End of Year Book Survey 2011

And now I give you the End of Year Survey by The Perpetual Page-Turner, something I did last year and enjoyed and something I have a feeling will be a bit of a year end tradition! Yay! It's a bit long, but hopefully some of you will have fun looking it over and join in over at The Perpetual Page-Turner and link up!


Bookish Bests

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

This is so so hard because I read a lot that I loved, but I think I'm going to have to go with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. And I think the reason why is because it's so different and so unlike any book I've read, that it just really made a huge impression.

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

I was sad that upon re-reading Middlemarch, I didn't love it more. It was a disappointing re-read. I remember loving it before, but this time I just didn't. Yes, that was quite sad.

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

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson surprised me because I thought it was just going to be a normal, fun, simple YA book, but it turned out to be very deep and touching and emotional and I loved it! I totally didn't expect to have the reaction to it that I did.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

I read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand early on in 2011 and ended up recommending that a lot throughout the year.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

The Seven Realms series, and The Kingkiller Chronicles

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Cinda Williams Chima, Patrick Rothfuss, Erin Morgenstern, Jandy Nelson, Helen Simonson

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

I think Under the Dome by Stephen King was a bit out of my comfort zone and the whole horror genre is a bit new for me even though I read several this year that could be categorized as such.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

I would say both Mr. Monster and I Don't Want to Kill You by Dan Wells (#2 and 3) in his series, were thrilling and unputdownable.... very much so.

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Underdogs by Markus Zusak... finally, I can say I've read every one of his books!


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

The cover of Brodi Ashton's book Everneath is pretty awesome! This book comes out in a month!

11. Most memorable character in 2011? 

Kvothe from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a pretty awesome and memorable character. I can't WAIT to get to him again in the next book!

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

The Night Circus fits this category perfectly, beautifully written by Erin Morgenstern.

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

I don't know how to answer this one! I mean, all my favorites had an impact of some sort of another. My favorites list that I posted yesterday can be found here. Yeah, all of them made me think or stuck with me in one way or another.

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

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin... while this wasn't one of my favorite books of the year, I know it's quite the fantasy classic so it's weird to me that I hadn't read it already.

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

I can't think of a specific favorite passage at the moment, but pretty much every word Markus Zusak writes is something I feel the need to hug close and remember.

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

Hmmm... speaking of MZ, if his new book doesn't come out this year, I'll probably re-read one of his old ones... again.

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!

I think there are several scenes in The Night Circus that took my breath away.


Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2011


1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2011?

I didn't "discover" this blog but I did have a hand in making it happen, I think. Jenny, my IRL bookish buddy,  started blogging back in April I think it was (Alternate Readality), and hers is my best new favorite blog of the year!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2011?

My favorite is the one I wrote for Underdogs by Markus Zusak. I love gushing about his stuff, as we all know.

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

My discussion back in February on Edgy Books vs. Gentle Books got a pretty good response.

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

Jenny's had some really fun discussions on her blog and one of my favorites was What's in a Smell? Very fun!

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

The Markus Zusak signing back in March was the highlight of my bookish year for sure.


6. Best moment of book blogging in 2011?

I think getting nominated as Best Eclectic Blog for BBAW was pretty cool.  I didn't end up on the short list or anything, just got nominated but that made me happy. Thanks to whoever it was that did that!

Another really cool moment was when Markus Zusak tweeted me back... three times! Is that a book blogging moment? Yes, I say it is.

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

Oh my word, I'm getting tons of hits on the post where I listed potential book club reads for this year! Still, every week it's the most popular and I wrote it in March. I'm looking forward to doing a similar post when we are planning next year's books to see if that one takes over as the leader.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Generally, I've always wanted my Music Stuck in my Head posts to get more love. I'd love to talk music with people as well as books, but usually my readers seem to not have much to say about music (take this post for instance!) So I've stopped those posts and just throw a song thought into my Sunday Salon journal posts instead. Which seems to work for me.... for now.

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

I didn't discover anything new in this area of book life! Unless I'm totally forgetting something. What is something new I should have discovered this past year?

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

I didn't make it to 100 books this year, but that's okay. I did read a lot of very big books, so that's kind of to be expected I think. What I really liked that I did this year, even though it wasn't a conscious goal when I started the year, was to participate in several buddy reads/read alongs. Very fun stuff. Thank you to all my reading buddies!

Looking Ahead...

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

I think The Wise Man's Fear, the next Kingkiller book, by Patrick Rothfuss, will be read very soon in 2012.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?

I'm really looking forward to John Green's book The Fault in Our Stars, also Shannon Hale's Midnight in Austenland. I'm also anxious for Partials by Dan Wells, and I'd love for the next Way of Kings book to be done in 2012, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Oh, and I really hope Markus Zusak finishes Bridge of Clay!

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

I want to change my blog's look really really bad. I'm very scared to mess with things, but we need a makeover!

Well. Hopefully you made it this far in my survey answers post. Let me know if you decide to do a post of your own!