2014 End of Year Book Survey

Where did 2014 go? I can't believe that Rachel and I are taking part in Jamie's End of Year book survey already, it seems like just yesterday that we were sharing a recap of 2013, so here's how 2014 was for us!

Jasprit: 

Number of books read: 103

Number of re-reads: 0

Genre you read the most from: Contemporary

Rachel:

Number of books read: 196

Number of re-reads: 2

Genre you read the most from: Adult contemporary romance. 

Best book you read in 2014:

Jasprit: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor, Shimmer by Paula Weston, The Chocolate Rose by Laura Florand, Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols,

Rachel: Contemporary: Shatter by Erin McCarthy, Five Ways to Fall by K.A. Tucker, Mean Streak by Sandra Brown, One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic:  Red Hill by Jamie McGuire, The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

Paranormal: Grim Shadows by Jenn Bennett
Science-Fiction: Prototype by M.D. Waters, Blackout by Mira Grant

Fantasy:  Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop, Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews, Shattered by Kevin Hearne

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

Jasprit: Boomerang by August Noelle, Panic  by Lauren Oliver and Talon by Julie Kagawa

Rachel: Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater: The Wolves of Mercy Falls is one of my favorite series, but the setting and the drama surrounding a TV reality series with Cole didn’t impress in me in Sinner.  Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover: The love triangle and hero left me highly irritated. Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher: I could just go on and on about this one, but I’ll spare you.  

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read in 2014? 

Jasprit: Shimmer by Paula Weston, this book just kept me on my toes, with its non-stop surprises and then it had to end with that killer cliffhanger ending too!

Rachel: Mean Streak by Sandra Brown by Sandra Brown. It had so many surprising twists and I was surprised at the identity of the killer, which doesn’t happen often. 

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did) In 2014?

Jasprit: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, I was able to convince at least 4 people to give this book a go and now like me they’re highly anticipating the sequel.

Rachel: Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand and Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

5. Best series you started in 2014? Best Sequel of 2014? Best Series Ender of 2014?

Jasprit: 

Best series I started: Superlatives series by Jennifer  Echols

Best sequel of 2014: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Best series ender: 

Rachel:  Best series I started: The Others by Anne Bishop. My favorite fantasy series to date!

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

Jasprit:  Kasie West, I devoured three of her books this year and they were simply amazing, I still have The Distance Between Us to look forward to and can’t wait for The Fill-In Boyfriend next year.

Rachel:  She’s definitely not a new author with tons of books under her belt, but she’s new to me: Sandra Brown.  I’ve blown through a bunch of her books after reading and loving Mean Streak.  I highly recommend her if you’re a fan of romantic suspense/mytery.

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Jasprit: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers. I don’t normally do historical fiction, but this book was historical fiction at its best!

Rachel: Only Enchanting by Mary Balogh.  I don’t read many historicals but this was…enchanting! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

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

Jasprit: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, this book so messed with my heart, with its twists and turns throughout the book, I actually ordered the sequel too straight away because of the ending, but still haven’t got around to reading it yet oops

Rachel: Mean Streak by Sandra Brown. The close of each chapter felt like a little cliffhanger so that I felt I HAD to keep reading!

9. Book You Read In 2014 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Jasprit: Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, I was so thrilled to discover that we have a sequel to look forward to next year, so of course I will be re-reading this book just before its release

Rachel: Written in Red, Murder of Crows and Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop. The first three books of The Others series. Probably my favorite series of the year!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2014?

Jasprit: Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Rachel: It Happened One Wedding by Julie James

11. Most memorable character of 2014? 

Jasprit: Rafa from Paula Weston’s series, this guy seriously you can’t forget, I think everything he did in Shimmer has been etched into my brain, especially that one particular scene.

Rachel: Meg Corbyn in Written in Red, Murder of Crows and Vision in Silver: The Others series by Anne Bishop. Life all around is a new experience for her and it affects everyone around her.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

Jasprit: Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor, I just checked I read this book all the way back in January this year, but I still remember all the gorgeous words that made up this book.

Rachel: The Chocolate Temptation and Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand! Her writing is gorgeous, seductive, and wrings out so much emotion!

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2014?

