End of Year Book Survey 2014

Thank you to Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner for Making The End of Year Survey again this year! This is only my second year participating in it, but I had a lot of fun last year and I know I'm going to have fun answering these questions again! :)

Here's the link to her blog post if you want to participate yourself! :)

Number of Books You Read: As of November 30th, around 55 Books, 27 Picture Books, and 123 Graphic Novels and Manga. (This is counting in re-reads.)

Number of Re-Reads: Um, I don't 100% know? Around 10 of the Books were probably re-reads and about half the Graphic Novels.

Genre You Read the Most From: I think Contemporary, with Fantasy just behind it.

1. Best Book You Read in 2014?

No way am I able to list just one book! Going to narrow it down by genre and age group. ( And I'm going to list more than just one book per genre!)

Best Middle Grade Fantasy: A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd, The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson, The Only Thing Worse Than Witches by Lauren Magaziner, Moonkind by Sarah Prineas, Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George, and Ever After High: A Wonderlandiful World by Shannon Hale.

Best Middle Grade Contemporary: I Heart Band by Michelle Schusterman, How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating, Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood by Varsha Bajaj, and At Your Service by Jen Malone.

Best Middle Grade Historical: Ship of Dolls by Shirley Parenteau and The Horse From the Sea by Victoria Holmes.

Best Middle Grade Graphic Novel: Odd Duck by Cecil Castellucci, Owly Vol. 1 by Andy Runton, Superman Family Adventures by Art Baltazar and Franco, and Knights of the Lunch Table Vol. 1 by Frank Cammuso.

Best YA Contemporary: Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn, Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg, and The Finnish Line by Linda Gerber.

Best YA Historical: The Ornament Tree by Jean Thesman

Best YA Graphic Novel: Kimi Ni Todoke Vol. 19 by Karuho Shiina, Otomen Vol. 10 by Aya Kanno, and Strobe Edge Vol. 10 by Io Sakisaka.

Best Picture Book: I Am Otter by Sam Garton, Mix It Up by Herve Tullet, and The Pigeon Needs a Bath by Mo Willems.

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going to Love More But Didn't?
To be honest, the newest Amulet book. It's not that I didn't like it, I did. But I think I had my hopes up too high for it, and I was a little let down by it.

3. Most Surprising Book (In a Good or Bad Way) That You Read in 2014?

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson was a very pleasant surprise for me! I didn't think I would like it that much (It just didn't sound like what I normally read.), but it ended up being one of my favorite books this year! :)

4. Book You "Pushed" the Most People to Read (And They  Did) in 2014?

I pushed a lot of books at people this year (Honestly, most of the books listed in the first answer fits this.). But the one I think I actually got people to read the most was the wonderful A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd! :)

5. Best Series You Started in 2014? Best Sequel in 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

Best series I started: The Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend series by Katie Finn

Best sequel in 2014: Thursdays With the Crown (Castle Glower #3) by Jessica Day George

Best series ender: Moonkind (Winterling #3) by Sarah Prineas

6. Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2014?

This is almost impossible to narrow down to just one, but I did a TTT post about this about a week ago, and all of those authors are now favorites! :)

7. Best Book From a Genre You Don't Typically Read/Was Out of Your Comfort Zone?

Probably The Mark of the Dragonfly! I listed it in Fantasy, but I read that most people think of it as steampunk, which is a genre I think I have never read a book in before now.

8. Most Action-Packer/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of the Year?

The Mark of the Dragonfly. :)

9. Book You Read in 2014 That You Are Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year?

All of the favorites this year are up for re-read next year, but I think A Snicker of Magic is the first one I'm going to re-read! :)

10. Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2014?

The Glass Sentence has a very neat looking cover, (That's what made me get it from the library in the first place!) but I don't think it comes across as well online as it does in person. (You all need to get it and see it in person!)

Two more that I like a lot are The Only Thing Worse Than Witches! I love how bright it is! :)

And Crushes, Codas, and Corsages, the 4th I heart Band book! I love how everything on the cover has to do with the book, down to the littlest thing! :)

11. Most Memorable Character From 2014?

Madeline Hatter from Ever After High is who I thought of first when I read this question! :)

12. Most Beautifully Written Book Read in 2014?

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd. :)

13. Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book Read in 2014?

I'm not able to think of an answer to this question.

14. Book You Can't Believe You Waited UNTIL 2014 to Read?

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote You Read From a Book in 2014?
My favorite quote this year is from A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd! I knew when I read this question it would be a quote from this book, I just didn't know what one. I decided on this one. :)

16. Shortest and Longest Book You Read in 2014?

According to Goodreads: Shortest: Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games, 64 pages.

Longest: The Glass Sentence, 493 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You the Most?
Because of the ending, Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn! :)

18. OTP of The Year?

Probably Macallan and Levi from Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg!

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?

I love the family relationships I read this year! Ana's family in How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating and Celie's in Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George were both favorites! And one of my absolute favorite friendships is the one in the Kimi Ni Todoke GN's by Karuho Shiina, which I think just gets stronger every book! :)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From an Author You've Read Previously?

Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George! Love it!

