How Books Have Taken Over My Life in 2015 And Why I'm Probably Crazy Because Of That (Aka My End of the Year Survey)

I decided to do an end of the year survey from Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner. Because why not?

All from trusty, ol' Goodreads.

Number Of Books You Read: 136 (I thought it was more...)
Number of Re-Reads: Uh...me no re-read.
Genre You Read The Most From: Ermmm. -glares at screen- How do you find this? I'm gonna guess Fantasy for now. That's probably mildly true. 

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

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

Uh...-insert list of almost all my darker contemporary reads, thank you very much- But seriously, I was disappointed by a lot of books. My most disappointing is a tie between these two books.

This was the worst Wren book I've read. All the sex... -shivers- I can never look at a Charlie the same way ever again.

I wanted to love the main character, but I couldn't. I wanted so much more from her. Plus, not a huge fan of the religious stuff. I'm an atheist, mind you. 

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

FRIGGING VAMPIRE ACADEMY. It was pretty amazing. Hilariously, I read it because of the movie. And the movie did the book NO JUSTICE. I was just reading it out of curiosity, but, soon enough, I finished the whole series. 

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

I'm not pushy enough to do this? But I'm gonna say The Archived by Victoria Schwab. Who cares if I didn't read it this year? Psh.

And here's a fun fact about this book. I read the sequel The Unbound right after getting out of a hard time. And holy pizzacake...that book resonated with me on that deep level.

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

 I just...Six of Crows is so amazing. You have to read it. Even if you haven't read the Grisha trilogy. Plus I have Leigh Bardugo's signature and some buttons. I even cosplayed as Kaz Brekker. (Awfully, I might add.) And I hurriedly edited this picture, so it's in no way amazing. 

(Yes, I have a cat face.)

I've been with this series since Scarlet came out. I've waited for each book year after year. 
This was a great series-ender. GREAT. I have no questions and no concerns. I just want that wedding ASAP!

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Julie Murphy without a doubt. I met her once, and she was such a dear. She was kind and very accommodating. Plus.Plus, Dumplin' was such a cute story.

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

I typically don't read contemporary books. But this book was such a pleasant surprise. Cute and lovable just like Willowdean. 

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

This book was not really action-y, but this book had me on the edge of my seat. I was freaking out over who would die and who would survive. Really plunged me into the moment of a school shooting. 

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

I. Don't. Re-read. 
I repeat.
I. Don't. Re-read.

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

This is really a tie. 

This cover uses colors amazingly. The red hair and the blue background. And the watercolor look with the blue. Ugh. GORGEOUS.

The feather looks a little CGI, but it still looks amazing. The skills to make that must be amazing. And the color scheme! Gaaah.

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Nina from Six of Crows was so sassy and spunky. She was great. I really loved her character. And she knew she many languages. Language goals...  I wanted more scenes from her. 

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

I really want to highlight the fact that this is written in poetry. I had never read a poetry book like this before. It was different, unique.

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

With this book, I had so many thoughts. What is happiness? How do you get it? Do your friendships bring you happiness? I had so many philosophy-related questions.

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

I was so excited for this book. It was the end of a favorite series. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. And I was not disappointed.

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

Haha. I don't know!

I don't pay attention to these things.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

 17. Book That Shocked You The Most

I'm talking about a surprising hallucination. Because...whoa. I did not expect that. I'm not going deeper into this. 

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

Me and High School! Victor Vale. Haha. I'm kidding. But I'd like to meet high school Victor. He'd still be all grumpy, and I think that's so cute. 
I actually don't have many OTPs in anything.
Lila x Lila from A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab
Victor x Eli from Vicious by VE Schwab (Admit it, you thought about this.)
Cinder x Kai from Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Ezra x Kady from Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Sebby and Mira from Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa were so cute. They were great friends. I want a friendship like that.

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

I could have mentioned Sarah J Maas or Marissa Meyer, but this first book in a new VE Schwab series is amazing. I love the characters and the plot and the world. 

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

Mishma at Chasing Faerytales kinda got me into this. I intended to read it, but she hurried me to the punch. Arigato, Mish dear!

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

What fictional crush? I am only for Mackenzie Bishop and Wesley Ayers.
But...admittedly...High School! Victor Vale. Because he's a tad too old for me right now. College-aged Victor Vale is old, so I'm totally making up an AU with Victor Vale as a teenager in high school.

