2015 End of Year Survey

Every year Jamie from Perpetual Page Turner creates this survey for book bloggers to wrap up the year and talk about some of the amazing books we have read. I tend to answer the same books for multiple questions but clearly it's because they are favorite reads. Here are my 2015 answers....
Number Of Books You Read: 

Currently 130, 148 counting rereads, and I'm hoping to make it to 150 with a novella and one more book but I don't think that is going to happen. But my Goodreads goal was 120 so I'm calling that a win. 

Number of Re-Reads:

18. Which is way more than I did last year. Genre You Read The Most From:  Fantasy. I haven't actually looked but I'm like 98% sure.


1. Best Book You Read In 2015?                                             
(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Adult: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Young Adult: Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli 2. Book 

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

Adult: The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
Young Adult: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, A Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman, and Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid  

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

Adult: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Young Adult: Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson and The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow (both in a good way)

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Adult: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Young Adult: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine and The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace  

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

Best Series I Started: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Best Sequel: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson, Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas, and Beastly Bones by William Ritter
Best Series Ender: Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner and Winter by Marissa Meyer  

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Adult: Patrick Rothfuss
Young Adult: Scott Westerfeld and Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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

Adult: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Young Adult: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich  

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

Adult: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and The Martian by Andy Weir
Young Adult: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff  

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

Adult: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Young Adult: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J, Maas and The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski

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

Young Adult: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman, Their Fractured Light by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner, Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Adult: Lila Bard in A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab and Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir
Young Adult: Everyone in Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Adelina Amouteru in The Rose Society by Marie Lu

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

Adult: The Song for Achilles by Madeline Miller and The Name of the Wind by Patrock Rothfuss
Young Adult: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Bejamin Alire Saenz and The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

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

Adult: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Young Adult: Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone, Dumplin by Julie Murphy, and Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli  

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

Adult: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Young Adult: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater and The Diviners by Libba Bray  

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

Adult: "If I seem to wander, if I seem to stray, remember that true stories seldom take the straightest way." Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind.

Young Adult: "Some people think that not knowing is the best part. It's in our nature to want to be fooled. We put blinders up all the time. Illusion is a way to hold on to our innocence. Do you really want to give that up?" -Kim Liggett, Blood and Salt

16. Shortest and Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Shortest: The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin 100 pages
Longest: The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss 994 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most (Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

Adult: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Young Adult: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas and The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Young Adult: DORIAN AND MANON in Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (I have been holding this in because I didn't want to spoil anyone but I ship Manorian so hard!)

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Adult: Agnieszka and Katia in Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Young Adult: For me YA non-romantic relationships were all about the squads like Team Aelin in Queen of Shadows, the Rampion Crew in Winter, The Dregs in Six of Crows, and the group in Their Fractured Light.

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

Adult: Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson and
Young Adult: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas, Beastly Bones by William Ritter, and The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater

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

Adult: The Song for Achilles by Madeline Miller
Young Adult: The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

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

Adult: Mark Watney in The Martian by Andy Weir
Young Adult: Sean Kendrick in The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

Young Adult: Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Backy Abertalli, The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace, and Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

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

Adult: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Young Adult: The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace and The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater

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

Adult: The Martian by Andy Weir
Young Adult: Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas

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

All the books! Too many to list. I'm such a crier. It's really problematic.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Adult: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Young Adult: My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? 

Adult: The Song for Achilles by Madeline Miller
Young Adult: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and The Rose Society by Marie Lu

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015? 

Adult: The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Young Adult: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

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

Adult: A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Young Adult: Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

Oh wow, that's such a tough question. I always find new and amazing blogs. Probably the biggest ones were from ladies I met at BEA.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015? 

Adult: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab because it was so gushy and still coherent.
Young Adult: Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas because I avoided any and all spoilers which was hard.

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

Why I Never Finish A Book Before Bed
What I Learned First Year at BEA

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

BEA 15 - so amazing. I met so many amazing authors and bloggers
Rainbow Rowell in Pittsburgh for Carry On - she's a favorite author and I missed her at BEA twice.

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

I have no idea. I mean probably BEA which was huge and amazing.

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

Wow, kind of a loaded question. The thing that comes to mind is that in the beginning of the year I ended up reading a handful of books I didn't really enjoy. I'm not sure it was a slump but it definitely took almost two months to find something I really loved.

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

By Views - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (because it was linked on an io9 post, WHAT?)
By Comment - Love-a-Thon Bookshelf Tour, Why I Never Finish a Book Before Bed, A Darker Shade of Magic Review

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Uprooted by Naomi Novik - This was posted on Memorial Day and right before BEA so I think it just fell under the radar.
Top Five Favorite Audiobooks - I recommend audiobooks to people all the time and yet this post got low views and no comments.

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

Probably Society6. I've bought more than a few things from there this year and I'm sure I will get more.

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

Yes. I completed my Goodreads Challenge of reading 120 books, the Debut Author Challenge, the Netgalley/Edelweiss Challenge, and the TBR Pile Challenge

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

I'm not sure it's my number one priority but in 2015 I'm determined to finally read The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson

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

All the Brandon Sanderson like Calamity and Bands of Mourning, All the Victoria Schwab especially A Gathering of Shadows and This Savage Song, The Raven King by Maggie Steivfater, and The Skylighter by Becky Wallace

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto and The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye

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

All the books in my most anticipated releases especially... The Raven King by Maggie Steifvater, Calamity by Brandon Sanderson, Book 5 in the Throne of Glass series, and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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

I want to try and read 150 books again this year but I'm going to set a smaller goal because I like meeting goals, it makes me feel good about myself. I also really want to start podcasting. I've been wanting to do it for awhile now and I'm finally doing it I think.

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

I haven't read any 2016 releases yet but I am currently reading Worlds of Ink and Shadows by Lena Coakley and it's really good.

Okay, there you have it, my Year End Survey? What were some of your favorite books in 2015? What books do you hope to reading 2016? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!