2016 End of the Year Book Survey

What a crazy year this has been! Adding a baby to our family made it trickier to sit down with a book, but I still read some great ones. I’m ready for 2017, but first it’s time to take a bookish survey. I love these because they make me think about all the books I've read over the past 12 months.  

Two trends I saw in the books I read. One was fantastic descriptions of food (Relish, Sweetbitter, and Kitchens of the Great Midwest). The other was rotating perspective (Underground Railroad, Commonwealth, Did You Ever Have a Familiy). It’s always interesting when you see trends, because those books become linked in your mind.

Any books I reread this year are not eligible for this list. It was fun to reread a few favorites this year, like The Night Circus and some of the Narnia series. I didn’t count the piles upon piles of children’s books I read in this list. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there are two or three that really fit perfectly.

Number of Books You Read: 125
Number of Re-Reads: 10

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?

Classics — The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Germinal, Our Mutual Friend
Historical Fiction — The Underground Railroad
Mystery —The Trespasser 
Literary Fiction — Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Nonfiction — When Breath Becomes Air, The View from the Cheap Seats, Alexander Hamilton
Fantasy —The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear
Play — The Miracle Worker
Science Fiction — Dark Matter  
YA — Pippi Longstocking, The Selection series
Graphic Novel — Relish 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? My Brilliant Friend, I think it was just way over-hyped. Lila by Marilynne Robinson, I really enjoyed Gilead and this is a parallel novel, but it didn’t work for me. 
 

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? The Selection, I thought it would be total fluff (mainly because of the cover), but I really enjoyed it! I liked that it focused on the political structure more than just the reality-show-style competition. 

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read? The Kingkiller Chronicles 

5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016? The Name of the Wind / Thrice Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d / The One (Kiera Cass) 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016? Noah Hawley (Before the Fall) 

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? The Girls from Ames 

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Dark Matter 

9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? The Name of the Wind 

 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016? Commonwealth 

11. Most memorable character of 2016?

 Étienne Lantier in Germinal and Kvothe from The Kingkiller Chronicles 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016? Our Mutual Friend and Commonwealth 

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016? The More of Less and When Breath Becomes Air 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read? Germinal, it’s been on my TBR for YEARS. I’m so thrilled I finally read it. 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

“One can learn from a glance at a person’s library, not what they are, but what they wish to be.” – Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d 

“If you would have your son to walk honorably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone.” – Tenant of Wildfell Hall 

“There's no royal road to learning; and what is life but learning!” –Our Mutual Friend

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016? We Should All Be Feminists: 65 pages / Our Mutual Friend: 880 pages 

17. Book That Shocked You The Most Before I Go to Sleep and Dark Matter 

18. One True Pairing (a couple that you ship)? Kvothe and Denna from the Kingkiller Chronicles

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year: Ove and his neighbor Parvaneh 

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From an Author You’ve Read Previously:  The Trespasser, What Alice Forgot

21. Book You Read Based SOLELY on a Recommendation from Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: The Lunar Chronicles and The Raven Boys Cycle 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016? Stefan from Along the Infinite Sea (very Casablanca) 

23. Best 2016 debut you read? The Underground Railroad 

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? The Name of the Wind and Kitchens of the Great Midwest (the best food scenes!)

 

25. Book That Put a Smile on Your Face/Was the Most FUN To Read? Notorious RBG 

26. Book That Made You Cry or Nearly Cry in 2016? A Man Called Ove, The Light Between Oceans, and The Boys in the Boat 

27. Hidden Gem of The Year? The Fox and the Star and Seven Women, I particularly loved reading about the lives of Rosa Parks and Maria Skobtsova. 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? When Breath Becomes Air and Did You Ever Have a Family 

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016? Tree of Codes 

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad? The Life We Bury

1. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? Dewey read-a-thon in October, co-hosting the Germinal and The Fireman readalongs, and the Elizabeth Strout author reading I attended. 

2. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? Litsy! It’s the best app for book lovers.

3. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? Having a baby! Reading with a kiddo in the house is definitely harder, but it’s still doable. 

4.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I finished my Reading the States challenge for fiction books.

Thanks to Perpetual Page Turner for once again hosting this survey!

2015 End of the Year Book Survey

It’s almost 2016, the perfect time to take a bookish survey. I love these because they make me think about all the books I've read over the past 12 months, especially ones I may have forgotten about from the beginning of the year. 

Any books I reread this year are not eligible for this list, but I will say that this was a big rereading year for me. Being pregnant made reading more difficult because I was so tired! I found myself returning to old favorites like Lord of the Rings, Rebecca, Emma, the Harry Potter series, Empire Falls and others. It was such a treat. I also don’t limit myself to one book per answer if there are two or three that really fit perfectly.

