Hello everyone, happy wednesday!

Recently, Booksandlala posted her 2021 reading survey and it was so fun to watch that I thought it would be a great way to wrap up the year! The original creator of this survey is from Perpetual Page Turner so please check out her blog, I will be following the questions she created for 2020.

*2021 Reading Stats*

Number of Books Read: 93 (includes 3 DNF’s)

Number of Re-Reads: 3

Most Read Genres: Science Fiction (30); Fantasy (25)

*Best in Books*

1. Best books I read in 2021?

   Dune by Frank Herbert, Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson, The Return of The King by J.R.R Tolkien, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, The Dragon Republic by R.F Kuang, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.

2. Books I was excited about but ended up disappointed?

   I was so excited to read Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and I was left wanting more after finishing an 800 page book. There are elements and characters I loved but I think it need another 200 pages and to scrap a storyline all together to be a 5 star read for me. I’m happy I read it and felt very accomplished afterwards.

3. Most surprising book?

   SO MANY, I read some amazing books this year but probably my biggest surprise was Beach Read by Emily Henry. I started reading romance this year and I was surprised by how close that book was to a 5 star when I thought that romance novels wouldn’t interest me. Emily Henry has become an automatic buy author for me.

4. Book I pushed the most people to read?

   I would like to think The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, because even before I read it, I was pushing others to get excited for it!

5. Best series I started in 2021? Best Sequel? Best Series Ender?

   Best Series, sequel and series ender all go to Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. It is easily one of my all time favourite books and I was sobbing for about an hour after finishing and for a while anytime I though it about, I was getting a little teary.

6. Favourite New Authors?

   Andy Weir, Blake Crouch, Emily Henry and R.F Kuang! But honestly, a lot of the new authors I tried out this year were pretty good and i’d love to read more from them.

7. Best book from a genre out of my comfort zone?

   I would say My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel. I didn’t expect to be blown away by this fictional story that felt real. I was in awe by how Kate explored trauma over one girl from 15 to her 30’s. I listened to the audiobook for this one, and I would recommend if you are considering picking this book up, the narrator did a subtle voice change between the 2 ages and to me, it added another level to illustrate how affect the main character was by the events of the book. Proceed with caution on this one and double check the trigger warnings.

8. Most action-packed/thrilling book of the year?

   Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. I was struck by how fast paced that novel was while still getting me to care about the characters throughout the story. Super fast-paced that helped me out of a reading slump!

9. Most likely to re-read?

   I would re-read so many of the books I read this year that it’s hard to pick one!

10. Favourite Cover?

    The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, which was one of my most disappointing books this year. The cover is stunning though!

11. Most Memorable character?

    A character from Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I think they are a lot of peoples favourite character for the year, and they were just so adorable and made me laugh so much!

12. Most Beautifully written book?

    The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. I did not like this book at all, but the writing was some of the best I have read by her and it kept me engaged enough to finish the book, and there are a lot of quotes that I love from there.

13. Most Throught-provoking/life changing?

    Recursion by Blake Crouch. He had me questioning memories and the concept of time after I finished this and it hurt my brain a little.

14. Why did I wait this long to read this book?

    SO MANY, in particular Mistborn Era 1 by Brandon Sanderson

15. Favourite passage or quote?

    “You believe in an invisible ghost” by Simon Stalenhag from Electric State;

    “Brave to the end” by Brandon Sanderson from Skyward;

    “There were, she thought, many different types of nightmares in the galaxy. Some small, some large, but the worst of all were the ones you lived with” by Christopher Paolini from To Sleep in a Sea of Stars;

    “Hate was it’s own kind of fire and if nothing else, it kept you warm” by R.F. Kuang from The Burning God;

    “Hope is a coin I carry” by Kristin Hannah from The Four Winds;

    “Again and again he told me I wasn’t myself. But he was wrong. I was the same me I’d always been. I’d stopped trying to glow in the dark for him, or anyone else” by Emily Henry from Beach Read.

16. Shortest & longest book?

    Shortest was The Drowning Faith by R.F. Kuang at 15 pages; longest was Dune By Frank Herbert at 884.

17. Book that shocked me to the most?

    In terms of pain, Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. If i’m shocked by how much I laughed it was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Plot Twist shock probably Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.

18. OTP of the year

    Olive and Adam from The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood; Poppy and Alex from People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry; Chloe and Red from Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert; Elend and Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson; Lan and Nynaeve from The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

19. Favourite non-romantic relationship?

    Rin and Kitay from The Poppy War Trilogy. I think their dynamic was explosive and they were so similar even if they approach the same conclusion in different ways. I also loved Kelsier and Vin from Mistborn, that mentor relationship really affect Vin throughout the trilogy and I loved it.

20. Favourite from a previously loved author?

    Anything by Brandon Sanderson. I read the entire Mistborn Era 1, and Skyward and Starsight.

21. Best recommended to me book

    The Four Wind by Kristin Hannah. While this books wasn’t directly recommended to me, I saw so many people talking about it and its the first historical fiction that I actually enjoyed and if I think about it to much, I will cry.

22. Newest fictional crush

    Poppy and Alex from People We Meet on Vacation; Paul Atreides, Duncan Idaho and Duke Leto from Dune by Frank Herbert; Olive and Adam from The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood; Danika and Zafir from Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert; Elend from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

23. Best 2021 debut?

    The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

24. Best world building?

    Mistborn Era 1 by Brandon Sanderson.

25. Book that made me smile

    All the romances I read and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

26. Book that made me cry

    So many, I am a crier when I read.

27. Hidden gem

    The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis, I loved this book so much when I read it and I was so surprised because no one was talking about it!

28. Book that crushed me

    The Burning God by R.F. Kuang and Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. Both left me completely wrecked and I sobbed for hours afterwards.

29. Most Unique book

    The Electric State by Simon Stalenhag; I loved the combination of art with storytelling!

30. Book that made me mad

    So many unfortunately.

This was so fun to look back on this year in reading and thinking about the books that stuck out in my mind the most. There are a lot of books that I thought that I really liked that I can’t really remember the characters names anymore. The original creator of this survey does have more questions to go over so look forward to that.

Let me know in the comments what were some of your best books of the year as I would love to know!