When I did my 2018 End of Year Book Survey, I had this whole explanation for why 2018 sucked and I knew why it sucked but I didn’t want to discuss it because I was letting everyone down and felt horrible about it, etc. I still feel all those things, so I’m not going to repeat them – you can just go read that introduction here, if you want to. Not only do I not want to be repetitive with this intro, but it’s already 2020 here in NY, so I just don’t want to bring that vibe/energy into this post. With this post, I simply want to recap my 2019 blogging and reading year, and then move on, forget about it (and all of 2019, for that matter), and go forward with 2020.
This survey is hosted by the lovely Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. All questions and images belong to her! Thanks, Jamie!!
So yeah, here we go! Enjoy!
**2019 READING STATS**
Number Of Books You Read: 31
Number of Re-Reads: 1
Genre You Read The Most From: My usual science fiction/fantasy, thriller, retellings, etc.
1. Best Book You Read In 2019? These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling. I’m SUPER HYPED for the sequel, coming out in June.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? Tarot by Marissa Kennerson
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? Again, but Better by Christine Riccio. I haven’t formally reviewed it (I meant to, but 2019 was meh and I forgot), but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, and really related to it.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? As a bookseller, I pushed too many books to count, haha
5. Best series you started in 2019? These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
Best Sequel of 2019? A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney. LOVED LOVED LOVED. CANNOT WAIT FOR BOOK THREE!!! I haven’t reviewed it yet (man, I suck. I REALLY need to catch up on reviews…), BUT I did participate in the blog tour and shared my favorite quotes from the book. You can check that out here!
Best Series Ender of 2019? Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh. This duology was INCREDIBLE and I highly recommend it!
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019? Isabel Sterling and Sandhya Menon tie on this one
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? Lost Roses (Lilac Girls #2) by Martha Hall Kelly. This was a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick, and I host the event at my store. This was, by far, my favorite book club book of 2019.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney (which I WILL review this month!)!!!!
9. Book You Read In 2019 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year? Probably none, but you never know. I might re-read a few of the ones that have sequels coming out in 2020 to refresh my memory.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?
11. Most memorable character of 2019? All of the characters from Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh. I miss them and this world so much. I need more books!!!
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019? A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney. Her descriptions of Wonderland are so vivid and breath-taking, it just completely sucks you in to the story.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2019? I actually read several that were thought-provoking, but Parkland Speaks gave me the most chills.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read? When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. I didn’t read a ton of backlist in 2019, but this was still an easy question. Sandhya’s books are so damn adorable and fun. Highly recommend!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019? “Begin at the beginning.” (from A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney)
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019? Shortest was Parkland Speaks and longest was Serpent & Dove
17. Book That Shocked You The Most Err… I have.. no idea. Let me get back to you on this one.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!): I mean, honestly, I shipped a lot of couples in a lot of the books I read. But none really stand-out as being my OTP, sadly. But there was definitely LOTS of shipping.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year I… Have no idea. Ugh. Sorry, guys. I’m just drawing a blank right now. I’ll update this if I think of one.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh
21. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.: I mean.. I was in such a reading slump, I really just read within my comfort zone and based on my TBR and review pile, so… I didn’t really read anything based solely on a recommendation this time.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019? None… Kind of like with the question about my OTP, I definitely had some book boyfriend crushes, but none really stand out as being my favorite or being new. I have a few from the books that were sequels I read, but no one new.
23. Best 2019 debut you read? These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon and the sequel, There’s Something About Sweetie
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019? Parkland Speaks
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner, a middle grade graphic novel that’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Roller Girl, and so so so GOOD!
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It was just so depressing…
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019? Scythe by Neal Shusterman. The plot was super unique and thought-provoking. I’ll be reviewing this soon, as well – I’m SO behind on reviews, sigh.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? There were a few, honestly.. Not gonna name them all for various reasons, but yeah.
1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019? Ehhh….. I don’t think I have any. Only because I was, once again, really disconnected from blogging and reading in 2019, so I didn’t do a lot of exploring. This is something I want to do more of this year, though.
2. Favorite post you wrote in 2019? I didn’t do a lot of unique posts this year, so I guess just my Blogoversary post, since I’m still shocked that I celebrated 6 years of blogging. I never imagined I’d still be blogging after 6 (now almost 7) years!
3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2019:? I didn’t take many.
4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)? BEA. Always fun getting to see/meet everyone!
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2019? I don’t think I really had one. Like I said, I just was very disconnected from blogging in 2019. Hoping to change that in 2020.
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? Everything. My reading and blogging slump (which I’ve now dubbed my Life Slump) have haunted me since February 2016 and it’s been a struggle to get through the little bit of reading and blogging I HAVE managed to get done. My mental health took a huge punch in 2019, too. But I’m REALLY hoping to fix that this year.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? I honestly don’t think I have any really popular posts.. I did a lot of spotlight posts and reviews, so… Also, it’s 2:30am and I have to work tomorrow morning, so I’m just too lazy to look the stats up, haha.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? None. Again, really didn’t have a lot of unique posts, so there isn’t a single one that got too much or too little love. Hoping to do more discussion posts, etc, this year to make up for this. I have some fun features I want to start, and others I want to get back into doing (like Television Tuesday, On Meredith’s Mind, Once Upon a Time, etc).
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? None :(
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? Just Goodreads.
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2019 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2020? *Laugh cries*
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)? House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas!!!!
3. 2020 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer!!!
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2020? Hmm…. TBH, I’m not sure. I’ll update this once I think of one.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020? EVERYTHING. I want to get back into blogging. I want to get back into reading. I want this Life Slump to end and I want 2020 to be the best year ever.
6. A 2020 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable): Haven’t read any yet :(
So there you have it! Hope you guys enjoyed the survey, despite how sad and pathetic my answers were *sobs.* Feel free to leave a comment with a link to your best of 2019 survey so I can check it out, or just answer a few of the questions in the comments!
Happy New Year, and may 2020 be better than 2019!!