2012 End of Year Book Survey
The End of Year Book Survey is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner. Go here to link up your own answers!
Because it would take me a long time to link up to all these books in each answer, I have refrained from linking for the most part. But if you’re interested in my reviews, you can find them on my Review Archive page!
Best In Books 2012
1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)
Cinder by Marissa Meyer, hands down. I called it in February that it was going to be my favorite book of the year, and it is!
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Insurgent by Veronica Roth. I LOVED Divergent and I was so excited for this book. I enjoyed it, but I was disappointed with it as well. I hope that book 3 will erase my disappointments.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. I have never really enjoyed biographies, but this book was fantastic!
4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
Well, I think The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer is going to be one of my favorites, but there are other series that I have started that seem to be really great as well, like the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, The Taking series by Melissa West, the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver, the Unbound series by Eve Marie Mont, the Heist Society series by Ally Carter, and the Crewel World series by Gennifer Albin.
6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Marissa Meyer, David Levithan, Megan McCafferty, Melina Marchetta, Lauren Oliver, I could go on and on…
Marissa Meyer, David Levithan, Megan McCafferty, Melina Marchetta, Lauren Oliver, I could go on and on…
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I also read a lot more YA Contemps this year and loved the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith.
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Yeesh, I don’t know. So many of them were thrilling and hard to put down! Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Ten by Gretchen McNeil, Gravity by Melissa West, and Crewel by Gennifer Albin were all books that I had a hard time putting down. Oh, and the same goes for my current read (at the time of writing this post): Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone.
Yeesh, I don’t know. So many of them were thrilling and hard to put down! Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Ten by Gretchen McNeil, Gravity by Melissa West, and Crewel by Gennifer Albin were all books that I had a hard time putting down. Oh, and the same goes for my current read (at the time of writing this post): Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone.
9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I’m starting to sound like a broken record, I know, but it’s SO GOOD!). I’ll want to re-read it before reading Scarlet.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (I’m starting to sound like a broken record, I know, but it’s SO GOOD!). I’ll want to re-read it before reading Scarlet.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?
What’s Left of Me by Kat Zhang and Timepiece by Myra McEntire. I love the Hourglass series covers so much, but the What’s Left of Me cover just blows me away!
11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Linh Cinder & Iko from Cinder by Marissa Meyer
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan. Also The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan. Also The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Hmm, I guess maybe Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, since it’s a biography and Louis Zamperini went through some major shiz!
Hmm, I guess maybe Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, since it’s a biography and Louis Zamperini went through some major shiz!
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
The His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. Also Delirium by Lauren Oliver.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
Oh, jeez, there’s no way I can pick just one. Wait… maybe this one:
“The key to a successful relationship isn’t just in the words, it’s in the choice of punctuation. When you’re in love with someone, a well-placed question mark can be the difference between bliss and disaster, and a deeply respected period or a cleverly inserted ellipsis can prevent all kinds of exclamations.” (From The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan)
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012?
I’m going by the Goodreads page numbers here, but they’re not always completely accurate so hopefully this is right:
Shortest: Temptress by Lola Dodge (114 pages)
Longest: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (776 pages) But that’s not completely correct, because there were lots of reference pages and stuff like that in that book, but it was still the longest one I read.
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
I can’t remember specific scenes right now, but I read a few books this year that I fangirled about to myself (meaning I was talking to myself out loud about how awesome the book was), including Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, Gravity by Melissa West, Crewel by Gennifer Albin and Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone. I’d love to talk to anyone about any of those books! 18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
Jessica Darling and Marcus Flutie!!!
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, A Million Suns by Beth Revis, and Timepiece by Myra McEntire
20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It was a book club pick, so I guess that counts as someone recommending it to me?
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It was a book club pick, so I guess that counts as someone recommending it to me?
Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012?
Pretty much all of them, because I just started my book blog in January of this year. But I guess I’ll have to say The Daily Bookmark if I just have to pick one. :D
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012?
This is a hard one, because I can’t really remember a lot of what I wrote in my reviews, but I know I liked the one for Cinder by Marissa Meyer, the one for Divergent by Veronica Roth, the one for Gravity by Melissa West and the one for Crewel by Gennifer Albin. But I liked a lot of them! ;)
3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
We had a lot of great discussions for our Catch Wither Fever Readalong and our His Dark Materials Readalong. You can go here for all the posts for the Catch Wither Fever Readalong and here for all the posts on the His Dark Materials Readalong.
