#FirstBook and #OneWord for 2019...and 2018 End of Year #Book Survey

Sending out a big thanks to Sheila at Book Journey for hosting First Book of the Year and sharing My One Word once again this year. This has become a tradition for many of us and I truly appreciate it.

My first book of the year is our non-fiction selection for my True Book Talk book group on Goodreads. January is one of our three yearly non-fiction months and our January selection each year must be a biography or history title. I chose six historical biographies from the non-fiction shelf of my home library and we voted (via poll) for which title we wanted to read. This has been on my shelf for years and Eleanor is one of my historical heroines. So excited to finally read it!

Arya looks quite perturbed with my first book of the year. lol

***********

This year, I want to keep moving forward. I feel like in 2018 I was kind of at a standstill. Not that my life wasn't way busy and hectic. It was. Just basically at a standstill with my goals....reading more, writing, blogging, getting healthy. This year I chose "Onward" as my one word. Onward with all my goals, but particularly with writing my novel. Onward, knocking aside the fear and the doubt. I found this poem online (here) and it is quite fitting...

Onward

Words drip out of the pen
A realization begins to take shape
Onward
With the pace of a shark that has picked up the scent of blood in the water
With the face of a broken clock attempting to measure the time passing
Onward
Through the letters, pain and pleasure
Burdens lifted
Inner peace is gifted
Ink addicted
Especially whilst conflicted
Onward
A journey towards the center
Or a journey towards what lies outside
A trek on top of clouds ‘till Heaven
Or a tunnel built with zero degree tilt, straight down towards where Hell must lie
Onward
The core scorches with the heat of an impassioned love
Space is empty, vast, and freezing cold
But until I find the answers to my questions
The ink will flow and the pen I’ll hold

Every year, I purchase a necklace or pendant with my one word, but this year I chose to go with a bracelet. This is the one. Of course, it will have Onward engraved on it. I hope it arrives soon!

9th Annual End Of Year Book Survey

Our host each year is Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.

I'm going to pick and choose which questions to answer on this one, as I feel some do not apply.

**2018 READING STATS**

Number Of Books You Read:  31

Very shabby turn out on my goal of 75...2018 was not a great year for my reading.

Number of Re-Reads: 3

Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

Howard's End, E.M. Forster

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Genre You Read The Most From: Horror

In previous years, this would have been historical fiction.

1. Best Book You Read In 2018?
I'll go with my top five favorites (excluding re-reads):

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

The Terror, Dan Simmons

The Anomaly, Michael Rutger

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

Bird Box, Josh Malerman

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

I won't say I was terribly excited about it. I saw it and when I read the description, I thought it sounded in similar vein to The Anomaly. It wasn't. 

Ararat, Christopher Golden

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read? 

I discovered The Confessions of Dorian Gray series by Tim Leng quite by accident when searching for Christmas audio books on Hoopla. I had never heard of the series. The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Spirits of Christmas was surprisingly good. Very entertaining...acted out like a television show or movie. I will have to listen to the entire series eventually.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Anomaly and Bird Box
5. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?

I did not start or end a series, nor did I read a series ender. Amend that. Just discovered that The Anomaly is the first book in a planned series. The second book is out July of this year. Woot!

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2018?

Michael Rutger (author of question 5 above), which is a pseudonym for Michael Marshall.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

While I might possibly read more poetry than most (???), it's still not a genre I typically read. Best book of poetry I read was How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

The Anomaly, hands down. I read it in less than a day!

9. Book You Read In 2018 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Why A Christmas Carol, of course! I read it every year.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

11. Most memorable character of 2018?
I have to name two...Ruby Lennox from Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Captain Francis Crozier from Dan Simmons' The Terror.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

To Kill a Mockingbird
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Again, To Kill a Mockingbird. I can't believe I waited so long to read it!

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read? 

See above

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?

“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)... There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” 

--from To Kill a Mockingbird

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?
Tales of Christmas anthology, 46 pages

The Terror, 769 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most
I would have to say the subject matter of The Treatment by Mo Hayder. Great book, but very disturbing what goes on in that book.

