Top 10 Books of 2015!

2015 was a really weird reading year for me. My tastes have been changing and I went through a lot of trial and error with genre’s and books. I read a lot of books that I was disappointed in this year, but I also found some new favorites!

Making this list made me super excited for 2016 because I am starting to feel like I am happy with my reading again. I am excited for sequels for a lot of these, and i’m excited to read more in similar genre’s.

These are books I read in 2015, not necessarily published in 2015.They are listed in chronological order. #10 being a really really good book, and #1 being my absolute favorite book of the year. I rated all of these books 5/5 stars. They are ranked on personal enjoyment not really on any literary standards. They will all be linked to their respective Goodreads pages (add them they’re fabulous)

I had 21 books that I rated 5 stars throughout the year. Here are the 10 I narrowed it down to!

 

10. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. November 15th. I had no expectations going in to this book which actually allowed me to enjoy it. I think a lot of the people who are ending up not liking it built up what they thought it would be in their heads, and it’ different. I loved how it was a play on Harry Potter while also being original and this cast of characters blew me away!

9. Be with Me by J. Lynn (Wait for You, #2). July 21st. This year was my introduction to New Adult. I read the first 3 in this series and loved them, but this one was for sure my favorite of the 3. The most realistic pairing and I loved the whole dynamic. I plan on continuing this series in 2016!

8. Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. December 7th. This book sat on my shelf for ages! Over a year (maybe two)! I read Since You’ve Been Gone and loved it, but I was still dreading this one a little. WHY???? When I finally got to it I absolutely loved it. The road trip itself was interesting even though real road trips seem to drag out. I loved the relationships in this book, family, romantic, friendships, all of it. It was less juvenile than I thought it would be. If you’ve been putting this off too, read it!

7. Cress by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles, #3). August 14th. This series gets better and better with each book. I love the way everything works together adding new characters each time and being able to follow a fairytale while also expanding on the existing story. I have yet to finish Fairest and Winter. Priorities for early in the coming year. Maybe they’ll get a spot on my 2016 list.

6. Undivided by Neal Shusterman (Unwind Dystology, #4). January 10th. This was the first new-to-me book I read in 2015. I reread the first 3 books in the series to lead up to this finale. This is one of the series that got me back into reading my sophomore year of high school so I hold it close to my heart, and I got to finish it finally!

TOP 5

5. Another Day by David Levithan (Every Day, #2). September 6th. This is a sequel that follows the same events as the first book from another character’s perspective. Usually I’m not the biggest fan of books like that but Every Day held the spot for my #1 book of 2014. I held off rereading Every Day so my memory of the book was a little faded which allowed me to enjoy this new installment more. It didn’t make my #1 of 2015, but both making my top 10 lists has to count for something!

4. The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass, #0.1 – #0.5). June 26th. A bind-up of novellas made my list! (They were that good.) I finished these in 2015. I had read the first 3 novellas previously and reread and finally completed all of them this year. These are 100% necessary for the Throne of Glass series. They give so much backstory for things that are hinted at in the rest of the books. Read them anytime after Throne of Glass, but for sure before Heir of Fire.

3. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. May 28th. This was my first New Adult book, and my first Colleen Hoover. Maybe that hinders my opinion because now I’m in love with the genre but this book blew me away. I am 18 so this book applied to my age range and I loved the relationship even though I can acknowledge that it was problematic. If you are interested in this genre I would also recommend starting here as I did!

2. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. June 2nd. Another book I have owned for ages and was dreading a little. I ended up reading this book in one day, and it’s not the smallest thing. This is put here purely on enjoyment because I was sucked into this while reading it.

1.The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre (Deanna Madden, #1). September 28th. An erotic thriller stole my #1 spot?! This book completely blew me away. It was an erotic novel without being relationship based, she is a cam girl so all sexual acts are essentially over a computer. The plot of this book had me completely gripped. If you are 17+ check this out. It won’t disappoint!!

