Friday, December 27, 2013

2013 End of Year Book Survey

 

So, I've been debating and debating on whether I want to do the traditional top "such and such" list this year and I'm afraid I just don't have the gumption for it. I saw this end of year survey at She is Too Fond of Books and thought it might be easier for me to just answer some questions. I'm also still up in the air about New Year's resolutions, or goals, this year. I think I'm really going in for some changes in the new year.

This is the 4th Annual End of Year Book Survey hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.


1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Historical Fiction: The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton (Honorable Mentions: Illuminations by Mary Sharratt and The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry)

Fantasy/Science Fiction: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (did not review)

Thriller: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Horror: The Shining by Stephen King (Honorable mention: Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty)

Classic: Watership Down by Richard Adams (did not review)

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? 

The Princess Diana Conspiracy by Alan Power

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - I was really amazed at how thrilling this books was. I do love my classics, but sometimes they can be somewhat dry. This one was exciting. (did not review)

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

I recommended The Stand by Stephen King on audio, read by Grover Gardner. One of the best audios I've ever listened to.

5. Best series you discovered in 2013? 

The Sano Ichiro series by Laura Joh Rowland. I read the 17th book, The Shogun's Daughter for review this year and it was really good. I picked up on of the earlier books in the series at a library sale a couple of weeks ago. What I liked is that these can be read as stand alone novels, but are still a series.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013? 

Historical fiction: Stephanie Thornton
Thriller: Gillian Flynn

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

Night Demon by Lisa Kessler - I'm not a big reader of paranormal romance, but Lisa's books are SO good. I loved this second edition in the Night series.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013? 

Definitely Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year? 

I rarely reread books the very next year. 


10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?


11. Most memorable character in 2013? 

Amy Dunne from Gone Girl...definitely. If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean.


12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

I read two books by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2013...Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day. The man writes the most beautiful prose.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - the book really makes you think and question.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

The Shining by Stephen King...one of my top fave authors. Really? What was I waiting for?!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

From Confessions of Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey. This quote was in the opening pages of the book. 

Posterity should pay no heed to those secret legends which are spread about a Prince in his lifetime out of spite, or a mere love of gossip, which a mistaken public believes to be true and which, in a few more years, are adopted by the historians who thus deceive themselves and the generations to come.
--Voltaire, Eloge Funebre, written during the reign of Louis XV

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?
How I did this: Went to my read books on Goodreads and sorted by page number and just looked for what I knew I read this year that was the shortest and longest.

Shortest: Magnolia and Lotus: Selected Poems of Hyesim by Chin'gak Kuksa Hyesim, translated by Ian Haight (108 pages)

Longest: The Stand by Stephen King (1153 pages) - I did listen to this on audio. You can imagine how long it took. HaHa!

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!

Gone Girl, of course! Again, if you've read it, you know exactly what I mean.

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

Kathy and Tommy from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A tragically romantic and heartbreaking relationship at the same time.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else: 

Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty...recommended to me by my friend J. Kaye.

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013? 

No big surprise here...Historical fiction

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

Brendan Prescott from The Tudor Conspiracy by C.W. Gortner...dreamy!

23. Best 2013 debut you read?

The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell...terrific past and future imagery and world building.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013? 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn...I really did not want to put it down, even when I had to!


26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013? 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty...I didn't hear a lot of hype about this one and it's really good.



This part was optional so I decided to just answer this one question with some (tentative) goals for 2014.


One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2014?
My main focus in 2014 will be to read more from my own home library. With 3000+ books, I have quite the TBR. I'm going to work on the perpetual and long term challenges I host and am already involved in so will sign up for very few short term challenges this year, if any. On the blogging front, I will continue with A Reading Life on Mondays and Cat Thursday. Most reviews will be book tours/for review books. If I do review from my TBR, it will be with Novel Glimpse posts most likely. Just a few thoughts on the books. I'm trying to go low maintenance here so I can focus more on writing my novel.

What were your favorites this year? Do you have any reading/blogging goals for 2014? If you did/do a post, leave me a link in the comments.

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