Big Things That Happened in 2015

• I mentioned the school talent show in which the teachers sang Yellow Submarine.
• I worked at a Catholic summer camp for the summer and had a blast. I wrote about it and shared some pictures.
• I survived over a week of blinding smoke due to forest fires. It was insane. I talked about that here.
• I had my very first ever Blogversary which was exciting.

Analysis of Books I Read in 2015

This was the very first year that I ever kept track of the books that I read. My stats have amazed me.

• I read 141 books.
• Almost all of the books I read this year were 4 or 5 stars. I must be pretty good at choosing books I know I’ll enjoy.
• Over two-thirds of the books I read this year were from the library or books I own.
• Over half of the books I read this year were hard copied (Paperback or Hardcover) while over a quarter were ebooks. Audiobooks made up the rest.
• About a quarter of the books I read this year were debuts.

I made some pretty nifty looking pie charts in Excel (you can just pretend they are totally awesome).

Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2016

• I am just excited that it is a new year. 2015 has seemed so long and so fast at the same time. I am excited to see what 2016 can bring.
• I am attending my friend’s wedding in DC in January. I am, maybe, a bit over-excited about this.
• There are so many amazing books coming out in 2016 that I don’t even want to begin listing them here.

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I don’t know how I missed this last year, but there is an End of Year Survey hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner that I have decided to participate in. So, yeah, this post is going to get a bit long. 🙂 This is also going to get super difficult as I try not to repeat any of the same books. I might have to once or twice but I am going to try not to.

Reading Stats

Number of Books Read: 141

Number of Re-reads: 22

Genre Most Read: Fantasy/Paranormal

Best in Books

1. Best Book Read in 2015

This is so hard. How do I pick just one book?! I think I might have to pick Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I know this was not released this year but I did not read Cinder until this year. It was amazing and made me binge the rest of the series while waiting for Winter to be released.

2. Book I Was Excited About and Thought I Was Going to Love More But Didn’t

Atlantia by Ally Condie definitely. I so wanted to love Atlantia. I really did. I just couldn’t get into this book and I really didn’t care about what happened to Rio or Bay. This saddened me a lot.

3. Most Surprising (in a good or bad way) Book I Read

For surprising in a good way, I’m going to go with The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I was expecting something similar to the Palio di Siena and instead I got Thisby and the water horses. Yes, I was surprised, but it was a good surprise.

For surprising in a bad way, I’m going to have to go with Unhinged by A G Howard. Unhinged made me sick of Alyssa’s indecisiveness as well as the way she was being used by Morphesus and Jeb. This was not a good thing for me. I know others who have loved this book, so maybe it was just me.

4. Book I “Pushed” the Most People to Read in 2015

I think I am obliged to say the Green Rider series here. I may have, just slightly, pushed everyone everywhere to read this series. If I haven’t said it to you before, you should read this series! Seriously, I love it to pieces.

5. Best Series I Started in 2015/Best Sequel of 2015/Best Series Ender of 2015

I started so many new-to-me series this year that it is hard to pick just one. I guess I can say The Wrath and the Dawn was the best series I started this year. It (almost) literally left me begging for the sequel. It was amazing and the rest of the series promises to be epic.

For best sequel, I think I have to go with The Heart of Betrayal by Mary E Pearson. It was an amazing sequel to The Kiss of Deception and I loved them both.

For series ender, I think I have to say Winter by Marissa Meyer. It was amazing and beautiful and everything.

6. Favorite New Author I Discovered in 2015

I think I am going to go with Kerstin Gier for this one. I read Dream A Little Dream early on in the summer and then the entire Ruby Red trilogy this fall. I am also highly anticipating the release of Dream On in 2016.

7. Best Book from a Genre I Don’t Typically Read

I don’t usually pick up steam-punk at all but I really loved Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson. It was pretty amazing.

8. Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book of 2015

I could not put City of Bones down. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. There was so much happening and it just kept happening. Great book!

9. Book I Read in 2015 and am Most Likely to Re-Read in 2016

I am already planning a re-read of And You Are Christ’s for early in 2016 so I guess that fits well here. 2015 was not the first time I read this book, though. I first read it in 2008, I believe.

10. Favorite Cover of a Book I Read in 2015

It was so hard to pick just one cover but I settled on The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson. The cover is what first led me to this book and I still think it is a beautiful cover.

11. Most Memorable Character of 2015

Again, to pick just one book is so hard! I went with Ismae because Ismae is pretty memorable. If you haven’t read Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, I totally recommend it.