 

What was your favorite book of the year? Have opinions about the books I talked about? Let me know! Positive or negative!

 

My Top 5 of the Year (So Far) – posted late June

Link to my Goodreads page

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Least Favorite Books of 2015

I read some really good books in 2015, but I also read plenty of bad books. All of the books on this list I rated 2 stars or less. These are in chronological order #10 being not an awful book I just didn’t enjoy it, to #1 being awful and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, ever.

Take into consideration that I read a total of 84 books this year.

 

10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

9. Dangerous Deception by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (Dangerous Creatures, #2)

8. Don’t Die, My Love by Lurlene McDaniel

7. The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman

6. Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

5. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

3. Son by Lois Lowry (The Giver Quartet, #4)

2. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

1. The Death Cure by James Dashner (Maze Runner, #3)

 

I DNF’d two books this year which I didn’t include in this list but I clearly didn’t enjoy them and those are:

1.The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

2. The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi

 

Look out for my post coming up in a couple days about my favorite books of 2015! Exciting stuff.

 

What was your least favorite book of the year?

 

#0by16 – How I Did

I started 2015 with around 75 books on my physical TBR. I knew this was too much for me personally do I jumped on the #0by16 bandwagon.

The point of #0by16 was to get your physical TBR down to 0. My goal was really never 0, my goal was to have under 10 unread books.

While I didn’t reach this goal, I made significant progress and plan on continuing through 2016 to shrink my TBR. The number of unread books I am ending the year with is 24. I am starting 2016 with 70% less unread book than I started 2015 with so I think I could easily get to my goal in 2016 even though it’s not going to be a huge focus for me.

I will always own unread books. I like owning unread books, I just didn’t want the amount I had when I decided to start this challenge. Overall if I can maintain a one-shelf TBR pile, I will be happy.

So even though I didn’t reach the number of my goal, I still think this was a successful goal with how much progress I made.

How many unread books are you starting 2016 with?

Goodreads Challenge 2016?

I have been thinking and thinking about this upcoming year and what I think it is going to hold in terms of reading. For the majority of 2015 I kept saying that 2016 was going to be my “100 book year”. As it gets closer it is beginning to look more unrealistic.

In terms of how busy my life is going to be, it’s very unknown at this point in time. I am still unsure if I am going to be enrolled in college next semester. If I am not in school, I will be picking up another job, and I don’t know what that job would be yet. Which is how I have no clue how much free time the next year is going to have for me. 2016 is also the year I will be moving out on my own, well, with my boyfriend. So with an unsure work/school schedule and gearing up for a move in the spring, I’m not going to push myself to read too much.

As I’ve stated before my overall goal for 2016 is to catch up on and complete all the series that I am in the middle of. This leaves quite a few large books on my list of books to get to.

I think a good goal is a book a week. This still requires effort from me to make sure that I am reading consistently but leaves a lot of leeway for me too.

So, 52 books. Lookout for my official declaration on Goodreads on January 1st.

 

What are your reading goals in 2016?

Top 5 Wednesday: Books to Read by the Fire

Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey @GingerReadsLainey.

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Whenever I think of cozy books to read by the fire or “winter reads” I think fantasy. This list is compiled of books that are not necessarily set in cozy times, but you will be entranced for a day while reading them, possibly by the fire. I tried to squeeze in a couple that weren’t fantasy so here they are!

#5 – The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

A little fantasy fix. I heard mixed things about this book but when I picked it up I loved it! I actually read this book in a day all cuddled up so I couldn’t exclude it from this list!

#4 – Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

If you want to be sucked into a new fantasy world for a day, there is none better than this! I’m sure you’ve been recommended this book to no end, but really, if you haven’t read it yet, now’s the time!

#3 – Wait for You by J. Lynn

Sometimes I’m looking for a romance to cuddle up with. This is the companion series I would recommend. I have read the first three books in this series and they were all 4+ stars for me. They are quick and to the point but a great way to enjoy your day.

