I stumbled upon the End of the Year survey from Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner. This is her third year of compiling a list of bookish related questions to share with her readers and she encourages anyone who wants to join in and take part.

I love making lists and taking surveys so I jumped at the chance to share my thoughts regarding books and whatnot for 2012.

Best In Books 2012

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

Contemporary: A Fault in Our Stars by John Green (just finished it today and need to wait a few days before writing a review or it will just be one big fangirl gush-fest)

Fantasy: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes or Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic: Divergent by Veronica Roth or Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Adult Fiction: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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

Undeadly by Michelle Vail. I felt a little let down by this one. It had a lot of promise but just missed something in the execution.

 3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? 

Probably Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I wasn’t expecting to like it at all – I mean it’s a Cinderella retelling set in New Beijing and Cinderella is now a cyborg. Sounds absolutely crazy – but it works and I can’t wait to read the second book in the Lunar Chronicles – Scarlet – when it’s released early next year.

 4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

A lot of the ones I’ve mentioned so far – Divergent by Veronica Roth, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Delirium by Lauren Oliver and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I love recommending Aussie authors to people I know as well so I’ve been pimping A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty and Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart.

 5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

I discovered Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead this year (and her adult paranormal series, Georgina Kincaid). I’ve found a new favourite paranormal author. I also discovered Wool by Hugh Howey and Mythos Academy by Jennifer Estep and completely enjoyed them too.

 6. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2012?

This is turning into a bit of a love fest for me… sorry! But there are so many authors I’ve not read prior to 2012 that I adore now. Veronica Roth, John Green, Maria V. Snyder, Richelle Mead, Stephanie Perkins, Brigid Kemmerer… my list would go on all day if I don’t stop myself now.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I’ve usually steered pretty clear of fantasy. It’s not something I’ve read a lot of but this year I read a few books and I’ve discovered a new appreciation for the genre.

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

I love unputdownable as a word. I usually call these books my “cereal for dinner” kind of read. They’re the kind that I get so engrossed in that I can’t stop for something as mundane as cooking something to eat. No – I must keep reading and manage to pour a bowl of cereal and some milk with one hand whilst holding my book with the other – no time wasted!

This year I remember doing this with a few books. The most recent was Poison Princess by Kresley Cole. I wasn’t trying to make my self a meal whilst reading this one but I was on a plane. I was the last person off the plane because I was trying to get to a point in the story that I felt I could take a break and not go mad with the anticipation of what was going to happen next…

This also happened with Only in Spain by Nellie Bennett. Only in Spain is a memoir about a woman who was fed up with her day job and essentially ran away to Spain to learn flamenco dancing… I don’t read a lot of memoirs but I loved Nellie’s narration and her complete disregard for her own safety!

 9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

Very hard to say. I don’t re-read very much at all. There’s so many books out there that I’d love to read that making time to re-read an old favourite doesn’t happen very often. If I was going to re-read any – it would probably be Crewel by Gennifer Albin. This is one that I think I would benefit from reading the ending of before the next book in the series comes out. 

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

This is one of those covers that means so much more to me after I’d finished reading the book. I thought it was cool before but after – it just fit the story so perfectly that I kept liking it more and more every time I see it.

I also liked these covers – for entirely different reasons. Finding Mr Darcy is adorable… and cravats are instantly likeable. The building, the font, the colours – I just adore everything about the cover on my version of A Discovery of Witches. And the cover of Only in Spain completely embodies the spirit of the story.

11. Most memorable character in 2012? 

Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass. Or Chelsea Knot from Speechless. Both completely different but I found them memorable for their strength.

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

I thought the Fault in Our Stars by John Green was beautifully written. As was the Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan. 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012? 

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher – I had a lot of problems with this book. Not the writing or even really the plot. It was more how it made me look at the issue of suicide and blame. I probably have an unpopular opinion regarding my thoughts and feelings that the book brought up but it’s probably the book that made me think the most.

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read? 

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

 15. FAVOURITE Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012? 

I am terrible at remembering quotes. Even the ones that at the time of reading I thought were brilliant for all sorts of reasons. All these ones are from books I remember highlighting passages from but then promptly forgot all about.

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

“Trying to write about love is ultimately like trying to have a dictionary represent life. No matter how many words there are, there will never be enough.”
― David Levithan, The Lover’s Dictionary

 16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012? 

Longest — A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness at 690 pages

Shortest — Probably Fearless or Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer – but they were both novellas which are intentionally exceptionally short 

 17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Rapture by Lauren Kate. Most of this book was a bit of a WTF moment for me. I just… couldn’t rationalize their actions. They were just so stupid! They would risk the one person who held the fate of the world in their hands on stupid stuff.

18. FAVOURITE Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

I liked the romantic relationships of Anna and St Clair in Anna and the French Kiss. Also the instant connection (even if it pushed at insta-love but considering the title that has to be expected) of that between Hadley and Oliver in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. 

But for all relationships – I liked that between Hazel and her parents in The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

19. FAVOURITE Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter. I read some of her adult paranormal series before and some were a hit but most were a miss with me. Alice was fantastic and I’ll be taking another look at some of Gena’s other books.

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

A Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

I have friends who are Nerdfighters who kept insisting I read this book – since before it came out. I’m glad I did. I loved it.

Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstein. And Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor… and about a thousand other books.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?

I made a list of ten that I can’t wait to be released a few weeks ago.

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

In the past 7 or 8 months that I’ve been blogging I’ve learnt a lot. I’m happy with how my blog is developing so far. My main goal for 2013 is to start learning how to do more with graphics and develop the overall look of my blog (I still have the default picture… which I do like but I think I need to develop the necessary skills to personalize it a little more).

Reading wise I think I need to branch out a little more. Read a little more extensively with regards to genres. There’s a lot of paranormal romance in my repertoire and I endeavour to cover more variety in the next year.

—

Survey done! And it was both harder and more fun coming up with my answers than I thought when I started.

There’s probably a dozen books that I have forgotten about but I consider myself lucky to have read so many fantastic books this year and “discovered” a lot of authors I’d never had the opportunity to read before.

2012 was great and now I can’t wait what 2013 will bring. 🙂