2017 End of Year Book Survey

Once again this year I'm joining in with The Perpetual Page Turner to do her End of Year Book Survey.

2017 Reading Stats

Number Of Books You Read: 36
Number of Re-Reads: 5
Genre You Read The Most From: Classics

Best in Books

1. Best Book You Read In 2017? 

• Fiction- Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and Dear Mr. Knightly by Katherine Reay
• Non-Fiction- Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? I wasn't really disappointed by any books this year!

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay. I was shocked how much I loved it!

 
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? Well I got my book club to read Hidden Figures and Dear Mr. Knightley. And they loved them. I hadn't read them either at that point though to be fair.

5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017?

• Best series started- The Barsoom series- The Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Best sequel- The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket and The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum... honestly the only sequels I read this year and they're both equally great. 
• Best series ender- None this year. I meant to but it didn't happen. 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? Katherine Reay! I've loved every book I've read of hers so far and can't wait to read more.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I'd say A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.... I don't normally read plays and I normally don't enjoy them but I really enjoyed this one!

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? Unputdownable was definitely Dear Mr. Knightley but it wasn't action-packed or thrilling. As far as action-packed definitely A Princess of Mars.

9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? I don't normally re-read books in such quick succession but if I were to it would probably be Dear Mr. Knightley cause I just loved it that much!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? I love the cover for Dear Mr. Knightley so much. Something about the swirling hand writing, the rose and the letters flying up through the air just seem to indicate the fun, romantic story to come.

11. Most memorable character of 2017? Hmm.... there aren't any that strongly stick out to me. I think probably Jennifer Worth from Call the Midwife. I still can't get over the fact that she chose to go work in east end London and stuck it out. What an incredible learning experience it must have been. As a nurse I can't help but be intrigued.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? Probably Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. The whole series was beautifully written. I disagreed with other parts of it but the writing is spot on.

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017? Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. With getting married this year I read a lot of books about marriage and I loved them all but Sacred Marriage was the best. I also really liked The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller and Let Me Be a Woman by Elisabeth Elliot.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? Dear Mr. Knightley for sure!!!!! Besides that also The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and The Eyre Affair.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017? I'm so bad at keeping track of quotes anymore but here's one I liked from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.”
“Why, what did she tell you?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t listen.”

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017?

• Shortest- A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry- 151 pages
• Longest- The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum- 688 pages 

17. Book That Shocked You The Most? No book really left me shocked. I suppose Call the Midwife left me the most just with the conditions that so many people lived in. Um... and there was one chapter in it that, if you've read it you know what I'm talking about, left me shocked for other reasons.

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) Samantha and Alex from Dear Mr. Knightley. <3

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year? The Baudelaire children have such a sweet family relationship despite the craziness they endure.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously? This year I actually read very few books that were from authors I'd previously read. I read a lot of new authors. I'll go with The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum. It was a great sequel to Bourne Identity.

21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: I got a ton of recommendations from the blogosphere for The Eyre Affair and Dear Mr. Knightley. My aunt strongly recommended Gilead and it's sequels, which was honestly the only reason I read it. I probably never would have picked it up otherwise but I did enjoy them.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? John Carter from A Princess of Mars... he's a man! I also love Alex from Dear Mr. Knightely of course!!!! For a Re-read I"m still crushing on Ronald Eustace Psmith from Leave it to Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse.

23. Best 2017 debut you read? I didn't make it to any 2017 debuts this year.

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? Probably Edgar Rice Burroughs' description of Mars in A Princess of Mars.

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? DEAR MR. KNIGHTLEY!!!! Do you get that I loved that book yet? I also had a lot of fun reading A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017? Dear Mr. Knightely about had me crying. I'm not an emotional person but pregnancy is messing with me.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? DEAR MR. KNIGHTLEY!!!! Oh besides that? I was pleasantly surprised by both The Four Feathers and A Princess of Mars.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? DEAR MR. KNIGHTLEY!!!! I LOVED IT!!!!

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017? The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Eyre Affair, The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Adam Bede by George Elliot annoyed me a lot but I did find it interesting.

Your Blogging/Bookish Life 

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? I honestly can't remember which blogs I started following this year. I'm quite sure I started following some new ones but I'm not sure which ones!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2017? Well why not my review of Dear Mr. Knightley?

3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? How about this one?

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)? I participated in some different fun themed weeks like I Love Austen Week and Robin Hood Week, which were both fun.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017? I now have 101 followers on Bloglovin! I know that sounds pathetic but I've been at like 98-99 for forever so I'm excited to break 100.

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? I started War and Peace!

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)? Apparently this one, which I find odd as there's nothing special about it.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? They've al pretty equally gotten lots of love though I noticed when scrolling back to look at stats for the last question that at the beginning of the year I was definitely getting more page views than I am now. So check out some of my more recent book reviews like this one, or this one, or this one. And yeah... "this one" doesn't tell you what book it's about... that's part of the fun!

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? Nothing new that I can think of this year. I checked out lots of little used bookstores in my travels this year which were fun but they were all out of state so I'll probably never make it back.

10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? Some of them... certainly needed to complete more of them.

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018? At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon. We read it for book club but it was the month I was gone on my honeymoon so.... priorities! I really do want to read it though so even though I'm late I'll get to it in 2018!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)? I'm so behind I don't keep up with current authors I like and their new books. Now I'll have to look around and see.


3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? I don't know of any yet.


4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018? Same! Not a clue! I'm so behind!!!!!!!!


5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018? Complete the Classics Club Challenge!


6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable): N/A


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