

Number Of Books You Read:according to Goodreads, 148
Number of Re-Reads: yeah, I have no idea. I definitely reread Six of Crows and The Turn of the Story, but that’s all I know.
Genre You Read The Most From: probably fantasy

1. Best Book You Read In 2016?
unlike last year, I actually have a clear favorite! Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo, of course. I wonder how many times in this post I’ll mention it.
that being said, here’s a twitter thread with some of my other favorites!
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. It was good, but it didn’t blow me away the way Illuminae did. A lot of things that I loved in Illuminae because they’d felt so fresh kind of lost their charm here, and Hanna and Nik, while enjoyable, felt a little bland. I’m also a little tired of the whole “this main character is de–FOOLED YOU HE’S STILL ALIVE” thing the book had going.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
The Addicted series by Krista and Becca Ritchie. I hate to admit it, but I underestimated those books because of the covers. I ended up becoming a lot more attached than I expected. These books handle addiction and mental illness so well, and the characters are complex and flawed and go through amazing development, and basically every relationship makes me cry a lot, and I appreciate that friendship and sibling love are just as focused on as romance.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
Same answer as last year…and the year before: all the Sarah Rees Brennan books ever! I also pushed a few people to read The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Diviners and I feel pretty great about that.
5. Best series you started in 2016? Best Sequel of 2016? Best Series Ender of 2016?
Started: The Abyss Surrounds Us
Sequel: The Bands of Mourning
Series Ender: Crooked Kingdom
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2016?
You know, I don’t have an author that took over this year the way Sanderson took over 2015, or Sarah Rees Brennan took over 2014. But this year I discovered Corinne Duyvis and Shira Glassman and Nina Lacour and Noelle Stevenson, and I feel pretty great about that.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. I read a lot of Sarah Ruhl plays this year, actually, but that one was my personal favorite. It was one of those poetic, dreamlike plays where you don’t always understand what’s being said, and it’s not always meant to be understood, but the emotion comes through her words loud and clear–grief and love and music.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab, as befits a book with Lila Bard in it.
9. Book You Read In 2016 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
I am definitely planning a reread of The Abyss Surrounds us soon to prepare myself for the sequel. Crooked Kingdom, Nimona, and Maurice are also strong contenders.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2016?
Passenger and Wayfarer both have GORGEOUS covers.
11. Most memorable character of 2016?
The first one to come to mind is Steris from Bands of Mourning. I loved her from the beginning, but I love the layers that Sanderson added to her character, and her insecurities/approach to other people are more similar to mine than I have ever seen in another character.
But if we’re going for characters I encountered for the first time, I’m going to go with both Lada and Radu from And I Darken. They’re both complex and flawed and break so many tropes, and I loved reading about their relationships with their gender roles and their world and each other.
And shout-out to Lily from the Addicted series–I recently made a long, emotional twitter thread about my love for her, and how different she is from any character I’ve read about. She’s very important to me.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2016?
THIS QUESTION IS TRYING TO KILL ME. I’m going to say The Raven King, with This Savage Song and The Winner’s Kiss as close seconds. (and, I mean, De Profundis and Eurydice and In the Next Room and Giovanni’s room, but those go without saying)
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2016?
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. The questions this book asks are so multi-faceted that it gave me a lot to think about.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2016 to finally read?
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde, since I’ve wanted to read it ever since I read his biography back in 2015. I was protecting myself from pain by putting it off, I guess?
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2016?
“I would have come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.” Crooked Kingdom
AND THEN I FORGOT HOW TO BREATHE
(there’s another quote from The Raven King that I love, but it’s a spoiler.)
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2016?
Longest: Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson because OH MY GOD THAT ENDING
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
It’s between Ronan/Adam and Kaz/Inej, and while I’ve been thinking of Kaz/Inej more lately because they’re the ones I read about most recently, I probably could not actually pick between them. They all have such amazing arcs, both separately and together, and Ronan and Adam finally kissed and it was as heart-stoppingly wonderful as I wanted it to be, and Kaz and Inej held hands for a whole minute and it was honestly better than a kiss.
If we’re talking about a ship I wasn’t familiar with before, let’s go with Cas/Swift from The Abyss Surrounds Us, because I personally think the world always needs more hate-to-love pirate-and-sea-monster-trainer f/f romance on the high seas that uses fanfic tropes and aknowledges power dynamics at work. I also read Nimona pretty recently, so I’m still floating on a cloud because of that final panel and Blackheart/Goldenloin.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Oh boy…
- Kell and Rhy (AGOS), because brothers who do stupid things to each other are my aesthetic
- Bo and Agnes (Run), because there are really not enough books about friendship love stories between girls, and they are each other’s home and I cry a lot
- the entire squad from The Raven Cycle, because they love each other a lot and SHUT UP I WILL NOT CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM I REFUSE
- Arin and Roshar (The Winner’s Kiss), because they made me smile in a book that was otherwise made of pain, and I live a Roshar appreciation life
- Kate and August from This Savage Song, because “monster trying to be human and human trying to be a monster” is also my aesthetic (if it’s in a V. E. Schwab book, it’s probably my aesthetic)
- Nina and Inej from Crooked Kingdom, because LADIES SUPPORTING EACH OTHER AND GOING ON WAFFLE DATES YES GOOD
- Lada and Radu from And I Darken because they were mirror-opposites but also had so much uniting them, and their relationship was incredibly messed up but they still loved each other in the end
- the Calloway sisters from Addicted, because the way they all support each other and need each other and are strong in different ways is so beautiful
- plus another one that is a minor spoiler for Wayfarer so I’ll save it for my review of that book
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2016 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, and no, I did not have to think about that response one bit.
21. Best Book You Read In 2016 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
The Addicted series, and we all know how THAT turned out [points to previous responses]
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2016?
Still Lila Bard. Also Nicholas Carter. (Alex Bracken why are your male leads impossible not to fall in love with please explain this to me???)
23. Best 2016 debut you read?
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
This Savage Song by V. E. Schwab
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan. Not only because Apollo’s voice made me laugh hysterically, but because on a meta level I loved that such a popular children’s book had a bi protagonist.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2016?
Ebenezer by JoSelle Vanderhooft, because the depiction of depression paired with the main characters’s complicated love for theater was Too Real.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
I feel like I haven’t heard a lot about We Are the Ants by Shawn David Hutchinson? Such a brilliant book where even minor characters have multiple layers, and a pitch-perfect portrayal of both grief and hope. Also, there are occasional chapters exploring different apocalyptic scenarios and one of them is titled “Bees?”
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. That book is pain, but in a good way.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2016?
Putting aside all the Sarah Ruhl plays I read last year (which are, by nature, Very Very Weird and also Very Very Beautiful) Gena/Finn was very unique in terms of structure and characters and tone. I didn’t always like those aspects of the book, but I did appreciate the originality.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
New York by Gas Light, a book I read for class and soon wanted to throw against the wall because it was repetitive and overwritten and would not shut up about prostitutes.

