Hosted by Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner, I like how this survey delves into the specifics of books read and gives me a chance to review all I read and wrote this year. I did remove some of the questions that I didn’t have an answer for, so be sure to visit the original post if you’d like to complete the survey. Links to reviews where applicable. My annual overview will go live on January 2nd as I want to wait until the Cybils shortlist is announced.
2017 Reading Stats
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- Number of books read –85. No ‘smashing past my goal’ this year, but considering I had three months of grad school to manage this time around, I’m happy with this number.
- Number of re-reads – 6 (The Hobbit, Poppy by Avi, The Witches of New York, The Lord of the Rings, Every Heart a Doorway, White is for Witching)
- Genre you read the most from – This year I maintained a spreadsheet with details about each book I read, so I do have genre information! I read 16 middle grade speculative fiction novels. For curiosity’s sake, here’s the breakdown by more general ‘type’:
Best in Books
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- Best books read in 2017 – Going with personal favourites here, not necessarily ‘best books’. If I had to pick just one, I would pick Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (speculative fiction). But I read a lot of great books this year, so here are a few more top picks (in no particular order).
- The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld (literary fiction)
- When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (middle grade fantasy)
- When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore (young adult magical realism)
- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (young adult contemporary)
- Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild (non-fiction)
- Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis and Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel (non-fiction)
- You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris (non-fiction)
- Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t – Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust. I thought the cover was striking and the story appealed to me, but I was bored while reading the book and skimmed a good chunk of it.
Book you ‘pushed’ the most people to read – Strangers in Their Own Land. I was blown away by what I learnt from this book and wanted other people to learn from it as well.- Favourite new author discovered – Anna-Marie McLemore
- Best book from a genre you don’t typically read – Radio Silence. This book gripped me personally, though I’m not a big fan of contemporary YA.
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book –The Break by Kathrena Vermette was unputdownable. I hadn’t expected to read it in one day.- Most likely to reread next year – Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire, as I have just reread Every Heart a Doorway and would have reread this one too if I had the time 😛
- Favourite cover – This is always a tough one! I’ll pick the first five I think of.
- Most memorable character – She’s not the most interesting, but I think about Nancy from Every Heart a Doorway a lot.
- Most beautifully written – When the Moon Was Ours
- Most thought-provoking/life changing book – Every Heart a Doorway
- Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read – I added Embassytown by China Miéville to my TBR in April 2013. That was when I last read a new-to-me Miéville novel.
- Shortest book – Tolkien at Exeter College by John Garth (64 pages)
- Longest book – The LotR aside, A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (624 pages)
- Most shocking book – The Good People.
- OTP of the year (you will go down with this ship!) – Miel and Sam in When the Moon Was Ours! I love them, and I love them together.
Favourite non-romantic relationship – Frances and Alec in Radio Silence.- Favourite book read by an author you read previously – Tie between The Good People and The Child Finder.
- Best 2017 debut – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Best world-building – Down Among the Sticks and Bones. I wanted more of the world-building cos I thought it was an excellent creepy world.
- Most fun to read – Fun is not usually an adjective I apply to my reading…Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwase was by far the most fun!
- Book that made you cry – I think I teared up a bit at Turtles All the Way Down, less so because of events in the story itself and more so because I was thinking about vlogbrothers over the past 10 years, John’s talk at NerdCon last year, etc.
- Hidden gem – I loved Tolkien in Translation, which only has 8 ratings on Goodreads.
- Most unique – Oof, I feel like I read a lot of unique books this year! I’ll go with The Child Finder, which tackles a very dark subject without making it a spectacle or a standard thriller.
- Book that made you the most mad – Strangers in Their Own Land. I learnt a lot about the logic behind people who think differently than me, and that ‘logic’ makes me very angry.
Your Bookish Life
- New favourite book blog discovered – I think I discovered Avalinah’s Books this year? (How do people keep track of this, lol).
- Favourite review on your blog – Poking through my archive, I realize I wrote a lot of reviews this past year that I’m actually happy with! My review of Gutenberg’s Fingerprint by Merilyn Simonds is one of my favourites.
- Best non-review post – I loved giving a tour of my bookshelf.
- Best moment of bookish/blogging life – I know I had a lot of great Twitter interactions this year; I love chatting with other bloggers and sharing positive reviews with authors. One of the most recent interactions was Chelsea Vowel re-tweeting my review of her book Indigenous Writes, which I really appreciated.
- Most challenging thing about blogging/reading life – Once again, maintaining a regular blogging schedule, but this time because I was in grad school.
- Post you wished got a little more love – My Talkin’ Bout Tolkien post on A Secret Vice and The Plants of Middle-Earth
- Best bookish discovery – A bookstore in Seattle called Mortlake & Co.
- Completion of challenges/goals – To be discussed in my wrapping up, looking forward post on January 2 (I think I’ve done alright!).
- Best books read in 2017 – Going with personal favourites here, not necessarily ‘best books’. If I had to pick just one, I would pick Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (speculative fiction). But I read a lot of great books this year, so here are a few more top picks (in no particular order).
Looking Ahead
- Book you are most anticipating (debut) – Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kahn
- Book you are most anticipating (sequel) – BENEATH THE SUGAR SKY OMGGGGGG by Seanan McGuire
- Book you are most anticipating (non-debut) – Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
- One book you didn’t get to in 2017 but will make a priority in 2018 –Oh look, I can quote myself from last year once again: “Don’t want to break with tradition, so I have to say Tolkien on Fairy Stories”
- One goal for your reading/blogging life –Integrating more non-review posts into my blog schedule
And that’s a wrap on 2017! Incidentally, I am once again finishing off my reading year with my beloved White is for Witching. See you all on the other side 🙂
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