Annual End of Year Book Survey | 2019

.

 

🎉 Happy New Year, everyone! 🎉

I feel like I'm going to repeat a lot of what I said in the 2018 Annual End of Year Book Survey in this post. It has been quite a while since I last wrote a non-review post on this blog, mostly I just posted book reviews and some book tags. The year 2019 flew by really fast, just like all the previous years; and we're now officially in the year 2020! It's a new decade! It's going to be the beginning of a new season for me as well 🥰 Since I made this kind of post back in 2014 and 2018, I thought I'd do this fun survey again to sum up my reading journey throughout 2019. This survey consists of numerous questions about books that will be fun to answer. If you want to join in, you can copy-paste the questions from my blog and post your own! If you're doing this survey, please share the links in the comments below so I can check out some of your favorite books from 2019 😊. Okay, now let's start answering the questions! (*You can also click on the book titles I mentioned to see my review on it 😉)

Number Of Books You Read: 35

Number of Re-Reads: 0

Genre You Read The Most From: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Spirituality, Young-Adult

1. Best Book(s) You Read In 2019?

• Vicious by V.E. Schwab: This book was absolutely amazing! Reading this book made me feel like watching an action movie!
• Atomic Habits by James Clear: A very well-written book that encouraged me to fix my habits; small changes create remarkable results.
• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys: Another great historical fiction by Ruta Sepetys; a real page-turner for me and the characters are lovable.
• None Like Him by Jen Wilkin: My last read in 2019 that has changed some of my perspectives about God. A book that I hold dear to my heart.

• Why I Love the Apostle Paul by John Piper: My first time reading a book by John Piper and I absolutely love his writing style. Will definitely more of his books in the future.

• Awe by Paul David Tripp: This book was so thought-provoking because it talks a lot about our problems these days and how at the root of all those problems are our lack of awe for God.

2. Book(s) You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Young Elites series by Marie Lu, Finding Chika by Mitch Albom, Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik: Had a lot of expectations on these books but ended up being quite disappointed—even though I still enjoyed it a bit. I loved Marie Lu's Legend trilogy and hoped to love this one as much, unfortunately I wasn't really into the storyline of this series from start to finish. As for Mitch Albom's book, it's okay, but I thought I'd love it a lot more than I actually did. Naomi Novik's book had a lot of hype around it and that's why I had a really high expectation. This is probably one of the rare moments when I disagree with the majority opinion on this book.

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2019?
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: I picked this book up randomly because it had a lot of good reviews on Goodreads and a lot of people are reading it. I went into it without knowing the premise of the story, but I was pleasantly surprised with how the story turned out. The plot twist at the end was the best!

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2019?

Atomic Habits by James Clear: I think many of us need to read this book because our lives are shaped by our habits. I encouraged a lot of my friends to read it because this book has helped me a lot.

5. Best series you started in 2019? Best Sequel of 2019? Best Series Ender of 2019?
I only read 2 book series this year (and 1 duology), and between those books, I'd have to choose Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. It was a really enjoyable and fun read, but I think I still love Percy Jackson so much more (still can't move on from my fictional crush since years ago) 😂😂

6. Favorite new author(s) you discovered in 2019?
Fredrik Backman, V.E. Schwab. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman was a really heartwarming read, I definitely want to read his other books in the future because the characters he create are so adorable. I also fell in love with V.E. Schwab's writing in Vicious; thankfully she has a lot of other books that I still have to read. Definitely on my reading list in 2020.

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

I don't think I read anything outside of my comfort zone last year.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book(s) of the year?
Vicious by V.E. Schwab: Action-packed, thrilling, unputdownable. I think those three words describe this book well.

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

Atomic Habits by James Clear & Awe by Paul David Tripp; because I didn't write a book review for these 2 books in 2019 even though they're one of my favorite books of the year. So I think I'll re-read it and finally post a book review for them.

10. Favorite cover of a book(s) you read in 2019?
• Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
• The Midnight Star (The Young Elites, #3) by Marie Lu

11. Most memorable character(s) of 2019?

• Victor Vale & Eli Cardale from Vicious by V.E. Schwab
• Ove from A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
• Kya from Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• Daniel Matheson from The Fountains of Silence

12. Most beautifully written book(s) read in 2019?

The Fountains of Silence

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book(s) of 2019?
• 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• None Like Him by Jen Wilkin

14. Book(s) you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?

Awe by Paul David Tripp & Atomic Habits by James Clear. These books are published in 2015 and 2018; can't believe why I'm missing out on such incredible books.

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?
"We are never more aware of our frailty than when hardship comes our way. This is one of the blessings of suffering if we allow lament to lead us. The various trials of life can become a platform to reaffirm our dependence upon the Lord." — Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?
Shortest: Competing Spectacles by Tony Reinke (160 pages)
Longest: The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (512 pages)

17. Book That Shocked You The Most (Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. As I've said earlier, the plot twist at the end of this book really surprised me and left me hanging with my mouth wide open.

