Annual end of the year survey 2017

The year is drawing to a close and I wanted to do my End of the Year Survey again. I had so many things happen to me this year that I am amazed I survived without going completely insane. But I loved the year anyway. Here is the post.

2017 Reading Stats

Number of books you read: I read 177 books
Number of re-reads: I reread 34 book because I tried to focus on new reads this year.
Genre you read the most from: 47% of my reads were Fantasy novels and coming in second with 16% is Dystopia.

Best of Books

Best book you read in 2017? Well, to me the best book of 2017 were actually 2 books. Illuminae and Gemini by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I loved them so much! I wrote for both raving reviews here: Illuminae, Gemini
Book you were excited about & thought you were going to love more but didn’t? I think there were multiple books this year for me that I was excited for and didn’t love. But I think the biggest dissapointment this year was Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare. You can find my review here
Most surprising (in a good way or a bad way) book you read? I think the most surprising read I did this year was The 100 series by Kass Morgan, which I made me amazed how such a bad novel could be made into a tv series before release and even become a series. I just hated them so much! You can read my review here
Book you “pushed” the most people to read (and they did)? An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, I enjoyed it a lot and really need to talk about it with people. My review can be seen here
Best series you started in 2017? Best sequel of 2017? Best series ender of 2017?
Best series started: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
Best sequel: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas.
Best series ender: Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor.
Favorite new author you discovered in 2017? Oh man, I found so many new authors this year, they did not alway debut this year, but new to me. Like Laini Taylor, Sabaa Tahir, Scott Lynch, Pierce Brown, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? I read Turtles all the Way Down by John Green. I read a couple of books (especially The Fault in Our Stars) by John Green and just didn’t care for them, but I loved this one! Read my review here
Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? This is definitly Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, I was surprised by it and I needed to finish right after I started. Review can be found here
Book you read in 2017 that you are most likely to re-read next year? Probably The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco and others before the sequels come out. Review for The Bone Witch can be found here.

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017? I loved the hardback cover of The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, it is so beautiful.
Most memorable character of 2017? Wonder Woman from Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo. She is such a strong woman, but also very flawed. I loved her, see here
Most thought-provoking/life-changing book of 2017? Milk & Honey by Rupi Kaur. I enjoyed it very much and the poems are very deep sometimes. You can read my review here
Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? So many! Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor was one of the first ones I regretted not reading earlier. The Review is here
Favorite Passage/Quote from a book you read in 2017? Words were different when they lived inside of you – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
Shortest & longest book you read in 2017? Shortest book I read was Brair Rose by the Brothers Grimm with 4 pages and the longest was A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin with 1179 pages.
Book that shocked you the most? I was mostly shocked on why The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is so hyped. It is not that it is bad, but I also can’t agree with all the hype. You can read about it here
OTP (One True Pairing) of the year? Dante and Ari from * Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz*. You can see here why.
Favorite non-romantic relationship of the year? I enjoyed the relationships in I, Robot by Isaac Asimov a lot. Check out the review here.
Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read previously? Definilty Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs, I loved it so much! The review can be found here.
Best book you read in 2017 that you read based solely on a recommendatio from somebody else/peer pressure? I didn’t really have peer pressure this year. I read I, Robot because somone suggested Asimov, but it wasn’t because he pressured me.
Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2017? I love the guys in both books by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Review for The Inexplicable Logic of My Life will be online sometime early January 2018.
Best 2017 debut you read? The Adventures of Lola by Jade Harley, this was such a cute middle grade book. But I loved Caraval by Stephanie Garber too!
Best worldbuilding/most vivid setting you read this year? I loved the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown so much! My reviews will be online by mid January.
Book that put a smile on your face.was the most FUN to read? Both Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs and The Language of Thors by Leigh Bardugo both were really funny read.
Book that made you cry of nearly cry in 2017? I don’t really cry while reading but I think I could have while reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.
Hidden gem of the year? The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff!
Book that crushed your soul? I think this would fly for The 100 series by Kass Morgan and the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. You can check out my review for Obsidian out
Most unique book you read in 2017 The Illuminae Files are really unique, but the same goes for They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera.
Book that made you the most mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? Three Sides of a Heart. It is an anathology and are about love triangles in YA. I really liked it even though I usually hate love triangles. Probably because usually the triangle take the low road in normal stories and not in these short stories.

Your Blogging/Bookish Life

New favorite book blog you discovered in 2017? I really like the Dutch blog Zon en Maan right now.
Favorite review that you wrote in 2017? I really enjoyed writing the Christmas Song Book Tag.
Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog? The Christmas Song Book Tag was very well received.
Best event you participated in (author signings, festicals, citural events, memes, etc.)? I went to the Dutch version of YALfest and the YA Event of Bookstore Van Piere in Eindhoven, where I gave a lot of my Dutch YA away and everybody really liked that fact.
Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2017? Books in Character turned 2, it feels like I am only writing for such a short time, but it does mean I have many reviews already. Also I went from 1 review a week to 3! Now I am a bit struggling to get some backlog, but that is okay. We will see about 2018 if I have to change the amount of posts each week.
Most challenging thing about blogging or you reading life this year? Getting back my backlog of review after not writing reviews for two months and trying to get through my backlog of requests.
Most popular post this year on your blog (wether it be by comments or views)? It’s an odd one, it was my March 2017 releases post. But a lot of the LoveAThon posts are in the top 10 too.
Post you wished got a little more love? My post about when people would like to see my reviews going online. But I solved that myself already.
Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)? I don’t really want to call Storytel my best bookish discovery of this year. I just didn’t find anything else worth mentioning. Storytel is an audiobook service. But I hate the app, there aren’t many (few thousand) English audiobooks and there are so many sucky issues with it. But I liked it better than Audible. Now I pay 9.99/month to rent however many audiobooks I want, instead of the same for 1 free audiobook to own in an app and a discount on others.
Did you complete any reading challenges of goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I finished my Goodread Reading Challenge, with 177% and the Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge.

###Looking Ahead
One book you didn’t get to in 2017 but will be your number 1 priority in 2018? Oh, there are so many books! It’s crazy. I probably start with Eliza and her Monsters by Francesca Zappia or Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.
Book you are most anticipating for 2018 (non-debut)? So many books I can’t answer!
2018 Debut you are most anticipating? Again so many!
Series ending/A sequel you are most anticipating in 2018? And again! Way too many to choose from. Definitly Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
One thing you hope to accomplish or do in your reading/blogging life in 2018? I hope to stay at three reviews a week and maybe add another weekly post like the 800 Questions for Me and On My Shelf posts.

A 2018 release you’ve already read & recommend to everyone? Sorry no clue! I haven’t read any arcs for next year yet.

Have a great time the next couple of days and I will see you guys in 2018.

For now, let books enrich your life!