2015 Wrap-Up

2015 was an extremely successful year, for both of us, and it marked the one year anniversary for Brewing Up Books.  We decided to compile a brief post to serve as our year in review, in celebration of many more to come!

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2015 Reading Statistics

Number of Books Read

Olivia: 61

Alex: 60

Number of ARCs Read

Olivia: 7

Alex: 1

Number of Re-Reads

Olivia: 2

Alex: 1

Most-Read Genre

Olivia: young adult

Alex: Contemporary (both YAand adult)

2015 End of Year Wrap-Up

1. Best Book You Read In 2015?

Olivia: Obsidian, by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Review)

Alex: Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn (this was so hard to decide omg)

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Olivia: Marked, by P.C.Cast (Review)

Alex: The Wicked + The Divine, by a bunch of people (Review)

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?  

Olivia: A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens (Review) – I was amazed by how much I enjoyed this book, prompting my initial interest in classics.

Alex: I’ll have to give this to both Dracula, by Bram Stoker (Review) as well as Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Dracula because I was surprised it was SO creepy and Lord of the Flies because I thought the story wouldn’t interest me at all but then turned out to be so deep and wonderful.

4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Olivia: Altered, by Jennifer Rush (Review)

Alex: Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn

5. Best series you started in 2015? Best Sequel of 2015? Best Series Ender of 2015?

Olivia: Angelfall by Susan Ee (Review – series), Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken (sequel), Reborn by Jennifer Rush (series ender)

Alex: Pivot Point, by Kasie West (Review – series started), Split Second, by Kasie West (Review – sequel), The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson (series ender)

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2015?

Olivia: Libba Bray

Alex: Andy Weir, Anthony Doerr, Haruki Murakami and Gillian Flynn

7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

Olivia: The Martian, by Andy Weir, science-fiction (Review)

Alex: Dreamland, by Sarah Dessen, I don’t typically enjoy YA Contemporary romance books, but this was dark and amazing!

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Olivia: Dorothy Must Die, by Danielle Paige (Review)

Alex: The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson

9. Book You Read In 2015 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Olivia: Anna Dressed in Blood, by Kendare Blake

Alex: If You Find Me, by Emily Murdoch

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2015?

Olivia: All Fall Down, by Ally Carter (Review)

Alex: The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson

11. Most memorable character of 2015?

Olivia: William Herondale, from the Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare

Alex: Mark Watney from The Martian, by Andy Weir (Review)

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2015?

Olivia: Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

Alex: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2015?

Olivia: Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Alex: Again, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr, but also Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2015 to finally read? 

Olivia: The Longest Ride, by Nicholas Sparks (Review)

Alex: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2015? 

Olivia:

“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”

–A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Alex:

“Sometimes when I look at you, I feel I’m gazing at a distant star.
It’s dazzling, but the light is from tens of thousands of years ago.
Maybe the star doesn’t even exist any more. Yet sometimes that light seems more real to me than anything.”

–South of the Border, West of the Sun, Haruki Murakami

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2015?

Olivia: Renaissance Medicine (shortest), The Annotated Sense and Sensibility (longest)

Alex: The Egg, by Andy Weir (shortest), The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson (longest)

17. Book That Shocked You The Most

Olivia: Twisted, by Laurie Halse Anderson – I was shocked by how strongly I disliked this book, especially considering the overwhelmingly positive reviews I had read and several recommendations from close friends.

Alex: Red Rising, by Pierce Brown – I was shocked by how boring this book was…

18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

Olivia: Katy and Daemon from the Obsidian Series

Alex: Locke and Jean from The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Olivia: Evie and Mabel from The Diviners Series, by Libba Bray

Alex: Mark Watney and the rest of the crew from The Martian, by Andy Weir (Review)

20. Favorite Book You Read in 2015 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Olivia: The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

Alex: The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson (how many more times can I mention this book before the end of the post??)

21. Best Book You Read In 2015 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:

Olivia: Obsidian, by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Review)

Alex: South of the Border, West of the Sun, by Haruki Murakami (Review)

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2015?

Olivia: Ian from The Host, by Stephanie Meyer

Alex: Beck from The Martian (Review), but only because Seb Stan plays him in the film <33

23. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

Olivia: The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

Alex: The Hero of Ages, by Brandon Sanderson (I’m not doing this on purpose, I swear)

24. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2015?

Olivia: The Best of Me, by Nicholas Sparks

Alex: All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr

25. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Olivia: Altered, by Jennifer Rush

Alex: Lexicon, by Max Barry

26. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Olivia: Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn’t Have), by Sarah Mlynowski – I found this book highly circuitous and plotless, which was very frustrating.

Alex: Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins – this book made me mad because it was so bad. Ugh.

Our Most Popular Posts from 2015

1. Review | I’d Tell You I Loved You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
2. Discussion | Folding Down Page Corners vs. Using a Bookmark
3. Read-A-Thon | 2015 Harry Potter Read-A-Thon
4. Read-A-Thon | 2015 Read-A-Spark
5. Discussion | Bookish Habits (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
6. Discussion | Bookshelf Organization
7. Discussion | My (Somewhat Flawed) Formula for Selecting Books
8. Blogger Database
9. Discussion | Spoilers
10. Review | Marked