2016 End of Year Book Survey

This survey is hosted by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner.

Number Of Books You Read: 75 (49 audiobooks, 21 "traditional" books, 5 e-books)

Number of Re-Reads: 4

Genre You Read The Most From: Mystery (24) followed by a three-way tie between Horror (7), Dystopia (7) and Paranormal Romance (7)

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?

I need to pick from a few different genres!

 

Best Historical Fiction

Best Romantic Suspense

Best Horror

 Best Paranormal Romance (tie)

Best Dystopia

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

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

Contemporary romances are not something that I typically enjoy, but I absolutely loved this one!

This one was a bit of a disappointment!

 

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

I can't say for sure whether anyone did, but this is the one that I've been recommending over and over.

 

5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?

Best Series that I started in 2016

Best Sequel

Best Series Ender

 

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?

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

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

9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?

It's so pretty and festive!

11. Most memorable character of 2016?

Bruno

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read? 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?

A conversation between Doc Jane and Lassiter:

“Lassiter. I want to see the front of you.” 

“That’s what all the girls say.” 

“Do you expect me to roll you over? ’Cuz I will.” 

“Your mate’s not going to like this.” 

“As if that’s going to bother you?” 

“True. It actually makes it worth the effort.” 

With a groan, he shoved his palms into the shimmering silver pool of blood beneath him, and flopped over like the side of beef he was. 

“Wow,” she breathed. 

“I know, right? Hung like a horse.” 

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?

Shortest: 48 pages

Longest: 608 pages

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

18. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Bruno and Shmuel

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

20. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

I am not normally a fan of steampunk, but I really enjoyed this one!

21. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?

Seth is the perfect book boyfriend!

22. Best 2016 debut you read?

 I only read two 2016 debuts, and this is the one that I enjoyed more.

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

The setting from the historical aspect of the story

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

Nothing puts a smile on my face like Agatha Raisin!

25. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?

 

26. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

27. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

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

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI, which I look forward to every year!

2. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?

Resumed blogging in August 2016 after a hiatus since October 2014!

3. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

As always, it's the balance between family, work, and leisure time!

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

Top Ten Books I Can't Believe I've Never Read (839 pageviews)

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

Yes! I'm a challenge junkie!! I joined 55 reading challenges in 2016, and I only missed completing 3 of them (2 at 75% completed and the other at 92% completed). My Wrap-up Post is HERE.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?

I really want to get back to this series!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?

3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?

In the short time that I've resumed blogging, I am reminded of how much work it takes a maintain and update a blog! When I resumed blogging in 2016, I decided that I just wanted to focus on getting back to the reason why I started a blog which was to hold myself accountable to find more time to read. Joining reading challenges help me to branch out, and I enjoy that. Admittedly, there are times that I've read a book solely for fitting it into a reading challenge but that can turn out to be a pleasant surprise sometimes! I decided for this year not to participate in blog tours or accept books for review (aside from the occasional audiobook or something that I planned to read anyway), and I think that I will continue that in 2017. I still find that I am spending more time working on my blog than I am reading, which kind of defeats the purpose of why I started a blog and that's the part that I struggle with! I am still trying to find that balance. Instead of maintaining a blog, should I just post my reviews and keep track of challenges on Goodreads? I don't know. I enjoy my blog, and it's a labour of love. I do participate in a few memes, which help me find new books to add to my ever-growing TBR mountain. For now, my plans are to continue blogging but it is a lot of work and does cut into my reading time. I guess that's the good and bad with it!

6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Nothing so far!

Waiting on Wednesday: Burntown by Jennifer McMahon @doubledaybooks #WaitingOnWednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Here is this week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection:

TITLE: Burntown
AUTHOR: Jennifer McMahon
PUBLISHER: Doubleday Books
EXPECTED PUBLICATION DATE: April 25, 2017
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 304 pages
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller/Psychological Thriller
ISBN: 9780385541367

The New York Times best-selling author of The Winter People and Promise Not to Tell returns with a riveting psychological thriller in which an unresolved murder haunts a family for generations, forcing one daughter into a life of hiding and concealed identity to escape a deadly threat.

On a brilliantly sunny summer afternoon, ten-year-old Miles Sandeski witnesses the murder of his mother as she sunbathes in their suburban backyard. When he emerges from a hidden play space to disrupt the crime, Miles scares off the killer, but he is left with a powerful clue that will compel him to pursue the murderer and seek an understanding of the horrifying event for decades.

Years later, secretly aware of the killer's identity and what he is after, Miles will try to protect his teenage daughter from becoming the next victim--the murderer wants something, held within Miles' family in the small industrial New England town of Ashton, and will fatally pursue each generation for what's desired.

