2014 End-of-the-Year Bookish Wrap-Up

So this year I decided the only reading challenge I was going partake in was the Goodreads one, and though I made my goal low on purpose, I must say I—

(I could not pass up the opportunity to use this gif. Found here)

At the writing of this post (Dec 30, 4:00pm), I have read 96 books of my 50 book goal! *happy dance* Last year I read 58 books, so it looks like my experiment to see if I read more when not participating in reading challenges was quite successful. And though there are many 2015 challenges that look super fun, I think I'm going to stick with this no challenges thing (Okay, I might do the PopSugar reading challenge.) and see if I can make it to an even 100 next year.

(I am both Haymitch and Katniss in this gif. Found here)

Now some stats! (As per usual, all covers & book titles are linked to Goodreads.)

Top 10 favorite books of 2014 overall (excludes re-reads, bc those are obvious faves):

- Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas
- Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
- Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
- Sisters' Fate by Jessica Spotswood
- The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
- Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
- Defy by Sara B Larson
- The Ring and the Crown by Melissa de la Cruz
- Erased by Jennifer Rush
- Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

(Okay, I made this list without looking at the covers and the order was completely random O_O) (Also, I apparently really like green and pink/red books.)

Honorable mentions:
- I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
- The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare & Holly Block
- Death Sworn by Leah Cypess
- Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
- Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins

(More pink and green books!)

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No. of series-enders read: 11
Top 3 favorites:

Books read:
- Wild by Sophie Jordan
- Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins
- Shatter by Erin McCarthy
- Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
- Sisters' Fate by Jessica Spotswood
- Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
- Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
- Breakable by Tammara Webber
- Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi
- The Good Neighbors: Kind by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
- Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales: Resolve by Melissa Marr & Xian Nu Studio

(It was really hard to choose my Top 3; there were so many good endings this year!)

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No. of stand-alones read: 10
Top 3 favorites:

Books read:
- Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
- Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
- I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
- Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland
- The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
- Curses and Smoke: A Novel of Pompeii by Vicky Alvear Shecter
- Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
- Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols
- Steel by Carrie Vaughn
- The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

(Another category that was hard to narrow down to my Top 3, all were quite good.)

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No. of 2014 debuts read: 6
Favorite:

Books read:
- Defy by Sara B Larson
- Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne
- The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (Their MG debut)
- Boomerang by Noelle August
- The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
- The Falconer by Elizabeth May (I read the UK edition, which came out Sept '13, but the US debut was in 2014, so I'm counting it.)

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No. of graphic novels read: 7
Favorite:

Books read:
- The Good Neighbors: Kin by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
- The Good Neighbors: Kith by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
- The Good Neighbors: Kind by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh
- The Exile by Diana Gabaldon & Hoang Nguyen
- Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales: Sanctuary by Melissa Marr & Xian Nu Studio
- Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales: Challenge by Melissa Marr & Xian Nu Studio
- Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales: Resolve by Melissa Marr & Xian Nu Studio

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No. of non-fiction read: 1

- Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World by Jane Yolen

(Picked it up for Anne Bonny and Mary Read, but all the "sea queens" were interesting. Lady Pirates FTW!)

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No. of ebooks read: around 18

(I don't always record ebook reads on GR, so that # is based on what I did record.)

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No. of re-reads: 13
Top 3 favorites:

Books (re)read:
- Poison Study by Maria V Snyder
- Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
- Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
- Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey
- Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
- Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
- Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally
- Tithe by Holly Black
- Rule by Jay Crownover (I re-read this 2x in 2014)
- Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
- Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas
- The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas

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And that was my year in books. Did you guys make end-of-the-year lists? Link or tell me in the comments! I'd love to see what books I might've missed this year!

Weekend Read-a-thon Wrap-Up

So, this post is a little late, but I've been super busy. Because of the busyness I only read just over ¾ of a book. My plan was to finish Black Dawn by the time the read-a-thon started, but that didn't happen, I was only able to make it ½ through. Once I finished BD on Saturday, I started Trial by Fire, which I only got a third of the way through before time was up. I'm very disappointed by this read-a-thon's results, especially considering I still have to finish Trial by Fire. *sigh* I hope the next read-a-thon goes better.

Weekend Read-a-thon Wrap-Up

So, I didn't make my 3-book goal and, honestly, I didn't really expect to. I knew that if I set my goals higher I would be more likely to read more to try and get closer to my goal. The books I finished were Frostbite and Shadow Kiss. I was going to read The Iron Knight, but when I finished Frostbite, I didn't want to leave the VA world just then. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm quite surprised that I was able to finish Shadow Kiss on time. V kept popping up, and I had to concentrate to keep her out of the story. Nonetheless, I finished 2 out of 3 books, when I expected only 1½ to be read. ACCOMPLISHMENT!!!!