Sunday, 18 December 2016

THE BEST OF ALL THINGS BOOKISH (EDITION 2016)

The end of the year is quickly approaching and even though I am super busy at work and with Christmas preparations, annual recap is always fun post to do, so here is mine for 2016.



STATISTICS:


This year, I challenged myself only to 50 books. Considering I read 55, I am content.
Moreover, I experienced a lot of reading slumps this year, which led to plenty of re-reads.



DNF-ied BOOKS:



RE-READ BOOKS:




FAVORITE SHIPS OF THE YEAR:





THE BEST NEW-TO-ME AUTHOR:


Last month I came across trailer for TV show called The Last Kingdom and I was intrigued. Especially when I found out that it was based on book series. So of course I had to check it out and read it. And I fell in love. I fell completely in love with Bernard Cornwell's writing style, with his characters, with the way he tells the story. I am still in the middle of reading his The Saxon Stories series, but I will be posting huge review as soon as I finish them all. Stay tuned.



FAVORITE GENRE OF THE YEAR:


This year brought revival of my love for Stephen King's stories. I have always thought that books by Stephen King were in their own category. And novels like 11/22/63 and Under the Dome reminded me why I love his books so much.



FAVORITE COVERS OF 2016:


I could stare at these pretties forever.



THE BIGGEST (POSITIVE) SURPRISES:


Sometimes I go into book with zero expectations. And then if I love the book, I enjoy it twofold.
I am happy to say that I read a lot books in 2016 that fit this category, here are my favorites.



DISAPPOINTMENTS OF 2016:


You can read my reviews to find out details why these books did not work for me at all (Into the Dim, Right of First Refusal, One True Loves). Either way I do not recommend these books!



TOP FAVORITE READS OF 2016:


I simply could not pick only one book as my top favorite read of the year. I love all three novels equally, but for different reasons. I had huge book hangovers when I finished reading every single one of them and for me they are the best books that were released this year!



FAVORITE BOOK MOMENT OF THE YEAR:


Last year, I shared with you my top three favorite parts/scenes of the books. This year, whenever I have been thinking about the book that had the biggest impact on me as a reader, I always came to one story - 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Here are my thoughts and reading updates to give you a sense of how much this book means to me.





WHAT WERE YOUR BEST AND WORST READS OF 2016?
WHAT NEW GREAT AUTHORS OR BLOGS DID YOU DISCOVER?


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Lucia @Reading Is My Breathing

Lucia is 29 years old passionate reader and reviewer who enjoys talking about all bookish things. Currently she lives in Prague, works in business industry and dreams of starting her own publishing company. Her weakness? She can never say no to cake, coffee or good novel.

Comments (22)

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Love this post. Great job on reaching your goal but sorry you had so many slumps. I am sad to see A Man Called Ove on your DNF list because I am excited to try that one. The Hating Game was such a pleasant surprise for me too. Have a lovely holiday!
1 reply · active 432 weeks ago
Thank you, Grace :)
And I DNFied A Man Called Ove strictly because of personal believes and I do not want to spoil it for you so I am not going into details. So there is still chance that you will love it, I have nothing against writing itself.
I'm glad to see that you really liked Truthwitch! I still haven't gotten around to buying a copy but I know that it's one that I definitely want to read in 2017. Great post!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
I hope you will enjoy Truthwitch when you get to it :) Sequel will be released in two weeks so I need to re-read Truthwitch very soon!
I watched the 11/22/63 mini series, but I am thinking I need to read the book!
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
IMO, book is so much better. I tried to watch mini series after reading book, but it all felt flat to me compared to how powerful the book was.
I agree with so many of your choices!!

I haven't had time to discover many new blogs and authors recently which sucks. I have read some amazing books though!! Some of my top reads I can think of right now are ACOMAF, Truthwitch, and And I Darken. I'm sure I'm missing a tonne though haha
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
Same here, 2016 was super busy year for me and I stuck to known blogs and sadly, I had zero time to discover new ones. Hopefully 2017 will be better in that regard for both of us :)
I'm excited to read 11/23/63! I hope to pick it up after the holidays are over. I'm also sad to see A Man Called Ove on your DNF list. I absolutely loved that book!
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
I DNFied A Man Called Ove strictly because of personal believes about something that main character did, I had nothing against writing itself. On contrary, I truly liked writing but story itself did not work for me.
And I hope you will love 11/22/63 as much as I do when you get to reading it :)
I watched The Last Kingdom on Netflix and it wasn't bad! Six of crows/ Crooked Kingdom and Truthwitch are supposed to be good and I may read those in 2017. And Into the Dim was on my TBR but after reading a few reviews I kinda backburnered it and then just dropped it, so you're not the only one disappointed by it I think.

Happy holidays!
My recent post Cover Characteristics- Book Covers of the Year
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
Into the Dim, was terrible, a total waste of time. You can be lucky that you decided to avoid it.
And when I finish The Last Kingdom series, I may try to watch TV show as well :)
"Best of" posts are so much fun! Congrats on reaching your goal of 50 books :-) Nothing wrong with rereads! By the time the year is up, I will have reread ten books that I read last year. And I love how you chose Stephen King as your favorite genre lol.
My recent post Cover Characteristics: Best Book Covers from Books I Read in 2016
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
I have always thought of Stephen King as separate category. He even has its own shelf in most bookshops :) There is fantasy, romance, sci-fi, historical, biographies, etc. and Stephen King is always separated with his own shelves LOL
My GR challenge this year is 50 books too. I’m still 2 books behind, but I hope to complete it. I see you reread Addicted series. I’ve only read the first book. I need to pick it up, all my friends love it. I plan to read The Hating Game soon; I hope I would enjoy it as much as you did. Have great Holidays, Lucia!
My recent post Review: The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
I hope you managed to finish your challenge on time :)
And yes, pick up Addicted series, there is no better NA series out there in my opinion. And it gets better and better with every book!
Happy holidays! I managed to read 123 books which is pretty slacking in my case. I read 300 the previous year lol. Good to see you on here again :)
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
Glad to see you here again as well :) I hope you are doing great!
123 books is still amazing achievements.
All the best in 2017, dear Benish!
Morning Star and Crooked Kingdom WERE SO AMAZING I'M COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH THEM. 😍 I re-read Six of Crows too and liked it even MORE the second time?!??! I think it's going to have to be a regular re-read series. So amazing. SO AMAZING. And I Darken was absolutely glorious too and I was pleasantly surprised, since I didn't like a previous book by the author, I had low expectations. haha. But they were definitely met and exceeded!

And congrats on reaching your GR challenge!! CAKE FOR EVERYONE.
1 reply · active 430 weeks ago
I plan to re-read Six of Crows duology as well! :) I need more Kaz in my life!
Agree The Hating Game was such a positive surprise! Loved it!

My brother was just telling me about Bernard Cornwell and gave me a few of his books so now I'm doubly excited to try them!
1 reply · active 429 weeks ago
Yay for Bernard Cornwell! Your brother has a good taste ;) I hope you will enjoy his books as much as I did.

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