Monday, 31 December 2012

End of Year Book Survey 2012

Jamie of The Perpetual Page-Turner is holding the 3rd Annual End of Year Book Survery - 2012, and I thought I would give it a go! I'd not heard of it before, but it sounds like a great idea! So without any further ado, here are my answers:

end of year book survey 2012

BEST IN BOOKS 2012

1. Best Book You Read In 2012?
The very best was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, but The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble are close seconds. All three make my top three fave books of all time. Don't make me put them in order.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jeniffer E. Smith
The Catastrophic History of You and Me by Jess Rothenberg
Hollow Pike by James Dawson
Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy MacNamara

All of these books sounded awesome, but when it actually came to reading them, I was left feeling "meh", disappointed, or plain annoyed.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
Probably The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I'm generally not a fan of historical fantasy, but it was just amazing! Such beautiful imagery! Brilliant story!

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
This is probably Storm by Brigid Kemmerer. It's just so amazing! I've even tried to get it published in the UK by emailing publishers about it, but nada unfortunately.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
The Elemental Series by Brigid Kemmerer. Oh my god, it was amazing! But so is the Divergent Series by Veronica Roth. Oooh, as was the Lila series by Sarah Alderson. Aaah! The Chemical Garden series by Lauren DeStefano!

TOO MANY!

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
There are so many, so I'll just list them. Stephen Chbosky, J.H. Trumble, Erin Morgenstern, Brigid Kemmerer, Veronica Roth, Sarah Alderson, Cynthia Hand, Lauren DeStefano. Again, too many!

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Again, probably The Night Circus. Historical fantasy. But so beautifully written, with gorgeous descriptions and imagery.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Oooh. This is between Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth (I read them one after the other so think of them almost as one story), and Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor. Oh. My. God. That series is awesome!

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky! Charlie's voice was just so unique! He's so innocent, but so smart and insightful! God, this book is just gorgeous!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy MacNamara

11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Oooh. Charlie from Perks by Stephen Chbosky. Gabriel from Spark by Brigid Kemmerer - the guy is hot. Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth - so courageous, so awesome. MICAH FROM PANTOMIME BY LAURA LAM! So completely wow. Jessie from The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers - so incredibly brave.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
Aah. I keep repeating myself! But The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble. Definitely. Just the most brutally honest and eye-opening novel I've ever read, in or out of the LGBTQ genre.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
Divergent by Veronica Roth and Wither by Lauren DeStefano. SO GOOD! I should have read them much, much sooner!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Quote
From The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
The shortest is When It Snows by Richard Collingridge, but I don't know about the longest. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, maybe?

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It?
Not so much a scene, but pretty much the whole book: Pantomime by Laura Lam. I cannot wait to talk about it properly next year once it's published!

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012?
Oooh. That might be Dash and Lily from Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn by David Levithan, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson, and Harper and Jake in Saving June by Hannah Harrington.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously?
Oooooh!!! Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent! Oh my god! I am dying for the last book in the series, it's going to be epic!

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble was recommended to me by Sarah from Saz101 and author Brigid Kemmerer.

BOOK BLOGGING/READING LIFE IN 2012

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012?
Three Aussie blogs! Eleusinian Mysteries, Saz101, and Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me. They write so beautiful, yet with such enthusiasm! And they all have a very similar taste to me.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
I don't know about the best, but the most popular one was my Author/Blogger Relationships and Reviewing discussion.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
Oh, I don't know! I've read so many, and I can't remember any standouts right now, I'm afraid. Does this make me a bad blog reader?

5. Best event that you participated in?
I don't think I've really participated in many events. I took part in Fluttering Butterflies' Celebrating British Bloggers interviews.

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?
Oh, there have been lots. Mostly while reading awesome books, or opening the parcels I'm so lucky to receive and squealing at what I find inside. Or having people compliment my reviews in the comments. That's always pretty awesome!

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
I can't check for a year, but a review I posted this year is my most viewed post of all time. My review of Rapture by Lauren Kate.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
My review of The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. No comments!

