(I’m posting this very very late, but it’s still January so I guess it’s okay? *oh well*)
We all agree that 2016 was crappy as a whole. But on a personal level 2016 was not too bad. I got my degree in english and american literature and civilisation (including other classes such as translation), I started another year at uni and it’s going great, my boyfriend and I celebrated our four year anniversary, I read a lot of great books, I made some new friends, started this blog…
This post will have 3parts: The first will be about the books I read this year, the second will be about my year on Instagram and then about some new people I started to follow!
My year in books (Here’s the link to my year in books compiled by Goodreads)
I read 153 books this year! My goal was to read 125, I knew I could read more but I’m using the Goodreads Challenge more as a goal than as a challenge because uni life is already stressful enough!
And I read 40,003 pages ! That’s like 100 books of 400 pages, or even 133 books of 300 pages. (Shh I’m having fun with numbers, I’m not doing this often.)
My average rating on goodreads seems to be 3,6. I think that’s mostly because I rate books that I didn’t love with a 3, if they weren’t awful and were just not for me. Plus I often choose carefully the books I’m reading so I’m not disappointed a lot!
My favourite books of 2016
(I’ll try to make this not too long)
On chronological order !
The Raven Cycle, by Maggie Stiefvater
I’m starting by cheating a little because that’s a whole series here, and I read the first one back in 2015. I then waited to read the second and third books closer to the fourth release (in April) so that I wouldn’t have to wait too many months !
I loved the relationship between the characters, their quest and the magic delicately sewn into their world. Really one I would reread and am proud to have made a lot of friends read!
I have to point out that this book series has been called out for having problematic representation regarding the asian characters, I wasn’t aware of this at the time and I recognise now that it is hurtful representation. Here is a tumblr post talking about it, thanks to @novelparadise on twitter who helped me find it!
I hope the author will do better on her next book.
(Goodreads link)
Welcome to Night Vale (Night Vale #1), by Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor
Unfortunately I can’t concentrate to listen to audiobooks nor to listen to podcasts. I only managed to listen to ten episodes of Welcome to Night Vale, but loved it! When I heard there was going to be books based on the podcast I was super happy! And it was awesome in a weird and captivating way.
(Goodreads link)
Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear
SO GOOD. Set in the late 19th century, this is an adult steampunk novel with a diverse cast of character focusing on kickass women trying to solve a murder and save their town.
(Goodreads link)
A Criminal Magic, by Lee Kelly
I reviewed this one 🙂
(Goodreads link)
These Vicious Masks (These Vicious Masks #1), by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas
I also reviewed this one! Wow, I’m impressed with myself there!
Kinda like Pride and Prejudice with a young witty woman and people with special abilities!
(Goodreads link)
The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins
That was something!! Really a book that blew my mind, had never read anything like it. (Quite violent though)
(Goodreads link)
Spider-Woman, Volume 2: New Duds (Spider-Woman #6), by Dennis Hopeless &more
Spider-Woman: Shifting Gears, Volume 1: Baby Talk (Spider-Woman #7)
I really didn’t like the first volume because of the way Jessica was oversexualised. But here she looks as awesome as she is, the redesign saved her for me!
(Goodreads link 1 & 2)
Captain Marvel, Volume 1: Higher, Further, Faster, More (Captain Marvel, Volume VIII #1), by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Goodreads Author) (Writer), David López (Artist)
Captain Marvel, Volume 2: Stay Fly (Captain Marvel, Volume VIII #2), by Kelly Sue DeConnick (Goodreads Author) (Writer), Marcio Takara (Artist), David López
With the movie news I was really excited to finally discover Carol’s character and I loved her greatly. She’s a Star Wars fan!! And she named her cat Chewie ❤
(Goodreads link 1 & 2)
The Cure for Dreaming, by Cat Winters
I loved this SO much! A young woman who stands up for herself, the suffragist movement, hypnosis, all the ingredients of this story worked perfectly together.
(Goodreads link)
Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers #1), by Rachel Aaron
One Good Dragon Deserves Another (Heartstrikers #2), by Rachel Aaron
I reviewed Nice Dragons Finish Last, and I loved the sequel even MORE, if that’s possible! Rachel Aaron (or Rachel Bach) has really become one of my favourite author!
(Goodreads link)
Asteroid Made of Dragons (Spell/Sword #3), by G. Derek Adams
This is not my favourite book BUT I kinda named my blog after this so I guess it still says a lot! Also reviewed it.
(Goodreads link)
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2), by Becky Chambers
Can I count The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in 2016? Because I first read it in 2015 (FAVE) but the US edition was released this summer so…
I wanted to wait to read the companion book because I wanted the smaller paperback but: I just couldn’t wait. Becky Chambers is definitely one of my new favourite authors and I will read ANYTHING she writes. As a matter of fact I preordered a science-fiction anthology because she wrote a story for it.
