I am so excited to be doing this from Jamie who I have been an avid follower on Twitter and Instagram! However, I first saw this tag from ChrissiReads. This wrap up is definitely a challenge…so I have taken a bit too long to do it, but here I am! Also if I reviewed the book, I link the review as well! So let’s begin shall we?
General End of the Year Goodness (from goodreads)
Number Of Books You Read: 80 (Pages: 26,120 and average length of 331 pages)
Number of Re-Reads: 1 (by accident)
Genre You Read The Most From: For a second I thought it would be really close, but as you can see below, not even.
I am, at my core, a science fiction lover, but, as you can see, throw me something else and I’ll jump in! I naturally gravitate towards female authors. When I was growing up, that was the only way to see protagonists like me. Apparently, this tendency is still alive and kicking.
18/80 Diverse books – 22.5%
This makes me pretty sad, but it was also hard to define. When I was looking through and having to pick yes or no, I was thinking what is diverse exactly? I wanted to say that having a female protagonist was diverse, but it didn’t really cut it. But please tell me below your definition! I am going to read more diverse books next year, I promise!!
And finally, how was my year in reviews? I was pretty lenient this year, but next year I vow to be more critical. Of all the books I read, the most popular is The Fellowship of the Ring and the highest rated is The Martian. Not mean hearted, but to really showcase the negative as well. Before I was new, but I’m not as new anymore!
Best Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2016?
Oh wow, this is difficult…I have to say Human Acts by Han Kang. It was totally surprising, but it is part of a genre I want to read more of and a desire to read more diverse books. Because of that, and it being totally gorgeous writing, it wins for me!
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
I think this has to be The Guardian. It was a let down for me because it had so much potential!
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is by far the most surprising good book I read this year.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Well I really highly recommended The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and the only one I know to read any of the books I recommended, was my mom (who did read that). So it was successful in that respect! I don’t know of any other books I have succeeded with…
5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?
The best series I started was The Palest Ink and did not even know it was a series. The best sequel has to be The Two Towers which is kind of cheating since I am not done with it. I am listening to it as an audio book and am over halfway, but not done yet. Having not finished any series this year, I am afraid I have none.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?
My favorite author, and I am very biased, because it was one of the last I read, has got to be Han Kang. It’s not just me who likes her because her novel, The Vegetarian (which was on my wishlist) was listed as one of the bestbooks of 2016.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
I read The Girl Before, which is a thriller and I do not normally read those types of books. I ended up really enjoying it, especially the smart house aspect. A review in January, pretty soon, is coming!
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
I couldn’t put down Invisible Planets because when you read short stories, I always think, “just one more” and then I am finished. Also the subject matter was totally new to me, so each story was really fascinating.
9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
I really want to read The Animators again next year. I said that in my review, but it is totally true. I feel like a lot of things passed me by that would catch my interest again.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?
The Palest Ink is beautiful and I photographed it with yellow rose petals and that made it even more vibrant. Human Acts is a close second. They are both yellow covers surprisingly!
11. Most memorable character of 2016?
One of the most memorable characters was from The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden, but all of those characters were wacky and memorable.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?
Life in the Time of Cholera by far. It made me want to be a better writer and the words were so exquisite.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?
This is really hard to say, but I think that the most thought provoking book was The High Mountains of Portugal. I would not say it was life-changing, but it made my Top of 2016!
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?
The Liar. I got it for a gift in 2015 and I cannot believe I didn’t read it beforehand.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?
This is so hard, because I only started including quotes in my reviews. What stuck with me, and basically made me cry on the subway, was the quote from The Unlikely Pilgrimage where one of the side characters said “I should have raged” and it’s about his wife who died and how he wished they had fought her ending of life, from a terminal disease, together.
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?
The shortest book was Sexing the Cherry and the longest was The Valley of Amazement which is so surprising. That book did not feel that long! I have read ones since then that seemed much longer.
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
I guess Blindness really shocked me. I read it before I started this site, but it is about a weird epidemic where people are spontaneously becoming blind and society sort of breaks down. It was totally fascinating and what happens to the people, psychologically, was both shocking, but also really telling about humanity at its worst.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
I was familiar with this term, but have really never used it in a serious context. I guess I would have to say Soli and Checo from Lucky Boy because her relationship with him is so pure, but also so loving. I just finished it, but a review will not be posted until January, so stay tuned!
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Definitely the relationship in Oathbound. Their relationship is how I want all my friends to be like.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Heart Goes Last. I am a huge Atwood fan and my fandom does not end with this book. It reminded me so much of her other works, but was still wildly original.
21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
Virtual Girl I read it because I was looking for ideas for thesis books and someone wrote about it. Based on it, I had to pick it up. Next year I will have so many in this category because Bookstagram has some series peer pressure 😛
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?