23. Best 2015 debut you read?

The couple was so cute. And the main character was a reader. So that's a plus! 

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

Red London. Black London. Grey London. White London.

That's all I gotta say. 

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

This book was so cute. The drawings accurately described the scenarios and made me smile. 

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

To sum this up, I started to bawl. 

During a car ride. It was hard to keep down the tears.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

I can't gush more about this book. The drawings. The story. I was so surprised when I saw this in the Harvard bookstore. (I was there during the summer.) It was a random book I picked up on the shelf. So surprised when I loved it. 

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

What soul? -evil laughter-

But this book had amazing though-provoking questions about life and happiness.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2015?

THE DRAWINGS. Completely unique for me. 

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

Worst Wren book ever. So icky. (Simply put.)

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2015?

Uh. I kinda started reading blogs in 2015.
So...
Paper Fury
Cover to Cover
Chasing Faerytales
A Perfection Called Books
Social Potato
To name a few.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2015?

My Review of 'The Heartbreakers'

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

Beautiful Books #1

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

Blogger Positivity Project hosted by Claire at Cover to Cover

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

Meeting Cait and Mishma and Nori and all these lovely people. You guys are AWESOME. Hugs and kisses to you all.

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

Getting the urge to write reviews. I really dislike writing reviews. For me, it takes so much effort. To write out the unedited version...then edit it. 

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

My Interview With Brittany from Book Addict's Guide

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

My Letter to Mackenzie Bishop

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

Evie Seo's Society 6 Shop is a wonderful gem with beautiful prints and cases and whatnots.

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

I tried to do these challenges. But I just can't... I forget about these things.

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

I've been dying to read this book so bad. My library doesn't have it, though. So phooey. 

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

-drools- Another book by Victoria Schwab. I can't wait. And it's YA!

3. 2016 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Travel + YA + Magic= a spazzing-flailing Wren.

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

I love this series. And I have to know what happens to Gansey. Don't leave me hanging!

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

My events! I can't wait for BiblioSummerSwag in June and InterBlogCon in July. And my event with Briana from Otakutwins Reviews with blogger versus blogger. I CAN'T WAIT. -screeches-

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

I'm not really doing that. I don't have many ARCs or anything. So yeaahh.

And you know now why I'm awful at explaining why I like or dislike things.

Rogues Read Books Too: Introduction to Sciencia Fiection and Urben Phantasy

Welcome to the first installment of Rogues Read Books Too.
It combines D&D with books. This feature is a sort of story that revolves around the Super Squad an elite group of book characters who are the best of the best (by my opinion.)
If you need more info, check out the Rogues Read Books Too tab under the features.

And what is the setting of this game of D&D? Glad you asked!
The lands of Bookia is under attack! The Genres (the rulers of their respective domains) have summoned the best of the best to fight the evil rival empire of Technologia whose people are dedicated to eradicating and turning obsolete the wonderful land of Bookia. But as the Genres don't mix well, these fighters are a motley group of healers, warriors, and wizards.

And now...for the main event.
The introduction of the first set of characters! I'll be dividing the team up into genres and introducing them one by one. 

Today, I'll be introducing the representatives of the Sciencia Fiection and Urben Phantasy genredom.

Winter from Winter by Marissa Meyer

Race: Human

Class: Seer

Alignment: Neutral Good

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 7

Constitution: 11

Intelligence: 17

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 22

Armor Class: 4

Hit Points: 10

Backstory: Winter was born in the city of Technos. She lived there with her stepmother who ignored her. Winter tried to dampen her seer powers. She didn’t want her stepmother to find out. One day, she was cornered by thugs hired by her stepmother to kill her. She lashed out with her powers, forcing her visions upon her tormentors. The Sciencia Fiection genredom doesn’t allow magic. They found her and jailed her until she was selected to represent Sciencia Fiection in the battle against Technologia.

Ronan from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Race: Half-elf

Class: Mystic

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 12

Constitution: 14

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 9

Charisma: 6

Armor Class: 9

Hit Points: 12

Backstory: Ronan was born in the Port of Contempt. He lived there with his immediate family in a run-down shack in the outskirts of the city-state. His power to control dreams and even retrieve objects from dreams manifested when he was a child. At a young age, he ran away from his family, seeking help for his powers. He fled to Wyzards in Urben Phantasy. There, he was taught by an old mage about his powers. His name became well-known for helping cure nightmares, and he was selected because of that.

