final thoughts on and favorite books of 2015

[CC AVAILABLE]
TALES OF HOW MUCH YA I READ WERE GREATLY EXAGGERATED. I apologize for being bad at maths and also in love with hyperbole.
Also, sometimes my numbers add up to 80 books instead of 79 because I was SURE I was going to finish 80 before the end of the year, and forgot to make the change before noting my stats.
Other end of 2015 videos:
YA heroines of 2015: • YA heroines of 2015
rereading in 2015 + 2016: • rereading in 2015 + 2016
parents of 2015: • parents of 2015
romantic pairings of 2015: • romantic pairings of 2015
least favorite reads of 2015 collab: • least favorite reads o...
favorite reads of 2015 collab: • favorite reads of 2015...
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[@RachelTaylorBooksUndone]

I seriously enjoy these types of videos so much. They are so fascinating.

[@mynameismarines]

+Rachel Taylor (BooksUndone) Me too! I couldn't wait to share and now I'm super stoked about getting to track even! more! statistics! this year. :)

[@AClockworkReader]

Visit from the Goon Squad sounds so interesting, it's definitely on my list to read now. Station Eleven was on my list for the year as well, it's such a lovely, lovely story and definitely one that I didn't expect to love as much as I did.

[@mynameismarines]

+A Clockwork Reader Someone told me to take notes as I was reading A Visit From the Goon Squad and I didn't get it until I jumped in. Each story is connected and it's so interesting that, yep, I ended up taking notes.

[@shewouldstay]

I keep thinking about the food in Ocean at the End of the Lane. There's so much memory and love in those moments.

[@mynameismarines]

+shewouldstay I need to re-read and pay more attention to the food. Mmmm, food.

[@StarstruckFerSure]

The Ocean at the End of the Lane has stayed with me for a year since reading it, has been my favourite Gaiman book by far. BUT I just finished The Graveyard Book yesterday and absolutely loved everything about it. They're now 2 of my all-time favourite books, which made me feel all types of emotions and nostalgia.

[@mynameismarines]

+QueenKhaleesi I mentioned after I read Ocean that it would probably be my favorite until I read Graveyard again and over and over again. Maybe they are my co-favorites. I'm so glad you loved Graveyard. I just love that one to pieces and I'm glad when I hear anyone talking about it fondly.

[@CharlieBookFanatic]

I love how all of your one and two star reads were really popular books on booktube through the year. I actually do the same thing with audiobooks that you do. I'm listening to Emma on the bus to college now, but it's going quite slow and I do tune out quite a bit if I'm not actually reading along.

[@mynameismarines]

+Charlie Book Fanatic I'm doomed to dislike what everyone else is reading, I guess. Emma is one Austen novel I've never read. I reread P&P and Persuasion almost every year so like when am I going to read Emma ever? Too busy rereading byeeeeeeeeee.

[@bookishsophia]

the acotar goodreads rating, lol. i feel the same way. i also feel the same way when i see the goodreads rating for the mortal instruments books. your copy of a visit from the goon squad is so gorgeous! i've only ever seen the paperback version!

[@mynameismarines]

+thebookbasement I loved, loved that cover when I saw it and I knew I need to have it. The color is beautiful. :)

[@PumpkinMozie]

There's something very soothing about your voice

[@girlreading3999]

really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this!! You read so many great books this year!

[@mynameismarines]

+GirlReading Thank you!

[@ConnorOBrien]

A visit from the goon squad is amazing. I love that book! It makes me so happy when people read it and like it

[@mynameismarines]

+Connor O'Brien YOU LOVE IT TOO? I really want to reread it because there it is definitely one of those books I feel like you could get more and more out of the more you read it.

[@ConnorOBrien]

Yeah! I had an option of which book to write a paper on in a creative writing class, and I was the only one who picked this one! Everyone else missed out. I definitely should read it again this year for the same reason.