21. Best Book You Read in 2014 Based SOLELY on a Recommendation From Somebody Else/ Peer Pressure?

Hmm, I tend to not read books based on just a recommendation (I usually have to already have an interest in it.), but because Summer from Blue Sky Bookshelf recommended me All-American Girl by Meg Cabot (My first YA Meg Cabot book.), I tried it and really enjoyed it! :)

22. Newest Fictional Crush From a Book You Read in 2014?

Josh from Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend by Katie Finn! :)

23. Best 2014 Debut You Read?

Just one?! Hmm, I don't think I'm able to just list one... Here are a few (Alright, more than a few.) that I love! (By the way, a few of the books below authors have written Picture Books before Middle Grade, but I'm listing them anyway because they are debut MG books.)

How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied by Jess Keating, I Heart Band by Michelle Schusterman, Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood by Varsha Bajaj, At Your Service by Jen Malone, Ship of Dolls by Shirley Parenteau, The Only Thing Worse Than Witches by Lauren Magaziner, and A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd! :)

24. Best World-Building/Most Vivid Setting You Read in 2014?

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove had a fascinating world, and even though I had a hard time understanding how everything in that world works, I enjoyed it a lot and found it very interesting! :)

25. Book That Put a Smile on You Face/Was the Most FUN to Read?

A Snicker of Magic had me smiling throughout it (It's just one of those books that make you feel good while reading it!) and Broken Hearts, Fences, and Other Things to Mend was one of the most fun books to read! :)

26. Book That Made You Cry or Nearly Cry in 2014?

I'm not able to think of it right now.

27. Hidden Gem of the Year?

I was all prepared to list a bunch of books for this question (You're surprised, right?), But I decided to focus on a book that I truly had never heard of at all before I found it at the library, that was a very good book. Ship of Dolls by Shirley Parenteau was an interesting Historical book that was about something that I had never read about in books before, and it was just a good book in general. It's definitely a hidden gem that I would love if more people knew about! (And a lot of other books I read this year were hidden gems, too. Most of the ones I listed above. (; )

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Didn't read one.

29. Most Unique Book You Read in 2014?

The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove.

30. Book That Made You the Most Mad (Doesn't Necessarily Mean You Didn't like It)?

Possibly the newest Amulet GN.

1. New Favorite Book Blog You Discovered in 2014?

I'm having trouble thinking of a new blog I discovered this year, I think most of the ones I read are ones discovered before this year. Hmm, need to look for more blogs to follow next year!

2. Favorite Review That You Wrote in 2014?

My review of A Snicker of Magic is one of my favorites, just because I loved that book a lot and think I got across in the review just how much I loved it! :)

3. Best Discussion/Non-Review Post You Had on Your Blog?

I'm going to list a few that I was very happy with this year! :) I'm very happy about the first author (With the wonderful Jess Keating!) interview I did this year! And the Books to Read in Honor of the Winter Olympics post! And having two bloggers write paragraphs for this post was fun! And this TTT I participated in was one of my favorites! And my favorite discussion post was this one, because I felt that this was one I had a lot to write about. :)

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I always have a lot of fun with Top Ten Tuesday posts! :)

5. Best Moment of Book/blogging life in 2014?

Ohhh, just one?! Umm, I got to have a lot of good blogging moments this year! Like because of my blog getting to talk and get to know a lot of wonderful bloggers and authors. And getting to do my first author interview. And participating in events online. And more that I'm not going to list because this post is already longer than it's supposed to be and I'm not even done yet... ;)

7. Most Popular Post This Year on Your Blog (Whether It Be By Comments or Views)?

By views, 2015 Books I'm Looking Forward To got a lot of views! :)

8. Post You Wished Got a Little More Love?

Um, I'm pretty happy with how many views each post got. :)

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

I know I have an answer to this question but my mind isn't thinking of it right now...

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

I always set a goal of at least 12 Books, 12 Graphic Novels, and 12 Picture Books. I beat those this year! :) I did participate in a few challenges and failed at keeping up with them all...

1. One Book You Didn't Get to in 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?

Way too many to just list one.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating in 2015 (Non-Debut)?

Before I begin listing a lot of books, I'm just going to link to this TTT post I did to keep it from getting too long. ;)

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Again, no way am I able to just list one. These are just a handful of debuts I'm anticipating. (If I listed all of them this would a post by itself.) (And I know there's a TTT in January for this topic and I'm probably going to list waaay more than ten.)

Valiant by Sarah McGuire, Lock & Mori by Heather Petty, The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall, Breaking the Ice by Gail Nall, and The Boy Next Door by Katie Van Ark!

4. Series Ending/a Sequel You Are Most Anticipating In 2015?

The Penderwicks in Spring (New Penderwicks book!!!!!!!) by Jeanne Birdsall, How to Outswim a Shark Without a Snorkel by Jess Keating, and Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold by Katie Finn are my top three! (Bonus: Am also looking forward to The Golden Specific by S. E. Grove!) :)

5; One Thing You Hope to Accomplish or Do In Your Book/Blogging Life in 2015?

I'm hoping to do more author interviews next year (Getting the courage to email authors and ask is hard!), but I'm also hoping to just keep having fun with blogging and enjoy it all! :)

6. A 2015 Release You've Already Read and Recommended to Everyone?

I haven't read any 2015 books yet. :)

Thank you again to Jamie for doing the Year End Survey again this year! :)

What were your favorite books this year? :)