(Goodreads link)
Culottées (Les Culottées #1), by Pénélope Bagieu
I didn’t read a lot of french book this year unfortunately. I will try to change that, but I’m glad I finished the year with this awesome BD about important women through history. My last review of 2016!
(Goodreads link)
Bookstagram
I had a great year on Instagram! I tried to improve, make efforts and take more time to take better pictures. I went outside more, tried to take advantage of great lightning and mostly of the leaves during my favourite season! Here are my best nine:
AND some other favourites that weren’t featured there :
Book Bloggers
By starting this blog, I also came to know more and more people in the book community. Here are just some blogs that I started following and whose reviews I really like:
It’s All About Books,
Artsy Musings Of A Bibliophile,
Eternal Escapist Blog,
Read Think Ponder,
Bibliosanctum.
There are many more of course but I’d say they are my five favourites 🙂
There are still many books from 2016 that I haven’t read. I’m waiting for some to be released as paperbacks, some I just never got around to read but already own, some I couldn’t find time and/or money for… But I’m hoping to read many great books in 2017! (And my January was really great already!)
Any book you think I definitely should have read? Or did you love the same as I did?
*I loved many more books but I just couldn’t write down all of them here >< *
a dragon in space 
A lot of good books in this post – Karen Memory and Nice Dragons Finish Last are among my favorites. And that UK cover of Sorcerer to the Crown is soooo gorgeous, beats out the US version big time.
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Haha thanks, that was the goal 😉
That UK cover is amazing yes! I’m still tempted to get the US one for my collection since I loved it so much 😍
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Lucille!! ❤ What a lovely wrap up post, and it’s never too late in my opinion!
I’m happy to hear that you had a great 2016. I hope 2017 will be just as wonderful for you!
Holy moly, you read 153 books! That’s AMAZING. Congratulations! I hope you read many amazing books this year and discover some new favourites. ❤ Your bookstagram is BEAUTIFUL. I don’t have a bookstagram, only a personal one, but I’ve been thinking of following some bookstagrams on my personal one anyway. 🙂
And AH, thank you so much for mentioning me. ;___; I feel honoured!! I can’t wait to see more of your blog posts this year. I am thankful and happy we discovered each other’s blogs and Twitter accounts!!
Wishing you all the best for the upcoming year, Lucille!! ❤
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Aww thank you❤️❤️
I hope to find new favourites too 😀 well, I already have so it’s a great start!
And thanks again :’) I actually looked for your Instagram while doing this post because I couldn’t remember following you but I guess this is cleared now that I know you don’t have one haha!
I love your reviews and everything you post so I had to 😀 thank you, your comment really made my day :’) ❤️
Wishing you all the same!! ✨
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My boyfriend and I wrote a discussion post about our 2016 reading years – he said it was completely disappointing, and I was sort of in the middle, lol. But I’m glad you found a lot of good books to read AND that you had such a good personal year! I’m also really glad that I found your Bookstagram account (and now your blog). I love how Bookstagram and book blogging can connect people! (That’s actually how I met my boyfriend. :D)
It makes me happy to see that you loved The Raven Cycle so much! (Although I agree that she could do better in terms of diversity.) I haven’t read The Library at Mount Char yet, but it’s at the top of my list. Since you like comics and science fiction, I recommend Monstress and Saga, if you haven’t read them already!
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Ohhh where could I find this discussion post? 😀 — Compared to 2015, I didn’t read as much favourites, but I’m still happy I did not read anything too disappointing!
Awww yes I really love Bookstagram, I think it’s almost better because a few concise words about why we love a book plus a picture to show its beauty is more impactful! But the blog is great to put more thoughts into it! — Omg that’s so awesome!! 😀 I also met my bf on the internet, on a doctor who fan site x’) ❤
Yep, problematic fave 😦 Did you read her other books? I want to but not sure which one to begin with!
Omg The Library at Mount Char is amazing, nothing like I read before or nothing like what I expected! Be ready!
Haha thank you for the recommendation ❤ I already read a few volumes of Saga and loving it! I also read a few single issues of Monstress and must buy the first volume because it is so beautiful *_*
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Here! 🙂
Exactly! We all know we judge books by their covers, anyway. But really, everyone’s busy, and I do appreciate the brevity of Bookstagram captions. I’m all for short reviews in general, haha.
Ooh, that’s awesome! And you’ve been together for 4 years, so I guess it worked out! I love the internet.
I do think she listens to her critics, but we’ll see if her future books improve. *crosses fingers* I read (and LOVED) The Scorpio Races before reading TRC, but I’m not interested in her other books. Too far into the paranormal romance genre.