#2 – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A darker read that will keep your attention! Told from the perspective of death, this one will keep you thinking. If you are a historical fiction person I wouldn’t skip this one.

#1 – Harry Potter

I couldn’t not include it. I think most of us gravitate towards this series when we need a comfort read and I am not an exception. Nothing like giving Prisoner of Azkaban a good reread to make me feel at home.

Weekly Wrap Up: December Week 2 2015

Another great reading week and I am still on track once again! I managed to read 3 more full length books this week so here are my thoughts!

 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. This book was more strange than anything. All of my friends on Goodreads who had read this gave it 5 stars, but I didn’t like it at all. It was giving me similar vibes to The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, which I hated. I think magical realism just isn’t my thing. This story provided a lot of backstory on Ava’s grandmother and mother’s lives which seemed irrelevant to the extent that it was included. Nothing was explained. It was written well but what does that count for if the plot isn’t there? Lastly, my dog’s name is Ava.

 

Losing It by Cora Carmack (Losing It, #1). This was the quick read I needed when I picked it up. It was extremely cheesy and a not at all deep new adult book. The writing wasn’t great and the plot was really predictable. The whole point of this story is that Bliss leaves Garrick in her bed after an almost one-night stand and then finds out that he is her teacher. You would think that the story would be more about them trying to stay away from each other, but it’s not. They don’t try to stay away they basically just try to keep it a secret. Not much can happen in a 250 page book so everything just seemed to go too quick. The progression of the relationship seemed a little bit too ridiculous at the end part but overall I gave this book a 3 star rating. Guilty pleasure. I am planning on continuing this series to see if the writing gets a little better.

 

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, #2). Let me tell you, I was dreading this book. I read the first book To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before way back in May of 2014 and thought it was decent. I wasn’t too thrilled to read this book when it came out but somehow it ended up in my possession. I had heard really mixed things and everyone kept saying that “Lara Jean didn’t end up with who I wanted her to.” I figured I should read it now before it went straight to my donate pile. I ended up loving this book the entire time! The story seemed like it was easy to pick back up on even though I couldn’t remember hardly anything from the first book. This book does take a strange turn and I agree that Lara Jean didn’t end up with the guy that I wanted her to. The family aspect alone is something I would recommend this book on. I loved especially in this book seeing how well Lara Jean stepped up in helping to raise Kitty and how hard her dad was trying to be there for her. That being said, I enjoyed the whole book and was just slightly unhappy with the ending so I gave it 4 stars!

 

This coming week is finals weeks! My game plan is to still keep up with the track record of 3 books, but I’m going to squeeze in some of the smaller books I had planned for the month rather than larger ones.

Series I Won’t Be Continuing In 2016

So I’m giving up on some series that I continued with, or started, in 2015. These are only the one’s that were present in my 2015 reading, I have given up on more series than these in my reading life.It’s time for me  to let go of these ones. Some of these I really did enjoy and I’m just not interested anymore, but most of them just didn’t quite do it for me.

1. The A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.
2. Anything by James Dashner ever. (Probably).
3. The Dangerous Creatures series by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl.
4. The Pushing the Limits series by Katie McGarry
5. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.
6. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
7. The Black City trilogy by Elizabeth Richards
8. The Tricks duology by Ellen Hopkins

I’d say a list of only 8 series (or author’s) is pretty good considering all the things I got to in 2015. I have already posted that my goal for the year of 2016 is to catch up on all series that I am in the middle of. Getting these off my mind before going into that goal is crucial so that I can start the year off on a good note.

What is your primary reading goal for 2016?

Weekly Wrap Up: December Week 1 2015

I have decided to do my Wrap Up’s in this smaller version so that I can talk about the the books I’m reading a little more instead of just listing them off. If I don’t read more than one book in a particular week I can always combine weeks.

