2015 End-of-the-Year Survey: Blogging and Looking Ahead

Time to finish up the survey! 

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.

1. New Favorite Book Blog

Once again, I can’t remember exactly which blogs I only discovered in 2015 and which I followed before. (I mean, there are ones I know I’ve followed since 2013 or 2014, but it’s still difficult to recall.) I think I’m going to have to say…

Readwritelove28.

2. Favorite Review I Wrote in 2015

Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius (because of my GIF usuage)

3. Best Discussion on My Blog

I really liked It’s Not a Man (from May) and Dear Incoming College Freshmen (from June).

4. Most Thought-Provoking Discussion/Review on Another Blog

Discussion- A Selection of Thoughts on Diverse Books at Forever Literary

5. Best Event I Participated In

Without a doubt, OTSP Secret Sister. I participated in the February-July session and am currently a part of the third session (August-January).

6. Best Moment of My Blogging Life in 2015

When I met a publicist (shout-out to Courtney Griffin!) at a book tour, and she recognized me first.

7. Most Popular Post This Year on Awkwordly Emma

I’m not including giveaway posts in this, so the most popular post is… surprisingly, Taylor Swift and Poetic Devices. I love how I'm technically a book blog but one of my (many) posts about Taylor got more attention than the ones where I talked about books.

8. Post I Wish Got a Little More Love

Well, my Sixteen 2016 Reads series for starters. Also Dear Incoming College Freshmen.

9. Best Bookish Discovery

Book-themed lip balms! (On Etsy.)

1. Book I Didn't Get to in 2015 That I'm Prioritizing for 2016

Oh, totally, Resonance by Erica O'Rourke. If one of my Secret Sisters doesn't gift it to me soon, I'm just gonna check it out of the library.

2. Book I'm Most Anticipating in 2016 (non-debut)

This is a tough one…I’m gonna have to list a few.

Double Down by Gwenda Bond, When We Collided by Emery Lord, The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, Traitor Angels by Anne Blankman, and The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes are just a few that come to mind.

3. Most Anticipated 2016 Debut

A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

4. Most Anticipated Series Ender or Sequel

The Winner’s Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

The final Naturals book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The final Snow Like Ashes book by Sara Raasch

5. One Thing I Hope to Accomplish in Blogging in 2016

Lol, guess who didn’t accomplish her 2015 goal? (Which was to make it to one bookish convention.) I guess in 2016, I’d like to get an internship in the publishing industry. I know I can’t do a summer one this year, but I’d love to get a remote one with a literary agency.

6. A 2016 Release I've Already Read and Am Recommending

The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

So that's the last of my 2015 survey! Thanks for reading!

2015 End-of-the-Year Survey: the Books

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Third year of this book survey, yo! Y'all ready?

1. Number of Books I Read: As of typing up this post on December 24th, 276.

2. Number of Rereads: No idea. I'm an avid re-reader, and I kind of kept track on my spreadsheet, but it doesn't include 2015 releases that I read and then reread. 

3. Genre I Read the Most From: It’s a toss-up this year (in my opinion at least). I’ll be posting more of my reading stats in a few days, so come back then to find out.

1. Best Book I Read in 2015

Just like last year, I'm breaking this down by genre.

Contemporary – Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu, Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche, and Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic - Deceptive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Historical Fiction – Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee and A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Science Fiction – A Thousand Pieces of You and Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

 Mystery/Thriller – The Fixer and All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Fantasy – The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Middle Grade – Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George

Other - The Archived by Victoria Schwab and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

2. Book I Thought I Was Going to Love But Didn't

Very in Pieces by Megan Frazer Blakemore and Winterspell by Claire Legrand

3. Most Surprising (in a good way) Book of 2015

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin, Anything Could Happen by Will Walton, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

4. Book I Recommended the Most

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone, The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond

5. Best Series I Discovered in 2015, Best Sequel, Best Series Ender

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

Emeralds & Ashes by Leila Rasheed

6. Favorite Author I Discovered in 2015

Gwenda Bond

7. Best Book Out of My Comfort Zone

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore or Simon vs.the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

8. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Read

Probably a three-way tie between All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Winter by Marissa Meyer, and Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray. I read all of them while at work, and I think I maybe neglected my duties just a little since I was so absorbed.

9. Book That I'm Most Likely to Reread

Everything I liked. I love to reread books. That's why I own so many books.