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2016?
LGBTQReads (I think it started in 2016)
2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2016?
Tell the Wind and Fire, aka me returning to my roots (as if I ever left!) of screaming about Sarah Rees Brennan
3. Best discussion/non-review post you had on your blog?
I don’t really know if they count as non-review, but I’m really happy with my Femslash February posts. I’m glad that was a project I did, and I definitely plan on doing it again this February.
4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?
Alex Bracken and Susan Dennard’s TruthPath tour stop was a lot of fun!
5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2016?
being a part of the blog tour of As I Descended (aka the first blog tour of my life)
6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?
finding the time and motivation to do it among the million other things I have to do.
7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?
My review of The Abyss Surrounds Us
8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
My reviews in general, tbh.
9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?
A lot of really cool people on Book Twitter (who are way too cool for me and that’s okay). Also, a local bookstore has cats, and I met the cats this year, so that was pretty great.
10. Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?
I set my Goodreads challenge for 100 and ended up reading 148 books, not counting rereads. I didn’t officially challenge myself on that front, but I would like to note that 1/3 of the books I read had LGBT+ protagonists.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2016 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2017?
An embarrassing amount of books. Timekeeper by Tara Sim, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Fingersmith by Sara Waters, and Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire are on the forefront.
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2017 (non-debut)?
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson [no one is surprised]
3. 2017 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
27 Hours by Tristina Wright, because before the title was revealed the author referred to it as “queer teens in space” and that’s really all I need to know about a book
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2017?
The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2017?
Blog more consistently. Read more diversely. Review more frequently.
6. A 2017 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone:
History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (warning: It will make you cry.)