It’s official: I love keeping a reading journal with me. I always get so productive being able to write down my to-do lists and jot down various notes that come to mind whenever I finish the book I’ve been reading. In fact, I got so productive, I actually went above my usual reading goal by about 10 books and I’m quite happy with that outcome.
It’s gotten to be a tradition now that I end my book reflections with the End of Year Book Survey that had been devised by Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner up until 2020. I’ve been tweaking a few of the questions to coincide with my preferences, but for the most part, the questions have not changed.
Like last year, I’ve taken away the blogging portion of the survey. Maybe at some point I’ll alter that portion to a writing-related reflection, considering one of my goals this year is to get back on the writing wagon (after grad school, that is…)
BUT FIRST!
The TL;DR
** 2022 READING STATS **
Number of Books Read: 83
Number of Re-Reads: 5
Genre I Read the Most From: Fantasy
** BEST IN BOOKS **
1. Best Book You Read in 2022?
Stand-Alone:
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Series:
The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black
Mid-Series:
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi
Don’t get me wrong; I still really enjoyed the series, and The Silvered Serpents was a solid second book. Parts of The Bronzed Beasts will always make me tear up and cry as well, but I’m just sad I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I do love Chokshi’s writing, so I’m going to go ahead and continue reading her when I can!
3. Most Surprising (In A Good Or Bad Way) Book You Read?
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
I just didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did, to be honest.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black
By the end of the last school year, most of my 7th graders–now 8th graders–were reading AND screaming about Cardan and Jude and the entire Folk of the Air series. I have no regrets on this.
5. Best Series You Started in 2022? Best Sequel? Best Series Ender of 2022?
Started:
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
Sequel:
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
Ender:
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
6. Favorite New Author You Discovered In 2022?
EMILY HENRY
7. Best Book From A Genre You Don’t Typically Read/Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
8. Most Action-Packed/Thrilling/Unputdownable Book Of The Year?
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
9. Book You Read In 2022 That You Would Be Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Once Upon a Broken Heart series by Stephanie Garber
Just to prepare myself for another world of hurt in the third and last book…of course.
10. Favorite Cover Of A Book You Read In 2022?
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater (Fairyloot Edition)
There were probably more covers I loved, but I thought this one was simplistic and used the colors really well.
11. Most Memorable Character Of 2022?
CARDAN GREENBRIAR
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
The fact that I keep comparing every YA broody anti-hero to Cardan this year pretty much takes the cake.
12. Most Beautifully Written Book Read In 2022?
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
I just think all of her Wayward Children books have a lyrical feel to them that I loved.
13. Most Thought-Provoking / Life-Changing Book Of 2022?
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Okay, HEAR ME OUT. My collection of adult contemporary romances (2) absolutely quadrupled after I read The Love Hypothesis. If that isn’t life-changing I don’t know what is.
14. Book You Can’t Believe You Waited UNTIL 2022 To Finally Read?
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
I mean, I’ve been on a heist spree since The Lies of Locke Lamora the previous year, how did I not read this back then?!
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2022?
Okay so I have TWO sets of quotes, because how dare anyone try to limit me to just the one. I could practically do an entire top ten favorite quotes of the year and I would still have so many…
And it struck her how intimate words could be, how they could be spoken only once, for only one person, and they would never be heard again, they would disappear like a moment, gone almost as soon as you realized they were there.
The Ballad of Never After – Stephanie Garber
And THERE WERE SO MANY, but this one always makes me choke up just a bit because of how pained June gets when she says it.
“Only tell me the way, and I will do it, no matter the danger, no matter the hardship, no matter the cost.”
The Queen of Nothing – Holly Black
The former is really beautiful, and the latter just makes me cry again, because IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW.
16. Shorted & Longest Book You Read In 2022?
Shortest:
The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman (111 pages)
Longest:
The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout (574 pages)
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
I thought the series was a duology…and then we got one fake-out ending on top of another…and THEN the cliffhanger itself. So yeah, despite my initial thoughts on what was going to happen, it went horribly wrong somehow.
18. OTP (One True Pairing) Of The Year
(You will go down with this ship!)
JUDE DUARTE and CARDAN GREENBRIAR
(The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black)
Because mastermind and knife-wife are perfect for each other. (Ring a bell? KANEJ MAYBE?!) But seriously, though, Jude and Cardan are absolute fae-ship goals.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
NASIR GHAMEQ and ALTAIR AL-BADAWI
(We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal)
One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the interaction between Altair and Nasir. Mostly Altair’s interaction with everyone, but it’s fun when he’s teasing the broody, murderous MC.
20. Favorite Book You Read In 2022 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Bias talking, but she’s never really struck a bad note for me, so…
21. Best Book You Read In 2022 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Between my friend recommending it, and Bookstagram blowing up about it, and the fact that the cover itself was pretty much Reylo fanart goals, well then.
22. Newest Fictional Crush From A Book You Read In 2022?
JACKS, FATED PRINCE OF HEARTS
(Once Upon a Broken Heart and The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber)
This probably tells you a lot about my moral compass and mental well-being. But I never claimed to be sane, SO YA KNOW.
23. Best 2022 Debut You Read?
Finding Me by Viola Davis
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
Beach Read by Emily Henry
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry In 2022?
Book Lovers by Emily Henry AND The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
The former because it gave me so many happy feelings that they manifested into tears, and the latter because my heart literally broke in two.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
The Regency fairy tale romance is very niche, but I really liked this one!
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2022?
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (Doesn’t Necessarily Mean You Didn’t Like It)?
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Not gonna get into this, other than the fact that the book was marketed as a romance AND IT IS NOT A ROMANCE. I will probably be the 1%-er who is not enamored by CoHo.
** LOOKING AHEAD **
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2022 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023?
Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2023 (Non-Debut)?
Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
3. 2023 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating In 2023?
A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber
Waiting for an actual cover is going to be agony…
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading Life In 2023?
Complete both a writing AND a reading goal. They seem to be normally not inclusive. Wonder why.
Phew. This is always such a comprehensive survey, but I always have fun just going back and thinking about all the books I’d read! Some 80-something is nothing to laugh at, though…looking forward to my next year reads!
Story and Somnomancy 