1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)
Paranormal: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
Science Fiction: Cress by Marissa Meyer
Audiobook: Beauty Queens written AND narrated by Libba Bray
Backlist: I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan
& Playing Dirty by Jennifer Echols (romance)
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Requiem by Lauren Oliver
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?
4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?
5. Best series you discovered in 2013?
These Broken Stars was incredible. This book came out a
week ago, and I already desperately need This Shattered World.
2. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I didn't read this series
until after Scarlet came out, but it's lovely. Each installment is better
than the last. Need me some Winter!
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?
Rainbow Rowell and Andrew Smith
7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?
The entire
Pushing the Limits series by Katie McGarry. I know this seems like a cop out, but honestly, I read through all three novels and the novella in one week. If that's not un-put- downable, I don't know what is!
9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Several are on the list because I will be rereading a lot of series via audiobook before final books come out, but I think the top two books I'll probably reread the physical copy are going to be Cress by Marissa Meyer and Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?
11. Most memorable character in 2013?
Male character: It's a TIE. Sturmhond in
Siege and Storm and CAPTAIN Carswell Thorne from
The Lunar Chronicles.
Female character: Cammie from
Gallagher Girls. I will greatly miss Cammie and her adventures in my life.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?
13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
United We Spy by Ally Carter. Individually, this book may not be the right fit for this question, but this series... I've been a Gallagher Girl for so long that I don't actually remember when I became one. It just means so much to me. Aside from Harry Potter, I have never felt such emotional upheaval at the end of a series simply because it was over (
Vampire Academy came close, but I finished up that series knowing there was a spinoff with a set release date and that my favorite characters would at least show up on occasion). I still haven't quite accepted this yet, by the way. I still expect more installments. That's total denial, I know, but srsly, I wonder if there will be more. One day. Or a spin off. Or the girls pop up in future
Heist Society or
Embassy Row books. That would be fantastic. For more emotional rambling on the subject of GG and
United We Spy, check out my review
here.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?
“I learned that life is so, so fragile. I learned that you can know someone for just days and never forget the impression he left on you. I learned that art can be beautiful and sad at the same time. I learned that if someone loves you, he'll wait for you to love him back. I learned that how much you want something doesn't determine whether you get it or not, that "no" might not be enough, that life isn't fair, that my parents can't save me, that maybe no one can.” - Beth Revis, Shades of Earth
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?
Shortest (not including novellas or graphic novels): The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (85 pages)
Shortest full-length non-children's book:
Forever by Judy Blume (178 pages)
Longest:
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (570 pages)
17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!
Clockwork Princess. The whole thing. Can we just hug right now? I need a hug.
18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
OTP ships: Will-Tessa-Jem. Yes. I ship that. Epilogue was PERFECTION. Sydrian. Jack & Nikki.
Steamy romance: Cam and Avery from
Wait for You (NA)
Cute romance: TIE: Levi & Cath from
Fangirl AND Morgan & Basil from
Perfect Ruin
Bromance: Ryan Dean West & Joey Cosentino from
Winger
Femship: Gallagher girls (all of them) from
Gallagher Girls series
The elusive guy/gal friendship: Roar & Aria from
Under the Never Sky trilogy (part
TTEN)
Familial: Grace, Greer & Gretchen from
The Medusa Girls
19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
I have several (surprise, surprise):
Everbound by Brodi Ashton,
United We Spy AND
Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter,
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare,
Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi,
Biggest Flirts AND
Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols,
Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality by Elizabeth Eulberg,
The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead,
The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa,
Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano,
Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi,
Just One Day AND
Just One Year by Gayle Forman,
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
I'm not going to lie. I read what I want with very little thought of recommendations made to me. I'm a jerk like that. I'm always recommending books to people, but I very rarely listen to their recs to me. Also, the fact that I have over 5,000 books on my Goodreads shelves means that I probably heard of that book before you did (I know that sounds snobby). HOWEVER, there is one book and one author who stand out in the category. That book is Winger by Andrew Smith, which was passionately advocated by Justin Chanda of Simon & Schuster when he passed me a copy at TLA. It was an AMAZING read (full review here), and I'm so glad he spoke so highly of it and encouraged me to read it. The author is Jennifer L. Armentrout, whose books dominate TTT and WoW posts as well as many comments on my blog. I finally caved to peer pressure, and I've enjoyed all her books I've read so far.
