2011 End Of Year Book Survery

Jami over at the Perpetual Page-Turner is hosting her "End Of The Year Book Survey" for 2011. It looked like a fun thing to do, so I thought I would participate. 

1. Best Book You Read In 2011? 

Yeesh, start out with the hardest question ever, why dontchya...

Since this is my survey I'm going to cheat and pick more than one. 

Divergent by Veronica Roth- This book was incredible. It seriously rocked my world and I cannot wait until Insurgent to come out.

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead- It made me cry, laugh, bite my nails down to the quick, and made my heart stop...multiple times.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins- I actually started taking Rosetta Stone French lessons after reading this book because it made me want to go to Paris so badly.

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

I'm probably going to get shunned for this...but I was a bit disappointed with Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. There were just some things in it that did not make sense. 
Also, I had high hopes for Tris & Izzie...I mean the cover and the synopsis made it look and sound amazing. But it just fell flat for me.  
Neither of them were my cup of tea.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

 Anna and the French Kiss. I read it after Amy and Roger so I was really nervous that it was going to be another contemp that was hyped to the high heavens that actually ended up not being my cup of tea. But I love it. So very very much.
Dark Parties by Sara Grant was also surprising. I hadn't seen very much on it and what I had seen just didn't make it sound that great. I gave it a go though, and loved it. I was an emotional mess when I finished it.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Anna and the French Kiss and The Hunger Games. I was a major pusher for both. Especially The Hunger Games since I finished Mockingjay in the very beginning of the year. 

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

The Iron Fey series. This year I read very few series, or if I did, they were new series and only the first was released (I don't count those with this question).

Also The Summer series. I have enjoyed that one more than I thought I was going to.

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Veronica Roth, Stephanie Perkins, Rae Carson, Lauren DeStefano, Beth Revis...oh this list could go on, but I'll stop there.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

 Meh, nothing is realllly out of my comfort zone. I used to not like contemps because I don't normally click with the characters. But I gave some a real shot this year and really started to like them.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

 Divergent. Last Sacrifice. and Dark Parties.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

 Divergent. I got myself so excited to read it that when I finally got it, it took me forever to pick the book up because I was afraid it would be a disappointment.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

Across The Universe by Beth Revis

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

11. Most memorable character in 2011? 

 Tris from Divergent. It's hard to forget someone that you just click with.
Belly from The Summer I Turned Pretty. I remember being her age and feeling like she did a lot of the time.
Rose Hathaway from Last Sacrifice. I want to be able to kick serious ass like she can.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

Stolen by Lucy Christopher. It was an incredible story written in the form of a letter to the girl's captor. I don't think I've read anything so powerful or beautiful.

A close second would be Hold Still by Nina LaCour. That was a great book.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011? 

 Stay by Deb Caletti had a big impact on me because it reminded me of a situation I had gone through. I was very emotional while reading that one.


Divergent actually helped me get a bit more motivated to go to the gym. I did not like thinking that I could not do what they were having to do, so I decided to get back in shape and healthier...I'd say that's an impact.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read? 

 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I skimmed it years ago while at a friend's house waiting for her to finish her homework. But this year I READ it, and love it, and cannot wait to read the rest of the series. Which in a way I am glad I waited so long because now I can really appreciate and soak up the story.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011? 

Ha! I have so many favorites. I actually write them all down in a notebook.

“You think my first instinct is to protect you. Because you're small, or a girl, or a Stiff. But you're wrong." 

He leans his face close to mine and wraps his fingers around my chin. His hand smells like metal. When was the last time he held a gun, or a knife? My skin tingles at the point of contact, like he's transmitting electricity through his skin. 

"My first instinct is to push you until you break, just to see how hard I have to press." he says, his fingers squeezing at the word break. My body tenses at the edge in his voice, so I am coiled as tight as a spring, and I forget to breathe. 

His dark eyes lifting to mine, he adds, "But I resist it." 

"Why..." I swallow hard. "Why is that your first instinct?" 

"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up. I've seen it. It's fascinating." He releases me but doesn't pull away, his hand grazing my jaw, my neck. "Sometimes I just want to see it again. Want to see you awake.”

