End of Year Book Survey

Dec 20

Dec 20 End of Year Book Survey

Happy Friday!

I hope you are having a great week so far. It is definitely starting to feel like summer here. We had a few days this week where the temperature went up to 40. Yikes.

I can’t believe we are so close to Christmas! Less than a week away and it doesn’t really feel like it. Tj and I are going to travel for a few days around Australia. Not as exciting as last year when we had Christmas in Bali but we are still looking forward to the holiday. It’ll be nice to have a few days off work, read a lot, and hopefully, we will get to meet up with some friends who are also living in Australia now.

I saw this end of year book survey on a book blog called Never Enough Novels, who got it from another book blog called The Perpetual Page Turner. I really enjoyed reading their surveys, and I even wrote down a few recommendations. I thought it might be fun to fill out myself. I’ve adapted it a little and left out some questions that weren’t relevant to me, but I definitely enjoyed taking a moment to think about the books I’ve read this year. I worked hard on my answers so I hope you enjoy :)

Reading Stats:

Number of books you read: 84 (at December 18)
Number of re-reads: surprisingly only 2! Instead of re-reading books, this year I listened to the audiobook
Genre you read the most from: thrillers

Best in Books

Best book you read in 2019 - I could never choose just one favourite, but check back in the New Year for my top 10
Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love more but didn’t? - Educated by Tara Westover - I saw this everywhere and my friend recommended it. In the past we’ve had similar taste in books, but this one just didn’t do it for me.
Most surprising (in a good way or bad way)? - I loved the endings of I Know You Know by Gilly MacMillan and The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda.
Best series you started in 2019? Best sequel of 2019? Best series ender of 2019? - Sequels are so satisfying! Best sequels/series enders would have to be Postscript by Ceclia Ahern and The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. I didn’t start any amazing new series.
Favourite new author you discovered in 2019? - I guess I’d say Christina Lauren (see #6) as they were the only new author where I read more than one book. I mostly read a lot of standalone books or books by authors I already know I like.
Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? - I surprised myself with how much I liked Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. It’s classified as a rom-com which I don’t read a lot of, but I’ve since read a few other Christina Lauren book and I enjoyed them as well.
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? - I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down and stayed up late to finish it.
Book you read in 2019 that you are most likely to re-read next year? - I don’t think I’ll re-read it, but I’ll probably listen to the audiobook of Run Away (see #16) with Tj.
Favourite cover of a book you read in 2019? - They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but this was one I was definitely drawn to - Akin by Emma Donaghue
Most memorable character of 2019? - I loved revisiting Avonlea with Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy.
Most beautifully written book read in 2019? - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I thought this sounded really boring, but it surprised me.
Most thought-provoking book of 2019? - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. My coworker and I actually went for coffee to discuss this book and what we thought of the ending.
Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read? - The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I still haven’t watched the show though.
Shortest and longest book you read in 2019? - I’m not sure about the shortest, but the longest book I read was I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Maybe it just felt super long because I was read a massive physical book that felt huge, but the story itself didn’t feel long. It was really exciting and another one of my top-rated books.
Book that shocked you the most? - Maybe because it’s fresh in my mind because I just finished it, but I was definitely shocked by The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware.
Favourite book you read in 2019 from an author you’ve read previously? - Run Away by Harlan Coben. If you’ve been following my book posts for a while now, you probably already know that Harlan Coben is one of my all-time favourite authors. I love all the twists in his books and unexpected endings.
Best book you read in 2019 that you read based solely on a recommendation from somebody else/peer pressure/bookstagram, etc.? - My coworker lent me the book The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker and it is definitely one that I’d recommend to others.
Best world building/most vivid setting you read this year? - City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert! This book is set in New York in the 1940s and it was a lot of fun!
Book that put a smile on your face/was the most FUN to read? - You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn. This is a contemporary YA novel about an up and coming country singer. Or else I’d have to say The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen, another YA novel. She only comes out with a new book every few years, but her books are always set in summer and just a lot of fun.
Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2019? - A Dog’s Way Home by Bruce Cameron. A lost dog trying to get home = definite tears.
Hidden gem of the year? - I really enjoyed The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choi. This was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick, and one of the few books I read this year that I rated 5/5.
Book that crushed your soul? - One Day in December by Jose Silver. This book is set in London over the holidays. It’s another rom-com that crushed my soul in the best way.
Most unique book you read in 2019? - Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This story is written as an oral history and it was sooo good.
Book that made you the most mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? - I listened to the audiobook The Birthday Girl by Melissa De La Cruz and it was so good until a surprising twist at the end that completely ruined it for me and made me so mad because it was such a waste of an otherwise great book.
One book you didn’t get to in 2019 but will be your number 1 priority in 2020? - The Huntress by Kate Quinn. I bought this book back when I was in Canada in March and I still haven’t read it. Now I’m just saving it to be my first book of 2020.