(Skipped 18 and 19)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Narrows, Ronald Malfi

(Skipped 21 and 22)

23. Best 2018 debut you read?
Although it's technically not a debut since the author is a pseudonym of a previously published author, it is a debut for this author, and so The Anomaly...again. lol

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
Ombria in Shadow, Patricia McKillip

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
I'm Not Sorry: Poems by Cats, Rosa Silva

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?
How to Love the Empty Air by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz

(Skipped 27 - 30)

I've decided to just freestyle the remainder of this survey with some reading goals and one (or two) blogging goals.

• Of course, my main goal is to read more books. I want to go with my original plan from earlier in 2018. I was going to track my daily reading progress to hold myself more accountable to read more every day. I have a tab in the blog menu. I'm hoping to keep up with it this year. 
• I want to read more Anne Rice, and at least one or two Stephen King books this year. I also want to read the next book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords.
• I'm working on deciding which reading challenges I'll participate in this year (post coming soon). I failed miserably in 2018 on all but two reading challenges...my Book to Movie challenge and my 13 Ways yearly challenge. I'm going to try to limit myself to five or less full year challenges, not including the ones I host.
• The only goals I have for blogging are 1) to perhaps write more reviews, or maybe not reviews (unless it's a review book), but rather write ups of the books I enjoyed. Perhaps mini-reviews...
• and 2) to start writing my A Reading Life posts again, but changing from weekly to monthly. I think that will be more manageable for me.

So, wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2019. If you happen to read this post, please feel free to share your first book of the year, your one word, and/or your reading goals and plans.

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2016 End of Year Book Survey and Happy New Year! #BestBooks2016

The Annual End of Year Book Survey is hosted by The Perpetual Page-Turner

Note: The survey is for books you read throughout the year, no matter when they were published, and is not limited to just books that came out in 2016!!

Number Of Books You Read: 

53 (only 7 shy of my 60 book goal!)

Number of Re-Reads:

2 - Dracula and A Christmas Carol. Both were audio books, and both are favorites so I know I will probably re-read again. 

Genre You Read The Most From:

Horror. This would have been historical fiction in prior years, and that genre did run in second this year, but horror won the day. I read some really great horror this year (which I review on my sister blog, Castle Macabre).

You can check out my year in books on Goodreads here.

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?

I'm not going to do a top ten list this year so I'm going to break this down by genre (if I reviewed the book, the title will be linked):

Best Historical Fiction - The Secrets of Lizzie Borden, Brandy Purdy 

Second place: Medicis Daughter, Sophie Perinot

Best Horror - The Night Parade, Ronald Malfi

Second place: Children of the Dark, Jonathan Janz

Best General/Literary Fiction - The Mountain Story, Lori Lansens

Second place: And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini

Best Audio Book - The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (narrators - Clare Corbett, India Fisher, Louise Brealey.

Second Place: Dracula, Bram Stoker (read by an all star cast including Tim Curry, Alan Cumming and more).

Best book published before 2000: Roots, Alex Haley

Second place: 'Salem's Lot, Stephen King

Best Poetry: Paradise Drive, Rebecca Foust

Second place: The Jane and Bertha in Me, Rita Maria Martinez

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

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

There's a story behind this one. I really thought the cover was so cheesy, and I remember thinking it wasn't going to be any good. Man, was I wrong. Just an amazing concept horror novel, but you see what I mean by the cover (just my opinion).

Hexagram, Duncan P. Bradshaw

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

The Night Parade, Ronald Malfi

5. Best Sequel of 2016?

The Secret Language of Stones (The Daughters of La Lune, #2), M.J. Rose

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?

Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, authors of Mayan Blue, a fantastic horror novel I read and reviewed this year. They were dubbed The Sisters of Slaughter by the editors of Fireside Press. That is a most worthy moniker for them.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

This did not apply this year

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

This was a tie between The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins and Wolf Land, Jonathan Janz

9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens - I read it almost every year. The last two times, I listened on audio. This year it was an Alison Larkin production and it was wonderful. Click the title to read my review.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?

Too hard to choose just one!

11. Most memorable character of 2016?

Lizzie Borden

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?

See #13 above.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

I know there were many, and I'm sure I quoted a bunch in reviews, but I never write them down. That ends in the new year. Book journal will be utilized! These two I did remember though, so I knew to go back to them.

