We’re finally moving on to the last parts of the End of Year Survey for 2025! These sections are more about blogging and what we have to look forward to in the year ahead. If you missed Part 1 of the wrap up, you can find it HERE and if you’re curious to check out my previous year wrap-ups, you can check them all out below! ⬇️
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
We’re well into January already but now that I’m back from my holidays I’m just getting around to putting these end of year posts together! As always, there’s a combined Part 2 & 3 to follow this since it’s quite a lengthy wrap-up, but it’s very complete!
Where did 2025 go? I don’t even know. Being away for the New Year has made it feel like my brain is just now catching up to the fact that we’ve begun a new years, so I’m honestly still trying to shake off 2025, lol. 😂 It was definitely a weird reading year—not at all the one I expected—but that’s OK. It’s made me re-think my reading goals for the year and maybe slower is better! I’m looking forward to seeing what 2026 reading has to bring. Hopefully it’s more highs than lows!
Now, let’s get to this survey! If you want to check out my previous years, I’ve linked them all up below. Here’s to an amazing year ahead, friends. 🎉
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
It’s on to parts two and three of the 2024 End of Year Survey! If you haven’t yet, you can check out Part I here! These next two parts are more about the blogging journey and looking ahead to 2025!
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
It’s become an annual tradition for me to post this End of Year Book Survey broken down into three parts (but I’ve combined the last two parts into one). I find this ‘survey’ is an easy way to summarise my year of reading and blogging and I look forward to making it by the time December rolls around. 2024 was frankly a blur and while I started the reading year on a high, I ended it on a lower but still satisfying note. I’m keen to see what 2025 has in store but I sure hope there’ll be more highs than otherwise!
Before I digress any further, let’s get to this survey. If you want to check out my previous years, I’ve linked them all up below. Here’s to an amazing year ahead, friends! 🌟
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
We’re on to the next part of the annual End of Year Survey. If you haven’t yet, you can check out Part I here—it’s a lengthy survey and it did make me lose my mind a little but I felt so accomplished when I finished answering all the prompts! 😂 As always, this part is more about my blogging journey in 2023 and looking ahead to 2024.
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
Check out my previous survey wrap-ups:
2019 – Part I / Part II / Part III | 2020 – Part I / Part II & III
2021 – Part I / Part II & III | 2022: Part I / Part II & III
As has become an annual tradition on this blog, it’s time to share Part I of the End of Year Book Survey! I always enjoy doing this survey to dive a little deeper into my reading and blogging in the year that has just passed. I’ve mentioned it once and I’m gonna mention it again: 2023 was A YEAR so I’m glad that it’s over and I can only hope that 2024 is a much kinder, more peaceful and joyful year. On that note, I’m going to get straight to it. If you’d like to check my previous years’ End of Book Surveys, I’ve linked them all below! 😍
This survey was originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner.
Alright, it’s time for the last parts of the End of Year Survey originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner! If you haven’t yet, check out Part I, which is all about the books I read and where I happily gushed about all my new favourites. This next part is more about my blogging journey in 2022 and looking ahead to 2023.
Check out my previous survey wrap-ups:
2019 – Part I / Part II / Part III | 2020 – Part I / Part II & III | 2021 – Part I / Part II & III
As we’ve wrapped up another year, you know it’s time for the annual End of Year Book Survey originally created by Jamie @The Perpetual Page Turner. I first stumbled upon this survey in 2019 and have done it every year since. If you’re keen to check out my earlier wrap-ups, you can check out the links below! Just like last time, I’ll be breaking this survey into parts with Part I today and Part II following shortly after. Let’s get to it!
2019 – Part I / Part II / Part III | 2020 – Part I / Part II & III | 2021 – Part I / Part II & III
It’s time for parts 2 & 3 of the End of Year Book Survey! This part of the survey looks more at blogging and future planning but you can check out part one for my 2021 Stats & ‘Best in Books’!
The End of Year Book Survey was originally created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner.
