Wednesday, December 28, 2016

2016 Bookish End of Year Wrap Up



Hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner



Number Of New Novels Read: 82
Number of Re-Reads: 19
Genre You Read The Most From: Unquestionably fantasy - I read very little science fiction, a handful of contemporary novels.  Possibly my next highest genre was romance.  You can see how my year went.





best-YA-books-2014

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?


This is a little harder than usual this year.  I read books that I really enjoyed, but I didn't have many stand outs.  I think I'm going to go with The Bone Knife by Intisar Khanani since it's pretty representative of my reading year - I read ALL of her books this year.



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



Definitely Spy Glass. It's the third book in Maria V. Snyder's Glass trilogy (which is a follow up to her Poison Study trilogy).  I had gotten really into this world and binge read all the books up until this one.  Spy Glass ranks with the handful of other books that have truly enraged me, and I still have not forgiven this book it's trespasses because it ruined all the great things I'd felt about all the other books and I am still not sure if I'll ever be able to pick up the next trilogy.



 3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  


My Lady Jane - I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't what I got. This book was so freaking fun and hilarious!!


 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?



No question, it's Intisar Khanani.  It's not often that I binge read an author's entire catalogue because I love their works so much!


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



Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - It's everything I'm always wanting.  It's a book featuring a minority without it being ABOUT being said minority (in this case, a gay main character).

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



Poison Study series - As much as we had an explosive break up, there's no denying this series managed to get me to binge read like crazy for a reason.

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



Thorn

11. Most memorable character of 2016?


Manchee from The Knife of Never Letting Go.  For more reasons than the obvious - he was the perfect depiction of a dog: easily distracted, fiercely loyal, and so, so innocent.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?



The Knife of Never Letting Go.  Add to this any question about what the most soul crushing/made you cry/shocking - the answer to all of those is this book.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read? 



Ready Player One - I just thought it was something else entirely!  Some sort of heavy, very serious science-fiction novel.  Note to any of non-blogging friends who try to recommend me books:  

1.  Never try to make the selling point of a book that it is NOT YA.  

2. I'm sorry, but this is YA.
3. Don't feel so ashamed for enjoying a YA novel that you repeat over and over #1 to try and cover it up.  

15. Favourite Quote from a Book You Read in 2016?


"Being good-looking and interesting and having the heavy-lidded gaze of a romantic tapir does not excuse writing a foolish book." - The Perious Life of Jade Yeo


16.Shortest & Longest Books You Read In 2016?


Ten, Nine, Eight          Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)
10 pages; 882 pages


18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

John Thornton and Margaret Hale from North and South



20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously



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21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:



Strange Library - Let's just say I've struggled with Murakami's works in the past and was pretty ready to give up.  Nafiza recommended Strange Library so I decided I would give him ONE MORE CHANCE, and I'm so glad I did because I really loved the writing of this one!


22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?



Ravi from The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo.  This maaaaay or may not have been directly impacted by picturing this everytime he appeared on the page.



24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?



Poison StudyMaria V. Snyder has managed to create a world where there are two countries - one based on a capitalist democracy, the other on communism, and I'm so used to finding the former glorified and the latter vilified that I was pleasantly surprised to see that she managed to make an argument for both systems.  Both systems in this book have big drawbacks - in the communist country, rules are strictly enforced without mercy and lives are micromanaged, but everyone has job security and a purpose, and they are rewarded based solely on their abilities - not gender or age.  In the democracy, there are beggars and homeless and the council is very slow to act on anything, often taking months even in situations that are perilously time sensitive, but the people have the freedom of choice.  It was really interesting seeing that dichotomy, and I think being fairly accurate in what the benefits and drawbacks are of each system, and it's something I've never really seen in a fantasy novel before.


25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?


My Lady Jane





27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?


The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo - This is one I would never have found on my own.  Yash recommended it for one of our reviews and I'm so, so glad she did!  This was definitely one of my favourite reads of the year and I've been recommending it ever since.




book-blogging


2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016? 

I have veered away from reviews in the last couple years - they started to take the joy out of reading for me. I did finally write a post about my favourite book of last year though!  Or you can head to my super-ragey reaction to Spy Glass, which was very cathartic after the awfulness of the book.

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

Downside to having such a big reading/writing drought the past six months is that I have little to no discussion posts.  I think I had a grand total of one this year?  Be aware though, spoilers for The Knife of Never Letting Go are in said post.




And that's it for my 2016 book wrap up!  I won't be on the internet for the rest of the year, but I'll see you guys in the new year and look forward to reading all your year end posts!



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