Gah. I love that. Now I want to re-read Divergent. *le sigh*

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012? 

 One of the challenges that I am setting up for myself is to re-read some of my favorite books in 2012. So I will be re-reading: The Hunger Games Trilogy, Vampire Academy, Divergent, Delirium, My Blood Approves...maybe a couple other books as well. But that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers! 

Oh my gosh. I about died when I had NO ONE to talk to about Mockingjay, Last Sacrifice, or Divergent with. It was hard not just blurting everything out to my husband. Especially about how Mockingjay ended...I'm still trying to get him to read The Hunger Games so I didn't want to spoil the whole thing.

 Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011 (optional)

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011? 

 Oh man...I can't really answer this question. I've found so many great blogs this year that I could not possibly name them all. And I don't want to leave anyone out. So just check out my list of blogs that I follow. I love them all.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011? 

 I haven't finished it yet, but I am really liking my Anna and the French Kiss WIP review. It's very gushy and fan girly. It will hopefully be posted in the next couple of days. But I have technically written most of it this year, so it counts ;p

3. Best discussion you had on your blog? 

 That is something that I am planning on working on this coming year is getting discussions started. I did have a chit chat about banned books that was good and one of my reviews started getting books recs passed around and that was neat. Other than that though, not too many others happened.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog? 

I thought Andye's (Reading Teen) post about Sex in YA was a really good post. And I cannot for the life of me remember who posted it, but someone did a great post on things to do and not to do in blogging. I read it at the beginning of the year when I was still just getting started, so it helped out a lot.

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

I went to my very first author event this year! And it was sooo much fun. My best friend and I went to the Austin Teen Book Festival together, and I got to meet Stephanie Perkins. I was going to gush to her about how much I loved Anna and could not wait to read Lola...but I kind of froze...and got a bit tongue tied...so the gushing did not happen.

Most fun virtual event has to be the Holiday #Readathon. I love love love doing that readathon. You should do it next year too.

And I love doing Top Ten Tuesday host by Broke and Bookish and In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren. I just have to make myself be a little more consistent with them. 

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2011?

 I had my first author interview this year and it was so very cool. It was with Michelle Leighton and she is such a neat author and it was for her first ebook, The Reaping, so it was a cool feeling to be one of the first bloggers to interview her. Talking to some of my favorite authors on twitter has been really cool too. Which I would have probably never done if I hadn't started blogging.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

 My review of Letters to Elise by Amanda Hocking. It has a crazy amount of views.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

 A lot of them. But I started slacking on posting on my blog and commenting on other people's posts when I moved in the middle of this year and that's when the post love started dwindling. So I will be working on getting back into a better posting groove again next year.

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

 I discovered NetGalley and GalleyGrab this year and those were both pretty awesome. And that TONS of authors go to Austin to do book signings, which isn't that far from me. So maybe I'll be able to make it back up there for a couple more signings before I move back to Colorado next year.

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I am soo close to meeting my goal of reading 80 books, I also read quite a few debut authors, and I did great at my ebook challenge. But I totally failed on my banned books challenge. I think I only read 4 or 5 banned or challenged books this year. And I really really failed at my Into The Old World Reading Challenge.

Looking Ahead... 


1. One Book You Didn't Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?

HA! A lot. The Near Witch, Wolfsbane, Lola and the Boy Next Door, It's Not Summer Without You and the rest of the Harry Potter series.


2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?

 Isla and the Happily Ever After. INSURGENT! A Million Suns. Fever.

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?

 Reading -- In 2012 I would really like to read at least 100 books. And to read more books that I have on my shelves and on my Kindle rather than buying so many and never getting to them. My books deserve to be read in a timely manner. Maybe get outside of my realm of YA books and try some more adult books.

Blogging -- I hope to stay on top of my reviews. Think of some new kinds of posts to get some discussions started, maybe. Be more consistent in my meme participation. Stop being so dang shy when talking to authors or other bloggers.

2011 was a great for both blogging and reading. I've read more books this year than I have any other year, I have met some incredible bloggers and authors, and have learned a great deal about blogging (now I just need to put what I learned into affect) and the book industry. Can't wait to see what 2012 brings!