasy: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Book You Were Excited About And Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn’t?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green…I know I’m in the minority here but I was super underwhelmed.

Most surprising book you read in 2014?

Angelfall by Susan Ee. I had heard virtually nothing about the book and ordered in on a whim from Amazon and it was fantastic. Such a creative way to use the paranormal angel genre!

Book you “pushed” the most people to read in 2014?

Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout…basically the entire Lux series in general.

Best series you started in 2014? Best sequel? Best series ender of 2014?

Best series started: A tie between The Mara Dyer Trilogy and The Lunar Chronicles.

Best sequel: Cress by Marissa Meyer was pretty fantastic.

Best series ender: City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare.

Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

Rosamund Hodge! She’s got such a fantastic way of writing fairy-tale retellings!

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

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Most action packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Book you read in 2014 that you are most likely to re-read next year?

Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I want to reread the series before Winter comes out!

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

aristotleThose blues are so beautiful!

Most memorable character of 2014?

What a hard question! I think the ones that really stick with me seem to be really strong secondary characters who have so much witty dialogue and strong support for the protagonist that they provide that extra element to the story. I would have to say Zuze from The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy or Iko from the Lunar Chronicles! As far as protagonists go, Mara from the Mara Dyer trilogy was fascinating to read as she’s such an unreliable narrator.

Most beautifully written book you read in 2014?

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Hands down the most beautiful pose I’ve read all year.

Most thought-provoking/life-changing book you read in 2014?

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

Anna and the French Kiss! Stephanie Perkins’ writing style is so cute, and she made me love contemporary romance again! Plus the new covers are GORGEOUS.

Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2014?

“Do not accept an evil you can change.” – We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Shortest and Longest books you read in 2014?

Shortest: The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

Longest: Breaking Dawn (re-read) and City of Heavenly Fire.

Book that shocked you the most?

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas…that ending.

OTP of the year?

Raffe and Penryn from Angelfall.

Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year?

Jude and Noah’s sibling/twin relationship in I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson.

Favorite book you read in 2014 by an author you’ve read previously?

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater.

Best book you read in 2014 that you read solely based on a recommendation from somebody else?

Trouble by Non Pratt, recommended by the lovely Becky at Blogs of a Bookaholic!

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

Does North from Stephanie Perkin’s short story It’s a Yuletide Miracle, Charlie Brown (from the My True Love Gave to Me anthology) count? Outdoorsy, family oriented AND listens to NPR? *swoon*

Best 2014 debut you read?

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. Seriously, I could not get enough. I will auto-buy anything she writes now. If you want really creative and sophisticated fairy-tale retellings, read her books!

Best world-building/most vivid setting you read in 2014?

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge and Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. Both of these authors do fantastic world building!

Book that put a smile on your face/was the most fun to read?

Rereading The Princess Diaries. No matter how many times I read this book (and it’s probably upwards of ten times at this point- my copy is falling apart!) I still laugh out loud.

Book that made you cry/nearly cry in 2014?

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. I never cry while reading (except Harry Potter) so apparently I’m stone hearted (didn’t shed a single tear while reading or watching TFIOS) but I will admit this book gave me the most feels this year.

Hidden Gem of the year?

I’m starting to sound like a broken record here but Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge…I wish I had seen more people talking about it!

Book that crushed your soul?

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas left me completely shocked (and somewhat creeped out!) by the end!

Most unique book you read in 2014?

Angelfall by Susan Ee- it took such a unique perspective on the paranormal angel/demon genre!

Book that made you the most mad in 2014?

I wouldn’t say that any books actually enraged me, but Belzhar by Meg Wolitzer let me down in a lot of ways, and I got pretty mad at how dependent and submissive the main character was when it came to guys.


Blogging/Bookish Life

New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014?

So since I started book blogging this year, all of the blog’s I’ve discovered are new to me! I love each and every one I follow, but some standouts would have to be Blogs of a Bookaholic, Chrisi Reads, She Reads She Blogs, Paper Fury, Bookmarklit, Reviews from a Bookworm, The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shhh, Falling Down the Bookhole and Young Adult Indulgences!

Favorite review that you wrote in 2014?

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu

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

Serial Series: Why Some Series Just Won’t Quit

Best event that you participated in?

I had a great (and productive) time participating in Bout of Books 11!

Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?

This whole year has been a milestone since it’s my first year! Also, getting my hands on a signed and special edition of Eleanor & Park was pretty neat!

Most popular post this year on your blog?

The first in a new feature entitled “Life in Fiction: Three Authors I’d Want to Write Me a Romance”

Post you wished got a little more love?

My Fairy Tale Friday Features…they are a blast to write but very time consuming! You can check out the posts I did on both Snow White and Cinderella.

Best bookish discovery?

Blogging in general! Also buying my own domain name…it made me really proud!

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

Yes! I challenged myself to read 50 books (I read 67!) and to reach at least 300 followers during my first year of blogging. I can proudly say I exceeded both goals!


Looking Ahead

One book you didn’t get to but will be your number one priority in 2015?

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (which I know for a fact is under my tree…as a gift to me from my cats…that I wrapped myself…what, don’t you buy yourself gifts from your pets too?)
Books you are most anticipating for 2015 (non-debut)?

It’s a tie between A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas, and Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge!

2015 Debut you are most anticipating?

The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Series Ending/Sequel you are most anticipating in 2015?

Winter by Marissa Meyer!

One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2015?

I’d love to reach 1000+ followers as well as develop relationships with publishers! I’ve really committed to my blog and it’s so much more than just an idle hobby for me, so I’d love to continue to grow my presence in the bookish community!

 

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12 responses to “2014 End of the Year Book Survey!

  1. Awhh, thank you for the mentions!!! I feel all special and stuff *blushes*. 😀

    So glad to hear you had such an awesome blogging year, I still can’t believe you’ve been at this for such a short amount of time because you’re so good at it! Hope we will have many more great bookish conversations in 2015. Have a great New Year!

  2. this is a fantastic post! I may try to write up one of my own before I head out of town for New Years (by the way I’m going to email you about our readalong giveaway so you can announce the winner since I’ll be in the middle of the desert, camping).Also, THANK YOU for the mention! I’m happy you enjoy my blog because yours is one of my favorites<3

  3. I absolutely loved the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, such a unique series! I really want to start the obsidian series but its impossible to get the old single books and I am not a big fan of book bind ups 🙁 I also really liked Angelfall but was quite disappointed with World After…thought it got a bit too weird, and that is saying something because I love weird!!

    My End of the Year Survey

    • I totally know how you feel! I got the first book from the library and then bought the rest, and was trying to buy Obsidian to add to my collection but you can only get it bundled with the second book (which I already own)! I also dislike that they changed the covers! I will probably end up just buying the e-book because I don’t care for the bind up!

  4. Angelfall was definitely my favorite book of 2014 and now my favorite book of all time! Great post, I am debating on whether or not I should do this because I have already done a whole bunch of end of 2014 posts…

  5. I haven’t read a lot of the books on your list this year, but I agree with several of your answers. I was also disappointed with The Fault in Our stars. And I also selected Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy as one of the most vivid settings.

    It sounds like you’ve had a great first year. I hope the next is even better!

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