I didn’t do half as much blog hopping this year as I had planned so there were only a few new bloggers that I discovered but I’m so glad that I discovered them! They produce great content and write great reviews, so you should definitely check them out: Nick @ Infinite Limits of Love, Deanna @ A Novel Glimpse, Kerri @ Kerri McBookNerd , Lia @ An Ode to Fiction, Maria @ The Character Study, Georgia @ Lost in Neverland, Hasini @ Bibliosini, Sam @ We Live and Breathe Books, and Lori @ Fifty-two!
I also have to give a special shout out to my favourites on here because they’ve made this reading year even more incredible with buddy reads and great chats: Leslie @ Books Are the New Black, Julie @ One Book More, Jess @ Jessticulates, Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog and Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den!
I also started watching my fair share of booktube this year and these three were my favourites:
I’m not usually good at boosting my own stuff? But there were a few posts that I really enjoyed making and two reviews that I’m particularly proud of, even though they’re a bit lot on the long, I couldn’t help gushing about the books because I loved them *so much*!
I didn’t take a lot of bookish-related photos this year but I did do a book look for my stop on the Cast in Firelight blog tour, a photo of my newly reorganised bookshelf (that didn’t last long lol) and another photo of one of the (very) few hauls I did this year!
There were none this year (but are there ever any events? no… lol) 🥲
I don’t know if I can really say whether I had a “best” moment because my blogging and reading life felt pretty low-key in 2021. I guess one of the best moments I felt was when I came back from my extended hiatus to find that there were still people following my blog? 😂 I still feel the imposter syndrome pretty often, especially when things felt really tough this year, but yeah… I’m just thankful for all of you who engage with this weird third-culture kid across the sea! ❤️
Oof, I’ve said it a million times already but this year was a weird one and I felt it on both the blogging and reading front. I planned to take a short break early on in the year which then turned into a several-month-long hiatus which I apparently really needed! It wasn’t a smooth journey diving back into blogging but I found my groove again after a while. I still question why I’m producing anything at times because my engagements weren’t what they were before, but I love this community and I’m still glad to be here. In terms of reading, I was stuck with a weird reading mood that didn’t disappear until… well, it didn’t really disappear all year! 😂 While I’d normally read a pretty balanced mix of fantasies and romances, I could hardly focus on anything except the latter all year and without them, I probably would’ve read next to nothing in 2021. 🙈 I’m planning to try reintroducing more fantasy into my life this year but if not, I’m totally okay with mainly reading romances!
The most liked post on my blog this year was my Top Ten Tuesday: Goals & Hopes for 2021! The post with the most comments was also a Top Ten Tuesday: Re-reading 5-star Books Like It Was the First Time.
As with every year so far, my reviews always get the lowest views out of all the posts on my blog. I’m also sure that because I took an extended hiatus this year, my stats dropped considerably but again, I’m just glad that anyone stuck around. ❤️
I gotta be honest, I didn’t really discover any new book-related sites or bookstores this year because I didn’t really do much retail therapy (surprisingly!) and outside of work, I spent very little time online and engaging. 🙈 Boring, I know!
Well, I can say with certainty that I didn’t reach many of the reading/blogging goals I set for myself this year. Some of the reasons for why were out of my control and the others… Well, it just didn’t happen and that’s fine! The one goal that I did surpass was my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set my goal for 150 books in 2021 and I ended up reading 199 (welp, that one to 200 😂). I’m happy I at least did that!
I’ve technically been reading She Who Became the Sun for… A long time now. It’s been on my “currently reading” list since I picked it up mid-year and I’m disappointed that I haven’t finished it yet but as I’ve mentioned, I really struggled with fantasy last year. I’m definitely going to prioritise it this year and I do hope I love it as much as everyone else seemed to!
Ooh, there’s not just one book I’m highly anticipating! I’ve just made a list of ten but here are ten more that I’m really looking forward to this year:
A Magic Steeped in Poison isn’t my most anticipated debut because it has the most gorgeous cover but it definitely doesn’t hurt! 😂
I’m really looking forward to reading Bound by Firelight, the second and final book in the Wickery duology.