Burntown unfolds as the story of Miles's daughter when she emerges from an incident intended to kill her, with a loss of memory and a total dislocation from the life she has known. Necco, as she comes to be known, embarks on a life as a kind of fugitive, hiding as an outsider in the town's abandoned corners Ashton's underbelly, Burntown reliant on kind strangers for her survival: a boyfriend who is himself a run-away, the mystical women known as "the fire eaters" who give her shelter in a camp by the river, practicing sooth and seeing through the altered reality of powerful herbs they call "The Devil's Snuff," Theo, a high-school senior who finds herself caught up in a romantic affair that compels her to sell drugs to students and teachers at Our Lady of Hope high school, and Pru, the cafeteria lady there, Theo's best customer, who dreams of being beautiful, talented, and adored in another life.

The lives of these misfits lost teens and adults intersect in a crime that implicates them all, and as they flee the police and the real killer who continues to hunt Necco, a story unfurls that is edge-of-your-seat suspenseful with classic Jennifer McMahon twists and surprises."

I love psychological thrillers, and I've heard good things about this author. Her The Winter People is on my TBR list. This is another one that I think I would enjoy!

What are you waiting on? Please leave a comment in the section below. If you participate in this meme, please leave a link so I can visit your blog!

Top Ten 2017 Debuts I'm Excited For #TopTenTuesday

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week, they post a new Top Ten list that one of their bloggers will answer. Everyone is welcome to join!

Today's list is: 

Top Ten Twelve 2017 Debuts I'm Excited For 

Poison's Kiss by Breeana Shields 
(Poison's Kiss, Book #1)
YA Fantasy/Mythology

Frost Blood by Elly Blake
(Frost Blood Saga, Book #1)
YA Fantasy

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
(Untitled, Book #1)
YA Fantasy

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
YA Fantasy, Retellings

The Continent by Keira Drake
(The Continent, Book #1)
YA Science Fiction/Dystopia

The Dry by Jane Harper
Mystery

Sad Perfect by Stephanie Elliot
YA Contemporary

The Wood by Chelsea Bobulski
YA Fantasy

To Catch a Killer by Sheryl Scarborough
YA Mystery

What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard
YA Contemporary

The Shadows We Know by Heart by Jennifer Park
YA Contemporary

Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren
Middle Grade Fantasy

So, what 2017 debuts are you excited for? Please let me know in the comments, or leave me a link to your blog post if you are also participating in the meme!

Bout of Books 18 Read-a-Thon: Starting Line @boutofbooks

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon has begun!

I'm Reading:

Something from my review pile, and I've been looking forward to this mystery!

The Woman in Cabin 10

by Ruth Ware

I'm Listening To:

Something that's been on my TBR list for a long time!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

Next Up On My TBR:

The Right and the Real

by Joelle Anthony

Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive

by Laura Hillenbrand

I will post my updates on Twitter using the #boutofbooks hashtag, and then do a wrap-up post at the end of the read-a-thon on my blog.

Thanks again to Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal for hosting!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.

I'm reading: 

Something from my review pile!

TITLE: The Woman in Cabin 10

AUTHOR: Ruth Ware 

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster Canada

PUBLICATION DATE: January 3, 2017

FORMAT: Paperback

LENGTH: 352 pages

GENRE: Mystery

ISBN: 9781501151774

From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.

In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…

With surprising twists and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read.

I'm still listening to:

Another one from the library, which has been on my TBR list for a long time.

TITLE: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

AUTHOR: Rebecca Skloot

NARRATORS: Cassandra Campbell and Bahni Turpin

PUBLISHER: Random House Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: February 2, 2010

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook

LENGTH: 12 hrs and 30 mins 

GENRE: Biography, Memoir, Nonfiction

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells, taken without her knowledge, became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than 60 years.

If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they'd weigh more than 50 million metric tons - as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings.

HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bombs effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now, Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the colored ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henriettas small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia, a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo, to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta's family did not learn of her immortality until more than 20 years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family, past and present, is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

I just finished:

TITLE: Death of a Cupcake Queen

SERIES: Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery, Book #6
AUTHOR: Lee Hollis 

PUBLISHER: Kensington

PUBLICATION DATE: May 26, 2015

FORMAT: Paperback

LENGTH: 315 pages

GENRE: Mystery/Cozy Mystery

ISBN: 9780758294531

As the food and cocktails columnist for the Island Times, Hayley Powell attends a lot of events—but this one will be murder…

On the eve of her high school reunion, Hayley dreads seeing the trio of mean girls who used to torment her: Sabrina Merryweather, Nykki Temple, and former prom queen Ivy Foster. These days Ivy wears a different crown as the cupcake queen—and flaunting her success is just the icing on the cake.

