2015 is coming to an end, and this means it is time to think about everything that happened this year and, more importantly, every book I read this year. Some were good, some were... less good, but all things considered this was a pretty nice reading year! According my Goodreads challenge I completed a grand total of 66 books, which means I completed my goal of 60 books! (And I'm still reading four books at the moment!)
Now, on to the interesting part, the (super official) Reading ever after-book awards 2015!
The rules are simple; I picked my favourite books and characters, from books I've read this year, in 15 different categories, but; no book or character can win more than once (otherwise two books would probably make up the entire list).
These are this years winners, in the category...
1. Best book of the year... Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo! My-oh-my how I love this book! This book was just wonderful! Full of suprising plot twists, great characters and an amazing plot! (Also, great writing! Yeah!) This book might actually be not just my favourite book of the year, but maybe also my all time favourite book!
3. Best adult fantasy... The night circus by Erin Morgenstern! This book is lush and magical and absolutely beautiful! I just loved every single page of it! Everything when described in brilliant detail and the story was really captivating.
4. Best novella or short story... Fairest by Marissa Meyer. Normally I'm not really keen on novella's, because they generally don't actually add anything to the story, but Fairest wasn't like that at all. While this book isn't essential to read to understand the main storyline, I do recommend reading it! Usually villians become less strong, as characters, or less creepy when you find out more about them, but Levana is so beautifully wicked and terrifyingly twisted. Yes, I do understand her motives better now, but am I less scared? No. She became even creepier, and I love it!
5. Best young adult contemporary... To all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han, such an amazing and cute novel! I usually don't read a lot of contemporary, but after reading Jenny's story in My true love gave to me, I was sure I'd to give this book a chance.
6. Best middle grade novel... The sword of summer (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard, #1) by Rick Riordan! I just love Rick's books and this one was just amazing! Loved his take on the Norse mythology and definitely looking forward to the next Magnus Chase-book.
7. Best book read I had to read for school... Gone girl by Gillian Flynn! This book was just so fascinating. It was incredibly twisted and the characters were definitely complicated (the understatement of the century!)
8. Favourite LGBTQ+ novel... With all the amazing developments this year in the LGBTQ+-community I had to include this category! The winner is... Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.9. Favourite retelling... Cress by Marissa Meyer! The Lunar Chronicles are beautifully crafted retelling, with both well-known as well as more obscure references to the original fairytales, and Cress really stood out to me.
10. Favourite female lead... Celeana Sardothien! I never expected to like this fierce assassin as much as I do now! Celeana is sassy, strong, brave, a little arrogant (or maybe a bit more than a little...) and absolutely fabulous. I've been getting sick of seeing female protagonists become more and more stereotypically masculine, especially the more kick-ass ones, but Celeana isn't like that. She loves dresses and glitter and all things shiny and expensive, while she also is ready to kill anyone who dares touching her or her loved ones!
11. Favourite male lead... Harry Potter! The last time I read the Harry Potter-books, I was nine and just rushing through them, not caring that much about anything but the accomplishment of reading such massive books. This year, eight years later, I finally re-read the series and I've come to realize just why everyone loves it.
12. Favourite couple... Anna and Etienne! These two idiots just stole my heart! They are absolutely adorable!
13. Favourite sidekick... She would hate being called a sidekick, but I just want to mention her somewhere; Samirah al-Abbas! You want a kick-ass muslim valkyrie? Who also is fierce as hell and fights for what she believes in, even when that means losing her powers? And who defends her religion and is not portrayed as a oppressed muslim-woman? Sign me up! Samirah has all of these things, and more! (a magical scarf, lots of sass and an adorable personality!)14. Favourite non-human character... Grimalkin in the Iron Fey and The Call of the Forgotten-series! Grimalkin acts just like you'd expect a talking cat to act; sassy, snarky and sarcastic. Still he is very lovable and even though he wouldn't like it, I'd like to have him as a pet!
15. Favourite cover... The dream thieves by Maggie Stiefvater! I just love the design of this cover. It's elegant, enchanting and I just adore the colourscheme! (I'm a sucker for nice colourschemes!) The cover also matches the content of the story, which strangely enough seems to be really scarce.
You can see exactly which books I read this year, right here!
I'd like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and bookish 2016!
Lots of love,
Sabine
From which book is Samirah? (The sidekick) She sounds really badass :)
ReplyDeleteNice post, I agree with almost everything, with the exception of some books that I haven't read yet! :)
Thanks! Samirah is from The sword of summer (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan! She's bae <3
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