Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
I was on BookTube last year and I saw a very fun survey mentioned that was found on the Perpetual Page Turner's blog. Since I love surveys I wanted to once again get in on the fun. This one is a long one, but it helped me appreciate my reading year even more. I have also highlighted and linked any book that I have reviewed. Also many of the books mentioned were not released in 2018, but read in 2018.
Reading Stats as of 12/17/18
Number Of Books You Read:99
Number of Re-Reads: 3
Genre You Read The Most From: Crime Thrillers
Best in Books
01) Best book you read in 2018? Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner- an often terrifying crime thriller that goes for the emotions and left me shook.
02) Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t? Forget Her Name by Jane Holland- It was very disjointed, but it did have an excellent second act. It tried to be too many things. In the end it was less than enjoyable.
03) Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan- I am not a contemporary book fan. And I do not like reading about romance. But Jenny Colgan changed my mind with this charming tale of an unemployed librarian who moves to Scotland to open a mobile book shop. I loved it.
04) A book you “pushed” the most people to read (and they did)? Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan- I loved the first book I read of hers and read another one. I could not stop recommending this tale of a woman starting over in a seaside village in Cornwall, England. It was charming, funny, and heartbreaking.
05) Best sequel read of 2018? Catch Me by Lisa Gardner- This entry in her best-selling Detective D.D. Warren series was loaded with cameos by characters from all of her series. It focused on a woman who is positive that she will die soon. She enlists Warren to help solve her murder when it happens.
06) Favorite new author you discovered in 2018? Dan Brown. He is not a new author, but he is new to me. I have read Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Inferno. I absolutely loved them all.
07) Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan- It was a contemporary romance book, a genre I do not read. But it was a book that I hated to see finish.
08) Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? Angels and Demons by Dan Brown- This globe-trotting tale set in Rome, Italy introduced me to a series that I have enjoying this year. Twists and turns and a shocking ending, I could not put this down.
09) Book You Read In 2018 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? Stillhouse Lake and Killman Creek by Rachel Caine- These first two novels in the Stillhouse Lake Trilogy will be re-read before the third book arrives next year, entitled Wolfhunter River.
10) Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018? Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich- It was a shiny silver cover with purple highlights.
11) Most memorable character of 2018? Mr. Dinchara from Lisa Gardner's Say Goodbye- This horrifying villain was born of catastrophic child abuse. His lack of mercy and obsession with poisonous spiders has him on the top of the list of memorable characters. Especially when this serial killer cocoons his victims and hangs them from trees. I will never forget this character.
12) Most beautifully written book read in 2018? What If.... by Samantha Berger. This children's picture book was filled with positive messages for children. It portrayed a little girl who looked ahead and not back. She knew that if she could not do something that she would find a way to achieve her goals. Very inspiring, even to me as an adult.
13) Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018? Although not written in 2018, Dan Brown's thriller, Inferno did make me think long after I closed this novel. I could not stop going over Bertrand Zobrist's message of the human race's ultimate demise due to over population. I loved the complicated protagonist Sienna Brooks the most. She was a heroic figure by the end (something the movie completely ruined) and knew that Zobrist's plan needed a better outcome.
14) Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (he is a lot on my mind in 2018). This novel has been recommended to me for years and finally I read it.
15) Favorite passage/quote from a book you read in 2018? In the novel Whispering Shadows by Jan-Phillip Sendker a dying child tells his father that the ocean is warm, because the sun sleeps in the water at night. This snippet of child mentality was a heartwarming exchange between a boy who never gave up and his father, who is dying inside at his son's decline.
16) Shortest and longest book you read in 2018? I read a few children's picture books that were short. And for lengthy books I was reading the Robert Langdon series, which are almost 500 pages each.
17) Book that shocked you the most: The books written by Lisa Gardner that I read contained many shocking and disturbing villains. She definitely knows how to create shocking moments. But Say Goodbye definitely was the most shocking.
18) One true pairing of the year? The Oak Knoll crime trilogy by Tami Hoag introduced me to Vince Leone and his wife (in book two), Anne Navarre. A former FBI agent and a school teacher may be a odd match, but their love for each other saved both their lives. Their relationship was electric and sweet. I could not get enough of this duo.
19) Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year: Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott from the Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling). The sexual tension was there, but as of the end of book one they remained platonic. This pair was a perfect match for one another, and I enjoyed their banter.
