Well, it's 2018 (crazy!) and one of my goals for this year is to write a blog for each season. (Consistency is the key, they say, but I usually have to start with baby steps.) The question of what to dialogue about for this winter season was rolling around in my brain when I stumbled on some inspiration on YouTube.

One of my guilty time wasters is watching book tubers on YouTube. (If you're not familiar with this concept, these are basically people blogging about books in video format on YouTube.) On this particular evening, I was watching Little Book Owl's most recent posts. She had filmed an end of the year reading survey (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jdIl...) which she'd gotten from the blog Perpetual Page-Turner (http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/20...). Viola! My Inspiration!
And so, without further ado, here is my own
2017 END OF YEAR READING SURVEY...

READING STATS
Number of Books Read: 62
Number of Re-reads: 9
Most Read Genre: Poetry--Surprisingly! (But I was working on a book of my own, and this was research.)

BEST IN BOOKS
Best of 2018: This is too hard--I've got a tie! Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of A Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator by Homer Hickam AND A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Book You Were Excited About/Thought You Were Going to Love, But Didn't: 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
Most Surprising (in a good or bad way) Book You Read: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas--This is a great fantasy book, but I was caught off guard and appalled by the intense sex scenes, considering it's marketed as YA.
Book You "Pushed" the Most People to Read: I have honestly no idea. However, I know at some point during the year I recommended my two "Best of 2018" books as well as one I recommend to someone at least once a year (it seems)--Inside The Kingdom: My Life In Saudi Arabia by Carmen Bin Laden
Best Series You Started: Sarah J. Maas' A Court Of...series.
Favorite New Author You Discovered: Either Homer Hickam or Christopher Paul Curtis (I read his The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963).
Best Book From a Genre You Don't Normally Read:The Barefoot Book Of Classic Poems compiled by Jackie Morris--This is an absolutely beautiful book, both in the poetry and illustrations!
Most Unputdownable Book of the Year: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas--once again, be aware of the sex scenes.
Book You Read in 2017 that You are Most Likely to Re-Read in 2018: None--my TBR (to be read) pile is too huge!
Favorite Cover: Rogue by Cheryl Sauer--the book wasn't my favorite, but the cover is surely cute and whimsical!
Most Memorable Character: I have a confession to make--I rarely get attached to characters. Plots are more my thing.
Most Beautifully Written Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn--the writing style was like a watercolor painting to me.
Most Thought Provoking/Life Changing Book: A New Graft on the Family Tree by Pansy--this book is OLD (and reads like the Victorian Christian fiction that it is), but it really challenged my faith and how I view day-to-day evangelism.
Book You Can't Believe You Waited Until 2017 to Read: Animal Farm by George Orwell--I know, I know. But at least I finally got it done! (And now my 8th grader is reading it.)
Favorite Quote: I'm sure I could find one if I wanted to skim through the lot of them, but I was very bad about making notes on the books I read this year, so I don't have one at the ready.
Shortest Book: Just One More Pet by Mercer Mayer--I read this to my niece when she stayed with me this summer. :)
Longest Book: A Court of Mist and Fury.
Book With Plot Twist That Shocked You the Most: A Court of Mist and Fury.
OTP of the Year: OTP is "one true pairing"--Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam in Carrying Albert Home. Theirs is a duke-it-out relationship that grows into earnest, though sober love.
Favorite Non-romantic Relationship: Skilley, the alley cat, and Pip, the resident mouse, in The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy.
Favorite Book From an Author You've Read Previously: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald--this was one of my re-reads, but I absolutely love it!
Favorite Book Based Soley on a Recommendation: A New Graft On the Family Tree. My mother went on and on about this Victorian writer she'd discovered (Pansy--yes, that's her pen name). She loved her so much, she was buying up all her books she could find. She even gifted this copy to me. It took me two years to get around to reading it. Now I know why she was raving.
Newest Fictional Crush: Yeah, no.
Best Debut Novel: The Gargoyle Hunters by John Freeman Gill--if you don't count Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Most Vivid Setting: Oooo, that is way too hard to choose. Nope. Can't do it.
Book That Was the Most FUN to Read: Either The Cheshire Cheese Cat OR Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein.
Book That Made You Cry: Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer by Janet & Geoff Benge--and this was my third time through!
Hidden Gem of the Year: Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau
Book That Crushed Your Soul: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Most Unique Book You Read: Huck Out West by Robert Coover--this story picks up where The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn leaves off and imagines what would might have happened if Huck and Tom had gone West after the Civil War.
Book That Made You the Most Mad: Sarah J. Maas' A Court Of... series. Because it absolutely infuriates me that that kind of vivid sexual content is allowed to be marketed to our youth!!!

YOUR BOOKISH LIFE
I'm skipping this whole section

LOOKING AHEAD
Book You Didn't Get to in 2017 but Will be Top Priority in 2018: Either The Help by Kathryn Stockett OR The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.
Book You Are Most Anticipating for 2018: Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse--this is already out, but it's the one on my TBR that I'm most looking forward to reading.
Most Anticipated Sequel:Eden Conquered by Joelle Charbonneau--the sequel to Dividing Eden.
One Thing You Hope to Accomplish/Do in Your Reading/Blogging Life: Be more consistent with my blog posts!

I hope you enjoyed this recap of my reading year. Perhaps it gave you some ideas for your 2018 TBR.

Until next time--Happy Reading!