12. Most Beautifully Written Book I Read in 2015

It took me awhile to settle on My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell for this section. It is a beautifully written book and amazing as well. If you haven’t read it, you should!

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

For most thought-provoking and life-changing, I have to go with the book where my review turned into a reflection! Arriving At Amen is a wonderful book by Leah Libresco. Truly, this is an amazing book and my review really is more reflection than review but I still love it.

14. Book I Can’t Believe I Waited Until 2015 to Finally Read

This would have to be Seraphina by Rachel Hartman. I had heard quite a bit about this book but kept putting it off. I finally read it this year and am glad that I did. It was a great book.

15. Favorite Qutoe from a Book I Read in 2015

Picking just one quote is hard but it is helped a little bit when you get such an awesome quote to choose. The following quote is one of my favorites of the year from Dream A Little Dream by Kerstin Gier:

Home is where your books are.

16. Shortest/Longest Book I Read in 2015

Taking out novellas, my shortest book was Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI and my longest was Winter by Marissa Meyer.

17. Book That Shocked Me the Most

First I was shocked that Pope Francis recommended a novel written in 1907. Then I was shocked that this novel was written in 1907. It is seriously amazing and one of the first ever dystopian novels. My review will be coming in February when Ave Maria Press re-releases Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson.

18. OTP of the Year (I Will Go Down With This Ship!)

I don’t really know. I have such a hard time when it comes to people shipping characters and I don’t know why. I don’t even knoe what to put here…

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year

“Verity” and Maddie have an amazing friendship. It is truly spectacular. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein is utterly amazing and so this friendship has to be the one that I pick.

20. Favorite Book I Read in 2015 from an Author I’ve Read Previously

Previosuly (before I had this blog), I had read Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves. These were (I think) the only zombie books I have ever read. They weren’t my favorite reads but I really loved Daughter of Deep Silence. It was amazing.

21. Best Book I Read in 2015 Based Solely on a Recommendation

I don’t really know why I didn’t want to read this book, but I didn’t. Then I kept seeing people recommending it and so, peer-pressured reader that I am, I requested that the library purchase it. They did and These Broken Stars was great!

22. Newest Fictional Crush from 2015

I don’t crush on fictional characters (or real people for that matter).

23. Best 2015 Debut I Read

Akarnae by Lynette Noni was amazing. It was completely surprising and involved a sentient library! The library seriously thinks and it is amazing!

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting I Read in 2015

I had a hard time picking one book for this but decided to feature The Raven Boys (and the rest of the series) by Maggie Stiefvater. Henrietta, Virginia is fleshed out really nicely and there is Cabeswater!

25. Book That Put a Smile on My Face/Was the Most Fun to Read

I love this book so much. Beauty by Robin McKinley is basically my pick-me-up book. How do I not yet own a copy of this?

26. Book That Made Me Cry in 2015

If I were able to cry while reading, it would have been These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas. It is emotionally hard to read sometimes. Rose, Evelyn’s sister, get kidnapped and Evelyn has no idea what to do. Seriously tear-worthy book if I weren’t Vulcan.

27. Hidden Gem of the Year

I am going to have to go with Sacrificed by Emily Wibberley. The sequel, Forsworn, also came out this year and I loved them both. I don’t think enough people know about these awesome books.

28. Book That Crushed My Soul in 2015

There is no way that The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black could have a super-happy rainbow-and-butterflies storyline/ending. There just isn’t a way for everyone that Tana loves to be happy. Tana and Gavriel can’t both make it out of Coldtown and then there is Gavriel. Excuse me while I curl up in a ball.

29. Most Unique Book I Read in 2015

I have never read a biography quite like George Weigel’s City of Saints. He somehow manages to weave the early life of Pope Saint John Paul II into the historical setting of the city of Kraków. This is a seriously unique and wonderful book.

30. Book That Made Me the Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean I didn’t like it) in 2015

The ending of The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski made me mad simply because it was the ending and now I have to wait for The Winner’s Kiss. Maybe I just don’t like endings but this one was particularly brutal for me. Therefore, it made me mad.

My Blogging/Bookish Life

1. Favorite Book Blog I Discovered in 2015

There are far too many to list. It was 2015 where I really started to follow and comment on blogs so I could list a ton but I won’t do that. Rather, EVERYONE!

2. Favorite Review I Wrote in 2015

Becoming Darkness by Lindsay Francis Brambles was a great book and I really like my review. It is a rather long review, maybe that is why I like it.

