The End of Year Book Survey ~ Part 1.

A survey, created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page-Turner Blog (here's her post!), that I heard about thanks to two lovely Twitter friends. Gee is... linked below the image (she is to thank for that lovely pic!). If I haven't mentioned her here yet, I'm sorry (I should've, since she's awesome & bookish... perhaps we're twins? LOL). You've all met Rita*, hundreds of time, but anyway, her blog post @ Weaving Pages will appear tomorrow (and she's a reindeer at the minute, of writing this, anyway)... even though she was the one that told me about it. I was considering doing it after her to link to her but really... I may as well post it today, there is time (at least Part 1)! There are 3 parts so more will follow... OK?

*Maybe if you follow her via Twitter you won't forget to check out her survey? Go for it! 

This banner has been edited by myself from the images Georgia, name appears on banner you can see, used on her End Of Year Book Survey here, with permission. Thanks Georgia for allowing me to use them & everyone else... you've checked out hers too, right? It was up before mine so you should.

1. Best book you read in 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre) 

This is gonna be so hard, no matter which way you slice it. Declare me a cheater, I don’t care.

•                                   A Series Everybody Recommends To You (but you hadn’t read cos, what if you don’t like it?) was predictably either loved or hated. 
Yes, I loved the Harry Potter Series & would probably say Book 3 is my favourite just as it’s the one that stuck in my mind best & gave me a good feeling ;) Most of the series were 5* to be fair, though. Just... awesome.

•                               Modern fantasy-action type book I won an ARC for is... Noble Conflict & I really thought it excelled. I’ve read lots by Blackman but this was the one I really empathized with & understood why she’s so famous & liked as an author. Yup, 5* for this! 
•                     A book dealing with a sensitive topic (which I’m not going to disclose) which I really got into & also rated 5 fabulous stars... is What’s Up With Jody Barton? ... although, another 5* contemporary was a very close call, I tell ya! But this one wins the gasp-worthy awards so... ta-da! 
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2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?  

Umm... There’s only two or three & as it said ‘Book’, a noteable one I read recently is After Tomorrow. It was just plain... It’s a dystopia that just didn’t really stick with me or mean a lot to me... sadly!

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3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?

 You see, I saw this & favourites above & I was like... which one of Cruel Summer & WUWJB was more suprising, which one was more favourite (even though you can’t really compare them, they’re in categories). And to be honest- Cruel Summer made me cry. It’s an amazing book & I’d list it as favourites if I didn’t have to put one in surprising. They’re the shockers! If you’ve read Cruel Summer, you’ll know why. Emotional crime mystery just doesn’t do it justice. I reviewed it, thus.
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4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013? 

I didn’t recommend that much, but I always try & recommend self-published as I know it probably makes more of a difference to them (unless the book blogger then asks for a review copy which makes me facepalm a bit but if the author wants to give them...) so it’s probably Reaper’s Rhythm or Fire (but I didn’t like the sequel as much!) But if I really love other books (like above) I totally recommend them too... but you already guessed that, right? 
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5. Best series you discovered in 2013?

I continued more series than discovered. Even Harry Potter, I really didn’t discover this year & I read all 7 this year! Other ones I started but only read a book or two of, but all of that out of the consideration- there’s still several to pick from- it’s Sharon Sant’s Sky Song Trilogy. It’s totally a series you should buy.
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6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

{After just using Sharon... haha, she knows I love her} definitely Jaimie Admans. I devoured several of her books so she deserves it. But can I point out how awesome it was meeting Chelsea Flood? I mean... seriously. C.J. Flood’s Infinite Sky is awesome & I hate to put her as a second, it’s close really! Just release more books, lovely XD
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7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

It sounds odd but not many are out of my comfort zone in YAs. I don’t like too dark but I think everything I read wasn’t too dark, even if some were darker than I first anticipated (like Trust Me, by Malorie Blackman) but the ones that were out of my comfort zones were adult? Umm... Bridget Jones? This is a hard question!
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8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

I didn’t read any in one day :’( I’m just gonna say Black Heart Fa9b5c though. It was awesome.
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9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Seeking Crystal. Only as it was at the start, I may re-read the other ones & I shall re-read them because... Hopefully the fourth book is coming soon... by that I mean 2014 12;)  
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10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

This one stands out... I saw loads of lovely covers, maybe ones that belonged to different editions of books I read but The Lost Girl cover is lovely, even if it seems quite simple...



