2018 End of Year Book Survey

Welcome to my Big Book Survey for 2018!

Number Of Books You Read: 48 (goal of 48!)

Number of Re-Reads: 7

Genre You Read Most: Literary Fiction

Best Book You Read In 2018?

• So Big by Edna Ferber
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
• Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips

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

• The Elements of Style by Strunk & White
• I Felt A Funeral in My Brain by Will Walton
• Pet Sematary by Stephen King

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

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• Christopher Wild by Kathe Koja
• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

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

• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Best series you started? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series-Ender of 2018?

• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan
• The Breaker by Bella Forrest

Favorite new author you discovered?

• Edna Ferber
• George Saunders
• L. Philips

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

• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
• A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich

Most action-packed/thrilling/un-put-down-able book of the year?

• People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
• Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith
• The Outsider by Stephen King

Book You Read In 2018 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

• Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2018?

Most memorable character of 2018?

• Elio from Call Me By Your Name
• Ponyboy from The Outsiders
• Mary from The Secret Garden

Most beautifully written book read in 2018?

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

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

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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

“For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” -Michelle Obama (Becoming)

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2018?

• Shortest: We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (52 pages)
• Longest: They Say / I Say, with Readings by Graff & Berkenstein (816 pages)

Book That Shocked You The Most

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• Saga, Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan
• What If It’s Us? by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

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

• Elio and Oliver from Call Me By Your Name
• Cameron and Nate from Sometime After Midnight
• Arthur and Ben from What If It’s Us?

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

• Ponyboy and Johnny from The Outsiders
• Lincoln and Willie from Lincoln in the Bardo
• Wade and Aech from Ready Player One

Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

• Christopher Wild by Kathe Koja
• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

Best Book You Read In 2017 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?

n/a

Best 2018 debut you read?

• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips
• Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Best World-building/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

• So Big by Edna Ferber
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

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

• Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith
• The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
• Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?

• The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
• Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
• What If It’s Us? by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Hidden Gem Of The Year?

• People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins
• Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips
• What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Book That Crushed Your Soul?

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone
• What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?

• Rabbit & Robot by Andrew Smith
• I Felt A Funeral In My Brain by Will Walton
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

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

• Saga Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan
• On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
• People Kill People by Ellen Hopkins

New favorite book blog you discovered in 2018? 

Oops – none…. Haven’t had much time to explore! Any recommendations?

Favorite review that you wrote in 2018? 

• Christopher Wild by Kathe Koja
• The Time Quintet by Madeline L’Engle
  The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury

Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?

• Martin Luther King’s Last Vision
• Sweet Surprises and Judgmental Me
• “Out, out, brief candle:” An English Professor and Stephen Hawking

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

• The Classics Club
• The 2018 TBR Pile Challenge

Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?

• Return of the Official TBR Pile Challenge 

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

• The Dystopic Villainy of Book Clubs

Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

• Reading Literature Causes Misogyny? 

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

• The “A Novel Journal” series of journals. 

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

I re-introduced the TBR Pile Challenge for 2018 and read about half the books on my list but reviewed even fewer than that. I hope to do better in 2019! 

One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Priority in 2019?

Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?

• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Ascent of Woman by Melanie Phillips

2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

• Anything Andrew Smith puts out! 

Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?

• Anything from Rick Riordan. Or perhaps the next installment of the Fantastic Beasts series? 

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

I want to read all 14 books on my TBR Pile Challenge list. I want to read at least a few books from my Classics Club challenge list. And I would like to post new content more regularly, not necessarily just book reviews. 

A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Hmmm…. Don’t think I’ve gotten any 2019 releases! I’m starting the year with CIRCE by Madeline Miller, though, which was a 2018 release. 🙂