Category Archives: Books

2016 Faves + End of Year Book Survey

2016 highlights…

Books: See my top 10 books of 2016 here, and see below for my answers to Jamie’s End of Year Book Survey

Book Signings: SE YA Fest (feat. several authors!)Rick Yancey, and Leigh Bardugo

Movies: Doctor Strange and Rogue One (see more about that here)

TV Shows: Timeless and Designated Survivor (LOVE the characters on Timeless and I’m just awed by Designated Survivor every week.)

Music: My two favorite bands, Switchfoot and Needtobreathe, both released new albums this year and both came to Nashville. I loved it all but I spent the last couple months of 2016 specifically really into Needtobreathe’s song “Clear.”

Life Highlights: Built and moved into our new home. Celebrated 7 years of marriage/12 years together with my husband. Traveled to Hilton Head, SC and Asheville, NC. Turned 30.

The Biltmore library decked out for Christmas was STUNNING.

Thanks to Jamie at Perpetual Page Turner for sharing this with us every year. I did skip some questions but wanted to go ahead and answer most of them…

Number Of Books You Read: 45 total, 43 new-to-me

Number of Re-Reads: 2

Genre You Read The Most From: YA

Best Book You Read In 2016? Anne of The Island by L.M. Montgomery

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)? I reread The Start of Me and You after reading it last year and I loved it just as much and still push it on everyone, and had at least one or two read it based on my rec!

Best series you started in 2016? The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Best Sequel of 2016? The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (I will not accept that this is the end!) Best Series Ender of 2016? Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Favorite new author you discovered in 2016? Ruta Septys

Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone? Looking for Lovely by Annie F. Downs

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year? The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016? When We Collided by Emery Lord (Salt to the Sea is a very close second)

Most memorable character of 2016? Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe (don’t make me choose between them)

Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016? Salt to the Sea

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read? Anne of Green Gables!

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016? Shortest: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them//Longest: Illuminae

Book That Shocked You The Most: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Oh my goodness.

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) Gilbert and Anne!!!!

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year: Joel and Melody in The Rithmatist//Edward and Jane in My Lady Jane

Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously: The Fixer and The Long Game, both by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure: The Anne of Green Gables books

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?  I don’t really do fictional crushes because I am a happily married woman but let’s be real: it’s Gilbert Blythe.

Best 2016 debut you read? I only read one so… Love, Lies, and Spies it is!

Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read? My Lady Jane!!!

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016? Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray, both by Ruta Septys

Hidden Gem Of The Year? Nora & Kettle by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Book That Crushed Your Soul? Between Shades of Gray, Salt to the Sea, Nora & Kettle

Most Unique Book You Read In 2016? The Archived and The Unbound, both by Victoria Schwab

2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? Caraval by Stephanie Garber!

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017? I would like to build my blogging base back up a little bit, but much more importantly is what I want to accomplish as a writer, in that I want to find an agent in 2017. If I can’t do that, I hope to have my current WIP in the best shape I know how to and complete a new draft for a new story. As far as reading goes, I just want to read more books that I truly enjoy.

Were any of your favorites from 2016 the same as mine?

My Top Ten Best Books Of 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Best Books Of 2016. So far I have read 45 books this year (including two rereads) and hope to finish a couple more before the ball drops, and when it came time to narrow down my list of faves for the year, thankfully it came very easily. I am focusing on my favorite new-to-me-in-2016 reads only, which eliminates the two re-reads. Here they are, leading up to my number one favorite of the year…

10. Looking for Lovely by Annie F. Downs

9. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

8. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

7. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Septys

5-6. The Fixer and The Long Game, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

4. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows

3. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys

2. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

1. Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

Because GILBERT FEELS.

What were your favorite reads of 2016?

The Top 4 Books On My Fall TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List. I’ve been winging it a lot lately, so I’m only commiting to the following four reads for  now…

The Forgetting by Sharon Camerongr-theforgetting

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

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Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

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My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

What are looking forward to reading this fall?

My Top 5 Favorite Realistic Contemporary YA Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten ALL TIME Favorite Books Of X Genre. I decided on realistic contemporary because I thought it would be easier than picking through my favorite sci-fi or fantasy stories, especially since genre lines are more easily blurred and be constantly questioning which genre it really was, so I wanted to make it clear-cut. However, this meant less options that I love, and I want to change that, so please comment with your fave contemporary YA books!

5. Don’t Touch by Rachel M. Wilson

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My review of Don’t Touch

4. The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

gr-thelasttimeMy mini review of The Last Time We Say Goodbye

3. On The Fence by Kasie Westgr-onthefenceMy mini review of On The Fence

2. The Fixer Novels by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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My mini review of The Long Game

1. The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord

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AKA the most perfect YA contemporary that there is.

My mini review of The Start of Me and You//Bookish Wedding Inspiration for The Start of Me and You

Tell me your favorite YA realistic contemporary! Have you read any of my faves? 

Good Books I’ve Read Lately

It has been far too long since I’ve talked about books (other than a little on Instagram), and so I wanted to share about some books I’ve enjoyed lately, especially as I am crawling my way out of a reading slump I got myself into this summer.

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West: If this was written by an author I didn’t know there’s no way I’d pick it up, but Kasie West has become an auto-read for me, and so I picked this up and enjoyed it! Despite the fluffy premise, there’s more to the story. First there’s Gia’s growth as an individual when her friends are going in opposite direction, which I think is a totally relevant topic for high school seniors. And there’s her strange but special friendship with “fill-in Bradley” that grows into something meaningful. I’d definitely recommend this one to all other Kasie West fans!

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron: After struggling through a two-star read, I picked this one up because WWII stories have yet to fail me. And it was quite compelling. It has a dual narrative much in the fashion of Kate Morton, alternating between a past timeline and a present timeline. While Adele’s story of what she went through at Auschwitz was the stronger of two, Sera’s story was a nice reprieve that helped me get through the book. I would have liked to have seen a more natural development of Sera and William’s romance, but I did enjoy them and how their story intertwined with Adele. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone open to historical fiction told from a Christian worldview.

Ruined by Amy Tintera: Cait at Paper Fury raved over this book and I instantly put a hold on it with my library. It is true YA fantasy and I really enjoyed it. The snark and hate-to-love romance definitely made it a fun read! I will say that there is nothing really surprising or revolutionary in this story, so don’t go with the expectation of this being Mistborn or something. If you’re a fan of The Winner’s Curse or The Shadow Queen or anything else along those lines, I believe you’ll enjoy this one as well!

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What are some good books you’ve read lately?