3. Best Discussion/Non-Review Post in 2015

I had a lot of fun writing about the Ten Bookish Things That Have to Go. It is a meme post, not strictly a discussion, but it is the non-review post with the most comments.

4. Best Bookish Event I Participated In

Since I live in rural Montana, USA, there aren’t any bookish events for me to attend. I would love to go to BEA or even ALA but, alas, it is unlikely I ever will.

5. Best Moment of Bookish/Blogging Life in 2015

I discovered the existence of Blogging for Books. This is a site run by the Crown Publishing Group where you can request finished copies of books for review. While they don’t have a lot of YA available, this is how I got quite a few awesome Catholic reads this year.

6. Most Challenging Thing About Blogging/Reading This Year

Scheduling for sure. Staying organized is something I like to do but, for a bit this year, I got unorganized.

7. Most Popular Post of the Year (comments or views)

Going by pageviews, I think this would be my Back to School & Giveaway post. Going by comments, my Top Ten Tuesday post about Bookish Issues That Have to Go got the most at 20 comments. I know that isn’t a lot for some of you, but it means that 10 people commented on one of my posts and I replied to them. I may have been blogging for over a year but I’m still not one of the “big” bloggers.

8. Post I Wish Got a Little More Love

I know life updates don’t always get much traffic/comments but I wrote a post (with lots of pictures) when I got back from working at summer camp that I really like.

9. Best Bookish Discovery (book related site/book store/etc)

I am actually going to say the entire book blogging community for this one. It really is an amazing community and you are all so awesome, thank you!

10. Did I Complete Any Reading Challenges or Goals?

Yes, I did. This is the progress I made in all of my challenges this year.

Looking Ahead

1. One Book I Didn’t Get to in 2015 But Will in 2016

I definitely have more than just one! I have Illuminae and Winterspell and Red Queen and Wolf by Wolf and Not If I See You First on my shelves. It will probably be one of those.

2. Book I Am Most Anticipating for 2016 (non-debut)

After the ending of The Wrath and the Dawn, I NEED The Rose and the Dagger NOW!

3. 2016 Debut I Am Most Anticipating

Have you heard about The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi yet? First, that cover looks amazing! Can you honestly say you didn’t “oohh” a bit when you saw it? It sounds like it will be awesome and I cannot wait for its release. We have to wait until May, though.

4. Series Ending/Sequel I Am Most Anticipating for 2016

I need The Raven King after the ending of Blue Lily, Lily Blue because I need to know what happens to my precious characters! I also need Map of Fates because that ending to The Conspiracy of Us was so not what I thought was going to happen. Also, both of these books have gorgeous covers!

5. One Thing I Hope to Accomplish in Reading/Blogging in 2016

I want to post more discussion posts. That requires me to actually come up with ideas and write the posts.

6. A 2016 Release I’ve Already Read and Recommend to Everyone

I just read These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas. It was amazing! This should definitely be one of those highly-anticipated releases.

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Then I just discovered that The Book Addict’s Guide and Andi’s ABCs host a Statistics Survey. That one has different questions and so I figure why not answer those as well. Here goes:

Number Of

Number of Books Read… 141

• Under 250 pages (not counting novellas): 27
• Between 400-449 pages: 20
• Between 450-499 pages: 15
• Over 500 pages: 6
• Over 1000 pages: None this year.

Number of…

• Audiobooks: 18
• Re-reads: 22
• DNFs: 1

Number of Books Rated…

• Five Stars: 55 (I must be pretty good at picking books I know I will like.)
• One/Two Stars: 3

Number of Authors Met in 2015

I didn’t meet any authors in 2015. This is one of the things about living in rural Montana…

Number of Book Events Attended in 2015

I also did not attend any bookish events unless the school book fair counts because, again, I live in rural Montana.

Number of Books Read in One Day: 18

Number of Books that Made Me Cry

Well, I don’t tend to cry when I read and so I really don’t have any idea.

Number of 2016 Books on Pre-Order

I have managed to restrain myself from pre-orders though I do plan to use some Christmas money on two or ten. 🙂

By the Books

Book Read Furthest from Home

This is a hard one. I was visiting family back in Wisconsin in May and read Isle of the Lost, Dream A Little Dream, All Fall Down, and A Wicked Thing.

Book that Took Longest to Read

I think this would be Fire Study by Maria V Snyder. I was listening to the audio and so it took me well over a month to finish.

