Image Description: a picture of an open book with a red and yellow string in the shape of a heart
2018 Reading Stats
Number Of Books You Read: 118
Number of Re-Reads: 7
Genre You Read The Most From: Dystopian-SciFi, Urban Fantasy, and Contemporary Romance
Best In Books
01. Best Book You Read In 2018? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2018 release vs. backlist)
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
02. Book You Were Excited About And Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Paper Girl series
I thought that I would enjoy this more than I did. It has all the elements I thought I’d enjoy: a motley crew of young ladies who all have distinctive personalities, time travel, and secret conspiracy theories. But alas, the more volumes I read, the more the series comes across as a confusing mess. I’m truly hoping someone has a plan here and is able to connect all the dots together.
03. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
Engaged In Death by Stephanie Blackmoore – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
04. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
05. Best series you started in 2018? Best Sequel of 2018? Best Series Ender of 2018?
Best Series – The Wedding Planner Mystery Series
Best Sequel – I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 2: Fluff My Life by Skottie Young
Best Series Ender – I haven’t finished them yet, however, I’ll be finishing Ouran High School Host Club and Fruits Basket in 2019.
06. A favourite new author that you discovered in 2018?
Noelle Stevenson
07. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Fence, Volume 1 by C.S. Pacat – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
08. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
09. Book You Read In 2018 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2018?
The Monstress series by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda
11. The most memorable character/s of 2018?
Image Description: an image of the main cast of characters from Giant Days. From left to right: Daisy, Susan, Esther, Ed, and McGraw. They appear to standing and talking to one another and they are facing the audience.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2018?
Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?
On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
I meant I review this book this year, however, I didn’t get around to it. Although, in fairness, when I review this book, I want to do it justice. This book took a long time for me to read and process and I suspect I’ll need to read it again. I feel as though this book is one of those volumes that require multiple re-readings to truly digest it.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2018 to finally read?
Adulthood is a Myth by Sarah Andersen – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
I meant to read it sooner and I’m glad I finally got around it.
15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2018?
“If I worried how every evil son of a bitch out there would respond to what I typed, I’d never touch a keyboard again.”
“All the more reason I’m going to stick to writing novels.” – a conversation between Upsher and Marko in Saga Volume 9.
16. Shortest and Longest Book You Read In 2018?
Shortest: Fence, Volume 1 by C.S. Pacat, Joana La Fuente, Johanna The Mad = 112 pages
Longest: Tsubasa Omnibus 2 by CLAMP = 592 pages
17. Book That Shocked You The Most (Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)
Probably a tie between Saga Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples and Tsubasa Omnibus Vol. 6 by CLAMP
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) (OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)
Image Description: an image of Fai D. Flowright and Kurogane (characters from The Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE series) wearing fancy clothing in a red and black colour scheme. They’re embracing, with Fai sitting above Kurogane, with Kurogane sitting on a side profile.
This couple is super angsty, but there is a lot of super admirable elements to it, the element I admire the most is how Kurogane calls Fai out on his self-destructive behaviour but also notices when he tries to improve himself and when he tries to care about others. It’s super sweet the way that they care about each other in their actions (you can’t trust the words they say to each other, only the actions)
19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Image Description: an image of Genos (a teenager with blonde-hair, and cyborg features, such as mechanical arms and black eyes) and Saitama (a bald man who wears a yellow jumpsuit, a cape, and red gloves and boots).
Saitama and Genos – I love their mentor and apprentice relationship, Genos is such a sweet and devoted student, and Saitama is also kind and thoughtful in his own way too. They live in such a weird dystopian world and yet both of them are still kind to each other and to their mutual friends they have collected along the way.
20. Favourite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
21. Best Book You Read In 2018 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2018?
I don’t think “crush” is the right word, however, When I read Natsume’s Book of Friends, I do occasionally have moments of sadness and protectiveness when Natsume is forced to reflect upon his abusive childhood.
23. Best 2018 debut you read?
Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Series – There’s so much detail given to the clothing and environment of each new world the gang travel to.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most Fun To Read?
The One Punch Man series – Seriously, just go read it, this series is hilarious.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2018?
Probably a tie between Saga Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples and Tsubasa Omnibus Vol. 6 by CLAMP
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
This probably doesn’t count, given how popular it is, however, I ended up enjoying the book more than I had initially expected to.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
With the exception of the Saga series and The Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE series, I’ve mostly avoided these types of books, I’ve been actively pursuing the opposite.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2018?
Probably the I Hate Fairyland series
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
Once again, probably a tie between Saga Volume 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples and Tsubasa Omnibus Vol. 6 by CLAMP
Your Blogging/Bookish Life
01. New favourite book blog you discovered in 2018?
I discovered a few, so I’ll list them down below
~Stars and Embers: Kat Mullen
~Noveltea Corner: Stef Galvin
~YesMissJane: Jane
02. Favourite review that you wrote in 2018?
My book-reviews of the Giant Days series
03. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
My Stim Toy Review blog-posts for the year
04. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
I attended VidCon this year, however, I also attended an Author Event with Bruno Lettieri and Sofie Laguna.
05. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2018?
I posted more consistently this year, which is something I’ve really struggled with, so I’m happy I’ve improved in this area.
06. The most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
I’ve had a lot of personal stuff going on the background (family drama, mental health issues, a family member passing away), which has strongly affected my resources such as motivation, mental energy, and time. I’m generally pretty good at coming up with ideas, however, the problem is that I’ve had reduced time, mental energy, and motivation to implement the vast majority of them.
07. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
Apparently, my Stationery Quest: Miniso at Highpoint was my post of the year with the highest views.
08. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
My Bullet Journal posts. I put a lot of research and effort into those posts.
09. Best bookish discover (book related sites, bookstores, etc.)?
I’d probably have to with Philosophy Tube. It’s a good bookish resource and it’s entertaining.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
Australian Women Writers Challenge: 3 out of 4 books read and reviewed
Diverse Reading Change: 8 out of 10 books read and reviewed
Looking Ahead
01. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
02. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2019 (non-debut)?
The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews – Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
Fence, Volume 2 by C.S. Pacat, Joana La Fuente, Johanna The Mad – Amazon | Book Depository
03. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
To be honest, I’m not really looking into 2019 New Release books, I’m aiming to focus on completing the book series I’ve already started.
04. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2019?
I received The Mortal Engines quartet by Philip Reeve for Christmas and I’m looking forward to reading those.
05. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?
Get better at Social Media interaction. I’m generally a Lurker on people’s book blogs or booktube channels and I need to change that. This year I simply haven’t had the time or energy/motivation.
06. A 2019 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):
I don’t receive arc books or books in advance so this isn’t possible.
Link:
~The Perpetual Page Turner: 8th Annual End Of Year Survey – 2017 edition
Ambiguous Pieces 