End of Year Book Survey 2011

Hey everyone, welcome to my END OF YEAR BOOK SURVEY: 2011! This is hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner :D

Graphic created by Ginger at GReads!

So, onto the questions! There are a lot ;) 

1. Best Book You Read In 2011?

What a horrible question... There are SO MANY, how can I choose just ONE? o_O I'm going to go with my favourite from each genre... And there will probably be two ;)

Dystopian - Divergent by Veronica Roth and Delirium/Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver... THESE BOOKS ARE AMAZING. READ THEM.
Contemp - Anna and the French Kiss, & Lola and the Boy Next Door both by Stephanie Perkins. Oh my days this girl CAN WRITE! :D Also, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles was incredible. I NEED TO READ THE NEXT ONES ASAP.
Paranormal - Paranormalcy & Supernaturally by Kiersten White, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, The Iron Queen by Julia Kagawa, The Body Finder & Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting... Yeah. I'm SO bad at choosing just one. Sorry! ;) Oh, and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson :D
Steampunk - Dearly Departed by Lia Habel. This was AMAZING. Seriously. Go and read it. To be fair, I've only read, like, 3 steampunks this year, but still, this was the best one.

2. Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel - This looked SO good and I really wanted to love it but I just didn't. I finished it and it just was nothing like I expected it to be, and it kind of disappointed me that it wasn't dark and scary and thrilling like I hoped it would be.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2011?

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis - This book is ADORABLE. It is SO CUTE! :D I never thought that I would love it quite as much as I did, so it was very surprising to find that I loved it so so much! The second one, A Tangle of Magicks is awesome as well, but it didn't surprise me as much because obviously I knew what was coming... Can't wait for the next one! :D

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - I bought this for a friend for her birthday and she's read it twice now, and then I sent it three or four people on Kindle and they all loved it, so this is probably my most recommended this year! It was AMAZING :D It IS amazing :D READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T.

5. Best series you discovered in 2011?

Ooh. Ooh. DIFFICULT. Ahhh! I have NO idea! I can't pick just one! A series I discovered... OK. I'll pick one that I've read more than one book of, that I started this year... Should round it down a little seeing as I read a lot of debuts and first of series this year ;) Hmm...

The Body Finder & Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting - This series is SO good! I wish I'd read it when The Body Finder first came out because they are SO good :D Can't wait for The Last Echo!

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2011?

Stephanie Perkins, Kiersten White, Kimberly Derting, Veronica Roth, Lauren Oliver, Victoria Schwab, Simone Elkeles... The list goes ON AND ON... ;)

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

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve - This was recommended to me by so many people, and then my mum and Rhys from ThirstForFiction finally convinced me to read it, and I really enjoyed it! I'm not a fan of steampunk, and the only other steampunk books I'd read weren't quite as steampunky as this was... If you know what I mean. You probably don't. Whatever, it was really good and completely different to everything else I've ever read, and now I need to read the next ones :D

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?

Another horrible question. Gah, I have no idea! There were so many! I think I'll say...
Divergent by Veronica Roth - this arrived early from Amazon and I was half way through a different book, but I put that one on hold and read Divergent instead, and read the 400 page book in a day. It was SO AWESOME :D I couldn't stop reading, and I fell in love with the whole story within minutes of starting it. It was great. If you haven't read it, WHY NOT?!

9. Book you most anticipated in 2011?

Hmm... Probably Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. The Vampire Academy series is one of my favourites of all time, so when I heard there was going to be a spin off series, I was SO FREAKING HAPPY. And it was AWESOME. So, so, AWESOME.

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2011?

Wither by Lauren Destefano. Seriously, the cover is the most gorgeous thing on the planet. If anyone wants to buy me a copy of the US hardback, I will love you forever :D

11. Most memorable character in 2011?

Oh my days. It HAS to be Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I'm sure everyone agrees with me... If he were real... *sigh* I think that is all I shall say about this ;P

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2011?

Ooh. That's a hard one... The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. It was amazing. The writing was amazing. The characters. Everything. It was just beautifully written, and I can't wait to read anything else that she writes in the future because she has SERIOUS TALENT.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?

Hmm.. That's a good question, a very good question... I don't know! Saving June by Hannah Harrington really made me think, as did Hate List by Jennifer Brown. And The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. Ah!! There are SO many AWESOME YA contemps that had impact on me this year (I find that contemps have more of an impact on me than paranormals, because they could so easily be real), but these three are three I can remember off the top of my head. I hope to read many more like them next year.

14. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles! I'd seen SO many people read it and love it, but I guess I just never thought that I'd enjoy it... Then I added it to my RAK wishlist figuring that I probably wouldn't get it, and the awesome Lesley from My Keeper Shelf sent it to me and I am SO grateful that she did because it was AMAZING :D Wish I'd read it earlier, but at least now I don't have to anticipate the release of the last book in the series because it's already out... ;)

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?

Oh oh oh... I have no idea. From Wither by Lauren DeStefano:

"Eventually I realise I am holding onto him just as tightly as he is holds on to me. And here we are: Two small dying things, as the world ends around us like falling autumn leaves."

And here's one from Saving June by Hannah Harrington:

"Jake was right - I'm strong in a way June never was. Because I know that I want to be here. Even with the pain. Even with the ugliness."

16. Book That You Read In 2011 That Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?

Anna and the French Kiss & Lola and the Boy Next Door both by Stephanie Perkins... I probably won't reread them because I don't reread things, but they are both AWESOME and they need to be reread so many times... :D

Also, The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson - I might reread this before the sequel comes out because I absolutely ADORED it and I need to read it again because it is made of so much awesome.

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!

Hmm. I don't know! This question, I genuinely don't know... I shall think about it and get back to you.


That's it for my End of Year Book Survey 2011! Thanks to Jamie from The Perpetual Page Turner for hosting, it was great fun! There is another bit of the survey that I might post another day, but I don't want to bore you with lots of questions and answers :D If you've taken part in the survey, link me in the comments and I'll come have a look! Hope you all have had an AMAZING and bookish 2011! :D Happy 2012 for when it comes!