This one is from Hexagram by Duncan P. Bradshaw...

"Look what we do as people. We've spent our entire time killing each other and everything else on this planet. We invented religion so that people can kill other people who believe in something different, or to offer some hint of better things when you've gone through your entire life serving those with power. It's bullshit. We're supposed to evolve as a species, yet it feels like all we do is go backwards. We find new and inventive ways of killing each other and ruining the planet..."

This is the line from my review introducing this sonnet from Paradise Drive by Rebecca Foust...

I leave you with this final sonnet, which speaks to my love of books and reading, to the mother who instilled that love in me, and to the validity of the escape and redemption that can come from reading a book...

Forgotten Image

Your mother, reading on the stairs in light
poured in a wide shaft. At night, shadows,
soft thuds and pleading, clink-clink of his ice
in the glass. Your mother, reading. Light seen
through a chink in a cellar wall. The attic air,
dry and danced with bright motes. You know
it's there, at the top of the house, the stairs
you must muster the mind to ascend. But how?
Where is the first step? Your old notebooks,
dust-felted, stacked up somewhere. Your mother,
reading. The sense of another life, inside
and outside the walls. An attic, other upper rooms
in the home. Other homes. You are a mother now,
too--so many open mouths, so much to do--
your mother reading, reading herself alive. Showing you.

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?

Shortest - Saris and a Single Malt, Sweta Srivastava Vikram, 46 pages
Longest - Roots, Alex Haley, 688 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Hands down! (My review will explain why)

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

I didn't really fan girl over any one true pairing in the books I read. I'm old, I guess. 😉

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

David Arlen and his daughter, Ellie in The Night Parade by Ronald Malfi.

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Secrets of Lizzie Borden by Brandy Purdy

21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

N/A

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?

N/A

23. Best 2016 debut you read?

I'm going to go with Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. While not technically a debut, it did debut in the United States in 2016. It became a best seller in the Netherlands and was translated and released for the first time in the U.S. in 2016. Apparently, Warner Bros. is developing a TV series. That should be interesting!

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Hexagram by Duncan P. Bradshaw

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

The Lion in the Box by Marguerite de Angeli

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?

The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens
Roots by Alex Haley
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

The Candle Giver by Barbara Briggs Ward - Honestly, Barbara writes such wonderful Christmas books.

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Roots by Alex Haley

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?

Tie between Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt and Hexagram by Duncan P. Bradshaw

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - I loved this book, but it made me mad as hell. I've never wanted to punch a bunch of characters as much as in this book. 😁

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2015 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?

Um, there are a bunch, but there are actually two that I've been really thinking about...

The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice - I actually started this in 2015 and had to put it aside (no, I was not hating it...everyone knows Anne is my favorite author). Mom bought me Anne's most recent release, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis for Christmas, and I have got to get busy reading the other books in the series so I can get to it. I suppose I could read out of order. My whole love affair with Anne's books began when I read the third Vampire Chronicles book first, The Queen of the Damned, and it remains my favorite book of all time. Something to think about.

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin - This remains one of my most favorite series of all time (so far...I've only read books one and two) and I want to continue on. It's time.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?

Two Empresses, Brandy Purdy

3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Talon of God, Wesley Snipes - purely because I'm such a big fan of him in the Blade movies. I'd like to see if his writing is any good.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?

Winds of Winter, George R.R. Martin (if it does get released...rumor says this year)

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?

I recently had a talk with myself (yes, I do that) and basically it involved my thinking that there is no reason I can't read more than I do. My goal is to read at least 100 pages each day. Let's face it. 100 pages is really not that much in the grand scheme of things, so I really don't see that as an unaccomplishable goal, and if I can read more than 100, it will really up the ante on my reading.

I need to write more reviews. Meaning...review the books that I read that aren't for review, even if it's just short and sweet.

Get back to writing my A Reading Life posts each week. I have two features on this blog, Cat Thursday, which I'm pretty great at keeping up with, and the aforementioned on which I have severely slacked. I will try.

Any year of reading is a great year, no matter how crappy the year was. Am I right?
How was your reading year?

Wishing you all much health, peace and prosperity...Happy New Year!

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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.