End of Year Book Survey - Part Three

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2013 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2014?  

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor!!! Before the trilogy ends!!!

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2014 (non-debut)?

Minders by Michele Jaffe - loved her novel Rosebush, love her blog and this book sounds great!

3. 2014 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? 
I have no idea which debuts are even coming out!! But...suggestions?

4. Series Ending You Are Most Anticipating in 2014? 

The Cahill Witches Trilogy!! Those books are so underrated!!!

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2014?

Read more books I really want to read. Read more because I want to do it. Read more adult books, be more active on the blog....I think to just be a much more enthusiastic reader again :)

End of Year Survey - Part Two

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2013? 

Ahh, difficult! SO many! Also - I'm not quite sure if I even discovered this one in 2013! But I'll go with Cuddlebuggery - their posts are the kinds I save up for weekend reading time :)

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2013? 

Woah. I do not know. I not knows. No idea. I would say the Lucid one but there's no way I can remember all the reviews I typed and although I really like writing them, I usually remember other people's reviews more than my own...

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

Definitely the More Than A Twerking Queen one. I hate that I couldn't think of  a better title but the topic itself was and is important to me!

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

Sorry, but this is not a book blogging one. It's still incredibly good and incredibly important so you really should check it out!

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

 Looking at my history of failed read-a-thons in the latter half of the year, my last really great event was Bout of Books in May!

6. Best moment of book blogging/your book life in 2013?

Meeting Veronika Roth at her book signing in London this November!!

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Views: Thrall by Jennifer Quintenz

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

None, really. I get excited about every page view and comment I get and I am usually rather overwhelmed by it than wish or ask for more. So, no, I'm pretty okay with the love my posts got :)

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Mhm...adult books? Do they count? Because I seriously start liking them and if you had told me a year ago....

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

Let's see...

reading 120 books this year? Complete fail! I'll finish short of at least 40!

Paranormal Reading Challenge: Well...I participated. And I did read more than 12 of the books, but I stopped keeping track early on in the year :/ Same for TBR Challenge and Sequel Challenge. 

With the Debut Author one I stopped trying after February :(

I also wanted to finish or continue reading series and trilogies - which I did! I didn't finish all of them, but I definitely made some progress! 

All Those Pretty Books...of 2013!

It is the time, people! 2013 is drawing to a close and I - like everybody else - start recapping all that happened in this wonderful, exciting year! Also, I really like lists. Anyway, because I find this amazing survey a bit too long for one post, I decided to split it up and post it on separate days. 

Today, you get a little recap of the Best Books I've Read This Year: 

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Contemporary YA –  Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic – Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick 

Historical Fiction – Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys 

Paranormal — The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Science Fiction — How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff 

Fantasy — Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood 

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 

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

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodriguez

 4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

 5. Best series you discovered in 2013?

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

 6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

Sara Zarr! I would say Rainbow Rowell, but as of right now, I have only read one of her books :)

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

Mhm...I read pretty much all over the place this year anyway, but I guess Ashes and Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick were something very new for me. I have never read anything as disguisting (but good!!!)

 8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

Star Cursed by Jessica Spotswood!! I couldn't stop turning the pages!!!

 9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, 34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodriguez, Katie McGarry's books....

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

Mind Games (Mind Games, #1)

11. Most memorable character in 2013? 

Mhm, not sure about this one, but I guess it was Sturmhound from Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

 12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

Allegiant by Veronika Roth (with Allegiant especially, I liked the book way more for the writing than plot/characters etc.)

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013? 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!!! It certainly changed my view of the world/myself/my life in a very significant way!!!

 14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read? 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Longest would be The Book Thief, but since I listened to that one, the second longest was Shadows by Ilsa J. Bick. 

Shortest is Are You There God, It's me Margeret by Judy Bloom (not counting novellas!)

 17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Allegiant. 'nough said. 

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc)

 Rachel and Isaiah from Crash Into You 

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Many! But Through the Ever Night by Veronika Rossi especially!

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

Actually...none. I have not read any books this year that were recommended to me by other people. I feel sort of antisocial now...

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?

I guess that was contemporary YA!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

Levi!!! From Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Although I really liked Isaiah from Crash Into You, too!

23. Best 2013 debut you read?

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodriguez! Fantastic novel!

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Phew..Reached by Ally Condie?

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?

The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodriguez

#Reading Cram Kick Off: What I Plan on Reading this Week

I know, I know the task was to feature the books you want to read in three weeks, but I am still in London until Friday, so I guess the real Read-a-Thon where I get a ton of books done (oh, please, pretty, pretty please!) will have to wait until I'm home. Also, that's where the majority of my unread books are. As of right now, I can only say which books I may (or may not...) read this week and it will highly depend on what I'm in the mood for.

