The 2016 Book Awards!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! Welcome to the annual 2016 Book awards ceremony where yours truly, Ronyell, will pick her favorite books of 2016 and give each of her favorite books an award! There are going to be three sections to this awards ceremony which includes an adult and young adult section, a graphic novels section and a picture book section! So just sit back, relax and enjoy the show! 

2016 Adult / Young Adult Novels Awards

BEST FANTASY NOVEL:

 

* Seraphina by Rachel Hartman:  After hearing so many good things about this book, I've decided to check it out and I was glad that I did since this turned out to be one of the most unique fantasy novels I had ever read and I can't wait to check out the second book in this series!


BEST CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE:

* The Storyteller by Antonia Michealis: This book has been on my TBR list for a long time and when I finally got around to it, it was nothing like I ever expected from any romance novel!  Because of the surprising twist that happened in this book, this became my all time favorite romance novel of this year!


BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL:

* Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Another popular book that got lots of praise from fellow readers and one that I really enjoyed since it is like "The Hunger Games" in outer space and I can't wait to read more from this series!



FAVORITE HEROINE:
 

*Seraphina from Seraphina: Not only is she a good musician, but the fact that she's half dragon and uses her wits to get out of any trouble really made me connect with this character!


FAVORITE HERO:
 

* Darrow from Red Rising: Seriously, how could I not love a hero who is an awesome fighter and a strategist in a dangerous world and can take on anything thrown at him?


FAVORITE AUTHOR:
 

* Pierce Brown: This was a tough choice since I also wanted to choose Antonia Michaelis for this title, but Pierce Brown's story about a young miner worker trying to survive the dangerous world of Mars really blew me away and he become my favorite author of the year!



BEST QUOTE:

*Red Rising by Pierce Brown:

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more." ~ Darrow and Eo

This quote really sells Eo's dream and the very moment where Darrow goes from meek miner to a strong leader!


BEST COVER:

* Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Seriously , this was one awesome cover as it clearly shows the uprising that will take place in this book!

BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR:

* Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Tough choice once again since I was torn between "Red Rising" and "The Storyteller," but "Red Rising" ultimately made my choice for best novel of the year since it's got action and drama that has rarely been seen in young adult books!

2016 Graphic Novels Awards

 

 

BEST WRITER:

 
*Brian K. Vaughan on Saga  and Paper Girls: Brian K. Vaughan keeps on hitting it out of the park with not only his hit series "Saga," but with his most recent series "Paper Girls!"  He is seriously one writer who knows how to balance character interactions and action all into one page!


BEST ARTIST:
 

* Sana Takeda on Monstress : Sana Takeda's artwork on "Monstress" was truly gorgeous to look at as the pages just glow every time I look at them and I would love to see more of her artwork in the near future!




BEST SUPERHERO GRAPHIC NOVEL:

*Ms. Marvel: No Normal Volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson : After hearing good things about this particular comic book, I've decided to give this series a whirl and now after reading this graphic nove, Kamala Khan has become of my most favorite Marvel heroines to date and I can't wait to read more adventures from her!


BEST NEWSPAPER COMIC BOOK:

*Lio: There's a Monster in my Socks by Mark Tatulli :  Since I mostly had read Garfield and Peanuts in terms of newspaper comics, I was surprised to finally read the "Lio" series and this has certainly become one of my most favorite newspaper comic book series!

BEST SINGLE ISSUES:

 

* Monstress: Awakening Volume 1 (Part 1) by Marjorie Liu : This was the first year that I had actually started reviewing single issues of comic books since I normally review their graphic novel counterparts.  However, Marjorie Liu's "Monstress" series was a great series to read in single issues and I can't wait to read more of this series!

BEST REBOOT SERIES:

* Archie Volume 1: The New Riverdale by Mark Waid: I will admit that when I heard that Archie was getting a reboot, I was a bit skeptical about whether or not this series would be worth buying and if it would even compete with the original comics.  However, I was absolutely blown away by this reboot series as the characters were still faithful to their original portrayals and I'm definitely going to buy more of this series soon!