  

10. Favorite Cover of 2015

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

11. Most Memorable Character of 2015

Grace from All Fall Down by Ally Carter

12. Most Beautifully Written Book

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

13. Book That Had the Greatest Impact

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

14. Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2015 to Read

You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

15. Favorite Passage or Quote

“In friendship we are all debtors. We all owe each other for a thousand small kindnesses, for little moments of grace in the chaos.” ~ The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

16. Shortest and Longest Books I Read in 2015

Shortest (not counting e-novellas) - Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman (144 pages)

Longest – Winter by Marissa Meyer (827 pages)

17. Book That Had Shocked Me the Most

All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

18. Favorite OTP

Marguerite and Paul (Firebird trilogy by Claudia Gray)

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationships

Friendship – Paige, Tess, Kayleigh, and Morgan (The Start of Me and You)

Family – Celie and her siblings (Thursdays with the Crown)

20. Favorite Book From an Author I've Previously Read

Well, I won’t let myself choose a sequel, so I’d have to say… Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

21. Best Book Read Solely on Someone Else's Recommendation

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin (Shae has done it again. She’s pretty much 3/3—I think that’s how many books she’s recommended to me that I hadn’t already added to my TBR list.)

22. Newest Fictional Crush

I’m…not sure I have one this year! Actually, no, I take that back. I really like Asher Rhodes from The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

23. Best 2015 Debut

The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne

24. Most Vivid World/Imagery

Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

25. Book That Was the Most Fun to Read

The Stars of Summer by Tara Dairman

26. Book That Made Me Cry

I don’t really cry when I read books. I think I’ve only ever cried during two.

27. Book That Got Overlooked This Year

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson and Anything Could Happen by Will Walton

28. Book That Crushed My Soul

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas (Doriannnnnnnnnn.)

29. Most Unique Read of 2015

Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman

30. Book That Made Me the Most Mad

Don’t Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom (and definitely not in a good way)

Next part's coming your way on Monday!

2014 End-of-the-Year Survey: Blogging and Looking Ahead

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Here's part two of the survey. Dividing it up was a great idea this year.

1. New Favorite Book Blog

It's hard to keep track of the ones I found last year and those I started following in 2014, so while I have lots of favorites, one that I know for certain is a recent follow and favorite is...

Novel Sounds.

2. Favorite Review I Wrote in 2014

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

3. Best Discussion on My Blog

"Girly" Books for Manly Guys

4. Most Thought-Provoking Discussion/Review on Another Blog

Discussion- I Got the Message Loud & Clear: Reading Isn't Cool on The Perpetual Page-Turner

Review- Like No Other by Una LaMarche on Queen Ella Bee Reads

5. Best Event I Participated In

The Mighty Mississippi Book Blast was great fun, and I loved participating in #RBWL again - not once but twice.

6. Best Moment of My Blogging Life in 2014

My very shallow answer is when Awkwordly Emma won the award from YA Highway for Best Established YA Reviews.

7. Most Popular Post This Year on Awkwordly Emma

Rising Trends in YA Fiction

8. Post I Wish Got a Little More Love

All in the Fifteen 2015 Reads series:

Fifteen 2015 Reads

Fifteen More 2015 Reads

Another Fifteen 2015 Reads

9. Best Bookish Discovery

This is probably stretching the topic, but I'm going to say the amount of books I've been able to store in my dorm room.

10. Completed Reading Goals/Challenges

Summer of Rereads (My own personal challenge) and Goodreads 2014 Challenge (I read 200 new or new-to-me books by the end of October).

1. Book I Didn't Get to in 2014 That I'm Prioritizing for 2015

I'll say either The Archived by Victoria Schwab or Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

2. Book I'm Most Anticipating in 2015 (non-debut)

Right now, All Fall Down by Ally Carter, but also Wrong About the Guy by Claire LaZebnik, The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West, and The Road to You by Alecia Whitaker.

3. Most Anticipated 2015 Debut

Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

4. Most Anticipated Series Ender

Ensnared by A.G. Howard

Lion Heart by A.C. Gaughen

Winter by Marissa Meyer

5. One Thing I Hope to Accomplish in Blogging in 2015

I really want to make it to a book convention, whether it be BEA, ALA, YALLfest, or one here in Kentucky.

6. A 2015 Release I've Already Read and Am Recommending
The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, without a doubt. Also This Side of Home by Renee Watson.

So that's it for the end-of-the-year survey! If you only check out my blog for this post, I guess I'll see you next year? 

Thanks to all readers, followers, fellow bloggers, authors, and publishers for making 2014 great!

2014 End-of-the-Year Survey: the Books

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.

Welcome to this year's book survey! I did this for the first time last December, and I was very excited to do it again.



1. Number of Books I Read: As of typing up this post on November 30th, 220.
2. Number of Rereads: No idea. I'm an avid re-reader, and I kind of kept track on my spreadsheet, but it doesn't include 2014 releases that I read and then reread. 
3. Genre I Read the Most From: It's easily contemporary, so I'm not going to count.

1. Best Book I Read in 2014

Just like last year, I'm breaking this down by genre.

Contemporary - The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson, Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson, Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas, Like No Other by Una LaMarche, Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson, and To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. If you couldn't tell, I still adore contemporary.