9. Best bookish discovery?
That some book bloggers like being penpals too.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes I did! I completed the 2012 Dystopian Reading Challenge, the British Books Challenge 2012, the New Author Challenge 2012, and the 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge. All links and details can be found on my Challenges page. Unfortunately, I didn't complete the What's in a Name? 2012 Challenge.

As for reading goals, I tried to read 100 books this year, and failed. But I've made it to 77, which is a major improvement on 2011, where I only managed to read 57.

LOOKING AHEAD…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?
There have been a few, but I really think I should try to get to The Hunt by Andrew Fakuda. I've heard great things about it, I really should read it!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
Is it weird to say a book that I've already read? I'm looking forward to YOU reading Pantomime by Laura Lam! It's amazing, and I am SO excited to see what you all think!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?
Read even more books in 2013! Complete my 2013 challenges! Hope LGBTQ YA Month is a success! And I will see when it comes to whatever else.

8 comments:

  1. I love that quote! But I still haven't read The Perks of Being a Wallflower... I must read it in 2013! I also loved The Night Circus and Insurgent -- two simply amazing books! I must check out that book pen pal scheme now..! Here's my
    End of Year Book Survey... :)
    ~ Ruby @ http://feedmebooksnow.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Ruby! Oh, you must read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, it's just amazing! The Night Circus and Insurgent were both so fantastic! It would be so awesome if you signed up to Book Blogger Penals! :)
      Shall check out your survey now :)

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  2. Storm! I read that a few months ago and I really enjoyed it. I haven't gotten around to the sequel yet, but I am totally into the characters and I hope I can read it soon.

    Brodie and Sarah are such awesome bloggers! :)

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Happy New Year to you, too!

      Storm and the sequel are awesome! And Brodie and Sarah are just brilliant! :)

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  3. "Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012? Don't Let Me Go by J.H. Trumble." JO. YES YES YES. SO MUCH YES.
    DLMG had such a HUGE impact on me. It made me cry and think, and, most importnatly, change. I think it's a rare, and important, book that does that.

    AND OH NOES! I'm sorry you didn't love Catastrophic History. It's so funny. It's one of my favorite books of 2012, and I gave it 5 stars (I wonder if I still would if I read it right now?) but... I think it was one of those right time, right place books, if you know what I mean? I read it straight after Saving June which had a HUGE impact on me, and I think it was the perfect blend of happy/sad to follow it and keep me in love with reading and... it's strange. I know I had a very emotional reaction to it, as opposed to intellectual, where as a lot of the others books I read and ADORED in 2012 were more intellectual ones. DLMG was more of an intellectual 'WOW' for me, but... huh. I can't think properly. It's 2:02 in the morning and I'm running on energy drinks alone :P

    I wasn't sure about my longest/shortest, either, so I checked Goodreads and felt very chuffed for recording all my books ^__^

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    1. Don't Let Me Go was just so unbelievably incredible. I am in just such awe of Trumble for writing that book. She is amazing. CHANGE! So true!

      Catastrophic History just wasn't what I expected. I forget her name, but I didn't like the main character. She wound me up so much. I think it was because, at the time, I was expecting a completely different story which I was really in the mood for, and that's not what I got. If I read it now, I may like it more, but I probably won't read it again because of how much I disliked it. Does that make sense?

      Oh wow, thank you for stopping by my blog at such a late time! You could have left it for another day. :)

      Oooh, Goodreads tells you which books were long and short? I didn't know that! I'll have to look and see how!

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    2. JO! DLMG = AMAZING.
      And I get EXACTLY what you about Catastrophic History. And also... what works for one reader won't always work for another. I think it's possible I could read it again and not love it half as much.

      And hahaha! I was on holidays, and I was staying up till 4am every morning. Maybe NOT so good for me, but still. AND GOOD READS STATS! YES! You can see YOURS here (go to My Books > Bottomg of left hand column, JUST above the ad, click 'stats')

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    3. Yeah, all down to mood and personal opinion.

      Wow, great holiday! :) Thank you for telling me where to find stats! Helpful, cheers! :)

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