Credit for everybody’s favorite yearly reading wrap-up goes to Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner, as per usual. Since you guys have already heard me talk at length about how much I love this bookish survey, why don’t we just jump right in and get started!
2018 Reading Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 113
Number of Re-Reads: 14, which sounds like an extraordinarily high number until you consider the fact that most of those books belonged to the same series.
Genre You Read The Most From: I’m going to specify genre and category for clarity’s sake, and because the answer is once again YA contemporary fiction, since I am nothing if not predictable.
1. Best Book You Read In 2018?
Once again I’m breaking this down by category, because there’s no way I can pick just one.
YA contemporary: Either Far From the Tree by Robin Benway or A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen, because I legitimately cannot choose.
YA fantasy/sci-fi: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
NA: Hold Me by Courtney Milan
Adult fiction: Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe
Nonfiction: Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisely
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman. I just didn’t connect with it in the same way that I connected with her debut, and I’m still not sure why.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, which I didn’t expect to love nearly as much as I did.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Either Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West or You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon.
5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?
Series: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Sequel: Hold Me by Courtney Milan
Series ender: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas hands freaking down.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?
Courtney Milan, for writing romances that I straight up adore.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Something New: Tales of a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisely, which is the first graphic memoir I re-read multiple times in the same week.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
It’s a tie between Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas and Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe.
9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Probably Relish: My Life in the Kitchen or Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride by Lucy Knisely, which I re-read multiple times apiece while I had them checked out from the library and plan to buy sometime in the next month or two.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman.
11. Most memorable character of 2018?
Eliza from Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia, whose artistic talent and online popularity and crippling in-person social anxiety kept her and her story rattling around in my head for months after I finished the book.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough, for its beautiful series of poems telling an ugly but ultimately triumphant story.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake, which is a quiet, painful, emotional narrative about rape and recovery and what we lose when we don’t believe victims that everyone should be reading.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?
The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson, which I’d had on my TBR list since 2013 or 2014 and completely freaking broke my heart. It was excellent.
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?
Even girls made of stars are captives, bound at the wrists and traded like property. Even girls made of stars aren’t asked, aren’t believed, aren’t considered worth the effort unless they can offer something in return.
Even girls made of stars buy into those lies sometimes. —Girls Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?
The shortest was Displacement: A Travelogue by Lucy Knisely, and the longest was Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas.
17. Book That Shocked You The Most?
Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen, which Went There with the ending in a way I never would’ve seen coming.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
Ramona and Freddie in Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy, because friends to lovers is my romance kryptonite and these characters were fantastic in both roles.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
The friendship between Claudia and Iris in Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills, for making me feel ALL the feelings.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
This one is also a toss up between Barbed Wire Heart by Tess Sharpe and Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, although I’m not sure the latter counts since it is part of a series.
21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisely, which one of my lovely IRL writer friends and my mom pushed and pushed and pushed me to read. I am so glad they did.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?
It’s a tie between Wallace from Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia and Clark from The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson. This year’s theme is sweet writer boys with hidden depths, I suppose.
23. Best 2018 debut you read?
You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon, which was also one of the best books period that I read in 2018.
24. Best World-building/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
In The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden’s portrayal of rural Russia in a time of czars and fairy tale magic and long harsh winters made me so grateful for my boring, non-magical life and also for furnaces and thick blankets. You can practically feel the frost gathering on your skin as you read this.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, because everything from the best friendships to the romances to the main character’s blossoming relationship with her dad made me happy.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas, which made me cry at least three times. At least.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen, although it would get so much more attention from everyone if I had my way.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd, because That Ending. OMG.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?
I finally read the first Humans of New York: Stories book by Brandon Stanton, which was the most unique in terms of both formatting and the way in which it told the stories of the real people involved.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Our Lady of the Prairie by Thisbe Nissen, which had a premise I loved, an amazing cast of secondary characters, and a protagonist I kept wanting to reach between the pages and throttle. I enjoyed the author’s style and I’ll definitely be checking out more of her work, but it’s a next to impossible task to make a protagonist who cheats on their significant other even remotely sympathetic to me, which means the deck was stacked against this story from the start.
1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?
I don’t think I discovered any new book specific blogs or otherwise bookish social media accounts, but I did subscribe to and fall in love with the content on The Perpetual Page Turner after years of being familiar with the blog only through this survey. Funny how life–and the internet–works sometimes.
2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?
Why I’m Aiming for 100 Rejections Next Year, because writing this post motivated me even more than making the original plan to collect rejections did, which is all I can really ask for.
3. Favorite bookish related photo you took in 2018?
The first time I saw my name in the acknowledgments of a published book was pretty cool. 🙂 (P.S. If you haven’t read A Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen yet, what are you waiting for?)
4. Best bookish event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, etc.)?
I had the pleasure of attending the launch party that my friend Erin Casey threw when she self-published her debut, and that was a blast. Our local Makers Loft hosted, a bunch of writers and writer friends from the local community came, and we got to hear Erin read the first chapter and talk about the writing and self-publishing process. It’s incredibly exciting to me that so many writers I know are meeting their goals and advancing their careers, and it was great to celebrate Erin’s success.
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?
The best moments of my bookish life this year were professionally sensitivity reading another awesome YA novel called The Great Unknowable End, which I’ll gush about some more before the end of this post, and realizing in mid November that I was going to reach my elusive 100 books read benchmark after YEARS of falling just short.
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
The most challenging thing about my blogging life was trying to make time to blog. Wedding planning was a much, much bigger time suck than I’d previously anticipated.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
By likes, it was Four Things that Make Romance Great, which kind of floors me. By number of comments, it was Why I’m Aiming for 100 Rejections Next Year.
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
Any of them, really, but especially posts like On Not Meeting My (Re)writing Goal and A New Direction. It’s always good to know I’m not the only one whose plans sometimes blow up in their face.
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
This is pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but I was delighted to realize that one of the places we ate dinner on our honeymoon–the lovely Caffe San Marco in Trieste–also contained a bookstore. Even though everything was in Italian and I could read none of it, I immediately felt like I’d found familiar ground just because of the presence of books.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I never officially participated in the Goodreads challenge, but I did read more than 100 books this year, which has been a stretch goal of mine since I started keeping track. I’m weirdly proud of myself for that.
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?
It’s a toss-up between Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor and Sadie by Courtney Summers.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?
If I could buy a copy of King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo right this instant, I would. No questions asked.
3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
I’d say it’s a toss-up between Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor and Slay by Brittney Morris, because girls kicking ass and saving the world is apparently my new aesthetic. 🙂
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?
Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen was one of my unexpected favorite YA fantasy novels of 2018, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel, Imprison the Sky.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?
On a purely selfish level, I would love to be able to read 100 (or more) books again. On a less selfish level, I’d love to be able to keep reading widely and diversely, as well as strike more of a balance between blogging solely for myself and blogging for myself in a way that is also interesting to others. I feel completely clueless in terms of how to accomplish that goal, but I’m determined to try.
6. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable)?
I actually have an answer for this question this time! If you haven’t added The Great Unknowable End by Kathryn Ormsbee to your TBR, you absolutely should. It’s a speculative historical YA novel set during the 70s about a boy and girl in a small Kansas town who find themselves facing the (possible) end of the world, and it’s SO good. It releases in February, and I’m absolutely going to be forcing it on everyone I know at that point.
What were some of your favorite books this year, and why? Let me know in the comments, or link me to your own survey!