Greetings,
I wasn't really planning on posting anything today, but I found this really fun book survey and I thought I could post my answers to all these questions. I certainly read a lot of books this year, 115 to be exact. Anyway, what with reading that many books, I have a lot of opinions about them. And as always, these are just my opinions. You can love or hate whatever books you want. So, anyway, let's get this thing started. Settle in. It's gonna be a long one.
1. Best Book You Read in 2017? - Well I reread my favorite book, The Last Sin Eater by Francine Rivers, this year, so technically, I guess that would be considered the best. But that one aside, I would say House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It was just so different and fascinating and engaging. It was an experience and one that I'm very glad I had.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? - I'm not sure if I thought I was going to love it, necessarily, but I did expect more from Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. It wasn't bad, but I just feel like it might be over-hyped. Just my opinion. Calm down.
3. Most Surprising (in a good way or bad way) Book You Read? - I was pleasantly surprised by The Gospel of Loki by Joanne M. Harris. By the synopsis, I was expecting something very . . . "fanficcy", and to be fair, it kind of was. At least, in the general idea of it. But the writing was so stellar, that it went above and beyond that, and I got a very entertaining reading experience out of it.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? - None that I know. Honestly, I don't know a lot of people who read very much. I reviewed some books on this blog, wherein I would recommend a few of them, so there is a possibility that someone read a book due to that.
5. Best series you started in 2017? Best Sequel of 2017? Best Series Ender of 2017? - I started quite a few series this year, so I had a lot to sift through. I started the Fox and O'Hare series by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg and read quite a few of the books therein. I actually reviewed the first one, The Heist, recently, and that was the series I was most entertained by. For a sequel, I loved Murder Most Frothy by Cleo Coyle, which was #5 in the Coffeehouse Mystery series. And the only ender I read, as far as I know, was The End of Oz by Danielle Paige, so that one wins. It was very good, though, so it probably would have won anyway. Still, I don't know if it even is the last book in the series. I had heard that, but I wouldn't be against more.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? - I would probably have to say Michael Robertson who writes the Baker Street Letters series, which I read all five of this year. I don't know what it is, but I really get drawn into the world he creates and I love the characters, as flawed as they are. I'm hoping to read more from him.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? - I don't read a lot of YA, but this year I did read of few. And I think the best was Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. Is that YA? I don't know.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? - I'm gonna go with In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. I know a lot of people had mixed feelings about and felt the end was predictable. To be fair, it was a little, but as far as the journey of the story goes, I was quite enthralled.
9. Book You Read In 2017 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? - Have you seen my TBR pile? There will be no rereads! But if I must choose something, what the heck, I guess I'll just reread my favorite again.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? - I audiobooked my way through High Rise by J.G Ballard and according to GoodReads, said audiobook has Tom Hiddleston on the cover. So, yeah, that one.
11. Most memorable character of 2017? - Well, I read some H.P. Lovecraft this year, so who else but Cthulhu!
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2017? - I thought The Book Thief by Markus Zusak was written very beautifully, especially considering the subject matter. But maybe that's exactly why it came out that way.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2017? - I reread The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning and the first time I read this book it made me think and changed my life. It kinda did the same thing on repeat. And, of course, I was reminded of how it inspired one of my favorite songwriters of all time, Rich Mullins.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? - The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. And I love Batman, so what in the heck took me so long?
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2017? - I don't really pay attention to specific quotes from books, but thanks to GoodReads I managed to find some from a book I mentioned just a couple of questions ago. It's from The Ragamuffin Gospel and the quote is “The temptation of the age is to look good without being good.” I find this one rather topical.
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2017? - Again, according to GoodReads, the shortest book was Pros and Cons at only 28 pages, but it was a short story prequel to the aforementioned Fox and O'Hare series. Still, it was counted as an actual book, so there you go. The longest was Les Miserables at 1,463 pages. And it felt 1,463 pages long.