I can’t wait!
Monstress is the most gorgeous comic I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.
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Thank you! I’ll go and read it after class 😀
Haha true! I’d rather a book had a very minimalist cover than an ugly one who tries too much :’)
Well, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog 😀 ❤
Yes 4! The internet is awesome \o/
I hope she does, I'm excited about her next book that she announced a few days ago on twitter!
Ohh yeah I've heard a lot about The Scorpio races! I have the ebook, I should read it before the new one!
Yes! I'd be happy just to look at the art 😍
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Thanks! 🙂
Me too! And I’m excited for her Ronan series, whenever that happens. I hope you like The Scorpio Races when you have time to read it!
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Ohhh yes! Ronan wasn’t my favourite character but he sure is the most interesting for a new series! I want to reread the raven cycle while focusing more on him!
I hope too! Thank you 🙂
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Thats a wonderful year indeed. You have reminded me of so many books that are on my TBR, but which I did not read last year. The Maggie Steifvater books have been on TBR forever! Sigh. I loved The Long way to a small angry planet. But i didn’t read the second book. I should pick it up this year
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Ha thanks!:)
I wasn’t expecting anything from the Raven Cycle but was more than pleasantly surprised 🙂 But unfortunately I have to keep reminding myself I should see this as a problematic fave!
I hope you will love Common Orbit! It was both very different than Small Angry Planet and at the same time very similar *can’t find the right words*
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You Bookstagram is fantastic!! Love that picture of Binti. I recently bought the print copy (previously only had the ebook) and I will be taking lot of pictures of it this weekend, alongside Binti: Home. They’re both absolutely gorgeous!
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Aww thank you ❤ I love yours as well, so colourful!
I don't buy tor's novella often since they're kinda expensive for the number of pages but they are still super worth it 😍 I can't wait to get a finished copy of Binti:Home!
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Congrats on getting your degree! And ahh, 153 books?!
The Raven Cycle is AMAZING. I still have yet to read the final book because I don’t want the series to end, but I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed these books. 😊
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Thank you!!
Ahaha yeah! But there were novellas and graphic novels in the list so they’re faster to read 😉
Ohhh i hope you will love the fourth one! I loved it, but I still agree with the negative reviews x’) but I still want te read them all again ❤
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LOVE your list of favorites! So many books I love to or still want to read. Makes me especially happy to see The Raven Cycle and A Monster Calls!
Eeep, thanks for making me part of your favorites ❤ So glad I got to know you last year! Always makes me happy to find people with very similar tastes in books.
(not sure if you are into buddy reads, but if you are, we should totally do that sometime!)
Your picture of Sorcerer to the Crown reminds me that I should get that beautiful print edition and reread before a sequel comes out.
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Aww thanks for your comment(s) 💙
Yes!! So grateful for social media because meeting new people with the same tastes in books is such fun!
(I am! That would be awesome 😀 )
The sequel won’t be out before 2018 so you have time haha! I’m thinking of rereading it when we’ll get the official release date and/or a week before the release of the sequel! Loved it so much 😍
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Yay! Then we only need to find a book to read haha. (shouldn’t be that hard :D)
Then I’ll probably wait until 2018 or else just forget everything again, as always (not that reread AGAIN would be a bad thing…)
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I’m sure it won’t be hard to find!
Hahah I get the feeling 😂 (and now that GR counts rereads… 🙌✨)
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Just checked GR to see if we both already own the same unread books! We both have Behind the Throne and The Aeronaut’s Windlass, and I want to reread Updraft, so that could be an option too orrr we could buddy read a Ken Liu book! (didn’t you want to reread The Smiler’s Fair? then that would be an option too)
I’m so excited about GR having that reread feature! Makes me want to reread even more than I already do.
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That’s a big yes from me for all of these 😀 I have a physical copy of all of them except the Grace of Kings!
Yes!! I used to re-read so much when I was a kid because I didn’t have that many books but I loved it so much! I loved to be able to know everything by heart for my favourites *o*
I’ll try to re-read more this year!
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Yay! Let me know when you want to start any of them. I always reading many books at once anyway so I can start whenever 🙂
Yesss, knowing things by heart is in part why I love rereading! And I got more picky about the books I buy and choose to read, and it’s rare that I pick a book I don’t enjoy these days.
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Okay! I’m not sure about this month but when I’ll think about starting one of these I’ll.. send you a DM on twitter if that’s okay? 🙂
Knowing everything about a book and what happens inside fills me with pride x’)
Oh yeah I also got way more picky because I have not as much time to read as before, so investing time in one and not loving it is a true disappointment (and has become rarer and rarer, thankfully!)
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Yes, Twitter DM is good! 🙂
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