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic - Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Historical Fiction - Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen, Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman, and Emeralds & Ashes by Leila Rasheed

Science Fiction - Cress by Marissa Meyer and Free to Fall by Lauren Miller

Mystery/Thriller - Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Fantasy - The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, and Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Middle Grade - Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

2. Book I Thought I Was Going to Love But Didn't

Dangerous by Shannon Hale and The Chapel Wars by Lindsey Leavitt

3. Most Surprising (in a good way) Book of 2014

One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington and All Four Stars by Tara Dairman

4. Book I Recommended the Most

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman or Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

5. Best Series I Discovered in 2014, Best Sequel, Best Series Ender

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

6. Favorite Author I Discovered in 2014

Sara Raasch or A.G. Howard

7. Best Book Out of My Comfort Zone

Across a Star-Swept Sea by Diana Peterfreund

8. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Read

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

9. Book That I'm Most Likely to Reread

Everything I liked. I love to reread books. That's why I own so many books.

10. Favorite Cover of 2014

  

Stray by Elissa Sussman

Dissonance by Erica O'Rourke

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

11. Most Memorable Character of 2014

(fan art found here)

Celaena Sardothien

12. Most Beautifully Written Book

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

13. Book That Had the Greatest Impact

Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson and The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

14. Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2014 to Read

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

15. Favorite Passage or Quote

“When one has made as many mistakes as I have, one becomes very familiar with the fullness of God’s grace and mercy.” ~ Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

16. Shortest and Longest Books I Read in 2014

Shortest (not counting e-novellas) - The Hidden Gold by Sarah Masters Buckey (150 pages)

Longest - Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (565 pages)

17. Book That Had a Scene in It That Had Me Reeling and Dying to Talk to Someone

Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen and Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

18. Favorite OTP

Paige Hancock and Max Watson (The Start of Me and You) and Levi and Macallan (Better off Friends)

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationships

Friendship - Reagan and Dee (Open Road Summer)

Family - the Edwards family (Second Chance Summer)

20. Favorite Book From an Author I've Previously Read

On the Fence by Kasie West

21. Best Book Read Solely on Someone Else's Recommendation

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

22. Newest Fictional Crush

Max Watson from The Start of Me and You, without a doubt. Frank Porter from Since You've Been Gone is a close second.

23. Best 2014 Debut

Open Road Summer by Emery Lord, Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones, Don't Touch by Rachel M. Wilson, and Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

24. Most Vivid World/Imagery

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas or Splintered by A.G. Howard

25. Book That Was the Most Fun to Read

Either Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae or Top Ten Clues You're Clueless by Liz Czukas.

26. Book That Made Me Cry

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

27. Book That Got Overlooked This Year

Landry Park by Bethany Hagen

28. Book That Crushed My Soul
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas (Celaena, Chaol, and Dorian all need to be wrapped in blankets, given hot cocoa, and kept away from Sarah J. Maas.)

29. Most Unique Read of 2014
My True Love Gave to Me by various authors (I don't really ever read short story anthologies; plus this one was all holiday stories!)

30. Book That Made Me the Most Mad
Cress by Marissa Meyer (In a good way; I gave it 5 stars!)

This year, I'm splitting the survey into two posts, so look for the next in about a week!

2013 End-of-the-Year Book Survey

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.

I read a lot, a lot, a lot of new books in 2013, probably more new books than I've ever read before.  This is thanks in part to joining the book blogger community.  A whole new world has been opened up, and I've found tons of new favorites (blogs and books).

 1. Best Book I Read in 2013

Oh, gosh, gonna have to break this down by genre.

Contemporary- either Just One Day or This Song Will Save Your Life.  Or Going Vintage.  Or Fifteenth Summer.  Or United We Spy.  Or Perfect Scoundrels. Maybe The Naturals.  Oh, gosh, I can't forget The Fault In Our Stars or Time Between Us.  Clearly, I'm bad at making decisions and I also like contemporary fiction.

Dystopian- Divergent trilogy, without a doubt.  The Testing was good, too.

Historical fiction- Margot, Cinders & Sapphires, and Grave Mercy

Fantasy/sci-fi- Scarlet.

2. Book I Was Excited About But Didn't End Up Loving

Starstruck by Rachel Shukert
Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

3. Most Surprising Read

I'd have to say This Song Will Save Your Life or Just One Day.  I thought I'd probably like them, but I LOVED them.

4. Book I Recommended Most

Hmm...well, based on my Top Ten Tuesday lists, I'd probably say The Lunar Chronicles or anything by Ally Carter.

5. Best Series I Discovered in 2013

Without a doubt, The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. (I'm still getting over the fact that I didn't get a Cress ARC.  February is too far away.)

6. Favorite Author I Discovered in 2013

Hmm... probably Elizabeth Eulberg or Marissa Meyer.  I'm basing this on their books and Twitter interactions, and they are all-around nice ladies with good books.