17. Book That Shocked You The Most? - I guess Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn would have shocked me if I hadn't seen the movie.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) - OTP is One True Pairing, in case you don't know. And how can I not say Chip and Joanna Gaines from The Magnolia Story! Yes, I know it's a non-fiction, but no one said it couldn't be.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year - I do love the Heath brothers, Reggie and Nigel, from The Baker Street Letters series. They're very different from one another and their relationship can be rocky at times, but when you put them together, it really works for me.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2017 From An Author You’ve Read Previously - Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell. I've read a few of her books before and she is one of my favorite authors. I actually got to meet her at a book festival a couple of years ago. She was very nice and she even bought one of my books.
21. Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure - Everyone told me to read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, or anything by Donna Tartt, so I did. And she is a darn good writer.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? - I have to bring up the Fox and O'Hare series again, because . . . Nick Fox. Dang! Yes, I know he's a criminal, but we like our bad boys. For some reason. And he makes me laugh, which counts for a lot, especially these days.
23. Best 2017 debut you read? - If this means a book that was published in 2017, I only read two of those and I already mentioned one of them, so I'll say the other one which was Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Hmmm . . . I read a lot of Loki related things this year. Why?
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year? - I suppose I'll say Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. He did have to create pictures with words and words with pictures, all at the same time. And he did a fantastic job.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? - I read a book by Jim Gaffigan called Dad is Fat. Which book do YOU think was the most fun for me to read?
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2017? - Broken Harbour by Tana French. I LOVE Tana French. She writes about the Dublin Murder Squad, so obviously, there was a murder in this book. No spoilers, but when you find out what actually happened, it is heartbreaking. I didn't full on cry, because I'm not really a book crier, but she almost got me there.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year? - I haven't heard a ton of people talking about The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, but I found it just delightful. I liked the characters and the journey that they went on. I love books and bookshops, and I once loved Paris, so there a feeling of nostalgia for me. I had a good time with this one and I hope more people read it.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul? - I found it very difficult to read the book Reed's Beach by Bret Lott. Don't get me wrong. It was a great book, and I love Bret Lott as a writer. But due to the subject matter, it was tough one to get through.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2017? - There's no way I can't not say House of Leaves again. Seriously? Have you seen the thing? Yeah, unique is an understatement. Actually, there's a great YouTuber named Austin McConnell. He did a really good video giving a bit of a quick look at it if you're interested. I'll link it below along with the House of Leaves episode of a bookish podcast called Overdue. They gave some decent insight on the book as well.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? - Gotta say The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers. Mostly because there were a couple of characters that were very slap-worthy in there. I know violence is bad, but they're fake, so it's okay.
Okay, then there were a few questions about book blogging, and I'm going to skip that part. Technically, I'm not a book blogger. I'm a whatever the heck I feel like blogging about blogger, and not a very popular one at that. So, I passed on those. No offense,
And then, there was a Looking Ahead section, wherein there are questions about what is going to be read in 2018. Off we go.
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2017 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2018? - I have so many books in my TBR pile that I'm excited about. I do really wanna get to the next Tana French book, The Secret Place, but I also have a Betty White biography in the mix, so I guess we'll see who wins. You just never know what kind of reading mood you'll be in.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2018 (non-debut)? - Well, I have TWO books coming out in 2018, another poetry collection called After the Ashes Cool and a novel called Beyond Starlight, so I'm be a shameless self-promoter and say those!
3. 2018 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? - Sadly, I don't really know about any debut authors who will be releasing their books in 2018, but God bless them, I wish them much success and if I see one of their books, I'll have to check them out. Literally, because I go to the library a lot.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2018? - I don't know if there is going to be another book in "many times mentioned in this post" The Baker Street Letters series released in 2018, but if there is, I am SO there. And I'm sure that Janet Evanovich will have something new in one of her series coming out. She usually does.
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2018? - I hope to review a lot more books on this blog. I've done quite a few this year, but I really want people to be excited about reading. And if I can help them by recommending good books, it is certainly my pleasure.
6. A 2018 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable) - I have no idea. I don't get ARCs. I am not that special . . . yet.
So, that was fun, and I had a lot of fun reading this year. I hope to finish a lot of books in 2018, maybe even more than I did this year, but we'll see. Either way, as long as I keep seeking out good books and good writers, first and foremost, I'll be helping to keep what is important about literature alive and well.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