BEST MANGA SERIES:  

* Rin-Ne by Rumiko Takahashi: I'm a huge fan of anything that Rumiko Takahashi has done over the years and her "Rin-Ne" series hasn't failed to disappoint me and I can't wait  to read more from this series!

BEST HERO: 

*Frank and Joe Hardy from the "Hardy Boys" : Even though the Hardy Boys comics were okay, what made reading those books worth the read is reading about how Frank and Joe Hardy solve the case and their awesome dynamic with each other!

BEST HEROINE: 

* Kamala Khan from "Ms. Marvel" :Thank you!  This was the year that I was introduced to Kamala Khan in "Ms. Marvel" and I'm so glad to make her acquaintance since she has become one of my most favorite Marvel heroines ever created!



BEST NEWCOMING SERIES: 

* I Hate Fairyland: Madly Ever After Volume 1 by Skottie Young: I just seriously loved this comic book because it's an interesting and devious twist on what we come to expect from stories that involves fairy lands and this was seriously one of the greatest deconstructions of the genre I had ever seen!

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR:  

* Saga by Brian K. Vaughan: This series can never fail in entertaining me, even through the sixth volume! I feel like as long as this series keeps getting made, I will always rank this as number one!

 

2016 Picture Book Awards

 

FAVORITE WRITER:

*Jon Klassen: I was introduced to Jon Klassen's work this year and I have to say that I was quite impressed with the twists he puts in children's books as a whole and that's why he's my favorite author of the year!



FAVORITE ILLUSTRATOR:

*Patricia Polacco: Patricia Polacco has won this year again and she truly deserves this honor for her beautiful artwork in "The Art of Miss Chew!"


FUNNIEST PICTURE BOOK:

* I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen:  This was a truly hilarious and awesome as it not only twisted my expectations for children's books, but it was quite hilarious for its rather funny (in a dark way) solution to the main problem!

MOST DRAMATIC PICTURE BOOK:

* The Art of Miss Chew by Patricia Polacco:  Another story that details Patricia Polacco's childhood, this one was probably one of the most inspirational books in Polacco's list of books as it shows us the very teacher who taught Patricia Polacco how to draw with her heart!


BEST FOLKTALE:

* Anansi and the Talking Melon by Eric A. Kimmel : This African folktale is seriously one of the most clever and hilarious folktales I had ever read as it is about Anansi tricking his friends into thinking that the melon can actually talk when it's really him giving the melon a voice and I just enjoyed the hilarious antics that Anansi and the other animals go through in this story!


BEST FAMILY PICTURE BOOK:

* D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown: I am a huge fan of Marc Brown's "Arthur" series and getting introduced to the "D.W." spin off series was worth reading!  I also loved the fact that the them of this book is relatable to any family member who has to deal with a child who is a picky eater!


BEST MESSAGE:

* Rosie the Raven by Helga Bansch: The message in this book about the importance of true family no matter how different you are from your other family members, is portrayed extremely well and this is definitely one book I would go to to learn the true meaning of family!




BEST PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR:

* I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen: Yep! This book won this honor just for being a deconstruction on what we expect to happen in children's books and it was creative while being entertaining about it at the same time!  Definitely one of the best picture books I've read in a long time!

My Year in Books: 2016 Edition!

Hey everyone!  So, here's my yearly book stats for 2016 and even though I still didn't reach 100 books like I originally planned, I still managed to read more books this year than I did last year, which was a huge accomplishment!  This time around, I will not list a TBR list since that usually distracts me from reaching my goals and I feel that I can be much more successful with my reading goals if I just pick whatever book interests me at the moment rather than read a book from an assigned TBR pile (although I'm still trying to lower my TBR list).

So, since it would take me a long time to go back and check back on the books I've read this year, I will cheat a bit and use the Goodreads year in books chart to show everyone what books I've read in 2016!

