6th Annual End of Year Bookish Survey

Once again I’m linking up with Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner for her awesome End Of Year book survey! Where book titles are hypelinked, they link to my reviews 🙂

Number Of Books You Read: 61!

Number of Re-Reads: I don’t think I re-read any books this year. I’m not so big into that.

Genre You Read The Most From: Do you guys keep painstaking record of this? Because I don’t. But just by scanning through my GoodReads I think it’s contemporary. Probably a mix of YA and adult. Closely followed by non-fiction.

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

A Man of Good Hope by Jonny Steinberg – this one was just head and shoulders above everything else I read. It’s like a literary epic, even though it is actually non-fiction and written entirely from interviewing one refugee.

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

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein – I loved Code Name Verity (even though it broke my heart) and by comparison, BDWR just wasn’t as well rounded. I still got a pretty cool review out of it, if you ask me.

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

Lactivism by Courtney Jung – I fully expected to disagree with everything in this book and it ended up opening my eyes up a lot. Not just in terms of breastfeeding, but also in terms of research and facts in the medical world.

 4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Patient Will See You Now by Eric Topol – I actually read this in December 2014 but I was pushing it on people regularly. As for a book actually read in 2015, it would have to be A Man Of Good Hope.

 5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Series started: Undertow by Michael Buckley – oh my freak this was freaking amazing!

Sequel: It wasn’t published in 2015, but Death of a Saint by Lily Herne – sequel to the South African YA zombie-novel Deadlands, which I read aaaaages ago.

Series-ender: I didn’t read any series enders this year, but I’m sure it would have been Winter by Marissa Meyer!!!

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

This is kind of unfair buuuuut I’ll go for Renee Ahdieh (The Wrath and the Dawn).

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

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen – it’s Middle Grade Fantasy, which I rarely if ever read. I thought it was lovely and a little dark and delicious.

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

NEED by Joelle Charbonneau – I think the best description for this would be a tech-thriller. Anyway, I found it to be super suspenseful.

 9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Oh, uhm, I really kind of don’t re-read books. Maybe The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson because I found everything so interesting but I’ve forgotten many of the facts.

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

Gosh, I have to say that there weren’t really any covers that knocked my socks off. But UnCommon Bodies, an anthology P.K. Tyler et al was freaky enough to impress me.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Clariel from Clariel by Garth Nix. I loved her because she was so… real. She was fallible, and sometimes annoying, and made ridiculously bad choices; oh and also this isn’t really marketed but she is the first real asexual character I’ve read, although sexuality is not at all the focus of the book. Yay Clariel!

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

Hands down The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. She might become one of my few auto-buy authors.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

My Year of Running Dangerously by Tom Foreman – it was the book that had me signing up for the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, so…

Via Foreman’s Twitter Feed @TomForemanCNN

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

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson – I was so worried that the book had been over-hyped, but it really is wonderful.

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015?

“I need an alphabet of endings ripped out of books, of hands pulled off of clocks, of cold stones, of shoes filled with nothing but wind.” The Sky is Everywhere

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Shortest: For The Right To Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story by Rebecca Langston-George at 42 pages. It’s a picture book!

Longest: Jonas Salk: A Life by Charlotte DeCroes Jacobs at 576 pages.

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

 

White Cat by Holly Black – the ending, where Cassel’s mom admits to DOING THE THING just had me like… whattttttttt!!

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

Shahrzad and Khalid from The Wrath of the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. I don’t care what anyone says. I think they’re so cute.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Mercedes and Angela from Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn. I just love how they accept each other despite being so vastly different.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Suicide Med by Freida McFadden – I named it the best med-school fiction I’ve ever read.

21. Best Book You Read In 2015That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

The Lumikki Andersson series by Salla Simukka, which wasn’t directly recommended to me but I saw Cait’s review so I’ll call it a recommendation.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

I’m still trying to get over the crush I got on Cinder in 2014. I guess this year it might be Sarah, Lennie’s best friend in The Sky is Everywhere. She seems awesome, y’know?

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

I really enjoyed Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon – its unique typeface and multi-media approach; and also the interesting and diverse characters.

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

The Martian by Andy Weir – it felt like I could really experience the dusty landscape and the interior of the hub, and all that.

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

My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp – it’s just so full of mischief!

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

The Milk of Birds by Sylvia Whitman – it caught me completely unawares, but I found myself crying softly. I rarely cry for books.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Finders Weepers by Penny Lorrimer – only three people on GoodReads have read this and I can understand why: it has hardly had any marketing at all! It is a really thrilling South African suspense and I wish more people would read it.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell – uggggh I was just so sad for young teenagers grappling with an issue that doctors around the world can’t even reach a consensus upon.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

Probably The Sky is Everywhere because of the random poems inserted throughout the book. Also the blue colour of the pages. Also the fact that the MC plays the Clarinet!

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Another Day by David Levithan – he did warn us that it wasn’t a sequel but uggggh I wanted a sequel damnit!

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?  

Read and Seek! The lovely blogger is Nihaad, a fellow South African. I love her blog, I love her reviews, and I love that I get to interact with a South African bookworm who actually INTERACTS with her readers. 🙂

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?  

Go Set A Watchman: A Review Set In A Parallel Universe – I was really quite chuffed with this one, but I didn’t get much response to it, boo 😦

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

This Top Ten Tuesday about #bookwormproblems.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?  

Ninja Bookswaps! I feel the need to apologise to my partners who are forever receiving their parcels late because South African shipping is sooooo sloooooow. But I have met so many awesome people through this!

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2015?

Oh, when I went to New York I finally visited Strand Books!!! It was the most amazing bookish time of my LIFE.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Ag, I think just learning to balance the working life, and the need to stay active, and involved in friendships and family, and still find time to read… that was hard. Because if I’m not careful I will sacrifice anything to read, and that’s not healthy at all. And also, now that I’m earning an income, it’s a challenge not to buy every book I see.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?  

Ten Books For Readers Who Like… The World

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?  

This infographic-review I made for Black Dove, White Raven.

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

Reader’s Warehouse! Kind of like the South African version of The Book Depository.

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

I aimed to read 30 books this year, and I read 61, so that was cool. I didn’t have any more written-down goals though. But I did aim to push more books on people and that I did. 😛

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2016?    

Winter by Marissa Meyer!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2016 (non-debut)?  

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury – I read an excerpt of this on NetGalley and I’m obsessed with it now! I need it!!!!

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?    

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (perhaps I should read the original first??)

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2016?  

The Rose and The Dagger by Renee Ahdieh!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2016?  

Just find a balance, I guess. Sometimes this year I really used blogging and reading as a cave, and I don’t want that.

6. A 2016 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn – I think it encourages a lot of positive dialogue, even if the reader doesn’t like or agree with Mercedes!

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Phew! What a year for reading. How was yours?