7. Best Book out of My Comfort Zone

Cinder, probably.  I'm not a sci-fi fan, so the fact that I loved it so much was surprising.

8. Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Read

United We Spy by Ally Carter

9. Book That I'm Most Likely to Reread

Um... most of them?  Unless I absolutely hated a book, it's likely I'll check it out of the library again or buy it.  When I buy a book, I'll reread it time and time again.

10. Favorite Book Cover

I'm leaning towards Going Vintage.  I just love the whimsy of it.  Plus, it's fun to read in a '50s-style malt shop...

11. Most Memorable Character

Oh, gravy.  There are so many!  Scarlet and Carswell Thorne, Mallory, Tris, Hazel and Augustus, Allyson...

12. Most Beautifully-Written Book

I'd have to say Just One Day.

13. Book That Had the Greatest Impact on Me

The Fault In Our Stars

14. Book I Can't Believe I Waited Until 2013 to Read

Divergent.  It took me ages to read it, even after Kelly recommended it 5 dozen times and I checked it out of the library 7 times.

15. Favorite Quote From a Book

I have a lot, but the one that sticks with me the most, that I have written down, is...

16. Shortest and Longest Books I Read

Shortest is OCD, the Dude, and Me (234 pages)

Longest is The House of Hades (597 pages)

17. Book That Had a Scene That Sent Me Reeling, and I Was Dying to Talk to Someone About It

Allegiant (let's be honest: everyone's going to say this book, right?)

18. Favorite Relationship (Romantic or Otherwise)

Romantic- Zach and Cammie from United We Spy

Friendship- Cinder and Iko from Cinder/Scarlet

Familial- Hazel and her parents from The Fault In Our Stars

19. Favorite Book From an Author I've Previously Read

United We Spy

20. Best Book I Read Based on Recommendation Alone

I'd say probably Grave Mercy. I mean, I read the Goodreads synopsis, but other than that, it was basically Shae who got me to read it.

21. Genre I Read the Most From

I'm not going to count, but it has to be contemporary.

22. Newest Fictional Crush

Well I don't exactly have fictional crushes...maybe Augustus Waters (The Fault In Our Stars)?

23. Best 2013 Debut

Probably Prep School Confidential.

24. Most Vivid Book World

Divergent (It didn't hurt that I've gone to Chicago more times than I can count...)

25. Most Fun Book to Read

Fifteenth Summer

26. Books That Made Me Cry

Allegiant and The Fault In Our Stars

27. Book I Read That I Think Got Overlooked

The Naturals, definitely. I didn't see a lot of people in the blogger community getting excited for it.

1. New Favorite Book Blog

...Just one?  Well, I absolutely adore Blue Sky Bookshelf and Shae Has Left the Room.  I basically just started following book blogs this year.  The Broke and the Bookish is awesome, too.

2. Favorite Review I Wrote

I'm going to say the review I did for Allegiant, just because I'm still proud of the rant I had before the review.

3. Best Discussion on My Blog 

Does RBWL count?  It was on Twitter, but I had a blog post about it that sparked some discussion, too.

4. Most Thought-Provoking Review/Discussion On Someone Else's Blog

Probably this one: Hi, Shae!

5. Best Event You Participated In

Easily RBWL (Reader/Blogger WishList) on Twitter.  I wasn't even planning to, since I didn't think I'd have time, but that was an amazing day!  I have a notebook full of ideas to prove it.

6. Best Moment of My Book Life in 2013

Going to Ally Carter's signing for United We Spy.  She's just so amazing in so many ways. (I fangirled over her in this post.)

7. Most Popular Post on My Blog

As of writing this post, it was my interview with Heather Vogel Frederick.

8. Post I Wish Got a Little More Love

Probably my review of Relic.  Really, I think a lot of my reviews could've used some more attention.

9. Best Bookish Discovery

Goodreads, without a doubt.

10. Completion of Any Reading Goals/Challenges

I didn't set any, but if I had, I probably would've said to read more new books, which I've certainly achieved.

1. A Book I Plan to Get to in 2014

I hope to finally read The Lord of the Rings.  I keep meaning to, but there are other shorter books I need to read first.

2. Most-Anticipated Book of 2014 (Non-Debut)

Cress!  I have a lot, but that one consistently tops my list.

3. Most-Anticipated Debuts of 2014

Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman, Amy Zhang's book, which now has a title and release date (!!!; it's titled Falling into Place), and Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

4. Most-Anticipated Series Enders

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus)

The One (The Selection)

5. Something I Hope to Accomplish In My Reading or Blogging in 2014

I'd love to make it to BEA, but I'm not sure that'll happen.  I'd love to gain more followers and recognition.  I don't need to have 1,000 followers, but 100 would be nice.  I'd also love to interview some more authors.