Book I Personally Connected with Most

Ummm… I would have to say Arriving At Amen by Leah Libresco for this one.

Book that Made Me Love the Villain

I can’t think of any off the top of my head for this one.

Book I Said I’d Come Back to But Haven’t Yet

I’m going to have to say This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I had this one checked out from the library a couple of months ago but then it had to go back. I actually have it from the library again, sitting on my desk right now.

Book I Read WAAAAY Before Publication Date

I’ve just recently read One Ordinary Sunday by Paula Huston that publishes in March.

Book I Read on My Birthday

I was reading Seven Revolutions by Mike Aquilina and James L Papandrea on my birthday.

Book with Character Who Shares My Name

I don’t think there was a book I read this year where a character shares my name.

Book I Wasn’t Entirely Truthful About When Rating

Ummm…. I think I was pretty truthful with all of them.

Book Read in 2015 I Already Want to Re-Read

2015 wasn’t the first time I read And You Are Christ’s by Thomas Dubay but I do plan to re-read it in 2016 again.

Book Borrowed from Friend a Long Time Ago and Still Have

I don’t really have any friends near me that I can borrow books from. It would only be my sister and it is way more likely that she is borrowing my books.

Book I Wish I Could Go Back and Read for the First Time Again

I would have to say Green Rider by Kristen Britain. I first read this book quite a while ago and would love to read it for the first time again.

Most Books Read by One Author

This would be Maggie Stiefvater with five: Shiver, The Scorpio Races, The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, and  Blue Lily, Lily Blue.

This & That

Happiest & Saddest

How do I even pick these? Happiest can go to The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan because I found myself laughing during it. Saddest can probably go to Number the Stars by Lois Lowry since I think, if I remember correctly, my students were almost in tears at parts of it.

Longest & Shortest…

• By page number: Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives by Pope Benedict XVI & Winter by Marissa Meyer
• By title: An Introduction to the Vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World by the USACV & Cress by Marissa Meyer
• From buying to reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas & Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Best & Worst…

• Average rating on Goodreads: One Ordinary Sunday by Paula Huston (I think my rating is the only one so far) & Li Jun and the Iron Road by Anne Tait
• Books you read/your rating: Cinder by Marissa Meyer & Evermore by Alyson Noel
• Series enders: Winter by Marissa Meyer & Ensnared by A G Howard

First & Last…

• Reads of 2015: Ancient Christian Worship by Andrew B McGowan & Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
• Books on your bookcase (first book on top let and last book on bottom right): Paradise Lost by John Milton & The Pharaoh’s Daughter by Mesu Andrews

Most Disappointing & Biggest Pleasant Surprise

Most disappointing probably has to go to Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton while most pleasant surprise can probably go to City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.

Fandom Joined & One Abandoned

Well, since 2015 was when I first read The Lunar Chronicles, The Winner’s Trilogy, Starbound, The Raven Cycle, The Mortal Instruments, etc. I guess I can saw a lot. As for the one abandoned, I loved Splintered by not so much the rest of the series.

Series Picked Up & Series Quit

I started a lot of series, see above. I also finished a lot of series. I guess I can say I “quit” The Immortals series by Alyson Noel after the first book, Evermore.

Most Hyped & Furthest Under the Radar Read

Most hyped probably has to go to Divergent by Veronica Roth. I finally read it. As for most under the radar, probably An Introduction to the Vocation of Consecrated Virginity Lived in the World by the USACV.

Grab Bag

• Book Read that is Red: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
• Starts with X, Y, or Z: And You Are Christ’s by Thomas Dubay
• Book Hugged When Finished: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• Book Wanted to Thrown Across Room: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski because it ended!
• Book that Became Instant Go-To Recommendation: Sacrificed by Emily Wibberley
• Furthest Out of Comfort Zone: Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson
• Read on Recommendation: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
• Forced Myself to Finish: Evermore by Alyson Noel
• Series/Author I Binged: Kerstin Gier

Blogging Life

First…

• Post of 2015: Sancta Maria, Mater Dei
• Review of 2015: Blood of a Stone by Jeanne Lyet Gassman

Last…

• Post of 2015: This post. 🙂
• Review of 2015: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Number of Posts in 2015: 235

Number of Reviews Posted in 2015: 128

Least Coherent Review in 2015: No idea. You tell me.

Post with Most Views in 2015: Back to School & Giveaway

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That’s all I’ve got for my year. I hope yours was amazing as well! I wish you a very happy Christmas season and new year!