Looking Back at 2011

I didn't really have a set goal for the number of books that I wanted to read this year- I just knew that I wanted to read the same number of books, if not more, than I read in 2010 (which was 115 books)- and I accomplished that goal! Over the past year I have read 135 books.

Of the 135 books I read this year:

• I reviewed 130 of them (96%)
• Of those 130 books I reviewed: 
• 62 were review request books (requests either from the publisher or the author) (47%)
• 68 were books that I read/ reviewed for fun (53%)

Of the 135 books I read this year:

• 71 were physical books (53%)
• 64 were E-books (47%)- I cannot stress to you how much an E-reader has changed my life. I was very much one of those people who always said, "I will NEVER own an E-reader- I will FOREVER read only physical books", but then I got a Kindle... And let me tell you, my reading actually increased. Majorly. In having an E-reader I am now able to accept review requests that I would have previously rejected and in doing so I have discovered so many amazing authors, specifically self-published authors such as Derrolyn Anderson, Megan Duncan, Samantha Young and Denise Grover Swank (and I don't know about y'all, but I personally feel that I read books on my Kindle faster than I read the same book in physical copy- though I have no idea why). It is by far the best purchase I have ever made and well worth the money- as you can see 47% of what I have read this year I read on my Kindle- and food for thought, I only got my Kindle in April so I managed to read 68 E-books in less than 8 months. 

Of the 135 books I read this year:

• 49 were self-published/ indie (37%)
• 86 were traditionally published (63%)

Some other silly stats:

• I read the largest number of books in May- 17 to be exact (13%)
• I read the least number of books in October- 6 to be exact (4%)
• I reviewed the largest number of books in July- 12 to be exact (8%)
• I reread 13 books this year (9%)

 But more importantly than any stats...

•  I have learned so much this past year- not only about the world of book blogging, publishing and the likes of, but about myself.

• While I have always loved to read I never thought of doing anything with that love- career-wise specifically. I was fine with the idea of continuing on with my education in bioarchaeological anthropology, eventually getting my masters/ Phd and becoming a professor or a literal working-in-the-trenches-archaeologist, but when I became a blogger and started to learn more of the world of books I came to realize that it is something that I can see myself going for the rest of my life. So last week I followed my passion- instead of applying to grad school for bioarchaeological anthropology as I have intended to do for years, I applied to grad school for a masters program in library and information sciences- when I graduate from the program I will be a qualified librarian (AKA I WILL FOREVER BE SURROUNDED BY BOOKS).
• Not to mention I have made so many amazing friends and contacts over the year- whether it be here through my blog, through their blogs, through Twitter, or through events such as the YA Sisterhood Heroine Tournament (seriously, I love each and every one of you and appreciate your friendship more than you will ever know!).    

Here is to 2012- may it be even better than 2011 (and may we read even more amazing books)!

Top 10 Characters in 2011

1) Juliette ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): As has become evident over the last couple of days I adore Tahereh Mafi's "Shatter Me". It is very rare that I actually like a female YA character- I feel that in the large majority of cases there is little focus on them, that they are not well developed whatsoever and that they take the back seat to their male counterpart. That wasn't the case whatsoever for me with Juliette. As I said in my review of the book: "From the  first page of this book I was captivated- Juliette is unlike any character I have ever had the pleasure of reading about before, aside from being badass, resilient, and unyielding, she was, best of all, real."

2) Adam ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): I think that I sum up my feelings for Adam best when I state: "As for Adam? All I can say is Edward Cullen Dimitri Belikov Jace Wayland who?" Aside from being utterly swoon-worthy he was just so gosh darn real and selfless. He is very much one of those male characters who will give you unrealistic expectations of how IRL males should act. 

3) Warner ("Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi): I don't like bad guys- Errrrr... Or at least I don't typically like them, but there is just something about Warner that is so gosh darn appealing (perhaps it is because he is just so hopeful? Legitimately thinking that Juliette is his soulmate and will complete his life? Or that he doesn't do things half-assed? He puts his everything into what his does- I mean, how many years did he spend researching Juliette?). I am expecting great (albeit terrible) things from him and I am quite excited to read all of the skeletons in his closet.