Next time, I'll be introducing the Port of Contempt characters!

My 2016 Challenges

I'm reluctant to committing to reading challenges. Why? I'll forget about them by March. Trust me on that. 

But I'll signup for them anyways.

6 Squared Challenge

This challenge is hosted by BookstacksAmber. 

The Rules:

• Your challenge is to read six books from each of the six categories, for a total of 36 books by the end of 2016:
  • 6 New Releases (Debut Authors)
  • 6 New Releases (Loved Authors)
  • 6 Books to Start a Series
  • 6 Books to Complete a Series (can be different from above)
  • 6 Book to Movie Adaptations
  • 6 Goodreads Choice Awards Winners or Nominees
• There are no minimum number of books required for each month. Three per month would be a good starting point since there are 36 books in the challenge, but you can read 1 book from the challenge in January and 10 in February if you want. This challenge is super flexible, so do whatever works best for you!

My Goal:

Duh. This one is a bit obvious.

I'm reading 6 books in each of the six categories. 

Rock My TBR

It's hosted by The YA Book Traveler.

The Rules:

• To read a minimum of 1 book per month you already own (published book). This challenge is totally what YOU make of it! You can do 5 books a month, 10, WHATEVER! Anything you accomplish is fantastic. This challenge is really what you make of it.

My Goal:

I haven't quite planned out which books I'll be reading. I just have my TBR to look at. 

2016 Discussion Challenge

I have so many ideas for discussions, but I'm so lazy in writing them. This will definitely get me writing.

This is hosted by Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts At Midnight.

The Rules:

• Every month, we’ll update this 2016 Book Blog Challenge Page with the links to that month’s Challenge linky – so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
• Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!

My Goal:

I'll be trying to do 2 discussions a month. 

That's 24 discussions in the year.

Creative Conversationalist

Commenting 365 Challenge

I'm also taking a part of a commenting challenge. 

It's hosted by Read Write Love 28.

The Rules:

Comment on a blog every day. (I'll be using the master list.)

My Goal:

Commenting every day. Isn't that obvious? 

Introducing MC from Blame It On The Books!

Guest of the Month Club is hosted by Emily Reads Everything. Go check her out!

Today, I'm introducing MC to my readers. Please give a warm welcome to MC! 

Okay. Maybe don't spaz out on me.

Hi everyone! I’m MC and I blog over at blameitonthebooks.com. It’s been lots of fun getting to know Wren and I’m excited to be here on her blog today! It’s the holiday season once again - the time when we start talking about all of our favorite traditions. Well, I don’t have too many holiday traditions, but I have a couple small ones and they are good enough for me.

Family-wise, we only have one tradition that stays the same every year. My parents and I always eat cookies for breakfast on Christmas day. Growing up, we rarely had the time to eat any meals together, and now I live on my own, so it’s one time of year that we actually sit at the same table and eat together. And we eat yummy cookies! We also meet up with the extended family on Christmas day, but that gathering is always changing every year.

Friend-wise, my best friend and I always go shopping in the days after Christmas. We both suck at shopping and this is one of the only times that we ever go to the store. We seem to have good luck when we are together, but we hate shopping apart, so we use this time to stock up on new clothes for at least the next six months.

At work, a coworker and I have developed our own little tradition. We watch a short film - The Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper. It’s hilarious and we quote every line and we say which characters remind us of the people we work with. We have been doing this for six years now, and a lot of things have changed in those six years, but it’s nice that every holiday season we can take a few minutes and spend time together.

Personally, I always watch The Santa Clause every single year. Even growing up, I usually watched it by myself. ABC used to have Sunday night movies every week in the 90s, and every year they played this movie a few weeks before Christmas. That’s pretty much what started this tradition for me, so thanks ABC. I remember hiding away in my parents’ bedroom to watch it on their TV and telling them to leave me alone until it was over. I guess I really wanted my very own tradition. It is my all-time favorite movie all year round, and I’m positive I can quote every line to you.

Thanks so much to Wren for hosting me on her blog! This was fun! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!