2012 End of Year Book Survey

This is the annual End of Year survey which was created by the very creative Jamie over at The Perpetual Page-turner. I do this survey every year, because I love filling in questions and I love reading other people's answers. If you've done this yourself then feel free to leave your links below! And thanks to Jamie for hosting this again for a third year!

Best in Books 2012

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? 
I had to break this up into genre, because I had quite a few favourites this year!
Paranormal - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Along with the sequel, but I can't cheat too much!
Contemporary - Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson I sobbed. So. Hard.
Dystopia - Unwind by Neal Shusterman EEP! I'm so glad I was told to read this.
Apocalyptic - Poison Princess by Kresley Cole AWESOME! This is also kind of paranormal, but shhh.

2. Book You Were Excited About and Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Outpost by Ann Aguirre. I thought I would love it because I really liked the first book, Enclave, but unfortunately this was terrible.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012?
The Ivy by Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur, and Poison Princess by Kresley Cole. I was expecting The Ivy to be a light read to feed my contemporary craving, but instead I ended up adoring it. And as for Poison Princess, I had never read anything by Kresley Cole before and I ended up loving her writing style. It read like an adult urban fantasy (which I love) but in YA form.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin because it was my first All Time Favourite of the year and it was AMAZING.

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?
Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Love them both, and their sequels are flawless!

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?
Neal Shusterman, Michelle Hodkin, Kresley Cole, and Morgan Matson. All the ones mentioned in my Best Books list, basically! And also Patrick Ness because he is FABULOUS.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. It's not a new genre, but I don't read adult fiction all that much since this blog primarily focusses on Young Adult. Nevertheless, I really liked this one and ended up finishing it in just a few hours.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?
Variant by Robison Wells, and The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. Variant was sent to me by Daph from Loving Books, and she had told me it was an amazing book... I just didn't realise that I wouldn't be able to stop reading it! Same goes for the Mara Dyer books, but the second was even more thrilling than the first.

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, and the sequel. I want to reread them both before I read the third book in the trilogy, so that I can look for clues and refresh my memory!

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

11. Most memorable character in 2012?
Mara Dyer! She's been through so much in the books, and she's a complete BAMF.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson. I can't remember the last time I cried so much over a book.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012?
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson. As above, really. I cried, I laughed, and this book was just able to make me feel so much in the short time I was reading it. Come to think of it, I might give it a reread next year!

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read?
Percy Jackson! I had been meaning to start the series for ages, and I finally got to it in January of 2012. I haven't finished the series yet, but I've read the first three books and loved them. Thanks again, Daph!

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012?
I'm gonna be really vague with this one, and just say the ending of Second Chance Summer. No spoilers!

16. Shortest and Longest Book You Read In 2012?
Shortest - The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss, which was tiny.
Longest - The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan, which was an epic 800 pages.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It?
Variant by Robison Wells. WHAT EVEN. I went straight to Twitter to talk to Daph when there was a reveal. Also, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer had a lot of OMGWTF moments, especially the ending. Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent had a couple too!

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012?
Noah and Mara from the Mara Dyer series. I love them so much! Also, Sydney and Adrian from The Golden Lily, and Gregory and Callie from The Ivy series.

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously
Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent, and Storm Born/Thorn Queen by Richelle Mead. I love both of these authors so much, and was very excited to read new books from them. Before I Wake only came out this year, but the Dark Swan series was released a while ago and it's honestly one of the best adult series I have read. Well, the first two books that I mentioned above are AMAZING, the last two are just great.

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else?
I don't know if there was one! I mean, I've read books that have been recommended to me, but all of them have been on my to-read list as well. I'm gonna go with Variant by Robison Wells, and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, because Daph has pushed me to read them!

Looking Ahead

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?
A Game of Thrones! I need to finish that damn book. As well as the second and third in the series, but let's just focus on the first for now.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?
The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead, and With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent. The first is the third in a six book series, but the latter is THE FINAL BOOK in one of my all time favourite series! *cries* I'm sure there are lots more... but I'm having a mind blank right now. Oh! The third Mara Dyer, and the third Unwind!

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?
My three year blogoversary! I've never stuck with a proper hobby for this long before, let alone reach three years! So come October I'm going to be ecstatic because it'll mean that I've been doing this for nearly a third of a decade. Crazy stuff!