 

Total Books Read in 2016: 69 (+ 1 2015 Wrap Up Book)

Number of Graphic Novels / Manga Read: 36

Number of Picture Books Read: 27

Number of Young Adult / Adult Books Read: 5

Number of Middle Grade Books Read: 1

Number of NetGalley Books Read: 13

Number of Reading Alley Books Read: 0 

First Book Read: Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Last Book Read: Rosie the Raven by Helga Bransch

What the Statistics Are Telling Me:

* I've noticed that I've read a lot of graphic novels and picture books this year, although that has always been a thing with me when it comes to reading. I've always found graphic novels and picture books easier to read because they are quicker to get through and I can always reach my reading goals a bit faster with picture books and graphic novels.  However, me only reading 5 young adult and adult novels is a bit of a letdown since this would be the year that I've read the lowest number of young adult and adult books ever.

* I've also added in NetGalley and Reading Alley reads to the statistics since I just started using both NetGalley and Reading Alley this year.  I'm surprised that I even read over 13 books for NetGalley this year since this was the first year that I've used it and it's actually quite a large number for a first time user!  As for not reading a book from Reading Alley, because I've joined Reading Alley towards the end of the year, I didn't have enough time to request many books due to trying to get my reads from NetGalley down a level and trying to get the golden 80% rating, which I haven't gotten yet as of this post.

* The fact that I was able to read over 69 books this year was a huge improvement from last year. Even though I didn't read up to 100 books this year like I planned to, it was still an accomplishment to read 20 books more this year than last year!

Things to Improve On:

* I really want to reach up to 80% on NetGalley and I will start requesting more books for next year, but I will also try to continue to read up the books that are still on my NetGalley shelf in order to reach that goal.  I will also try to read more books from Reading Alley and try to read my first Reading Alley book for 2017 "Immortal Flame."

* I'm going to try to read more young adult and adult books in 2017 since that was the lowest number of books I've read for 2016 and since there's a lot of great new books coming out next year, this goal should be easy to get through!

* I probably won't do anymore TBR lists for my reading goals since it only distracts me from reaching my goals and I'm one of those people who prefers to read whatever comes my way rather than going by a set list (even though another goal of my in 2017 is to lower my TBR list down to at least 200 books so I can catch up on books that I haven't read yet).

* I'm not sure about whether or not I should make it my goal to read up to 100 books for 2017 since that's a goal that I have trouble getting through, but I will probably try to read up to 80 books for 2017 and if it turns out that I was able to read up to 80 books midway through 2017, then I will raise my goal up to 100 books or more depending on how much reading I get done next year.

* I'm going to try to read up to at least 5 classic books for next year since I rarely read classic books like "Dracula" and "Frankenstein," but I seriously do need some classic books in my book pile!

* If I can complete at least 6 reading challenges for next year, then that will be a nice goal for me to reach since I'm definitely joining a ton of reading challenges next year!

* I'm so going to try and use more pie graphs and statistics to calculate my book reads since I find that very interesting and it's a good way to keep up with the type of books and ratings you get for your yearly reads!

Top Ten of 2016 Day 5 (December 30, 2016) : Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017!

Hello everyone!  Today's "Top 10 of 2016" topic is "Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017!"  In this topic, I will list the books I am most excited for in 2017 and there are certainly a lot of good books coming out in 2017!  So here are my top 10 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2017 (in no particular order)!


1. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor : March 28th, 2017 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

2. Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh : May 16th, 2017 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

3. Caraval by Stephanie Garber: January 31st 2017 by Flatiron Books

4.  Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo : August 29th 2017 by Random House Books for Young Readers

5. Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer: January 31st 2017 by Feiwel & Friends

6.  Hunted by Meagan Spooner: March 14th 2017 by HarperTeen

7. Iron Gold by Pierce Brown: August 22nd 2017 by Del Rey

8.  Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones : February 7th, 2017 by Thomas Dunne

9.  Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller : February 28th 2017 by Feiwel & Friends

10. The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich : May 16th 2017 by Feiwel & Friends

Book Blogger Hop #13: December 30th - January 5th

Hello everyone! I'm participating in another book meme called the Book Blogger Hop which is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer!  Basically, you just answer weekly questions and then post up your link on the question's page.