Jasprit: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

Rachel: Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand. It’s the best marriage-in-crisis book I’ve ever read. She just nails some of the intense emotions you can feel being married and I loved it! And it’s a novella! Her writing just blows me away.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2014 to finally read? 

Jasprit: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

Rachel: Written in Red by Anne Bishop.  That series is just amazing and addictive!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2014?

Jasprit: I want to say yes, but I don't want to be with a boy whose heart belongs to somebody else. Just once, I want to be somebody else's first choice. From To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

“I didn't fall for you, you tripped me!” From To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Rachel: “I just still don’t understand,” she whispered. “How you can love me even now. There’s a whole huge part of me that doesn’t believe you can ever love me, ever again. Not really. How could you?”

His thumb traced one of her tears away.

“Because you didn’t know I could still love you, when you weren’t laughing, when you were ugly and desperate, when your life was hard?”

She shook her head, crying openly now. No, she hadn’t known that. She still didn’t understand it.

“Well.” He bend and kissed her, tasting the tears off her lips. “Now you do.”—Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand *sigh*

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

Jasprit: Shortest: Guys Do Not Do Secret Santa by Miranda Kenneally (on Wattpad it says 6 pages)

Longest: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (576 pages)

Rachel: Shortest: Test of Mettle (Iron Druid Chronicles #3.5)  by Kevin Hearne, 10 pages.

Longest: Blackout (Newsflesh #3) by Mira Grant, 659 pages.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

Jasprit: Ashes to Ashes by jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian , I was sort of expecting a HEA with this one especially as I had been rooting for a couple from the very beginning, but once again so many things were thrown my way that I wasn’t expecting.

Rachel: A scene in Mud Vein by Tarryn Fisher.  The heroine does something so SUPREMELY stupid, and really up until then I hadn’t liked her anyhow, but this just took the cake and I wanted to seriously throw my Kindle out the window! I was so frustrated with the book!

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Jasprit: SPOILER AHEAD if you haven’t read To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, but it has to be Peter and Lara-Jean. I was a fan of Josh at the beginning, but when Peter entered the scene I was like Josh who?

Rachel: Connor “Mad” Rogan and Nevada in Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews! Loved the snarky banter and the smoking hot sexual tension sparking between them!

  

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Jasprit: Gage and Charlie from On the Fence. I loved the sibling relationship that we were giving in this book, but most particularly of that of Gage and Charlie, I loved that they were always there for each other throughout and that Gage could bring so much fun to a scene when needed

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2014 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Jasprit: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, you’re probably getting sick of me mentioning this book by now, but this book was that good and honestly all the previous books I’ve read by Jenny Han have been amazing!

Rachel: Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews, Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand, Shatter by Erin McCarthy.

21. Best Book You Read In 2014 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Jasprit: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, the amount of recommendations that I had received for this book, but I was like no this isn’t my sort of read, but I had the fantastic Siiri who agreed to read this one with me and we both ended up loving it!

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2014?

Jasprit: Reeve from Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian, I don’t want to say too much, but seriously this guy!!! <333

Rachel: Wow, do I have to narrow it down to just one?! I can’t, I just can’t! Here we go: Simon from The Others series by Anne Bishop, Mad Rogan from Burn For Me by Illona Andrews, the “guy” from Mean Streak by Sandra Brown (he isn’t name for at least 75% of the book), Kurt from Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand.

23. Best 2014 debut you read?

Jasprit: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Rachel: Worth the Fall by Claudia Connor and Archetype by M.D Waters

24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Jasprit: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, the world building in this story was incredible, I love the world that Raasch came up with.

Rachel: The Others series by Anne Bishop: I seriously feel like I’m in the Lakeside Courtyard while reading.  The Chocolate Temptation by Laura Florand which makes me desperately want to go back to Paris! I wasn’t in the 9^th and 18^th arrondissement and now I places I HAVE to visit because of that book!

25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Jasprit: Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas, this book had so many laugh out loud moments and a fantastic set of characters.

Rachel: Shattered (Iron Druid Chronicles #7) by Kevin Hearne. I laughed my ass off for a lot of the book!

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2014? 