We had a lot of great discussions for our Catch Wither Fever Readalong and our His Dark Materials Readalong. You can go here for all the posts for the Catch Wither Fever Readalong and here for all the posts on the His Dark Materials Readalong.
4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
Wow, I don’t know. I commented on so many posts and I know there were some great discussions out there, but I can’t remember any! Sorry! :(
Wow, I don’t know. I commented on so many posts and I know there were some great discussions out there, but I can’t remember any! Sorry! :(
5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Austin Teen Book Fest! It was awesome! I went to an author/blogger meetup and met some fantastic authors like Tamara Ireland Stone, Jessica Khoury and Eliot Schrefer. Then I went to the festival and listened to panels with authors like Ally Carter and Libba Bray, and then I got to meet Marissa Meyer! I was totally in fangirl mode and made a complete fool of myself, but you live and learn!
I also went to the Tour de Nerdfighting where I got to meet John and Hank Green! So awesome!
6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?
Well, Austin Teen Book Fest and the Tour de Nerdfighting were definitely some of the best, but I still freak out about authors like Marissa Meyer and Scott Westerfeld replying to or retweeting my tweets! Plus I love that I’ve met so many awesome bloggers, many of whom I now consider great friends!
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Discussion: Genre Definitions has the most views. And my Vacation Reads Giveaway Hop post had the most comments, since I gave away extra entries for comments.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
I’m not really sure about this one. Lots of my posts had low views, but I can’t think of a specific one that I really wish more people had read…
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Half Price Books! That place is awesome!
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes, I achieved all but one. I completed the 15,000 Page Challenge hosted by my friend Courtney at Abducted By Books, and I completed the Read Me Baby, One More Time Challenge hosted by my friend Kate at Midnight Book Girl. I didn’t meet my goal of 80 books for the Goodreads Reading Challenge, but I know I’m a slow reader and now that I’m taking notes on each book, plus reviewing each book and writing other posts, my total book count just wasn’t as high as previous years. You can see my progress of these challenges on my Reading Challenges page, and I’ll also have a post up soon about the challenges I’ll be participating in in 2013!
Looking Ahead…
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?
Spark by Amy Kathleen Ryan. I LOVED Glow when I read it last year, but I just never got around to Spark. I will definitely read it next year, though!
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Surprise, surprise, right?
3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?
I really want to go to BEA next year! It’s still looking like a possibility, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
Whew! If you read all of that, you’re awesome! Leave me a link to your blog if you also answered the survey, and I’ll stop by!
Related Posts
Camilla P
December 24, 2012 at 7:49 amWell, you surely did like "Cinder" :D
Merry Christmas!
fakesteph
December 24, 2012 at 1:41 pmCinder is fantastic and I also love the cover for What's Left of Me! I hope you are able to attend BEA. It was awesome and I'm crossing my fingers that I can go again this year.
Brandi Kosiner
December 24, 2012 at 5:49 pmI need to check out Cinder and Unbroken.
Happy reading and have a happy holidays and Merry Christmas!
Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
pagesunbound
December 25, 2012 at 4:43 amI also really loved Cinder. That is the problem with having a favorite book. It wins the "best of" EVERYTHING! :p
I also agree that Insurgent is good, but not as good as Divergent.
Jessie Marie
December 26, 2012 at 3:58 pmCinder. Cinder. Cinder. Yep, I think you liked that one! : ) And for the best of reasons, too.
I hope we all make it to BEA this year – should be an amazing time. Cheers to 2013 being even better!
Kimberly @ On the Wings of Books
December 27, 2012 at 2:03 pmI'm totally not surprised that you picked Cinder as your best read this year. ;)
I had such a great time at BEA last year. I hope you're able to go and experience all the awesomeness, I'm just bummed I won't be able to go too.
Bittner
December 28, 2012 at 10:34 pmLove the David Levithan quote…obviously…it is one of my favorites too!
You may already know this, but I think I heard on E the other day that Unbroken will be made into a movie and Angelina Jolie is supposed to be directing it.