4) Jonathan ("City of Fallen Angels" by Cassandra Clare): Now that I think about it (forgive me, it's been a while since I last read this book)- did Jonathan legitimately talk in this book? I don't think that he did- I think that Jace and him just communicated via their minds. Regardless, I choose him because he has completely and utterly changed the direction of my favourite book series, TMI, forever. Plus, I am really intrigued by this spoiler/ teaser from CoLS (WTF is Jonathan/ Sebastian doing hanging out with Jace and Clary?):

“Do you want to go home? Or dance some more?” 
“Dance some more,” she said, breathlessly. “Is that all right?”
“Go ahead.” Sebastian leaned back, his hands braced behind him on the fountain’s edge, his smile like the edge of a straight razor. “I don’t mind watching.” 

5) Daemon ("Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout): I think that I perfectly summed up Daemon in yesterday's post- that he is a douchebag, albeit a smouldering douchebag who on occasion can exhibit actual emotions. He is very much one of those larger than life characters who will develop a cult following (a cult of YAs who will faint whenever "Daemon" and "kissing" or "objects shorting out around him" are mentioned in a single sentence).

6) Merit ("Chicagoland Vampires" series by Chloe McNeil): As I mentioned in yesterday's post I love the name Cricket, I also LOVE the name Merit (seriously, I think that if you were to name a little girl this she would be GUARANTEED to be badass when she grew up). Merit has basically everything going for her- intelligence, confidence, connections, strength (emotional and physical)- I cannot get enough of these books, nor of her (and yes, this is an adult series but I don't think that any older YAs will have any trouble reading it).

7) Dru ("Strange Angels" series by Lili St. Crow): Dru and I have been BFFs for ages so I obviously had to include her in this list (I tried so gosh darn hard to get her in the top 32 of the YA Sisterhood Heroine Tournament. Alas...). I can't recall seeing a YA character grow so much in a series as she did. She is by far the most kickass YA female in my opinion.

8) Cole ("Forever" by Maggie Stiefvater): Not going to lie, I didn't like Cole in "Linger". Whatsoever. But then I read this book (which is more so Cole and Isabel's story than Grace and Sam's) and I feel completely head-over-heels for him. I think that he brought a lot of much needed humor to this book. I demand a Cole spin-off right now!

9) Adrian ("Bloodlines" by Richelle Mead): Like Cole, Adrian didn't do much for me in Richelle's "Vampire Academy" series)- in fact, I couldn't stand him (I hated the fact that he stood between Dimitri and Rose AKA ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT YA COUPLES OF ALL TIME). Therefore, imagine my surprise when I read this book and fall for him! It was so refreshing (and unexpected) to see a different side of him- I cannot wait to see what he has in store for us in the next 5 books in this series.

10) Will/ Jem ("Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare): Okay, so this is kinda cheating by having two boys occupy the same spot (but I am okay with it)- seriously, how can you choose between these two boys? I sure as heck can't! As if one DSBS wasn't enough, we get two of them (the Dirty Sexy Balcony Scene and the Dirty Sexy Bedroom Scene). This book (and these boys) made me so happy.

Top 10 Books I’ve Read in 2011

1) "Shatter Me" by Tahereh Mafi: In all honesty, I didn't have all that high of expectations for this book. I mean, we knew little about this book for the longest time, aside from the fact that it was written by a debut author and that the cover was under lock-and-key (remember when all of the ARC covers said something along the lines of "Cover Art to be Revealed"?). But then I read it and fell completely head over heels for it- from Juliette and her realness, to Adam and his all around swoon-worthiness, to Warner, perhaps the best "bad" character I have ever read of before. I have no complaints about this book my only complaint is that I am going to have to wait a year for a sequel.

