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

xxx

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.)

xxx

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

xxx

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!

2013 Challenges Wrap-Up

This is a little later than I meant to post, but oh well. So here we go!

350 Page Book Challenge

The majority of the books I read tend to be 350+ pages, so I knew I was gonna do fine with this challenge. Here are my top 5 favorites (in no particular order):

1. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
3. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
4. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
5. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Honorable Mentions (because they were re-reads): Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, Fire by Kristin Cashore, Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, Shadow & Bone by Leigh Bardugo, The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

50 Book Pledge

So as you can see, I changed my goal (a couple times, actually). But I still made the pledge goal of 50, so there's that. (No favorites list for this, I have a hard enough time narrowing down the shorter lists, this one would be next to impossible.)

Contemporary Challenge

I juuuuuust made the goal, which surprised me, because in 2012 I was reading all the contemporary novels, but this year? Not so much. Though, now thinking about it, 25 is just under half my 59 total books. My favorite contemporary novels, read this year (in no particular order):

1. Wait for You by J. Lynn
2. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
3. Foreplay by Sophie Jordan
4. Rule by Jay Crownover
5. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Debut Author Challenge

I went through a really bad reading slump during the last few months of the year, so I wasn't too concerned with reading debuts—I just wanted to read something. Out of the mere 7 books I read, here are my top 3 favorites (in no particular order):

1. Altered by Jennifer Rush
2. The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas
3. From Ashes by Molly McAdams

Dystopian Challenge

I just wasn't feeling Dystopians this year, though I sure bought quite a few. Since I only read 4 books in this challenge, I'll list my favorites (IN ORDER *gasp*).

1. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
2. Frozen by Melissa de la Cruz & Michael Johnston
3. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
4. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Monthly Challenges

Like in 2012, I used the "monthly challenges" to help keep me on track towards my goal of 75. And now you can see how bad my reading slump was—the only reason I made September's goal was because I counted 2 mangas.

Paranormal & Fantasy Challenge

Any other year and I probably would have knocked this challenge out of the park. But, as I show above, I had a massive reading slump that set me back. My top 5 favorites (back to no particular order):

1. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
2. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
3. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
4. Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz
5. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Sequel Challenge

In 2012, I read 38 1st in a series books, so I thought I would be able to complete this challenge fine, but it was not to be *sadface*. My 5 favorites (this is going to look really familiar)(in no particular order):

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
2. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
3. Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo
4. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi
5. Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz

TBR Challenge

I always seem to fail at making any progress on my TBR pile, whether with a challenge or through a book-buying ban, and this time was no different. This challenge was to read pre-2013 books you own, so while I didn't make much of a dent in my pre-2013 pile, my during-2013 pile really only increased by a few books (if that makes any sense to you). The 5 books I read, in favorites order:

1. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
2. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
3. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
4. Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5. Tempest Rising by Tracy Deebs

That's all my challenges for 2013.

2012 Challenges Wrap-Up

So if you looked at my sidebar sometime in the past year, you probably noticed my giant challenges list (as seen below).

Since it's the new year I'm going to recap all of those challenges, so here we go!

1st in a Series Challenge

I didn't find this challenge until later in the year, but I rocked it nonetheless with 38 books. The highest challenge level was 25 books, though I shot for 35, because I was at 18 in July. My top 5 favorite books from my list of 1sts are (in no particular order):

1. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
2. Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers
3. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
4. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
5. Rift by Andrea Cremer

50 Book Pledge

My goal for the year was actually 100 books, but I figured this challenge would be a good way to keep track of the books I read. Picking favorites is SO HARD, because this is from ALL the books I read this year—I can't do it, I can't pick my favorites. Most of the books I read I LOVED.


A-Z Book Challenge

I knew I was going to have trouble getting X and Q, but I didn't realized how frequently titles start with V, A, B, C, S, and R. Though, I didn't really go out of my way to find books with the letters I was missing. Below is the list, so you can see what I was missing.

Now this list is much easier to pick favorites from (And, again, in no particular order).

1. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
2. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
3. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
4. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
5. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Debut Author Challenge

When it was May, and I'd only read 3 debuts, I figured I wouldn't make my goal. But around August I hit a debut "boom", and just about completed my goal. Then, of course, I read 1 or 2 more to complete my goal.

My favorite debuts (as always, in no particular order):

1. Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
3. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
5. Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

Monthly Challenges

I started this to help me stay on track for my goal of 100 books in a year, and as you've noticed, I only reached 92. For some reason, I really slowed down in the summer, and that's what hurt me.

No favorite for this one as well.


TBR Pile Reading Challenge

I really didn't do well in this challenge, there were just so many new books coming out!

My 3 favorites of the 8 I read:

1. Fallen by Lauren Kate
2. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
3. My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

Blue Bloods Read-a-long Challenge

I didn't do so well with this either. I read the first 3 books in the series, but I only reviewed book 1. I also completed 1 mini-challenge.

No favorites, because it was all one series, but the Blue Bloods series *is* one of my favorite series ever!


That's all! Soon I'll have a 2013 Challenges post up with all of the challenges I'm doing, most of them different from the ones I did in 2012.