This week's question is : 

This week's question is submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer!

Your New Year's Resolution is to read a classic novel that you have never read before. What book will it be?

I've never read Dracula before (yes, I know, I should had), so I'll make it my New Year's goal to read "Dracula!"

Top Ten of 2016 Day 4 (December 29, 2016) : Best Book Boyfriends

Hello everyone!  Today's "Top 10 of 2016" topic is "Top 3 Best Book Boyfriends!"  In this topic, I will list my favorite book boyfriends and since I had only read 3 books this year that really qualified for this topic, I will just list my top 3 Book Boyfriends of 2016.  So here are my top 3 Book Boyfriends (in no particular order)!


1. Darrow from "Red Rising" : I would love to have Darrow as a book boyfriend! A guy who can fight and solve problems using his wits is my kind of guy!

2. Carter Maguire from "Vision in White":  Wow!  A book boyfriend who is not only sexy, but smart and intelligent also!  I seriously love men who love their teaching professions!

3. Prince Lucian Kiggs from "Seraphina": I love a book boyfriend who is extremely perceptive in his surroundings and Kiggs is definitely that guy!

Waiting on Wednesday #21: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Hello everyone! "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that is hosted by Breaking the Spine and the purpose of this event is that we spotlight upcoming releases of books that we are excited for! 

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

 

 

 

 

 

Title:  The Bear and the Nightingale

Author: Katherine Arden

Expected Publication Date:  January 10th, 2017

 

 

 

 

A magical debut novel for readers of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Neil Gaiman’s myth-rich fantasies, The Bear and the Nightingale spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

I have always loved reading Russian folktales and the fact that this book is inspired by Russian folktales makes me want to read this book even more!  Also, evil spirits and demons?  Who doesn't want to read about that?

So, what upcoming books are you looking forward to?  Please respond below!

Top Ten of 2016 Day 3 (December 28, 2016) : Best Debut Authors!

Hello everyone!  Today's "Top 10 of 2016" topic is "Top 10 Best Debut Authors!"  In this topic, I will list my favorite new authors that I was introduced to in 2016!  So here are my top 10 Best Debut Authors (in no particular order)!


1. Skottie Young:  Even though I was introduced to Skottie Young's artwork in the past, I had never read a graphic novel that was written by him and "I Hate Fairyland" seems to be the first graphic novel written by him and I really loved it!

2. Pierce Brown:  I've always heard good things about Pierce Brown's work in the "Red Rising" trilogy and when I picked up "Red Rising," it was quite an enjoyable read!

3. Rachel Hartman : I've heard a lot of good things about Rachel Hartman's works and her book "Seraphina" was definitely worth the read!

4. Antonia Michaelis:  My book friends recommended me the title "The Storyteller" for many years and I just finally got around to reading this book this year!  I think that Antonia Michealis did a brilliant job with twisting our expectations for a romance novel in an extremely intense and brilliant way!

5.  G. Willow Wilson : I've heard a lot of good things about G. Willow Wilson's run on "Ms. Marvel" and this was the first year that I was introduced to her work with "Ms. Marvel" and it was excellent!

6. Nora Roberts: This is the first year that I was introduced to Nora Roberts' works, even though she has created like over 100 books during her career!  "Vision in White" was the first Nora Roberts book I had read and I loved it!

7.  Jon Klassen: I've heard a lot of good things about "I Want My Hat Back" and this was the first year I was introduced to Jon Klassen's work and his dark twists within children's books was definitely worth reading!

8.  Marjorie Liu : After hearing so many good things about her run on X-23, I wanted to check out her works and "Monstress" was the first series I was introduced to her work and it was quite an enjoyable series!

9.  N.D. Stevenson: My book friends once again recommended me another good read called "Nimona" and this was the first graphic novel that introduced me to N.D. Stevenson's works and it was worth picking up!

10. Mark Tatulli: I have read many newspaper comics by a variety of writers, but I had never read anything by Mark Tatulli before and his graphic novel "Lio" There's a Monster in My Socks" was definitely a treat to read!