2017 A Year in review

It is the final days of 2017 and with that a new year and new books to get read. Here I will go over a quick review of my 2017 reads and the "Around the Year in 52 Books" Challenge as well as the End of the Year Book Survey....sort of an all in one inclusive blog post.

So Over all for 2017 I completed my Goodreads challenge and read 52 books this year.

Of those books my shortest was: Imagine a City by Elise Hurst at 32 pages

My longest book was: American Gods by Neil Gaiman at 592 pages

The average length was 262 pages


Ratings:

5 Star Reads: 8

4 Star Reads: 28

3 Star Reads: 13

2 Star Reads: 2

1 Star Reads: 1

My Highest rated and most loved book of this year was (can you guess it? I bet you can):

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

My lowest rated and most disappointing book of the year is:

All the Broken Things by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer

My Average rating is 3.7



Genres:

Middle Grade/Children's: 10

Young Adult: 16

Fiction: 15

Non-Fiction: 3

Graphic Novels: 4

Short Story Collections: 4

Looking at it like this is interesting, for some reason at some point I'd like fiction to be more than anything. Arguably a lot of these are essentially sub-genre's of fiction, but I'm meaning adult fiction.

Format:

Audio: 5

Physical: 47

E-Reader: 0

This I'm not too surprised about. I tried the Amazon Fire Tablet this year and although I did read a good amount of it decently I still wasn't able to finish a book on it. I'm trying to think of ways to go about this, whether I should just take it camping or road trips, etc. So I'm not carrying more weight than necessary. I'll work it into my 2018 Reading goals

End of the Year Book Survey 2017
Created by Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner

Just a small note, I'm picking and choosing quite a few of the questions I want to answer from the original survey, for the sake of not repeating myself.

1. Favorite Cover of a book read in 2017:

Did you expect me to pick just one?

The gold lettering, the unique and fun font, and you know I'm a sucker for moon and stars on my covers. This book captured me in looks and content.

I think this book is so unique in it's cover design, simple and creative, and I am in love with how vibrant it is.

This design is just so fun. The purple is stunning, the illustrations are elegant and flow so smoothly with the text.

Bold and simple, I wasn't sure about the story but this cover made me come around and read it. I'm so glad I did.

2. Most memorable Character in 2017

Elsa, from My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

She stuck with me in that she was very grown up in some ways for her age but her imagination was so grand and fun.

Mr. Wednesday from American Gods by Neil Gaiman

 Mr. Wednesday was just all around a fun complex character that I never knew if I should trust or not. But he had valid arguments and cons that it made me like him anyway with just how persuasive and creative he could be.

3. Book you were most excited about and thought you would love but didn't?

Get it Together Delilah! by Erin Gough

I loved the cover of this book, I thought it was creative and fun and the premise of the book sounded really interesting. I felt like I must read it. But I found the main character just very self centered and unforgiving. She irritated the hell out of me, and when everything worked out for her in the end it irritated me even more. I also just felt like this book was unrealistic and sends the wrong message: That it's ok to lie to your parents as long as you clean up your mess before they get home you'll be fine.

4. Best book you read in 2017 that you solely read based on a recommendation from someone else

Scythe by Neil Shusterman

It was one of those books that I had on my radar but found some excuse not to buy it at my local book shop until my boyfriend expressed interest in reading it, I bought it, but still didn't read it, thinking it was just going to be one of those book that stayed on his shelf that I'd eventually forget about. But after he read it he kept prodding me with it, saying it was pretty decent. Ultimately I'm sure it's so he could have someone to talk to about it, but I did finally read it and am glad I did.

4. Favorite relationship from a book read in 2017 (friendship, romance, etc...)

I actually really enjoyed the family dynamic in Everything All at Once by Katrina Leno

It was very refreshing to see a family that communicated and had very little problems among one another.

5. Newest fictional crush from a book read in 2017?

Rook from An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

I just really enjoyed his character. Kind of cocky, confident, and the fact he was an adorable raven was a plus, and he took care of Isobell!

6. Best 2017 debut book you read?

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

7. Book with the most vivid world/imagery you read in 2017?

Aside from Harry Potter, I'd have to go with An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. It's one of the reasons I enjoyed the book so much.

8. Book that made you cry/nearly made you cry?

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

9. Book you wanted to read in 2017 but will be your first in 2017

There's a handful of these but for now I'll just say Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson

10. Book you are most anticipated for 2017 (non-debut)

A Conspiracy of Stars by Olivia A. Cole

11. An anticipated 2018 debut

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

12. One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your book blog for 2018

I'd like more original content. Whether it's to mix it up with some art posts, or to some how come up with more interesting book posts. We'll see. But that's my hope

Around the Year in 52 Books

I was able to complete 37 of the 52 challenges. Below is the challenge list and the books I was able to complete the challenge with.

The 2017 List

1) A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016

2) A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view):They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

3) A book you meant to read in 2016: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

4) A title that doesn't contain the letter "E": Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

5) A historical fiction: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

6) A book being released as a movie in 2017: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

7) A book with an animal on the cover or in the title: Hey Duck! by Carin Bramsen

8) A book written by a person of color: American War by Omar El Akkad

9) A book in the middle of your to be read list: Dark Life by Kat Falls

10) A dual-timeline novel: Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

11) A category from another challenge- Nothing But Reading Challenges BOTM: The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

12) A book based on a myth

13) A book recommended by one of your favorite authors

14) A book with a strong female character: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

15) A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland): Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

16) A mystery: The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

17) A book with illustrations: Giant Days by John Allison illustrated by Lissa Treiman and colored by Whitney Cogar

18) A really Long book (600+ pages)

19) A New York Times best-seller

20) A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading: Snow White by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

21) A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read: DC Bombshells Vol. 2: Allies by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage illustrated by Laura Bragga, Mirka Andolfo, Sandy Jarrell, and Maria Laura Sanapo

22) A book by an author you haven't read before: Scythe by Neil Shusterman

23) A book fro the BBC "The Big Read" list: Matilda by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quetin Blake

24) A book written by at least two authors: Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

25) A book about a famous historical figure

26) An adventure book

27) A book by one of your favorite authors: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

28) A non-fiction: The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

29) A book Published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster, Harpercollins. Penguin Random House, Hachette Livre): The Anatomical Shape of a Heart by Jenn Bennett

30) A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books

31) A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

32) A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle): My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

33) A magical realism novel: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O'Neal

34) A book set in or or by an author from the southern hemisphere: The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

35) A book where one of the main characters is royalty: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

36) A Hugo Award winner or nominee: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

37) A book you choose randomly: All the Broken Things by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer

38) A novel inspired by a work of classic literature: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

39) An epistolary fiction: Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

40) A book published in 2017: Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic

41) A book with an unreliable narrator

42) A best book of the 21st century (so far)

43) A book with a chilling atmosphere: The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen

44) A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next"

45) A book with a one-word title: Chemistry by Weike Wang

46) A time travel novel

47) A past suggestion that didn't win: A book with liquid on the cover (water, blood, juice...): Get it Together Delilah by Erin Gough

48) A banned book

49) A book from someone else's bookshelf

50) A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition

51) A collection (i.e.- essays, short stories, poetry, plays): American Housewife by Hellen Ellis

52) A book set in a fictional location: Imagine a City by Elise Hurst

And that's it for my reading for 2017. Thank you for sticking around and I hope to see you again in 2018!

Happy New Year!

Litta