11. Most memorable character in 2013?

Zeb. Even though she isn't the main character when I was flicking through my Goodreads Challenge to see the books that I'd read & trying to remember characters & decide which ones was memorable she actually just popped straight into my head as soon as I saw Secrets, Lies & Locker 62 so... easy winner! She's awesome, just you see.
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12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

Like I can remember that & that is mainly up to opinion... So sorry to leave one question unanswered but it's not really applicable (more like, see: possible to answer).
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13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?

Probably She Is Not Invisible ... it was very thought-provoking, especially about how blind people perceive the world :P
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14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?

Harry Potter 1... cos it set it all off... 
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15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

“Being amongst rough lives and confusion does not make you less, it only makes your beauty shine out more clearly.”
― Sharon Sant, The Jackie Chan Fan Club~

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

The shortest is as above, it was a novella I didn't count in my challenge, and  longest... longest Harry Potter book I bet ;)
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17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? Be careful of spoilers!

A scene I had to talk with Jack @ The Book Stop & Georgia @ Books And Writers JNR on Twitter, as they'd read it, is one of the last ones in Cruel Summer.
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18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013

Roxy & Brae from Fire & Water (Elements of Power series). I ended up choosing that ship & although it was hard, I'm 90% sure it's cuter, better & the one I support. They better actually y'know... kiss. Get together. Aww ;)
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19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

I've read tons of books by Chris Higgins is my past & A Perfect 10... it's just really good also.
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20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

N/A also (sorry again!)
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21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?

UKYA ;) OK, that's cheating as I already knew more than 90% would be. It's either fantasy or contemporary because I read a lot of both. Some books even were like modern fantasy contemporaries things... Just elements of both or whatever! I love both genres & read a lot of them... :D
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22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

I can't even have him, of all my new ones & he's the one I can't have as he doesn't have emotions like us... Bloomin' Matthew! Why did Clare have to make him attractive, cute & just so completely epic if we can't have him, not even Kim? *gasps* There better be some loophole. But yeah, Matthew's from Reaper's Rhythm. Wow, I really like him, eh?
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23. Best 2013 debut you read?

Why even ask this? How many people had to answer this & more to the point, who found they could answer truthfully & accurately? Probably Red Rock though. Curious Fox have introduced me to lots of debut authors & guess who's my favourite? Probably Kate Kelly's Red Rock! She's an awesome new gem in the world of publishing & wrote a Cli-Fi, which I'd never read before so...
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24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Infinite Sky, definitely. Funny thing: at first I found this question hard & then I was like... Wow, how did I almost forget? One cannot consider other ones when Infinite Sky is just... mindblowingly epic, especially in the imagery of Summer & those cornfields... It makes me want to go back & swim through to find that perfectness.
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25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?

I'd probably have to say North Pole Reform School... it's just one of those books which is mainly funny so it's great & fun to read, especially as it has been balanced with sad stuff too; it's not all just a joke even though the world in the North Pole (haha, almost an utter pun there!) is mainly fun to read!
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26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?

I've mentioned that dreaded-but-awesome-OK-I-just-love-it book. No, I really hate Cruel Summer for being so sad & making me cry. James Dawson: King of ripping out hearts. I told him that at the time too. Being mean to your characters is NOT cool. How can you do that? Oh my gosh, it does make for a great book though!
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27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

I think it's fair to say The Truth about Celia Frost by Paula Rawthorne because, to some extent, I think I'd seen it before & not realized the potential it could have. It blew me away though & that book... it's just 50 shades of awesome. It turned out good & you should not overlook it. It's totally a thriller & it will probably send you reeling too...