But maybe the prom queen should have been voted Most Likely to Die. At the reunion, Ivy is found murdered, cupcakes scattered around her. Is a killer out to teach the mean girls a lesson? As Hayley tries to get the scoop, she’ll have to be careful…or someone may be writing this columnist’s obituary next.

Includes seven delectable recipes from Hayley’s kitchen!

TITLE: The Joy Luck Club

AUTHOR: Amy Tan 

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons

PUBLICATION DATE: March 22, 1989

FORMAT: Hardcover

LENGTH: 288 pages

GENRE: Classics, Cultural/China, Contemporary

ISBN: 9780399134203

In 1949 four Chinese women-drawn together by the shadow of their past-begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and "say" stories. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. Nearly forty years later, one of the members has died, and her daughter has come to take her place, only to learn of her mother's lifelong wish-and the tragic way in which it has come true.

The revelation of this secret unleashes an urgent need among the women to reach back and remember…

TITLE: A Child's Christmas in Wales

AUTHOR: Dylan Thomas 

ILLUSTRATOR: Trina Schart Hyman
PUBLISHER: Holiday House

PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 1985 (first published 1952)

FORMAT: Hardcover

LENGTH: 48 pages

GENRE: Classics, Holiday/Christmas, Childrens

ISBN: 0823405656

A lost but not forgotten childhood is evoked in this nostalgic recollection that endures as one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all time.

Trina Schart Hyman's sensitive illustrations reflect the joy and magic of a special day in the youth of Dylan Thomas.

What are you reading? Have you read any of these books and, if so, what did you think? Please let me know in the comments and, if you are also participating in this meme, leave me a link to your blog post so that I can stop by!

First Book Of The Year @bookjourney

This event is hosted by Sheila @ Book Journey, where we share a pic of our First Book Of The Year!

If you are participating in this event as well, please leave me a comment with the link to your post. 

Even if you aren't participating, let me know in the comments what you are reading!

Stacking the Shelves and Sunday Post

This meme is hosted by Tynga over at Team Tynga's Reviews, which she describes as follows:

"Stacking The Shelves is all about the books we are adding to our shelves each week, sharing with you our excitement for our newest titles and maybe have you discover a new book in the process!"

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

I wish everyone a Happy & Healthy 2017, and hope that you will have many blessings in the year to come!

We certainly did get a bounty of snow on Christmas Day into Boxing Day. The snowfall was over 30 cm in my yard, and we were most definitely snowed in with the big drifts. 

There is a picnic table somewhere under all that snow!

The deer are staying nearby.

 There are three deer along the fence in their snow beds.

This one is getting a drink of water from the heated bird bath.

 I always get that nice ridge of drifted snow on the first half of my driveway! After two hours of shovelling, my neighbour from across the street brought his snowblower over and started on the end of my driveway. It took another hour to clear the second half with his snowblowing and my shovelling. Even after my driveway was clear, the roads were impassable until the snow plows came on Wednesday. We had snowmobiles going down the street!

Right now, the temperature is mild. It's -11 degrees Celsius (that's 12 degrees Fahrenheit), but it looks like our HIGHS will drop to -18 degrees Celsius (that's -0.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by Tuesday and -22 degrees Celsius (that's -7.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by Wednesday.

I bought these two audiobooks at Audible's 2 for 1 Stuff-Your-Own-Stocking Sale:

 

The Elementals by Michael McDowell
The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza (DCI Erika Foster, Book #1)


Recap: Last Week On The Blog

Sunday: Stacking the Shelves and Sunday Post
Sunday: Book Review: 5 out of 5 stars for The Rhyme Bible Storybook by L.J. Sattgast
Monday: It's Monday! What Are You Reading?
Monday: Book Review: 5 out of 5 stars for A Magical Christmas by Heather Graham
Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Best Reads of 2016
Tuesday: Book Review: 3 out of 5 stars for Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier
Wednesday: Waiting On Wednesday: The Continent by Keira Drake
Wednesday: Audiobook Review: 4 out of 5 stars for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Thursday: Book Review: 3 out of 5 stars for The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Friday: Book Review: 2 out of 5 stars for A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
Saturday: Book Review: 4 out of 5 stars for Death of a Cupcake Queen by Lee Hollis


What books have you added to your shelves this week? If you are also participating in either of these memes, please leave me the link to your blog post in the comments so that I can come and drool over all your goodies!