2019: The Year-End Book Survey

This Year End Survey is hosted by Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner.

I love this opportunity to look back over the year of reading. I enjoy recalling new favourites, exciting characters and, of course, listing some of the (many) books that I didn’t manage to read. Here’s my 2019 Year End Survey.

2019 READING STATS

Number of books you read: 30

Re-Reads: 0

Most Popular Genre: I’ve read a great variety this year!

BEST IN BOOKS

1. Best Book You Read In 2019?
(If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2019 release vs. backlist)

           

           

           

The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie
The Woman in the Woods (Charlie Parker #16) by John Connolly
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Institute by Stephen King
Full Throttle by Joe Hill

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

The Furies by Katie Lowe.

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

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I didn’t see it coming at all….

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

I don’t think it’s happened.

5. Best series you started in 2019? Best Sequel of 2019? Best Series Ender of 2019?

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie is the first book in The age of Madness series and I can’t wait for the next instalment.

     

Best Sequel and best series ending go to books from the same series… Winternight by Katherine Arden – The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch. I read the second and final books really close together and it was a great reading experience.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

I’m going for a couple of new-to-me choices for this one….

     

John Connolly – This year I picked up the two latest novels in the Charlie Parker series and I definitely want to read more. There are 17 books in the series so far, and I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to discover them.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – Good Omens was my introduction to both these authors and I really enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure I already have a couple on Neil Gaiman’s novels, and I would love to try a few more Pratchett tales too.

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

     

A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie was quite different from my usual reading. I’ve read Fantasy, and I want to read more, but I’m not sure I’ve read anything you might call grimdark before.

Full Throttle by Joe Hill was a bit different for me too as I don’t usually read short stories.

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

     

There was plenty going on action-wise in both The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie.

9. Book You Read In 2019 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

There are so many new books, backlist books and library books that I want to read that my TBR pile is endless and so I don’t tend to re-read books very often.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?

           

           

The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Institute by Stephen King
Bone China by Laura Purcell

11. Most memorable character of 2019?

Griz from A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher. I really enjoyed reading of Griz’s adventure.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019?

I really like Laura Purcell’s writing in Bone China.

13. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Many autumns have arrived and I’ve thought I should read this book and this year I finally did.

14.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

     

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson at 246 pages is the shortest book I read this year.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon clocks in at 827 pages, making it the longest book I read this year.

15. Book That Shocked You The Most?

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I did not see that coming.

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

           

Vasya and Morozko from the Winternight trilogy by Katherine Arden are the first that come to mind. I loved their story.

17. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year?

Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

18. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously?

The Institute by Stephen King.

19. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure?

I don’t think it’s happened, which is unusual.  A book that caught my eye many times and earned a place on my TBR pile is The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.  There were so many great reviews for it, and the story sounds brilliant.

20. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?

Um,okay, this is awkward. I have no idea…

21. Best 2019 debut you read?

I’m not actually sure I read a debut this year…

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

           

The world of the Winternight trilogy. I loved everything about it from the cold, the snow, the ice to the myths and the tales.

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

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Utterly bizarre at times but I definitely found myself laughing aloud more than once. Mostly this happened while I was at home and not out in public, which is probably a good thing!

24. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

There were some great stories in Full Throttle by Joe Hill. I must mention Faun. I really wished it was a full length novel because it was so good.

25. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher.

YOUR BLOGGING/BOOKISH LIFE

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2019?

I’ve followed many new blogs this year and enjoy reading about what people are reading.

2. Favorite reviews that you wrote in 2019?

           

           

Full Throttle by Joe Hill
The Institute by Stephen King
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher
The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

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

Aside from reviews and occasional book tags I enjoy participating in Top Ten Tuesday, having the chance to think back about books I’ve read, and list potential future reads. Here are some of my recent favourite Top Ten Tuesday posts…

Fall 2019 TBR
The Books of 2019 Past and Future
From Page to Screen
Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book

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

As always… Bout of Books. I love a readathon.
Readers Imbibing Peril also deserves a mention and it’s the perfect way to welcome autumn.
I would love to find out about readathons before they start so I have time to plan and participate. They’re great fun.

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2019?

Taking part in readathons.

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

In review posts The Institute by Stephen King, and in Top Ten Tuesday posts my Fall TBR post and The Books of 2019 Past and Future.

7. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Any review post. Here are a few..

     

     

Full Throttle by Joe Hill
The Institute by Stephen King
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
A Book of Bones (Charlie Parker #17) by John Connolly

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

The library e-book system. There are so many titles on there that I want to read, and they’re so easy to access.

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

I completed my Goodreads challenge, but I set a fairly low target.
I participated in Beat the Backlist again and this year I read 11 books. I also had a go at the Beat the Backlist Bingo.

LOOKING AHEAD

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2019 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2020?

This list could be endless. I’ll try to limit it to just a few…

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)?

Stephen King has a new book coming out – If It Bleeds.
I’ll also be looking out for the next Charlie Parker book by John Connolly, even though I have most of the backlist of that series I could also be reading, and the next Age of Madness book from Joe Abercrombie.

3. 2020 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Feel free to send some ideas my way as I’m always looking for new reads.

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2020?

Blood of Empire by Brian McClellan came out in December but I haven’t managed to get a copy yet so it has to be that book. I can’t wait to return to the world and characters I’ve come to like so much.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020?

I think last year’s answer still applies here. I would like to read some of my own books as I always favour library books over books I already down.  Beat the Backlist challenge is happening again so I think I may sign up, it’s a good incentive to read some of these books.

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So concludes this year-end survey. Congratulations if you made it all the way through to the end! What have you been reading this year? And what are you looking forward to reading next?

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