20) Favorite book you read in 2018 from an author you’ve read previously: Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag. Her crime thriller Oak Knoll Trilogy was set in the 1980s and featured a wonderful cast of memorable characters that I enjoyed for all three books.
21) Best book you read in 2018 that you read based solely on a recommendation by someone: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown- This thrill ride was recommended by a family member and she was not wrong. I could not put down this amazing book.
22) Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018? Professor Robert Langdon. It must be the rugged teacher vibe. And smart men are always appealing.
23) Best debut novel you read in 2018? The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. J.K. Rowling's debut novel featuring hard-boiled detectives and twisty murder was a great read.
24) Best world building/most vivid setting you read this year? I was very impressed with Rachel Caine's work on Stillhouse Lake. The entire area was vividly explained so that I will never forget any part of that book.
25) Book that put a smile on your face/was the most fun to read? Look Alive Twenty Five by Janet Evanovich was a crazy ride with lot of funny moments and Lorelei King's narration of the book was amazing as always. I was laughing out loud repeatedly.
26) Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2018? Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell- I openly wept at the end of this novel. The tragic story of the main character was heart breaking. And when I read the epilogue at the end I could not control the tears. Lisa Jewell made me a life-long fan of her writing.
27) Hidden gem of the year? Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna- This crime thriller introduced readers to Alice Vega and Max Caplan, an unlikely duo on the hunt for two missing young girls. I could never have imagined how much I would enjoy this book. It was a high recommendation to everyone I could rave about it to.
28) Book that crushed your soul? Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell- It broke my heart and ground it into dust by the last word. One of the best of the year!
29) Most unique book you read in 2018? Believe Me by J.P. Delaney was as twisty a mystery as they come. When an out of work actress is asked to work for the police to catch a murderer she ends up falling for him. This book was a mind bend of the highest degree. I left this book speechless on how the author managed to.... well, I don't want to give it away..
30) Book that made you the most mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan. This book started out great. It was a cozy Christmas read that continued the series. Then all of the sudden it retconned the main character's entire life story as told by the previous books. It was like someone else had written the book that had never read the series.
Your Bloggish/ Bookish Life
01) New favorite book blog you discovered in 2018? The Sassy Soccer Moms is co-run by my long-time friend and bookish buddy, Shalaia. It can be found at: https://sassysoccermoms.wordpress.com/
02) Favorite review that you wrote in 2018? I do not have a favorite review. However I am very happy with my progress as a reviewer. I find that I have reached more readers this year than I have in any previous year.
03) Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? A Star Wars character analysis of Princess Leia Organa that I wrote. It has been read by many and discussed in fan groups, as well.
04) Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? New York Comic Con was an amazing adventure for me. I did all three days and ended up with a lot of books and met many authors.
05) Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018? When I reached over 13,000 read articles on this blog.
06) Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? I was unable to stay on course with my challenges due to the crazy amount of awesome books that I discovered.
07) Most popular post this year on your blog (whether it be by comments or views)? My links page to all of my Mystery and Thriller reviews.
08) Post you wished got a little more love? Star Wars: The Last Jedi and What I Think of This Film- The divided fan base made it hard for me to get many to read my positive views on this film. But I hope that I made a few people think when reading this.
09) Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? Actually the most valuable bookish discovery was tabbing my books every 100 pages. I find that as I reach each 100 pages I feel accomplished and finding pursuing the remaining pages exciting.
10) Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I 95% completed my Xepherus Reads Reading Challenge, completed my Goodreads Challenge, and the TisTheSeasonAThon this year.
Looking Ahead
01) One book you didn’t get to in 2018, but will be your number one priority in 2019? Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
02) Book you are most anticipating for 2019? Never Tell by Lisa Gardner
03) What 2019 debut are you most anticipating? I am not looking forward to any single debut as now. But I am sure I will soon.
04) Series ending/a sequel you are most anticipating in 2019? Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine
05) One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2019? Gain even more readers and extend my social media networking.
06) A 2019 release you’ve already read & recommend to everyone (if applicable): I have not read any 2019 books yet.
There you have it, my answers to the Perpetual Page Turner's Annual Year-End Survey. I hope that many of you take the time to delve into this survey and have fun answering her questions.
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Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3
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