I would like to read/finish:




Books I'm likely to start:



The thing is, after reading Crash Into You, I have fallen into that dangerous trap of wanting to only read books with seriously messed up issues, super romantic and steamy relationships. Then, I read Ten Tiny Breaths and - fell even deeper into that trap!
So please (!) if you have any recommendations for books that are like Katie McGarry's (or can steal her latest manuscript for me) then do so, because I am dying here :D

Feature and Follow Friday

Tell us at least one new or unusual thing you’ve done in 2013.

Ohh, nice one! Actually, 2013 was my year of new things to do!! I swear I'm not usually as daring :D

1) Started driving on my own :D
2) Started living on my own!
3) Moved from Germany to London (uh...on my own...:))
4) Participated - and won! - Nanowrimo!
5) Started University

So, yeah, usually, my years are not that exciting, but turning 18 has done a couple of things to make my life a roller-coaster ride (literally - talking about me driving my mom's car...).
Let's hope for an even better 2014!!!

What are the new/unusual things you have done this year?

Review: Allegiant by Veronika Roth

Attention: This is more of a discussion of the book than a review. It does contain spoilers of all THREE books, so if you have not read Allegiant yet, don't you DARE scroll any further down!!!

I didn't want to do a review for this book for obvious reasons. One, not everyone has read it or even the other books, so I don't want to spoil something, but that would have meant Mini Review, and you can't have a Mini Review on Allegiant because that's just wrong.

Then again, I am not even sure I have this much to say about Allegiant. It's been  four weeks since I finished it and I have to say, my feelings - like almost everyone else's - are still very mixed.

On the one hand, there is Tris's death but the thing is, it didn't really shock me.

Granted, I thought Tobias would die and he didn't eventually, but I knew one of them was going to die and I just didn't think it would be Tris because she was telling the story (I thought).

So, no Tris's death didn't shock me. Also, because honestly? I was a bit disappointed by the scene and how it all happened. 

I mean, there she goes through death serum that would have killed ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING ON THAT PLANET  and  she FORGETS HER GUN AT THE FRONT DOOR?

Yes, you truly are a smart-ass, Triss Prior. 

Okay, let's not rant, because I really didn't hate the book.

But let's talk  about how I didn't like the two different viewpoints. Didn't expect that to happen, didn't have a good feeling when I realized it was happening and then I just got confused.

Sorry, but you can't do that. 

You cannot have two different people telling the story and not have them sound different because I WILL turn back to see who is talking and I WILL  get annoyed if that happens more than four times throughout the book.

It happened in every single chapter. 

Then there was the world outside of Chicago which I thought was lame. 

I'm sorry, I might just be dumb and should have expected this, but I literally sat there with my jaw open, like "What? That's everything? Freaking scientific experiments???"

I really did believe in war and destruction and chaos and a group of Divergent who save them all. Not that I like war, I don't. But I liked the saving them all and action part. 

Wasn't happening. My last complaint, I swear. 

Not enough action. 

For a last book, this was like a lullaby singing me to sleep. Nice, yes, but not the big epic finale I wanted. 

The good thing was the romance, in my opinion. I liked that Tris and Tobias, as the officially only couple in YA, are so stable and so grown up in their relationship. I loved how they dealt with problems the responsible and not the squeamish, hysterical way. 

I like that Veronika Roth, who is herself still pretty young, could even write about romance like this. I really, really liked that part. 

Overall, I have to say, I really enjoyed reading Allegiant for what it was, too. 

Roth's writing style in this one just blew me away! I want her to never stop writing books or any kind of words linked into sentences, really, because she does it so beautifully!
All in all, this was an enjoyable read, but I thought she got lost finishing off the plot and forgot that this was actually supposed to be a book so full of action that you will remember it forever and ever. 

End of the Year #ReadingCram

Can you believe how long ago my last Read-a-thon was? No, me neither! So I decided to participate in this one and kick of my End of Year reading - which really could use a boost!

I'm not quite sure which books I'm gonna read yet, though...suggestions?

December Books

There may not be a lot of YA/NA out there in December, but the books we do get sound really nice! I've been looking forward for Roomies all year and can't wait to see what Dangerous Dream is about. Initially, I didn't plan on reading These Broken Stars, but the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive! Perfect Lie could be a hit or miss,but it sounds like really good New Adult! I have red Ellen Oh's first book, Prophecy and didn't really like it, so that one's not on my list.

Which of these are you planning to read?