Another year has come and gone, and I’m no closer to getting out of this reading/blogging/life slump I’ve been in since, like, 2015. TBH, it’s getting really old and and I’m really.. tired. And frustrated. I know why I’m in this slump (reasons I’m not ready to share), but I just can’t shake it. However, I will say that I’ve been taking certain personal steps to try to get better and I’m REALLY hoping 2019 will be my year to shine. Because, guys… I have SO many fun post ideas and SO MANY THINGS I want to share with you. And all the features I’ve started and neglected over the years? Yeah, I miss doing them.
I also hate feeling like I’ve let everyone – friends, fellow bloggers, authors, publicists, etc – down. I know blogging is a hobby and I don’t owe anyone anything, but this blog is my baby and I’m tired of missing deadlines and not finishing books and not getting things done and just… Blah. That’s all. Just.. Blah.
So anyway.. I thought 2017 was my worst reading year but this year was actually worse than 2017. I read less and struggled more. So I don’t even know how interesting my survey will be because I don’t have many books to share with you, but the ones I DID love, I loved with all my heart and I definitely want to use this survey to push those on you guys!
This survey is hosted by the lovely Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. All questions and images belong to her! Thanks, Jamie!!
So yeah, we’ll see how this goes! Enjoy!
**2018 READING STATS**
Number Of Books You Read: 30 … Which is sad and pathetic :( (I mean this for me and my personal goals. If this was your goal and you’re excited, I mean no offense! It’s just disappointing for me, considering I used to read double that or more…)
Number of Re-Reads: 3
Genre You Read The Most From: My usual science fiction/fantasy, thriller, retellings, etc.
1. Best Book You Read In 2018? There were 3 I truly loved, and since I didn’t read many I truly loved in 2018 because of my reading slump, I’ll list all 3 (in no particular order):
Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh
A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney
Renegades by Marissa Meyer
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? There were three:
Royals by Rachel Hawkins: I LOVE Rachel’s books and I LOVE royalty stories. But this just.. didn’t do it for me, unfortunately.
My Plain Jane by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodi Meadows: With how much I LOVED My Lady Jane, I expected more from this. I struggled just to finish it :(
Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones: This book let me down so much, I can’t even talk about it. You guys know how much I LOVED Wintersong. So just.. yeah. I can’t even talk about this book. It doesn’t exist, tbh.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I don’t remember why, but I was hesitant to read this book when I first heard about it. And then I ended up LOVING IT so much! My review will be up in January, so stay tuned!
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? As a bookseller, I push a LOT of books on people nowadays – even more so than when I was just a blogger. But I probably pushed Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi more than anything. IT’S SO GOOD, GUYS! PERCY JACKSON MEETS SAILOR MOON!!!!!!! I CANNOT wait for the sequel!
5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018? Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh and Renegades by Marissa Meyer tie for best series I started in 2018. Archenemies by Marissa Meyer was definitely the best sequel of 2018. And the best series ender, hands down, would have to be A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018? L.L. McKinney and Sarah Glenn Marsh are going to tie on this one!
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I read out of my comfort zone a LOT this year because I host the Barnes & Noble Book Club for my store. My answer isn’t TOTALLY out of my comfort zone because it’s still sci-fi/fantasy, which I do read a lot of. But it was adult, not teen, so it still counts (right?). And that answer is An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. It was the third B&N Book Club book and I REALLY loved it!! I didn’t review it on my blog (I don’t review books I read for work, except in special circumstances), but I would give it 4.5 stars, if I did!
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? Definitely A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney! I’m already super pumped for the sequel (THE COVER IS FIERCE!!!!), PLUS it was optioned for television!!!!!!!
9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? I might re-read Reign of the Fallen before I read book two, and maybe A Blade So Black right before that sequel releases next September. But otherwise, I plan to do some re-reading of series books I need to catch up on or finally finish (Like Throne of Glass, Six of Crows, etc).
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?
11. Most memorable character of 2018? Nova from Renegades and Archenemies (Marissa Meyer). She’s definitely one of my favorite book villains of all time!