2) "If I Die" by Rachel Vincent: I must be honest, I am quite surprised by how much I loved this book. While I am a die-hard fan of Rachel's "Shifters" series I have always been kinda iffy with her "Soul Screamers" series- the first two books didn't do much for me, the third and fourth books were quite a bit better IMO, but this book, the fifth book? Everything I could have asked for and more! I don't think that there was anything about this book that I didn't like.

3) "Defiance" by Lili St. Crow: In my opinion Dru-Girl was by far the most bad-ass in this book than we have ever seen her before. I loved the introduction of new characters in this book and I loved seeing how all of the old characters have really grown and matured- becoming the people that they were destined to be. But most of all? I loved Ash. "BANG!"
 
4) "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver: In all honesty, the first time I read this book I was not a fan. I thought that it was too similar Scott Westerfeld's "Uglies" trilogy. But for a long time after reading this book (months) I couldn't stop thinking about it (I recall even dreaming about it- I was that far entranced by it), so I went out and bought it and reread it and realized how wrong I had initially been. While YA dystopian novels typically follow the same sort of storyline (ie. a girl is living in a world that she thinks is perfect, a rebellious boy comes along and opens her eyes, they fall in love, they try to escape their society or change it and the boy ends of suffering the consequences), this book was able to enrapture me in a way that none of those other dystopians were able to.

5) "Lola and the Boy Next Door" by Stephanie Perkins: I had been a bit of a book rut when I picked up this book and let me tell you, it was able to pick me out of that rut in a way that I am convinced no other book would have been able to do. While the storyline may not have been as good as "Anna and the French Kiss", I LOVED the characters- especially Cricket. I literally had a HUGE smile on my face the entire time I read this book.

6) "Bloodlines" by Richelle Mead: I never liked Adrian in Richelle's "Vampire Academy" series, so imagine my surprise when I read this book and I fall in love with him- ditto with Sydney, she just wasn't a likeable character in VA IMO. I am not going to lie though, my most favourite part of this entire book was the last line of this book when it was revealed that one of my most favourite characters of all time was going to play a part in the next book in the series.

7) "Here" by Denise Grover Swank: For everyone out there who refuses to read self-published books, I pity you. Seriously. You are missing out on one of the best books I have ever read in some time. Everything about this book made me happy- from the main character, Julia, who is so relateable and likeable, to Evan, a boy not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, to Reece, the bad boy who will sweep you off of your feet, to the fast-paced and engaging plot. I highly recommend it to fans of Lauren Oliver's "Delirium", Julie Karr's "XVI" or Ally Condie's "Matched".

8) "Altered" by Kimberly Montague: Again, don't knock this book because it is self-published. This book possess one of the most swoon-worthy boys I have ever had the pleasure of reading before. Furthermore, this book actually contained parents within it and memorable ones at that (there are few, if any, YA books nowadays that have the teen characters parents in it IMO). This book has the perfect combination of romance and sci-fi.

9) "Obsidian" by Jennifer L. Armentrout: If all YA books are like this, I will never need to read an adult PNR/UF again- the sexual tension between Daemon and Katy? Wow. Furthermore, it doesn't hurt that the premise of this book is so entirely unique! Seriously, can you think of another YA book that is about aliens? I sure as heck can't!

10) "Clockwork Prince" by Cassandra Clare: I am not going to lie, "Clockwork Angel", the first book in Cassie's "Infernal Devices" series didn't do much for me. I felt that the characters weren't all that unique- that Tessa, Jem, and Will were basically Clary, Jace, and Simon from her "Mortal Instruments" series and I just found that I liked the setting of "Mortal Instruments" more than "Infernal Devices" (which I admit, I found strange- who wouldn't prefer England over New York?). But then I read this book. And it changed everything. In all honesty, I think that I like this book more than half of her "Mortal Instruments" books (her "Mortal Instruments" series which has been my most favourite book series for close to five years now). I can honestly not say enough good things about this book (and legitimately have no complaints about it)- I need "Clockwork Princess" NOW!