Jasprit: Maybe One Day  by Melissa Kantor, this book was such a beautiful read, but so heartbreaking at the same time, I knew how things would go, but I was hoping that Kantor wouldn’t go down this path.

Rachel: Snow-Kissed by Laura Florand, Shadowed Heart by Laura Florand, One Plus One by Jojo Moyes, and I’m sure many more…What can I say, I’m a book crier!

27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Jasprit: The Chocolate Rose by Laura Florand, this series is quite spectacular, but this book has to be my favourite, I’m quite surprised with how readers tend to favour the other books  and characters in this series more, but for me this book and in particular Gabriel stole my heart!

Rachel: Snow-Kissed, Sun-Kissed and The Chocolate Temptation by Laura Florand. I still don’t see that many reviews and ratings for these books and her writing is head and shoulders above most.  Also, I just discovered a new favorite author: Carolyn Brown. Daisies in the Canyon and Long, Hot Texas Summer were fun, flirty and no-nonsense cowboy romances!

28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?

Jasprit: That’s a tie between The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah Maas and Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor. 

29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2014?

Jasprit: Ask Again Later by Liz Czukas,  I loved the layout of this book, our main character Heart had two paths that she could take to her high school prom, and the way that Czukas went about showing this was really different, but also really fun!

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2014? 

Jasprit: Danielle @ Love at First Page,  Danielle is such a lovely lady, I love visiting her blog and reading her reviews and cool posts that she has to share, also unlike me she’s really good at reviewing book early on, so I love popping over and reading these reviews before I’ve even picked my copy up.

Rachel: Love is not a triangle.  Lauren and I share a lot of the same views on romance and I love her rating of Love Triangle Factor and Cliffhanger Scale included with every review!

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2014? 

Jasprit: Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor, as this was such an emotional read, it was hard to capture what feelings this book evoked, but I think I was able to pour all my feelings into my review.

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

Jasprit: The Sarah Alderson blog tea at Drink, Shop & Do, not only was able to finally meet one of my favourite authors ever I was also able to hang out with bloggers that I had known for ages: Emma, Donna and Jess.

Rachel: Probably the ALA in Las Vegas this past summer. So many authors, books, and of course I met up with my reading buddies, Arlene and Crystal so it was all kinds of fun. Exhausting, but fun! I did really enjoy seeing Becca Fitzpatrick and Christina Lauren and also Maggie Stiefvater again, and the smaller events are really exciting.

4. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2014?

Jasprit: Being quoted in some of my favourite reads: Crown of Midnight and The Assassin’s Blade by Sarah Maas, Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando and the Aussie edition of Shimmer by Paula Weston!

Rachel: When I saw my reviews were quoted on Laura Florand’s website for Snow-Kissed and The Chocolate Temptation and The Chocolate Touch! I’m completely in awe of her talent and she is one of my all-time favorite authors so this was such a treat!

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2014 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2015?

Jasprit: The Duff by Kody Keplinger, I have been meaning to read this book for the longest time now, and with the release of the movie in the new year too, its high time I made this book my priority.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2015 (non-debut)?

Jasprit: Eeek I can’t choose just one book so I’m going to share a few with you: Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot, Burn by Paula Weston, No More Confessions by Louise Rozett and PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han.

Rachel: This is the book I listed for last year and since push backs delayed the release I’m STILL waiting! Burned by Karen Marie Moning supposed to be out on January 20^th 2015, two years plus since the last book! I’m nervously excited but will start reading it on the release date!

3. 2015 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Jasprit: Everything That Makes you by Moriah McStay

Rachel: I’m drawing a blank here. I can’t come up with any debut, sorry!

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2015?

Jasprit: Burn by Paula Weston, the way Shimmer ended, I’m hoping that we’ll finally be getting some answers in this instalment.

Rachel: The Ruby Shadow by Richelle Mead is the conclusion to the Bloodlines series. I’m behind two books now, but that just means I can read them one right the other.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2015?

Jasprit: Bring my tbr pile down! I think this year  I was all over my ARC books, but I so want to try and read more of the books I own.

6. A 2015 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:

Jasprit: Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols, this book was everything I could ask for and more!

Phew! 2014 was another great reading for Rachel and I, we want to thank all the bloggers and readers who made this year an epic one, here's to many more wonderful reads to discover in 2015.

