2014 End of Year Book Survey Part I

Questions courtesy of The Perpetual Page Turner

Reading Stats

• Number Of Books You Read: 80
• Number of Re-Reads: 2
• Genre You Read The Most From: realistic fiction

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

I gave the following books five stars on Goodreads:

• Girl Friends #2: Do the Right Thing by Nicole Grey (reread)
• Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
• The Cracks in the Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty

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

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page — I could only make it halfway through this book, alas.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn — I figured out the plot twist, but I was not prepared for the batshit insane stuff that happened in that book.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

I convinced my book club to give Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple a go. They did not like it, unfortunately.

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

The only series I started that I’m interested in finishing is His Fair Assassin by Robin LaFevers. Oh wait! I forgot that To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han has a sequel coming out next year. Add that one on, too.

Best sequel would have to be a tie between Marissa Meyer’s Scarlet and Jaclyn Moriarty’s The Cracks in the Kingdom. Obviously.

Since Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan is the only series ender I read this year, it wins by default. I’m glad I liked it, though.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

I’m actually planning to read more from Cecelia Ahern. One Hundred Names intrigued me. I like her writing style.

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

In the Shadows by Kiersten White — if you had told me that I would like a book that was half-traditional prose/half-wordless graphic novel and included weird magic stuff, I would have never believed it.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand — this is not the type of nonfiction I generally enjoy, so I wasn’t expecting to like it. Listening to it via audiobook helped a lot.

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

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer was pretty intense.

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

None, though I will probably reread some of them one day.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

Maniac Magee from the same titled book by Jerry Spinelli, honestly. And Neal from Landline but not in a good way.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry

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

Intuitive Eating, for sure.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read?

Scarlet is really the one that applies here since it was the only one on my radar prior to this year. Also, I had checked it out of the library a couple of times and even started it once before finally finishing it this last time.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

“If you must err, do so on the side of audacity.” — from Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014?

Okay, Goodreads tells me that the longest book I read was Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld, but since I quit the novel within the novel halfway through, I can’t count that.

So, the longest one I read every single page of is Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (549 pgs), and the shortest is You Have to Fucking Eat by Adam Mansbach (32 pgs).

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Scarlet.

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

None. Lame. I did enjoy some of the romances I read, but none of the couples stand out.

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Scarlet and Grandmére from Scarlet for obvious reasons. (If you don’t know me, my grandmother was totally my favorite, so. You know, obvious.)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Cracks in the Kingdom

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure

• The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
• In the Shadows by Kiersten White

All three of these were book club books that I would not have picked up on my own.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

None.

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

Pointe by Brandy Colbert!

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

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau — I could see the black blackness of the city, and the way it was falling apart but also the dimming light bulbs and Lina and her red jacket zipping through the streets.

Also, The Cracks in the Kingdom goes through many different cities in the Kingdom of Cello, and they are all vivid and wonderful.

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

Oh gosh, The Cracks in the Kingdom delighted me. But you know what other book delighted me? Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

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

None.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I’m not sure how to answer this. My default answer is The Cracks in the Kingdom, but I feel like it’s a big shiny diamond, so you know. Take that as you will.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn, man. Heartbreaking.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

Into the Shadows

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

Taste Test by Kelly Fiore and The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson both bugged, but only Something Real by Heather Demetrios inspired me to post, so.

Okay, this is long, so I’m going to do the rest in a separate post. Read Part II here.