End of 2011 Book Survey

I have always been a sucker for surveys. Like you know those email surveys that you used to get back in elementary school, or the ones to post on livejournal? Yeah, I was all over those. So I *think* I'll be posting a few different end of the year book surveys. This first one comes from the lovely Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

I think it's gotta be Divergent. It had so much hype, yet it completely lived up to it. I was totally enthralled, and I've been dying to re-read it ever since I first picked it up. [My Review]

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

Probably Beautiful Creatures. It seems like everyone is so in love with this series, but it bored me so badly. I got about a 1/4 of the way through and couldn't do it anymore.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

Ooh, it's gotta be The Scorpio Races! I was not really a fan of Shiver at all, so even though this book was everywhere I wasn't really planning on reading it. Then I got a copy at the Ontario Book Blogger Meet up, so I read it and it blew me away. It's just... completely enchanting. [My review = still to come]

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Probably Flat-Out Love. I tried to promote it like crazy since it's by a self-pubbed author, and I know it's harder to get interest. Well thankfully a lot of people fell in love with this one, and at one point I believe it was at #6 or 7 in the paid Kindle store. Like, it was keeping company with The Hunger Games and Nora Roberts books and stuff. Awesome! [My Review]

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

This is an insane question, because I read a lot of series this year that I discovered because of book blogging. Here are some ones I fell in love with:

• Vampire Academy [My Review]
• The Seven Realms [My Review of Book 3]
• Secret Society Girl
• The Morganville Vampires [My Review]
• Darkest Powers

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

• Melina Marchetta, for making me feel more emotion than any other author I've ever read.
• Jeri Smith-Ready, for writing unique paranormal stories with characters you will fall in love with (oh and she's also one of the coolest people ever, who truly appreciates all her readers and is so generous with her time and resources)
• Janet Gurtler, for having an awesome contemporary voice similar to Sarah Dessen and Elizabeth Scott (who I am both a huge fangirl of)... oh and she's also Canadian, so yay for that!

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

Threads & Flames, no question. Having been a history major, you would think I would read a lot of historical novels. But no, I totally don't. Most historicals I read tend to be historical fantasy or historical paranormal or something like that. Well this one is strictly historical, and when I read the description I was like "meh". But omigosh, it made me CRY. And I pretty much never cry for books. It was so emotionally intense and beautiful. [My Book Battle Review]

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

There were so many books that were unputdownable, but when I think of "thrilling" I think of crazy action. And when it comes to crazy action it's hard to beat The Book of Blood and Shadow. Think crazy historical treasure hunt like The Da Vinci code, except really good. But this one doesn't come out until next April (!), so another choice would be...

Wither. It seems like you either love or hate this book, and I really loved it. I remember sitting on my futon just reading and reading and reading until I was done, because I was so into the story and I was dying to find out what would happen next. [My Review]

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Ooh, tough one. Probably Divergent, Last Breath, Bloodlines, What Happened to Goodbye, Lola and the Boy Next Door, & The Name of the Star [My Review].

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

When I started to think about favourite covers I very quickly had a massive list, so I decided to just stick to one book. After I read it I was disappointed with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but that cover? Still totally gorgeous. It's so interesting/thought provoking, and I just love everything from the watery feel to the colours to the font.



11. Most memorable character in 2011?

Do you know how tough this is?! I don't think I can just pick one. No, in fact I'm picking 15:

Rose, Jonah Griggs, Jace, Pajamie (aka Poe/Jamie), Manchee (omigawsshhhh!), Logan, Tessa/Will/Jem (they go together), Tris, Jordan, Saba, Cinder, Derek, Tucker, Gabi, & Tod.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

Jellicoe Road [My Review] and Where She Went [My Review]. Gorgeous, gorgeous, beyond gorgeoussssss.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Gotta be Jellicoe Road. I mean, it's not every day that you can call a book life changing.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?

Can I have the same answer 3 times in a row?? Jellicoe Road came out in North America in 2008, so that was three years of missing Taylor and Jonah (and everyone else!) in my life. So glad I read it!!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?

When it's right, it's simple.
-- Stephanie Perkins, Lola and the Boy Next Door

To say you have no choice is to relieve yourself of responsibility.
-- Patrick Ness, Monsters of Men

"If you weren't driving, I'd kiss you senseless," I tell him.

He swerves to the side of the road and stops the car abruptly. "Not driving any more."
-- Melina Marchetta, Jellicoe Road

"I can't forget you, any more than I can forget my own name." He kissed me then, and the world which no longer mattered, completely fell away.
-- Jeri Smith-Ready, Shift

Yer in my blood, Saba, he says. Yer in my head. Yer in my breath, yer in my bones...gawd help me, yer everywhere. You have bin since the first moment I set eyes on you.
-- Moira Young, Blood Red Road

"It's my turn to see you through," she whispers, coming back to me and wrapping me in her blanket as I lose my shit all over again. She holds me until I recover my Y chromosone.
-- Gayle Forman, Where She Went

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?

Jellicoe Road, Graffiti Moon, Divergent, Catching Jordan, Cinder.

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!

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm not very good at remembering very specific moments in books. If I really thought about it I could probably come up with a few, but they would definitely all be spoiler-y. Recently, though, I know I wanted to squee about Catching Jordan and Cinder after I finished them.

Looking Ahead...
1. One Book You Didn't Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?

Probably The Death Cure. I've been looking forward to it for sooo long, but I've had so many review books for the past couple of months that I just haven't got around to it. I really want to re-read the first two books and then read that one.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?

I started off making a list, but that's dangerous, because soon it would be like 20 books. So I'll just leave you with this: Bitterblue. Oh-my-GOSH, I can't wait!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2012?

I want to start a few new series that people have been raving about, as well as some older titles and some books that are physically on my bookshelves.

I'd also really like to create some kind of "favourites" page on the blog, where I list my favourite authors, series, books... you know, the things that I fangirl and squee for, so hopefully more people might pick them up.

So!! That's it for this list. Phew, you have no idea how long this took to put together. It was so much fun, though, to look back at all the titles I've read in 2011, and to pick my favourites for each category.