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018? The Glass Butterfly by A.G. Howard. Anita is a master storyteller. She creates these incredible worlds and her writing just sucks you in.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018? #Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil. With what’s happening in our world right now, the plot of this book felt chillingly possible – like it could actually happen. It was a bit creepy to read because of that, tbh.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? Renegades by Marissa Meyer. It was one of my absolute favorite books of the year, and definitely my favorite of her books. I’m KICKING myself for waiting so long to read it!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018? I’ve been really bad about keeping treack of quotes, so I don’t have one, unfortunately..:(
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018? Longest was Archenemies by Marissa Meyer, shortest was Reach Higher: An Inspiring Photo Celebration of First Lady Michelle Obama by Amanda Lucidon
17. Book That Shocked You The Most I… have no idea.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) Henrietta and Magnus from the Kingdom on Fire trilogy!
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year Errr….. I don’t know if I have one… Or I do and just can’t remember it.. Which is pathetic, but I’ll blame it on my slump.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously Definitely Renegades by Marissa Meyer… Which, for those who know me and know how much I LOVE fairy tale retellings, you know that’s saying a LOT because I really loved The Lunar Chronicles. But the Renegades series is just absolute gold.
21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: Again, I was in such a reading slump, I really just read within my comfort zone and based on my TBR and review pile, so… :(
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018? Probably Magnus from the Kingdom on Fire trilogy!
23. Best 2018 debut you read? Another tie with A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney and Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? A tie between A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney and Renegades by Marissa Meyer
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? There were a couple that all had their moments. But I read so little and struggled so much, I couldn’t say which ones. Most likely the same ones that keep coming up as my answers for the other questions.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018? See answer to question above… There were a couple that all had their moments. But I read so little and struggled so much, I couldn’t say which ones. Most likely the same ones that keep coming up as my answers for the other questions.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? I mean, any book I ended up loving was a hidden gem for me, bahahaha. But seriously, I mean that. I struggled so much that any book I loved was a gem, in my opinion.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? I’m going to have to go with City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts because it was super intense and super insane and OMG THAT ENDING and I NEED BOOK THREE ASAP!!! (So this one was a GOOD kind of soul crushing, haha).
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018? Eh… I honestly don’t know. A few had unique plots, but nothing that stands out to answer this with.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Shadowsong. I LOVED Wintersong so much, and HATED Shadowsong so much.. And that made me SO mad. And disappointed, tbh.
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2018? Howling Libraries
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2018? I… don’t have a favorite :( I actually feel like I need to e-evaluate my reviewing style because lately, I worry my reviews are all repetitive babble. Maybe I’m just being hard on myself because of my slump, though, idk… We’ll see how it goes in 2019, I guess!
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? Television Tuesday: The Parallels of Emily Gilmore and Catherine de Medici
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? Didn’t participate in any :(
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018? In addition to my reading slump, I was also in a blogging slump so I don’t think I had any… :(
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? My reading and blogging slump. They’ve 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.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? Blog Tour: Bright We Burn by Kiersten White (Excerpt)
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? Television Tuesday: The Parallels of Emily Gilmore and Catherine de Medici
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? None… :( (Blame the slump).
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I beat my Goodreads Challenge, but only because I aimed low. I set my goal at 12 books (1 a month) and read 30.
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019? HAHAHAHA…. With a reading slump that’s going on for almost three years now? Too many to list..
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)? Slayer by Kiersten White
3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019? Capturing the Devil (Stalking Jack the Ripper #4) by Kerri Maniscalco (despite the fact that I haven’t gotten to Escaping from Houdini yet.. Eek! Stupid, stupid reading slump!!!)
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019? I REALLY MORE THAN ANYTHING want to get out of this blogging and reading slump. I’m so frustrated by them, I just want to cry. I miss reading and I have SO many blog discussion post ideas and blog features I want to share with you guys..
6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable): Haven’t read enough to recommend any :(
So there you have it! Hope you guys enjoyed the survey, despite how sad and pathetic my answers were *sobs.* Don’t forget to head over to the Perpetual Page Turner to see the linky list of all the other blogs who participated. And of course, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your best of 2018 survey so I can check it out, or just answer a few of the questions in the comments!
Happy New Year, and may 2019 be better than 2018!!