WinterHaven Books 2015 Reading Wrap Up!

Now that 2015 is quickly coming to a close, we wanted to share some of our stand-out books (both good and bad) that made our year.  We hope 2016 brings everyone lots of great reading adventures!
Happy New Year!

Top 3 favorite books of 2015

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

The Revolution of Ivy by Amy Engel

Favorite female character of 2015

Quinn Sullivan from Things we Know by Heart

Favorite male character of 2015

Bishop Lattimer from The Revolution of Ivy

Book that shocked you the most

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Nivel

Book that disappointed you the most

Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young

Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul

How many series did you start

Two

The Book of Ivy and Illuminae

What books are you looking forward to the most in the New Year 

Third installment of The Young Elites by Marie Lu

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead

Blogging Resolutions + Goals

I’d like to continue to genre hop to keep my reading pallet alive, as well as revisit some of my favorite authors I’ve let slide.

 Top 3 favorite books of 2015

Falling Kingdom by Morgan Rhodes--Best series EVEAH!
Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes
These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Favorite female character of 2015

Lillian from Firewalker by Josephine Angeilni

Favorite male character of 2015

Rowan from Firewalker by Josephine Angelini

Book that shocked you the most

The Last Good Day of the Year by Jessica Warman

Book that disappointed you the most

 Survive the Night by Danielle Vega--this one still upsets me

How many series did you start

18!  Too many!!
 Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
Black Dagger Legacy by J.R. Ward
Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
A Curious Tale of the In-Between (Pram) by Lauren DeStefano
Sisters of Blood and Spirit by Kady Cross
Nightmares by Jason Segel & Kristen Miller
The Generations Trilogy by Scott Sigler
The Great Library by Rachel Caine
The Edge by Ilona Andrews
The Bourbon Kings by J.R. Ward
Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett
The Devil's Engine by Alexander Gordon Smith
Frostborn by Lou Anders
The Sin Eaters Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
City of Fae by Pippa DeCosta
 Forbidden by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Wicked by Jennifer L. Armentrout
 
What books are you looking forward to the most in the new year

Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr 
And I Darken by Kiersten White 

Blogging Resolutions + Goals

This year I really want to find my love of reading and blogging again.  I kinda lost it towards the end of the year and I miss it dearly.  Going forward I am going to throw out my schedule and just read what I want when I want and hopefully realize that I don't have to stress about the small stuff in our amazing blogging world.

Top Three Books: 

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

 Favorite female character of 2015

Willowdean from Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

Favorite male character of 2015

Josh from I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios

Book that shocked me the most

Since there are both fiction and non-fiction books that shocked me, I will mention one from each category. From fictional titles, I was shocked by This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp, because despite the fact that I knew the subject matter it dealt with, it managed to shock and harrow me from page one til the very end. From nonfiction titles, I was shocked and terrified by Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Krakauer's book not only shocked me, but made me very angry about the ways our society deals with issues related to rape.

Book that disappointment me the most

City Love by Susane Colisanti. This book was honestly one of the worst books I've ever read!

How many series I started:

City Love by Susane Colisanti (DEFINITELY NOT CONTINUING THIS ONE!)

Tracked by Jenny Martin (I cannot wait for book 2!)

The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski (I almost listed the first book as the most disappointing read, which means that I won't be continuing with this one!)

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (I loved the first book and definitely want to read the other books in the trilogy!)

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey (This was alright, so I am looking forward to reading the second book.)

Cruel Beauty Universe by Rosamund Hodge (Unfortunately despite my excitement this wasn't for me.)

Lois Lane by Gwenda Bond (This was such a great series starter and I cannot wait for book two!)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff (Hmm, not sure whether I liked this or not! I liked the format, the story not so much!)

The Grisha Trilogy (I loved the writing, but wasn't hugely impressed with the story itself. Might read books 2 and 3 at some point though.)

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (You cannot imagine my disappointment when I kept reading this one and noticed that it wasn't for me AT ALL!)

Daylight Falls by Dahlia Adler (I absolutely loved this book and I have the second one lined up to be read ASAP!)

Off-Campus by Elle Kennedy (I READ 'THE DEAL' AND HONESTLY THAT BOOK WAS EVERYTHING I HAVE WANTED FROM A NEW ADULT NOVEL- HUMOR, SWOONING AND HOT HOCKEY PLAYERS!)

Books I'm most looking forward to

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson, American Girls by Alison Umminger, Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

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Blogging Resolutions + Goals

Just have fun with it really! I am not big on setting goals because I keep punishing myself if I don't reach them, so I have decided just to have fun with it and enjoy the world of reading and book blogging as much, and as often, as possible!

Top 3 favorite books of 2015

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell- My favorite book in 2015. This was made of pure Awesomesauce!

Fan Girl by Rainbow Rowell- This is the book that made me discover the great Rainbow Rowell.

Ensnared by A.G Howard- The perfect fantasy retelling I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Favorite female character of 2015

Aelin Galathynius- Throne of Glass series- This girl is crazy freaken fierce!

Favorite male character of 2015:

Sorry boys but your gonna have to share the spotlight for this one;) Simon Snow and Basil Pitch (Baz) from Carry On by Rainbow Rowell! Gawd I ship them crazy!!

Book that shocked you the most

-November 9 by Colleen Hoover- The twist in this book? Yeah, I never saw it coming. Brilliant!

Book that disappointed you the most

-Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer- Yeah...It wasn't Midnight Sun:(

How many series did you start:

I started 11 new series that I can't wait to go back to in 2016!

- Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

-Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

-Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

-Velvet by Temple West

-Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes

-Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan

-The Field Party by Abbi Glines

-The Great Library by Rachel Caine

-Titan series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

-A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

-Thunder Road by Katie McGarry

What books are you looking forward to the most in the new year:

- Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare!!! -GIMME!!

-The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead- I'll take a new Mead book any time.

- The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan- It's Rick baby! I'll read his books forevah

Blogging Resolutions + Goals

-I'm gonna go with what I try to resolve every year since I've became an insane avid book buyer. I'm gonna try to knock down all the unread books sitting on my shelf at home, collecting dust, and glaring at me for not paying them any attention. Dame you New Shiny Books!

Happy New Years guys!!