I wrote last year that I wanted to spend more time engaging in the book community and sadly, I didn’t do as much as I’d like. So I think I’m going to keep this goal the same! I hope to be more active in the book community and engage with more amazing book lovers!
I’ve only read two 2022 releases (I’m so behind please don’t judge) and one I didn’t quite enjoy and the other I absolutely loved but haven’t gushed much about yet.
If you’re looking for a sweet and adorable graphic novel to read this year I’d highly recommend Chef’s Kiss! It’s got great friendships, realistic and relatable adulting situations post-uni life, and a very sweet MM romance. Not to mention all the food!
So, that’s the last bit of the End of Year Survey. I actually feel like there are maybe some things that I haven’t reflected on yet in this wrap-up—mostly to do with my 2021 goals—but that’s OK. Maybe I’ll do a separate post for that. I can’t believe 2021 is already over and we’ve started another new year, sadly with the same circumstances. That said, I hope 2022 gets better and is kinder to all of us!
How was your year of reading and blogging in 2021? What was your best blogging or book-related moment? Is there anything that you’re really looking forward to or something you really want to achieve in 2022?
It’s that time of the year again and I’m keen to look back on my year of reading with The End of Year Book Survey originally created by Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner. Since this is a bit of a longer recap I’ve split the survey into two, combining parts 2+3 but that’ll also be going up later this week! And on that note, let’s dive straight in:
Number of books read: 199
Number of pages read: 62,038
Number of re-reads: 3 (Illuminae, Gemina, Aurora Rising)
Genre(s) you read the most from: Romance and Fantasy
This is the first time I’ve checked the details of my reading stats on Goodreads but I love to see it! Interesting to see just how few 5-star reads I had in 2021—I know I had a few but I didn’t realise it was so few either! 😅 Despite that, my average rating was 3.7 this year, which is a surprisingly minor difference from 3.8 last year!
I really don’t think I can pick one for this prompt. I’m sorry! I made a Top 10 list but if I had to narrow it down to a Top 3 I think I’d pick: Jade City, The Goddess of Nothing at All, The Death of Vivek Oji, The Love Hypothesis and The Ones We’re Meant to Find.
I buddy-read Jade Fire Gold with Becky and unfortunately, we both didn’t end up loving it. It had potential but it fell short; the whole time I wanted more and sadly, we didn’t get it by the end.
I decided to look at a book that surprised me in a good way! I struggle with anthologies/short story collections but I really enjoyed Up All Night: 13 Stories Between Sunset and Sunrise. Lots of fun, feel-good, nostalgic YA stories that gave me the warm fuzzies 🥰
Hmm… This is a tough one. I’m not sure that I managed to convince anyone to read anything that I gushed about? 😂 But the books I’m quite sure pushed the most were these three: Jade City, The Goddess of Nothing at All, and Sing Anyway! All were brilliant. *chefs kiss*
I love Lim’s writing and world-building and I’m so happy this story was gorgeous as its cover!
This was a great ending to an amazing series. I adore this queer historical mystery/ romance!
Ooh, there are so many new favourites including Fonda Lee, Martha Wells, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Holly Jackson, KJ Charles, Brighton Walsh, Ali Hazelwood, Lucy Parker, Anita Kelly and Danielle L. Jensen.
Dark SFF is not usually my jam but this had a compelling mystery, intriguing powers and awesome characters! 😍
I don’t read much adult sci-fi but this book was wow! The world-building was amazing and the characters grew on me quickly. I became very *invested* 👀
The Bridge Kingdom series was one of my more recent reads and I sped through this so quickly I surprised myself! The action steadily escalated, the romance became deliciously angsty and I adored every moment of it. 😍
I think I’d re-read Silver in the Wood before starting the next book in the series.