(also sorry about the font changes throughout this post, blogger was a little wonky today)

Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Publication date: March 13th 2014
My rating: 4 stars 

Celaena Sardothien owes her reputation to Arobynn Hamel. He gave her a home at the Assassins' Guild and taught her the skills she needed to survive. Arobynn's enemies stretch far and wide - from Adarlan's rooftops and its filthy dens, to remote islands and hostile deserts. Celaena is duty-bound to hunt them down. But behind her assignments lies a dark truth that will seal her fate - and cut her heart in two forever..

“I just want to be with you” he murmured. “I don’t care where we go. That’s all I want”.

Oh my gosh my poor heart, even though I knew how things were going to end in this book, I was hoping that Maas was lying to us this entire time, that some twist of the fate would change things up. But no my heart had to go through this beautiful friendship/ relationship develop and then watch it ripped away in the most horrid way. There were five fantastic novellas in The Assassin’s Blade; I’ll be just sharing my thoughts on a few of them

The Assassin and the Desert

Celaena really found herself out of her comfort zone in this short story, she’d been sent to train with the silent Assassins and only until she received approval from the mute master would she be called to return to Rifthold. Celaena was put through tiring tasks and she still hadn’t the chance to train with the mute master. She had limited time there, but knew she couldn’t do anything to prove her worth. I was glad that Celaena was able to finally form a sort of friendship with another girl Ansel, being a deadly assassin, making friends wasn’t ones top priority, but Celaena found a quick and easy comfort in Ansel’s presence, she helped her accustom to the life of the silent assassin’s. I did have inklings of how things would go in the story, but a lot of what happened was really unexpected. The last couple of pages really had me at the edge of my seat, but I’m grateful that this story ended with a lot of great hope for Celaena.

The Assassin and the Underworld

In this story I was really scared for Celaena to return to Rifthold, would things be exactly as they were when she left? She had no idea whether that one person in particular would be okay. But Celaena had something incredible to fall back on and I couldn’t wait for her to shove it into Arobynn’s face. But things didn’t really plan out as I was hoping them to. I genuinely started to believe that a particular character had changed, they were being over generous, and they seemed genuinely upset by what had happened. So instead Celaena was thrown into another mission, but I’m glad she had her back covered, although Celaena was super tough, and not one to ask for help I’m grateful this one person hadn’t given upon her. The Assassin and the Underworld was another story scattered with so many unexpected surprises; which made me rage, afraid but also swoon a little. Despite leaving us with a little spring in our step, it mostly left me with a lot of dread in the pit of my stomach for what could be around the corner.

The Assassin and the Empire

Even though I wanted you know how things ended, at the same time I didn’t, I knew that even though all debts had been paid, you could never escape Arobynn Hamel, he was a powerful man, but also one who was never too quick to forget things. I loved seeing Celaena happy in this story; yes she hadn’t fully escaped everything, but was beginning to make a life for herself. To give you fair warning this story tramples all over your heart, even with you knowing what is going to happen, it’s truly heartbreaking watching a character experience so much heartache and pain when they had finally found some sort of happiness, but the worst was discovering who was behind it all and why *rage*

Overall The Assassin’s Blade was a truly wonderful book, I loved how each story immediately started off from the one just before. I loved getting to know Celaena’s back story that little bit more and getting more insights into her character. Also getting to know Sam, a character who we had heard so much about, but really didn’t know, these stories go on to show why he meant so much to Celaena in the first place.

Showcase Sunday #64

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea. The aim is to showcase our newest books or book related swag and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops and downloaded onto eReaders this week.  

Hi all, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas full with many wonderful new books! I received some great books that I had been wanting to read for a long time, also there were so many wonderful books up on Edelweiss that I just couldn't resist!

 

I'm one of those readers that tends to hoard my library books and then I try to read through them super fast when somebody else has requested them, I going to try and be a better reader next year and actually try and finish some of my library books before their due dates. My library even though they take ages to get books in, do have a pretty awesome collection to choose from, I was over the moon to see they had two of McFarlane's books in!