I have a serious lady crush on Scarlet from A Study on Scarlet Women. She is strong, intelligent, and so clever. I figured I would love her because she is basically like a better female version of Sherlock Holmes.
23. Best 2016 debut you read?
The Mortifications was also one of those books that was really surprising. I was expecting nothing special really, but I was so surprised!
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
I wouldn’t say that the setting in The River at Night, which I will review in January, is the most unusual. But you can feel that the setting and isolation of nature is a character in and of itself. You would expect a science fiction or fantasy book to take this place, but you could feel the nature breathing down your neck.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Fun? Oathbound because it was like listening to a playlist of all my favorite bad ass female singers.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?
Most recently one of the deaths in The Palest Ink, if you’ve read it you know which one, almost made me cry going to work.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Oh gosh, there are so many of these hidden gems. Basically all of my favorite books from 2016 win this prize. I cannot pick, it is impossible.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
I gotta say that the death from The Palest Ink crushed my soul. I knew it was coming, and it had to happen, but still. It made me so sad and mad at the world.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?
Unique? The White Queen hands down. The plot and the characters were very different from even the science fiction I normally read.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
The Light of the Fireflies Come on people, if you would just tell the truth and deal with your problems! It does not have to be that way.
Book Blogging
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2016?
I discovered so many. I really love Two Book Thieves and Foxes Fairy Tales! And of course, Jamie 🙂
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?
I really loved writing the Love in the Time of Cholera review, because I could take all that creative energy from the book and put it somewhere!
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
I think that my top books of 2016 was the most fun to write
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I participated in two instagram challenges #decemberglee16 and #bookishfavorites16 and really loved participating in both (links to photos here).
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?
I think my best moment was receiving 10 comments on my Top Ten Tuesday Post for books on my Christmas wish list. I became a book blogger because I loved talking about books and that much interaction made my year. My ideal goal is to have a community here where we can talk about books we like and find new ones together.
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
Trying to balance book blogging and my real life. I just got a job and I love what I do here. It was hard not to work all the time and to do fun things. I struggle with this every day.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
My Top Ten Tuesday post won the comment category!
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
This is tricky. I wish my review on Love in the Time of Cholera got more love. It is such a good book and I wish more people would discover it.
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
Finding the Top Ten Tuesday as well as this Comment Challenge has been really great sources of inspiration and motivation. Also tags like this!
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes I completed my Goodreads challenge and also my personal blog milestones!
Looking Ahead…
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?
I will read All the Light We Cannot See if that is the only book that I read.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?
I really want to read a Brandon Sanderson novel. They are so hyped up and I already even have Mistborn!
3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
I am really looking forward to The Hidden Memory of Objects. The premise is so unique and I want to get my hands on it.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?
Okay, I confess, I don’t have one! A lot of the books on my to read list are stand alones or the beginning of series!
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?
I hope to do a blog giveaway and to accumulate more readers here! My goal for next year is 100 followers here, which is pretty lofty I think, but who knows! I also want to increase my twitter following because I tweet a lot! Instagram has been really booming, so I am so pleased with that!
6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
The Bear and the Nightingale. It was a fabulous fantasy book with such a great main character. Look for it. I also really enjoyed how invested I became in the characters in Lucky Boy
Other’s Annual End of the Year Survey’s To Read!
Phew, that was long. Now I’m done! 2016 flew by, really. I finished my thesis, got married, lot of exciting things.
What is the best thing that happened to you this year?
If you like what you see, I would encourage you to subscribe!!
Looks like you had a great year of reading. I love what you did with your graphic for genres. I find myself just kind of guessing when it comes to figuring out what genre I read the most in a given year. I have Gabriel Marcía Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude on my shelf, but haven’t read it yet. I’m going to check out your review of Love in the Time of Cholera because it sounds amazing. Hope your 2017 is amazing. Have a happy New Year!
I did! It was my first year of blogging, so I am just getting into it, but I really enjoyed it! It was great to be able to read for fun, and not for school anymore. I went through my goodreads and wrote down the genre and I will do that 2017 too, except not the week before!! The key is little by little. I haven’t read that one of his, but it’s on my list now 🙂 You have a happy new year too! And a wonderful 2017 <3
Love this post! Looks like it was a great reading year for you I love all the graphics to breakdown your stats.
A Study in Scarlet Women sounds really interesting — another one to add to my TBR! I’m not sure how right it is, but I’ve been loosely defining diverse as PoC, LGBTQIA or disabled/ill protagonists. Occasionally something pops up that I’d include too, but those are the broad strokes I think.
Thank you! It was a very stressful year, but it was a great reading year. I hope 2017 is even better! I really enjoyed it because I have been itching for a female Sherlock forever now. Thank you for your definition 🙂 I really appreciate it!!!