18. OTP(s) OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) (OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Daniel Matheson & Ana from The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. Their relationship is so adorable and sweet! Daniel is really loving and kind towards Ana; and I'm so happy they got their happy ending at the end. They totally deserved it!🥰

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

• Victor Vale & Eli Cardale from Vicious by V.E. Schwab
• Mitch Albom & Chika from Finding Chika by Mitch Albom
• Ove & Sonja from A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

20. Favorite Book(s) You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously 
• Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
• None Like Him by Jen Wilkin
• It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst
• The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys

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

Atomic Habits by James Clear. My pastor recommended this book to the whole church when he was preaching 😂. It turned out to be really good and I'm thankful that I listened to his recommendation.

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

Daniel Matheson from The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys; his loyalty and faithfulness towards Ana is just the sweetest thing.

23. Best 2019 debut you read?

I don't think I read any debut last year; most of the books that I read in 2019 are pretty old 😂

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

I don't think I have any favorites from 2019. I think my best option is The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys; because the story is set in Spain in the year 1957, and I definitely learned a lot about the country during that era.

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

The Dragon Next Door by Jeong Sol (Cho). It's a graphic novel that I read when I was experiencing a reading slump and have no idea what to read next. It was really fun and I smiled a lot on my own as I was reading it 😂 It was pretty absurd and the drawing style wasn't exactly my favorite, but it entertained me nonetheless.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019?

I don't think there's any tear-jerker from the books that I read last year. I'm usually a crybaby, but I guess I didn't read a lot of sad books in 2019.

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Don't think there's any 😕

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom. It's always very difficult to read about a child's suffering. Really admired how strong Chika was throughout the whole process.

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019? 
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. I listed this book as unique because there are a lot of singing involved in the story and surprisingly I was able to enjoy it really well despite the fact that there's no music playing in the background. I don't know why but I could totally imagine how the song sounds and some of the songs even touched my heart.

30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? 

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. As I was reading this book, there are a lot of moments when I just have no idea what's going on and where the story is heading to. I guess that frustrates me and made me a bit mad. Other people's reviews on this book are also amazing, so I'm also mad because I don't understand why they loved it and I don't 😂

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2019?

Haven't discovered anything new lately.

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2019?

Vicious by V.E. Schwab. It was so fun to write this review because I loved the book so much! Writing a review for it allows me to relive some of the moments in the book. And I wrote this review when I was still in the heat of the moment.

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books Released In the Last Ten Years: I loved writing this post because I was able to look back at some of my favorite books in the past 10 years. It's always fun to write these kinds of discussion/non-review post.

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Unfortunately I didn't participate in any sort of events last year.

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

Thankful I was able to keep up with reading and blogging this year, even though I started to falter towards the end of the year and missed out writing reviews for 9 books. I'm still quite proud of myself though because I've been really busy since September but I managed to read a decent amount of books in 2019. *pat myself on the back*

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

Why I Love the Apostle Paul by John Piper. It has the most views out of all the posts that I've written in 2019.

7. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Don't have any particular post that came to mind 🤔.

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

Nothing new 🤔.

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

I think at the beginning of the year I set a goal on my Goodreads Reading Challenge to read 50 books in 2019. But as the year goes by, I slowly decreased the amount of books because I don't want to pressure myself too much 😂. Towards the end of the year, I settled on reading 35 books and I managed to accomplish that. I think I'm going to lower my goal in 2020 because I'll be a lot busier this year.

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

The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness has been on my to-read list for soooo long. That's why I think 2020 is the year to finally read it. I'm planning to start reading this series right after I finished the book I'm currently reading. Hopefully I won't postpone it any longer.

2. Book(s) You Are Most Anticipating For 2020 (non-debut)?
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (This book is the prequel of The Hunger Games trilogy! Can't wait to be back in this world!)
• One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus (While this one is the sequel of One of Us is Lying, which I've read in 2017)

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
These Ghosts are Family by Maisy Card. The title and the book cover intrigues me. So far the reviews are quite promising, hopefully I'll still be interested in reading this book when it's released in March 2020.

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

The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo, #5) by Rick Riordan. When this book is finally released, I will DEFINITELY marathon this series immediately! Can't wait for more of Rick Riordan's books in my life!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2020?
Read more books and keep writing book reviews. ❤️

6. A 2020 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
Haven't read any yet.

---

So that's the end of 2019 book survey! I read less book than I did in 2018, but am still glad because I discovered a lot of amazing books throughout the year. This kind of post is a great way to look back and reflect on my reading journey in the past year. Even though I still read a lot of non-fiction books (which I'm leaning more towards lately), I also managed to read some YA fantasy and finished some book series as well. I want to read more old books that's been sitting on my bookshelves for too long, and also discover new books that are released in 2020. Like I said at the beginning of this post, feel free to share your answers to this survey because I'd like to know what amazing books you've read in 2019. Okay then, see you in the next post! Happy New Year!

  by.stefaniesugia♥ .