This is my 4th year participating in Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Survey specifically relating to books, graphic novels or manga read this year. I started this in 2015 and I will continue to participate for many more years to come. Last year, I read 46 books which was a record turnout for me. This year, I only read 39 books although for 2019, I’m going to attempt to read fifty books. In the meantime, here is my 2018 End of Year Book Survey answers.

*This is going to be a longer blog post, Sorry… (not sorry).*

2018 Reading Stats

Number of Books You Read: 39

Number of Re-Reads: 1. I re-read the first issue of Hawkeye #1 My Life is a Weapon. 

Genre You Read the Most From: Graphic Novels, but to be fair, it’s much quicker to read a graphic novel than a traditional book.

1. Best Book Read in 2018

Ship It by Britta Lundin. I absolutely adored the premise behind this book because it takes place on a convention tour. I also appreciate the representation with the LGBTQIA+ population since it highlights a lesbian relationship. Britta is also a writer on Riverdale which encouraed me to purchase this book on the boyfriend’s kindle. I’m debating purchasing the paperback version to add to my book collection.

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

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough. To summarize the book’s plot, Louise is an insecure, single woman living in England. While staying at a hotel, she meets David at the hotel bar who is incredibly irresistible. Louise is devastated to find out David is married to Adele who looks like a supermodel. As Louise develops a friendship with Adele, she finds their relationship to be unhealthy and it becomes clear something is odd about the two of them. Without spoiling the plot, this book has a supernatural twist at the end which was off putting and I didn’t like it.

3. Most Surprising (In a Good or Bad Way) Book You Read?

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn had a nice surprise twist in the end. Imagine the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie Rear Window meets Gone Girl. There’s still time to read this book before the movie is released in October of 2019. The movie will star Amy Adams in the title role.

4. Best Series You Started in 2018?

Warcross by Marie Lu is a great book especially if you consider yourself a gamer. Emika is a hacker who enjoys playing the world renowned game called Warcross. When she accidentally hacks into the Warcross World Championship, she’s flown to meet Hideo Tanaka, the creator of Warcross. He tasks her with finding the identity of another hacker who Hideo believes is going to ruin the Championship game. Emika becomes involved in the scandal which has its consequences with everyone involved.

I’m shocked because I found out today that the sequel, Wildcard, was released a couple months ago. Initially, I thought Wildcard was being released in 2019. I’m going to use some of my Barnes & Noble gift card money to purchase Wildcard and it will become my top priority to read it next year.

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

I really liked Amy Schumer’s autobiography titled The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo. I know there’s a lot of controversy with her regarding whether or not she steals jokes. I personally haven’t looked into that much, but I do like Amy’s sense of humor. I found her book to be funny with a nice touch of personal stories from her past. I appreciate the story she wrote on gun violence as I also believe we, in the United States, have to do something to end mass shootings.

6. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2018?

Even though I didn’t like The Post Mortal by Drew Magary, I thought the book posed fascinating hypothetical questions. In this book, the cure for aging is discovered which poses the question of whether or not human should take the cure. I personally wouldn’t because I would hate to live for eternity without my loved ones unless my loved ones could get the cure as well. Unfortunately, this book’s pacing was a little too boring for me so it ended up taking forever for me to finish it.

7. Book That Shocked You The Most

Calamity is Brandon Sanderson’s concluding book in the Steelheart trilogy which is one of my favorite trilogies I read. This trilogy stars David, a teenager who exists in a world where once the star, Calamity, appeared in the sky, humans were given powers. David joined the Reckoner’s, a rebel group which sought to fight evil Epics (humans with powers). Calamity reveals the history behind the star which is what shocked me the most because it wasn’t what I had anticipated it would be.

8. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) *One True Pairing*

Claire & Tess from Ship It are so cute together! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

9. Favorite Book You Read in 2018 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I’m going to nominate Saga for this one. I read the first volume in 2017 and I read both volumes #2 & #3 this year. Unfortunately, Saga is on a hiatus  right now, but the only positive part about this news is that I have time to catch up since there are eight volumes in the series.

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

It’s going to be a tie between Warcross and Calamity. Both books created equally thrilling environments. Honestly, I wish both Warcross and the Steelheart trilogy were getting movies. This would be visually stunning to see, but never say never I suppose.

11. Hidden Gem of the Year?

The Manhattan Projects is a series I wish I had read earlier. It combines history, science and aliens into one epic graphic novel. 

1. New favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube channel you discovered in 2018?

I enjoy watching Super Space Chick’s Youtube Channel even though we don’t always have the same book interests. Kristin reads a lot more Young Adult and Contemporary novels than I do. However, our interests coincide with her recommendations of Fantasy and Science Fiction novels. One of my favorite books I read in 2017 titled This is Our Story by Ashley Elston was recommended to me after reading one of Kristin’s blog posts. I hopefully plan on following more book bloggers in 2019.

2. Favorite post you wrote in 2018?

I really liked my post regarding my love for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Sexual assault is an issue I hold near my heart due to being a woman along with how women are treated when they report sexual violence. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo does a great job balancing such a delicate issue while also allowing the survivor to take revenge against her rapist. This post also acquired more comments than I initially thought it would which is a nice bonus.

3. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

Can I say being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?? I try to read before bed which doesn’t work out because I end up passing out at 8:30 PM instead of reading a chapter and then going to bed. When I was in college, I read a lot more books than I do now. That’s why I’m setting my reading goal in 2019 to be 50 books to encourage myself to read more next year.

4. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Most of my comic book posts never get any comments or likes which always makes me sad. Comics are such an important part of my life and I wish these posts were more well received. I write what I want to write about which means I may not get any attention on blog posts that I feel deserve the spotlight, but that’s okay.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2018 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2019?

My top books I’m Looking Forward to Reading Are:

• Wildcard, the sequel to Warcross by Marie Lu
• The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston. I mentioned This is Our Story a couple paragraphs ago which is also written by Elston. She’s one of those authors where I will be on the lookout if she releases a new book.

2. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2019?

I’m going to attempt to read Game of Thrones this year, wish me luck. This is mostly because of my friend’s obsession with the TV series along with the fact that I have the biggest celebrity crush on Richard Madden after watching the Bodyguard. 

3. 2019 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

The Princess & the Fangirl by Ashley Poston who also wrote Geekerella. Geekerella was a fairy tale retelling of Cinderella, but with a comic con twist. It’s being released April 2nd 2019 and I’m considering pre-ordering it.

If you end up completing this book survey, link your post in the comments below. Happy New Year book readers! 🙂