Kaniesha's Yearly Roundup #2: 2014

Goodbye forever, 2014! Hello, 2015!

So, as many of you may know, 2014 was kind of a mess. A sad, dreary, intense year full of anger, hate and heartbreak. Perhaps I'm being  a bit dramatic but I'm not going to lie and say I enjoyed too much of this year, because all of the fun I had was playing video games!

But on to the books! I originally set myself a lot of goals, numbers I wanted to reach for certain things such as physical books, debut author books, finishing series, reading classics, etc. Disappointingly, I didn't actually reach many of these. I don't really feel bad about it though, cause I did pick up, read and review more than I have in a year so I'm proud of myself more than anything. My reading goals ended up looking like this (link goes to my listography list).

My Goals Summary:

• 5/7 stand-alone books (Originally it was five so I'm alright with it)
• 3/7 contemporary books (Again, originally five. Not that I reached that either).
• 6/3 series enders
• 5/5 debut author books
• 7/15 physical books (I love my Kindle too much. This is my weakness).
• 0/3 classics (Oops).
• 24/25 book reviews (Not too bad but hopefully I can improve the number next year)!

It's really not that bad when you get down to it! I'm really not that interested in classics or contemporaries so nudging myself is clearly not working. I may have to sit down and force myself to read them. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to happen any time soon.

My Stats:

• Goodreads Challenge: 64/40 (yay!)
• Books read: 53
• Books dropped: 3
• Novellas read: 8
• Pages read (includes dropped books): 20,320 (My goal was 20k! but did I really reach it? Hm..)
• Best rating: 5 stars
• Worst rating: Dropped, 2 stars

As for books I received, I didn't win as many books this year as I won last year! This isn't a bad thing nor am I complaining, I just really can't afford to buy books. Honestly, I'd gotten paid to do something and my options were along the lines of 4-6 hardcovers (I'm not really a fan of paperbacks) or as many games on Steam that I could get on sale. Games won me over, to say the least. (I actually own a good 90 video games at this point). Here are the books I gathered in 2014:

Mini-survey!

1) What was the best book of the year for you?
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. I have the hugest, weirdest crush on Ignifex. Check my review here.

2) What was the worst, or most disappointing book of the year for you?
Snakeroot by Andrea Cremer. Check out my rant here.

3) Did you discover a new author or series you're now excited about?
Silevethiel by Andi O'Connor. I actually hated the book a lot but I love her take on elves anyway. Review.

4) What books are you looking forward to in 2014?
Crimson Bound by Rosamond Hodge, both books that Sarah J. Maas will be releasing, Of Dreams and Rust by Sarah Fine, Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman, Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray, The Burning Sky #3 by Sherry Thomas, Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins, Magonia by Maria Headley, Rook by Sharon Cameron, and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Anything else will just be a fun, unexpected time.

5) What books did you read this year that you might recommend to the other book bloggers?
Anything I rated 5 stars. I'd list them all out but geez, that'd be a good two dozen books at the least.

I'm really proud of myself book wise in regards to 2014, especially because I read 4-5 books between July and September. Such a huge book slump but I read a lot and nearly (on average) wrote two reviews a month! When I've logged 400+ hours playing games in that same time, it's pretty interesting to compare.

I do hope that I do better in reference to the blog, I don't think I've had over 40 posts this year! I spend all my time blogging about kpop that I don't ever focus on books. If I want to be a book blogger I really have to kick myself into gear!

However I am really looking forward to a much better 2015~ I wish you all a prosperous and fun 2015 too :)