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Sunday, December 31, 2017

Book Boos: 2017 in Review

Ahhhh! 2017 is almost over! It was a weird year and while a lot of things were crappy, I am bummed to see it go solely because 17 is my favorite number! I know it sounds silly, but I'll miss writing '17 multiple times a day. 18 is way too even:)

But I have big goals for my reading in 2018. For the past two years I've made a high goal of 101 in my Goodreads challenge and have not met it. I read 75 in 2016 and just under the wire I finished my 76th book...Can you believe I actually had a book I forgot to log into my year?? I was stressing to match last year's challenge and I ended up going one over!

But yes, for 2018, I am again aiming for 101 books read. The way I see it, one audiobook a week is an easy 52. Then I just have to read, on average, one a week. I should be able to do that!

So what did I read in 2017???

  • Of my 76 books, 33 were adult (43%) and 43 were teen (57%). 0 were nonfiction. (Boo!) 
  • I reread 13 books...and one of them I read three times in 2017 alone! Wowza! Can you guess which one?
  • 20 were Advanced Reader Copies 
  • 44ish had fantasy elements
  • 46 have numbers in the titles...aka are parts of series

Which were my favorites!? (In no particular order!)
  • WINDWITCH by Susan Dennard. I LOVE this world she's created and her characters are fantastic! I definitely plan on rereading this series before the next one comes out (13 Feb!) because I want to make sure I haven't missed anything.
  • THE LAST FIRST DAUGHTER by Abbie Fine. Seeing this from early stages to published book has been an absolute honor! 
  • HUNTED by Meagan Spooner. I read this early in 2017 and it's stuck with me. I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling, but I extra loved the setting for this one and our current cold weather has me thinking about it more.
  • A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab. Epic. This entire series is freaking fantastic! Just...TRUST ME and go read A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC. DO it do it!
  • THE ROYAL WE by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I have such royal wedding fever and this was just what the doctor ordered! This was one of my rereads and I had meant to wait until closer to Prince Harry's wedding, but I couldn't! 
  • THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. Chakraborty. It's awesome to read a new and exciting fantasy book that stands up to all of the buzz. 
  • THE GOBLINS OF BELLWATER by Molly Ringle. Molly is going to think I'm obsessed with her because I've talked about her book so much. But it has the most beautiful cover and it was such an enjoyable read! I also made sure my BN got it in stock and made it a staff rec. It feels good to have 100% excitement for a quieter book. 
  • FINAL GIRLS by Riley Sager. I listened to this on my drive to Cincinnati over the summer and didn't get bored once. (That's a feat bc 8 hours is pretty long for listening to one thing!) I loved this thriller and highly recommend it!
  • OBSIDIAN AND STARS by Julie Eshbaugh. I love Julie's writing and was impressed with how this second book stayed so fresh. The point of view changes, but so does the style of storytelling and things get much more violent. I also got to meet Julie finally and she is just the nicest! 
  • A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas. ACOMAF is still my fave, but this book was so epic. I took the day off work to read it for fear of spoilers (and to see if I could do it) and I finished it early the second day, barely able to see straight anymore and with no regrets. I just...love these characters.  

And now, in an order:
I did this last year, where I chose the top book of each month and then ranked them. It was very interesting!
  1.  A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V. E.Schwab
  2. A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas
  3. OBSIDIAN AND STARS by Julie Eshbaugh
  4. THE CITY OF BRASS by S. A. Chakraborty
  5. DAUGHTER OF THE PIRATE KING by Tricia Levenseller   
  6. THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh 
  7. TOWER OF DAWN by Sarah J. Maas
  8. AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS by Margaret Rogerson
  9. FINAL GIRLS by Riley Sager
  10. THE GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO VICE AND VIRTURE by Mackenzi Lee
  11. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen 
OMG I think 3-11 are all tied! That was impossible!
Autographed Copies...AKA Who I Met:
I went to and helped to host* a lot of authors in 2017! 
  • Sarah J. Maas 
    • multiple times...I just figure that as long as I can get tickets and get there, I'm going to go. I was lucky enough to be one of the 50 chosen at her Tower of Dawn tour which was amazing!
  • Lisa Maxwell*
    • I emailed myself after THE LAST MAGICIAN came out predicting it would make the NYTimes bestseller list. I could just feel the magic (ha!) with it. 
  • Christina June*
  • Katy Upperman*
  • Miranda Keneally*
  • Mary Rand Hess*
  • Martina Boone*
  • Jodi Meadows*
  • Ryan Graudin
  • Sarah Dessen*
  • Kristen Cashore*
  • Alwyn Hamilton*
    • I read REBEL OF THE SANDS as an ARC and have been obsessed ever since. Love Alwyn's writing and her sense of humor!
  • Renee Ahdieh*
    • THE WRATH AND THE DAWN had me swooning so much! Renee has the best makeup and she hugged us after the event! We're totally BFF now, right?
  • Natalie C Anderson*
  • Lesley Livingston*
  • Victoria Schwab
    • My only regret is that she and I are not BFF. And not just because she now owns a flat in Edinburgh where half of my heart seems to remain. 
  • Cassandra Clare*
  • Susan Dennard 
    • Not only does Susan have the most amazing website, newsletter, and IG, but she's a science/artsy type just like me! Love!
  • Julie Eshbaugh
    • It was awesome finally getting to meet Julie. She's has such an effervescent personality.
  • Leigh Bardugo 
  • NOVA Teen Book Festival
(I KNOW I am forgetting some! Eeeek!) 

What did you read in 2017??? What do you plan to read in the new year?? 
 

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