Wednesday, December 31, 2014

In Which I Review My Year In Books + Giveaway

The year is just about over and now comes the time for looking back at all we've done over the past 365 days, and since this is a book blog I'm going to look back at all of the books I read this year.  First I'll start with some numbers, cause I'm a sucker for all of those infographic things (although mine aren't nearly as cool).




I read a total of 51 books this year.  You can see them all here. (That's just over half the total number that I read last year.)
This is how they broke down age group wise.

I didn't review any of the Adult/New Adult books, so that's a total of 35 reviews.  That's not so great...

What about by genre?
(All of these are only based on the YA books only)

I'm actually surprised by this cause I generally think of myself as more of a paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi lover.

This number could have been much higher, especially with all of the great debuts that came out this year. 
Apparently I also really liked Standalones.  And I started more series than I actually continued AND finished. Oops.




I also 
  • read 3 books that were not published in 2014
  • did not finish (read more than 100 pages of and didn't care for) 3 books (I started and did not finish more, but I mean to come back to those ones...at some point in time)
  • read 6 books that were self-published/indie-published (this is out of ALL the books I read)


Now that you have all of the numbers what about my favorites?


These are in alphabetical order, not in order by rank 
Also, please note that these books are just YA, not adult/new-adult

 Amity by Micol Ostow

Why?  Cause I'm a huge fan of the horror genre and the writing worked for me.  Also, it's pretty original.

My review












 Better off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg

Why?  I adore friends to lovers stories and this one was just so adorable.

I wrote a review for this and I posted it but the internet ate it so...yeah.  I'll work on that.
Cress by Marissa Meyer

Why?  Rapunzel on a satellite.  That is all.

My reivew
 Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

Why?  This was such a fantastic look at an anxiety disorder, and I really think we need more of them in YA (and adult) lit!

My review
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Why?  Despite being a super dark book the writing is just so pretty!  Also, the story! And yay for high fantasy for the YA group!

My review
 I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson

Why?  The writing was beautiful, as was the story, and it shouldn't have worked but it TOTALLY did.

My review
Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Why?  Because it was just so gosh-dang adorable.  Also, cameos from the previous two book's characters.

My review 
 On The Fence by Kasie West

Why?  Another friends to lovers story that really hit the spot.  I'm also a huge fan of the "one of the boys" cliche too.  This book is just filled with warm fuzzies.

My review
 The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Why?  A female anti-hero, that's why.

My Review
Welcome to the Dark House by Laurie Faria Stolarz       
                             
Why?  It's a teen slasher flick in a book!  
     

















Those are my top ten books for the year but because it's 2014 I've decided that there need to be 14 books on this list, so below are four extras that are part of the top 14, but not the top 10


Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Split Second by Kasie West
The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner

Feel free to ask me about any adult/NA books I read in the comments, on the facebook page, or on twitter!


And now because I've read some awesome books this year I want to share them with you, so fill out the rafflecopter below and you're entered to win a copy of one of my top 10 14 favorite books!  And if you haven't read the first book in the series you can pick the first book, cause I love all of those ones too!  The giveaway will last until the last day I'm working, which is January 10!

The giveaway will be open internationally AS LONG AS the book depository ships to you.  
You can find out if they do here.



a Rafflecopter giveaway


*One last note, if I owe you a prize I will be mailing it not long after the 10th (and emailing you before then)!  I'm so sorry that it's taking me so long, I just REALLY hate going to the post office...also I'm kinda broke-ish.  

17 comments:

  1. I enjoyed so many books this year, it's hard to choose just one. For some reason, though, every time I'm asked this question, The Impossible Knife of Memory is the first book that comes to mind. It wasn't my #1 fav of the year, but it's definitely up there. I LOVED that book, it's so well written and all around perfect. Many of the books on your list are on my to read list for 2015. Hopefully, I get to some of them! Interesting that you only read half of what you did a year ago. Any reason why you scaled back?

    Happy New Year! And thanks for the giveaway. :)

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    1. it wasn't intentional, I tried some new things this year, including attempting to write a novel (which I didn't finish), and I ended up taking classes that required a lot of outside time put into them, so it just kinda happened. Also, TV.

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  2. isla and the happily ever after

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  3. Heir of Fire was my favorite read! i've read it twice already!

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  4. TFIOS was one of my favorite reads :)
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  5. I loved I'll Give You The Sun :D Thanks for the giveaway! This is Kayla by the way.

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  6. From your list, I loved Cress and Into the Still Blue. The Diviners, On the Jellicoe Road and A Thousand Pieces of You were some other favorites.

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  7. thanks for the giveaway!
    One of my fav was Clockwork Princess!^^

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  8. Loved Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo and Endsinger by Jay Kristoff!

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  9. One *cough, three* of my many favorite reads this year was The Lunar Chronicles! Fantastic series! One of my go to recommendations now. Thank you!

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  10. My favorite was probably Rites of Passage. It is hard to choose just one, but I think that would have to be it. Thanks so much for the giveaway!

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  11. Throne of Glass and Angelfall :)

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  12. It's always hard to pick just one book.. However, my favorite trilogy ended this year, so I would have to go with Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo. Perfect ending of an amazing trilogy.
    Thanks for the giveaway! :)

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  13. One of my favorite reads was Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. I LOVED IT! Thank you for this amazing chance! :)

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  14. Ignite me was one of my favorites of 2014!

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