This week I read more than I’ve read in a single week in a long time!

I started the week off in a long stretch reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I’d heard nothing but good things about this book, but I found it extremely lacking. This is a post-apocalyptic book about a massive flu epidemic coming over the world and destroying most of the population. It is formatted in the way that it starts with the beginning followed by the end, and then she’s slowly filling in the middle so you can see how the characters got from one place to the other. When I say slowly, I mean slowly. In the end I found like nothing that happened in the middle and the character were just super unproductive in terms of bouncing back from the tragic things that happened. They sat around for 20+ years not doing anything to get society back up and running. Don’t tell me everyone forget science just because this happened. You can figure out how to get electricity back in less that 20 years. This book got a 2 star rating from me.

Then on Sunday I powered through the entirety of Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. This is the final book in the Anna and the French Kiss companion series. From what I’d heard this was most people’s least favorite in the series, but it was my favorite! The other two books focused on couples who were building up to relationships the whole story and got together in the end, but in Isla the couple was together throughout a bigger portion of the book. It focused more on the struggles of their relationship than just dealing with sexual tension for 300+ pages. Being in a relationship myself this type of story, especially in the young adult context, just appealed to me more. I recognize that this book did have its faults and the characters got pretty ridiculous in the near-end part, but my ratings are based on enjoyment so this book got the full 5 stars.

I ended the week strong by finishing another book in a single day and that was Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. I’ve owned this book for AGES and am so happy I finally picked it up. This book is essentially two strangers (kinda strangers? They knew each other when they were little) who need to get from one side of the country to the other and decide to take a little detour and see some stuff on the way. I was surprised how not romance based this book was. It was much more focused around family and the concept of home. Granted there is still romance in this book, surprisingly not just centered around these two characters stuck in a car together. Again on enjoyment this book was a 5 star read for me.

 

I am on still on track for finishing 15 books this month! It’s practically a miracle. My hopes for actually completing this goal aren’t too high yet but hey, it still seems in reach.

Let me know your favorite book of the month so far!

Book Haul: October & November 2015

My reading was slightly slower and my buying followed with it. In my last haul I said I was hoping for a smaller haul in October because I had been going a little crazy over the summer. I was successful! I only bought 6 books in October and 5 books in November.

Here’s the 11 books I have to share with you today:

1. Dangerous Deception by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl ( Dangerous Creatures, #2) – Read, 2 stars.
2. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy, #5)
3. The Walking Dead Vol. 09: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman
4. Lacey by Norah Hess – Read, 3 stars.
5. Summer’s Child by Diane Chamberlain
6. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari – Read, 4 stars.
7. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – Read, 5 stars.
8. November 9 by Colleen Hoover
9. Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jes Baker
10. Do Not Disturb by A.R. Torre (Deanna Madden, #2)
11. Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

You’ll slowly start noticing that my reading preferences are changing. I can tell I’m drifting away from Young Adult and this haul makes that pretty clear. I have so many books to discover that are outside of my little reading box I’ve put myself in these past couple of years. Excited to see what I can find!

My December haul will be a little bigger solely because I will be receiving books for Christmas. I am trying to avoid buying any for myself and I have been successful so far (it’s only the 7th though haha!).

If you’ve read any of these books please let me know what you thought!

Which recent purchase are you most excited to read?

Wrap Up: November 2015

Like I said yesterday, I have still been reading! Just a little bit less.

Here’s what I managed to get through during the previous month.

1. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs. 4 stars.
2. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. 5 stars.
3. Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples. 4 stars.
4. Lacey by Norah Hess. 3 stars.
5. Noggin by John Corey Whaley. 4 stars.

I read a total of 1,715 pages and had an average rating of 4 stars!

Laugh at me while you realize that I only read 5 books last month (2 of which were graphic novels) and I plan to read 16 this month.

What was your favorite book you read in November? What’s your top priority for December?