End of Year Book Survey!

I was all set to write an actual post, and then I saw that there was an end of year survey. SO. This was stolen from Emily at As the Crowe Flies (and Reads)! Huzzahs all around for other people thinking of how to summarize one's year in reading.

Number Of Books You Read: 66

Number of Re-Reads: Ahahaha One. Which was Bleak House. I was about to write a giiiiant zero, but then I remembered -- ah yes. I have read that one before.

Genre You Read The Most From: That's REALLY hard because my books were particularly all over the map (while staying almost exclusively American, let's not get ahead of ourselves). But most likely Fantasy, because of the thoooousands of pages I read by George R.R. Martin this year.

1. Best Book You Read In 2014?

Oh, I thought this question would be hard, but World War Z. Like. No contest. World War Z is one of the best books I've ever read. WAIT LET ME PRAISE IT MORE.

Yes, that.

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

AGH The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani. So many people (mostly tiny baby people, but still) disagree with me that I feel like I should revisit it. But I was SO set to like it and it was so not good.

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

Honestly, probably The School for Good and Evil again. But in a GOOD way, Ella Enchanted, which, man. That is a great book. Such a great book. Well done, Gail Carson Levine,

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

Probably The Invention of Wings, because I thought it was more likely to be read than something like Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center.

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

Oh, most definitely Game of Thrones. I won't start the fifth book until a release date comes out for book six, because I am NOT ending on a cliffhanger for that long. No no no.

That's YOU, Martin. And maybe they do.
But I still want that damn book.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2014?

Saying Max Brooks (he's the one who wrote World War Z) is probably a cop-out, so a tie between Joseph Mitchell, who wrote fantastic short stories in the '40s, and Samantha Irby, who wrote Meaty, which is definitely in my top 5 for this year. MEATY.

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

I don't usually read fantasy, and I think Storm of Swords was my favorite so far from Game of Thrones. That's the one with the Red Wedding and SO MUCH STUFF HAPPENS.

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

Maybe again Storm of Swords.

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

Either Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? or Meaty. They're episodic, and I loooove episodic books so very much.

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

11. Most memorable character of 2014?

Y'know, maybe Barbara from Notes on a Scandal. I think of her whenever I think of loneliness and what it can do to people.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2014?

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

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

Notes on a Scandal. Almost definitely.

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

Ella Enchanted! What! How did I miss this as a child? It's so good! Also Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me, because I've owned it since it was released.

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

I grabbed something from Heart of Darkness, because I'm reading this as a favorite passage.

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.

Kindle-noted with "Joseph Conrad don't give a shit."

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2014?

Shortest was some reeeally brief eBook called Safe Passage, which was basically a lesbian short story involving a safe and some old letters. It was ok. LONGEST was Storm of Swords at something ridiculous like 1200 pages. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Was still great.

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Most likely Heart of Darkness, because I didn't think Conrad was gonna take on the MAN like that.

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

Emily, OTP = One True Pairing, which back in the early days of shipping meant the couple you shipped above ALL OTHERS, but now has been pretty watered down to just mean 'your OTP for whatever show.' 

Hmmmmmmmmmm. I have so many appropriate GIFs for this question. Example:

Ship ship ship....I want to ship Margaery/Sansa, but there's pretty much only evidence for that on the show. The books? Nah. I'm also REALLY into the idea of Jamie/Brienne, but quite frankly, I don't trust GRRM one iota, so I feel that shipping anything in the Game of Thrones series is going to end in weeping and gnashing of teeth. That being said:

Margaery/Sansa 4VR

And I'm not doing the other questions because I'm tired and this post has enough GIFs to replace them, damnit. If you want the others, they are on Emily's delightful blog. If you want more Margaery/Sansa GIFs (and why wouldn't you), you can find them here. Mmm. Shippy.