So so many but here are a few:
Just like last year, this year’s favourite is not just one person but one family from The Green Bone Saga! After craving fan art all year, I’m so glad so much exists now. This family portrait by C.J. Merwild is my favourite. Everyone’s just so freaking stunning—I can’t 🥲
There were two books tied for this but A People’s History of Heaven won by a small margin. The prose flowed like magic. Subramanian really knows how to give life to her words because I was able to vividly picture everything!
Hmm… Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that Before the Coffee Gets Cold was life-changing but it did make me think a lot about time and life, changes and chances. This hit really deep emotionally!
I honestly can’t believe I didn’t read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder before this year! I loved Poppy and the mystery had me hooked until the very end!
“Everyone loses their way at some point, and it’s not just because of their mistakes or the decisions they make. It’s because they’re horribly, wonderfully human. And the one thing I’ve learned about being human is that we can’t do this alone. When we’re lost, we need help to try to find our way again.”
T.J. Klune, Under the Whispering Door
Shortest: 52 pages (Surrender: An Erotic Short)
Longest: 672 pages (Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2))
Credence was pretty taboo and it definitely won’t be for everyone but it wasn’t the forbidden elements that shocked me. It was more how much I enjoyed the story! 😂
I didn’t even have to take a second to think about it: Olive and Adam from The Love Hypothesis. They’re so precious and aah, I squee thinking about them! 😍
Honourary mentions: Sylvie & Dom (Battle Royal), Lara & Aren (The Bridge Kingdom), Will & Kim (The Will Darling Adventures), Gianna & Christian (The Maddest Obsession), Mac & Hudson (Captain Heartbreaker)
I loved the ride or die friendship between Olive and Lucy. Their relationship was my favourite aspect of this Love & Hate series.
Chloe Liese is one of my favourite romance authors and I adored both books by her that I read this year: Ever After Always and With You Forever.
I’d seen a few of the Havenbrook series covers circulate on book Twitter throughout the year and all the threads gushed about how awesome they were so of course I had to find out for myself! It’s become one of my favourite small-town romance series and I can’t wait to read more by Brighton Walsh in 2022!
Ooh, this is a toughie. I read so many romances with swoontastic heroes that swept me off my love-drunk feet! I’m gonna do my best to narrow it down to a Top 5… I was a sucker for Zaf, Adam, Dominic, Hudson and Rahul! 😍😍😍😍😍
I still can’t believe The Hand of the Sun King was a debut with its immaculate world-building and stunning prose! The Love Hypothesis is also another stunner of a debut and I can’t wait to read more by Hazelwood ASAP!
I only read a few fantasies this year but I would have to say The Green Bone Saga books had the best world-building. It’s so intricate and vivid that I felt like I was there experiencing it myself!
Chef’s Kiss was one of the only graphic novels that I read in 2021 and I was constantly smiling as I read! It was so cute and relatable and ah, happy heart sighs. 🥰
I’m an emotional reader so once I become invested in characters and their stories, it doesn’t take much to make me laugh, cry, scream at all the injustice… Anyway, it’s safe to say I cry easily while reading but these are the books that made me ugly cry.
I feel like I haven’t seen enough people talk about Skin of the Sea in 2021 and it’s a gorgeous YA fantasy debut that deserves all the love!
The soul-crushing honour definitely goes to The Goddess of Nothing at All. This book absolutely wrecked me and I felt so bereft when it ended 😭 (and obviously I mean all of this in the best way)!
I can’t remember the last time I read a story from an animal perspective and Pighearted was a heartwarming story about family and belonging, told partially through the eyes of J6, a little pig who thought he was human. So cute!
As Good As Dead took a turn that I really didn’t expect or wish for the main character and it frustrated me because why was she done like this?! I don’t mean it in a bad way either but just in a heartbreaking way, I guess?
2021 was a pretty weird reading year. I read more than I did in 2020 but I also feel like I read less impactful or memorable books too—or more like they left less of an impression on me? I’m still pretty happy with what I read though and I’m looking forward to (hopefully) more amazing reads in 2022!
How was your year of reading in 2021? Did you do the End of Year Book Survey too? What was your favourite book(s)? What about the book that surprised you the most?
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