Roomies, Mortal Heart and In the Afterlight were Christmas presents which I squeed about. a big big thank you to Siiri from Little Pieces of Imagination for the first two books, not only did she send me these amazing books, she also sent so many nice little presents over from Estonia *big hugs*. 

(Click on Title for Goodreads link) 

 

 

Perfect Couple was a book which I devoured in a few days, I've never really found one of Echols books which has stood out for me, but I think this one is my favourite yet! And look at that gorgeous cover to The Winner's Crime, I've been hearing many amazing things about this book, that I think I'm going to start it sooner rather than later.

Which amazing books did you get for Christmas? Leave me a link to your book hauls and I will stop by later.

I shall leave you with a picture of my gorgeous new bookshelf and Christmas tree (which I shall have to take down soon :( ). This picture and more can be found on my Instagram profile here!

Review: Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan

Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's UK
Publication Date: October 7th 2014
My Rating: 3 stars 

Millions of people witnessed Emma Taylor’s first kiss—a kiss that needed twelve takes and four camera angles to get right. After spending nearly all of her teen years performing on cue, Emma wonders if any part of her life is real anymore . . . particularly her relationships. Jake Elliott’s face is on magazine ads around the world, but his lucrative modeling deals were a poor substitute for what he had to leave behind. Now acting is offering Jake everything he wants: close proximity to home; an opportunity to finally start school; and plenty of time with the smart and irresistible Emma Taylor . . . if she would just give him a chance. When Jake takes Emma behind the scenes of his real life, she begins to see how genuine he is, but on-set relationships always end badly. Don’t they? Toss in Hollywood’s most notorious heartthrob and a resident diva who may or may not be as evil as she seems, and the production of Coyote Hills heats up in unexpected—and romantic—ways. This novel in the deliciously fun If Only romance line proves that the best kinds of love stories don’t follow a script.

After reading Famous in Love a few months back, I really wanted to read a book which dealt with characters who were actors, and more on how it was like for them being famous and under the radar all the time, and so when Nick suggested giving Not in the Script a go, I was hoping that it was exactly what I was after.

Emma was an easy character to relate to, she was a famous actress, however despite having all this great success, there was always something bringing her down, lately it had been her bad string of boyfriends, who also tended to be actors. The paparazzi’s as usual blow things out of proportion when things go down with her boyfriends, without even knowing the truth about what really has gone down. Emma’s last relationship didn’t end in the best way, but she decided to keep headstrong about things and feels the only way she can move away from this image the press has created about her is not to date another co-star. However this becomes one heck of a test when Emma ends up landing a role alongside long term crush Brett and relative unknown Jake who her best friend Rachel has had the hots for.

What I liked about Not in the Script was how Finnegan threw the assumptions and ideas you had of a person on their head. I honestly thought that I had these characters sussed out within the first few pages, but I was taken with how much they went on to surprise me. For example take Brett, this big star and icon; I assumed that as Emma had this crush on him, it would be cute to see him and Emma get together, isn’t it always every girls dream to end up with her crush?  And even though Emma had sworn off her co-stars, Brett did genuinely come across as the guy that could look after her, he was a funny guy and took care of her when her past had come back to haunt her. But Finnegan went on to show that what you see with everyone is not what you get. It’s always a knock to your confidence when you make this mistake with a person in real life, but when you’re an actress and don’t have that many real friends around you or your family are faraway, who can you really trust? Let me say that I was wrong about a lot of characters in this book, some really ended up surprising me in the end, where as others I wanted to smack upside the head multiple times. I’m glad we had this nice balance of some genuinely nice characters coming through and making up for the self absorbed egotistical ones. Not in the Script had a lot of things to offer; it provided a detailed story of how the life of an actress/actor could be, the whole series that Emma was taking part in had such a authentic feel about it, that I found myself invested in Emma’s real life but also her character’s story are in the show Coyote Hills. The sort of love triangle/square really didn’t come across in this way at all, when our two characters met on set, I kind of knew that I wanted them to be together in the end despite the numerous obstacles and crossed wires that got in the way. Finnegan knew how to create one gorgeous irresistible character honestly; he had me melting in all the right places! 

Overall Not in the Script was a super cute read, when in the mood for something fun which will bring a smile to your face, give this book a go.