Number of Books You Read: 164 
Number of Pages You Read: 53,043
Number of Re-Reads: 17 
Genre You Read The Most From: Literary Fiction  
Percentage of Female Authors: 56% 
Percentage of Library Books: 50% 
Percentage of New to Me Authors: 50% 
Percentage of Nonfiction: 28%

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?
Classics — A Girl of the Limberlost, Tess of the D'Urbervilles 
Historical Fiction — The Nightingale 
Mystery —Career of Evil, The Stepford Wives 
Literary Fiction —Go Set a Watchman 
Nonfiction — Dead Wake, Tiny Beautiful Things, and The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio 
Fantasy —The Invasion of the Tearling, Salem’s Lot 
Play — Inherit the Wind 
Science Fiction — Station Eleven 
YA — The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Pollyanna, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry 
Graphic Novel — The Marvels and Out on the Wire

2. Book You Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Master and Commander, meh, I’ve heard it gets better so I might give the next book in the series a shot. 

3. Most surprising book you read?  
Kafka on the Shore, my first Murakami book was so readable and I was expecting something much more intimidating.  

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read? 
Station Eleven and Tiny Beautiful Things, both are wonderful! 

5. Best series you started in 2015? / Best series ender? 

Erika Johansen’s Tearling series / Sisterhood Everlasting 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015? 

Jojo Moyes and Ira Levin

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read? 
I read a few pregnancy/kid books this year, definitely out of my comfort zone, but I’m Pregnant was really helpful, Why Have Kids? and Bringing Up Bébé were both really interesting as well. 

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? 
Salem’s Lot, might have put it in the freezer. 

9. Book You Read That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read in 2016? 
Station Eleven

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

 All The Light We Cannot See and As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

11. Most memorable character of 2015? 
Elnora from A Girl of the Limberlost, so fierce an intelligent, I just loved her. 

  

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015? 
Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Hardy gets me every time.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015? 
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, both made me seriously rethink the amount of stuff that is in our house. 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, can’t believe I didn’t read this when I was young.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015? 
“I was born for a storm and a calm does not suit me.” – American Lion

“There is a mystery in silence that can never be matched by mere words. Silence is power.” - As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust

“Certain phrases fascinate me with their subtle implications.” - Bonjour Tristesse

“This is why they call it the heartland. In the summer, the fields on either side of Mrs. Colonel’s house glowed a brilliant green, rippling in the wind. The air stretched above like miles of blue canvas, and Mrs. Colonel pictured a center pole rising up from Indianapolis’s Monument Circle to hold up the endless sky.” – The Circus in Winter

"When Death is as close as he was then, the sharp agony of fear is not there; the thing is too overwhelming and stunning for that." – Dead Wake

“That's how you know you love someone, I guess, when you can't experience anything without wishing the other person were there to see it, too.” – The Descendants

"As sure as time, history is repeating itself, and as sure as man is man, history is the last place he'll look for his lessons." – Got Set a Watchman

“I’m sorry if I offend you. But I don’t swear just for the hell of it. You see, I figure language is a poor enough means of communication as it is. So we ought to use all the words we’ve got. Besides, there are damned few words that everybody understands.” – Inherit the Wind

“There’s something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar.” – Medium Raw

“Monotony collapses time, novelty unfolds it.” – Moonwalking with Einstein

“People live through such pain only once. Pain comes again—but it finds a tougher surface.” – The Song of the Lark

“This world's a city full of straying streets, and death's the market-place where each one meets.” – The Two Noble Kinsmen

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse – 27 (A Flavia de Luce  Short Story) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – 870 

17. Book That Shocked You The Most? 

The Silent Land and We Were Liars 

18. One True Pairing (a couple that you ship)? 

Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott from Robert Galbraith’s series

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of The Year? 
Kelsea Raleigh Glynn and the Mace from the Tearling series

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From an Author You’ve Read Previously? 
Love and Freindship, I always love Austen, but I wasn’t expecting much from her juvenilia. Turns out it's hilarious! 

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else? 

Me Before You, I was expecting cheesy chick lit. 

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015? 
Henry from Shotgun Lovesongs (And even though it’s a reread, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings)

23. Best 2015 debut you read? 
The Nightingale, beautiful WWII story about sisters.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? 
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? 
As You Wish, a memoir about the making of The Princess Bride. 

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015? 
The Nightingale, I didn’t cry, but it was heartbreaking.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? 
The Circus in Winter, I read this because it’s set in Indiana, but I really enjoyed it! 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? 
Me Before You

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015? 
The Marvels and Kafka on the Shore, the first because it’s half text only and half graphic novel illustrations, the second because it’s Murakami and that’s all the explanation you need.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t mean you didn’t like it)?
Tess of the D'Urbervilles, I was so mad at both of the men in the book; Alec because he’s awful and Angel because he’s so hypocritical.

1. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015? 
The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. These weren’t my most popular reviews, but I loved reviewing them! They were rereads and I never reviewed them the first time around. 

2. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? 
A Day in the Life and Baby Registries 

3. Best bookish event that you participated in? 
I loved co-hosting the Salem’s Lot readalong and participating in the spring and fall Dewey Readathons. 

4. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? 
Being pregnant! It's been hard to concentrate on certain books and harder to get reviews written because I was so tired. 

5. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? 
LibraryThing finally has an app! 

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

I completed the Back to the Classics Challenge and the TBR Challenge. I also knocked some books off my lists for the Classics Club, Reading the States, and my Shakespeare Project. 

With a newborn baby due in January I'm not tackling any challenges next year. My plan is just to read whatever I want whenever I can! It will probably be a very different reading year (with a lot more children's books), but that's ok!