21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?
I did't clock it exactly, but I'm guessing ya contemporary romance
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?
23. Best 2013 debut you read?
The Collector by Victoria Scott
24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?
25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?
27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?
Book Blogging / Reading Life 2013
1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2013?
ALL of them. Seriously, before this year, I didn't spend much time reading book blogs.
Some of my specific favorites include:
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2013?
Camp Boyfriend by J.K. Rock. Even though I didn't rate it 5 stars, this book was (I'll admit it) suprisingly deep enough that it required a lot of thought for the review. I just had a lot to say about it, and I feel like I said it pretty dang well. I also really like my review of
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo because we still laugh about it on twitter, and I posted it months ago.
3. Best discussion you had on your blog?
It wasn't much of a discussion, exactly, but I'm really happy with my post
about book piracy.
4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?
Best discussion posts are always on The Perpetual Page Turner. Jamie's perspective on life and blogging is so interesting and relatable. Also, she always has really cute surveys and stuff. Like this one...
5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
TLA 2013. Also going to grab dinner with Kasie West, Debra Driza, Shannon Messenger, Amy Tintera, and about 20 other bookish ladies (including YA authors Julie Murphy and Jenny Martin) after their SWEAT YA tour stop in town.
6. Best moment of book blogging/your book life in 2013?
TLA 2013. Also, Julie Kagawa said she'd read my blog. And liked it. EEP!
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Surprisingly, my Champion review and giveaway has the most views by a significant amount. My Allegiant giveaway only held the title for like a month, and I am super shocked by that. I honestly don't know about comments because I don't have an easy way to figure that out, and I'm too lazy to check each post individually. I'm assuming it's a Top Ten Tuesday or a Waiting on Wednesday because those typically get more comments than even my giveaways. O.o WHAT?!
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Any non-meme, non-giveaway post. Meme posts get a lot of views and comments because of the view-for-view, comment-for-comment thing, and giveaways obviously get lots of both. Other posts (particularly reviews) are the ones I actually put more work into, and yet, they're always the ones that don't get a lot of view/comment love.
9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
The fact that I can schedule my blog posts. I don't think I figured out how to do that until...May? So my 6 month mark. That's pretty embarrasing. I would seriously type furiously the night before or day of a post. Now I have days where I blog furiously and days where I can just chill so that's nice. Also glad I discovered the events at the Irving Public library. Kristin hosts AMAZING booknerdy events. I'm very grateful to have been adopted by the bookish people of DFW, and I love getting together with them all for cupcakes and panels and FLAMING Mexican food! Literally, the Mexican food is always on fire.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Yes and no. I'm a member of the Young Adult Book Club on Goodreads, and I failed pretty spectacularly at the quarterly challenges. It's much harder to do those when I've got review books coming in. But my States & countries challenge is coming in nicely. The A-Z challenge doesn't look so good with only 3 weeks left, but I think I can maybe swing it, even if I have to slightly cheat and change my books. But I DID complete my 2013 Goodreads annual challenge. 150 seems to be the golden goal for me. I didn't destroy it as much as I did last year (but in 2012, I frequently read one book a day, and that just wasn't feasible this year), but I still hit it in September.
Looking Ahead...
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2013 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2014?
The Elite by Kiera Cass and School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins. I was SO excited for them this year, but once I had them, I didn't pick them up. Derp.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2014 (non-debut)?
3. 2014 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY BY JULIE MURPHY. Julie is one of the local bookish gals, and I just adore her. I was also looking forward to TRACKED BY JENNY MARTIN, but due to some crazy publishing weirdness, it seems it will be released in 2015 instead. :(
4. Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2014?
Once again, please go
here to my top ten reads of 2014. We'll call it an 8-way tie.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2014?
I'm going to have a whole list of bookish resolution in a few weeks for a TTT post, but as far as blogging goes, I hope to continue my review kick. In my early days, I only posted one review a month, which is pretty bad. Now, I have a pretty good weekly schedule with days set aside specifically for reviews, and I have a list of backlist books that can supplement all the new release review books so I think I'm doing okay. I also really want to redesign my blog, and make it shinier and prettier, but that's going to depend on some financial voodoo. We'll see how that goes. As for reading, I want to continue my audiobook rereading spree. It's amazing how much material I catch in my audiobook rereads that I missed when I initially read these books.