[@ThePoptimist]

Such many numbers! Everything I Never Told You - killed me, loved it so much. Station Eleven was our One Book One Community read and so I had the chance to meet Emily St. John Mandel as well which was super exciting! Great list!

[@mynameismarines]

+ThePoptimist Thank you! And Everything I Never Told You killed me as well. Everyone was just kind of falling apart in that book and I wanted to hold them all and make it better and yell at them for making it worse, but also I understood them and FEELINGS.

[@lilithcarter]

I love middle earth! I'm glad you joined us. Xx

[@ediedameron5229]

I just purchased Station Eleven and I'm so excited to read it because it sounds to amazing. I love The Ocean at the End of the Lane, it's a book that I find myself thinking of every once in a while. It just stuck with me. I completely love Vicious, it was one of my favorite books of the year as well.

[@mynameismarines]

+EdieDameron I'm exactly the same way about Ocean! There is something about it that really stays with you. I remember specific scenes very vividly, but then also, the general mood and creepiness of the read is easy to recall as well. I hope you love Station Eleven!

[@LittleWordWeaver]

I'm so glad you love the Lord of the Rings! I'm surprised we didn't talk about it more at YALLFest but then again there was so much going on! I also loved the Ocean at the End of the Lane - it's my favorite Neil Gaiman book at the moment. Every time you mention fairyland it makes me want to read them... I'm officially adding them to my 2016 TBR. Happy (belated) New Years!

[@mynameismarines]

+Little Word Weaver NEXT TIME? And hopefully the next time we have a chance to meet, I'll have read The Hobbit as well! That's a goal for me for this year. I've still got a bunch of Gaiman books left to read, but I could basically just read Ocean and Graveyard Book over and over again. :) Happy New Year! I hope all is well ❤️

[@JoceSquibblesReads]

Haha dang, 3.89 average, that's pretty high!! I tend to not 1 star or 5 star books unless I REALLY can't stand them or REALLY love them (and by that I mean shrieking with glee or wailing in good book-pain). I also saw Katie's comment recommending Blankets down below and I totally vouch for Blankets as well. It's my favorite graphic novel of all time and probably one of my favorite books. There are some good, non-pushy pieces about religion and it's an amazing coming of age novel with some lyrical, poetic writing. :)

[@mynameismarines]

+Joce SquibblesReads I don't think I'm so extreme with my ratings. Because I base them off of Goodreads, if I don't like it: one star. If I love it: five stars. Though, for five stars, I do also expect the book to be written well and will not award that star rating based solely on feelings. Um, that sounds like everything I love in life. Okay, okay guys. I need Blankets ASAP.

[@annataylor3708]

I'd love to hear you talk more about your use of the library on book tube. I feel there are a very limited number of book tubers that use the library and if they do, they may not be using all the book resources available (audiobooks, e books, dada bases for magazine articles and inter library loan). Amerie mentioned on her channel that she reads a book from overdrive first and then, if she likes it, she buys the actual book. I think that is so smart! Thanks for plugging the library :D

[@mynameismarines]

+Anna Taylor Because of my goal to be smarter about the library, I'm keeping tabs on what I check out vs. what I read and want to get some total numbers for the end of the year, but this is definitely a topic that will come up again. I too will try to read from the library first, but I think what happened to me last year is that if I got impatient or if my library didn't have something immediately available, I'd buy the ebook. I try to make my library just be books, I've read and loved, but I've got some reading and clearing out to do this year. :)

[@snazzydarcyreads]

Fables sounds like something I'd really enjoy - I'll have to check it out. I've been meaning to get Station Eleven for so long! I must get onto that. Thanks for putting out fantastic videos that I'm always excited to watch! x

[@mynameismarines]

+snazzydarcyreads Thank you so much! I'm loving Fables so much, but then, I'm really a sucker for fairytales. The issues go back and forth from retelling some tales to following our characters in the present day, and I'm enjoying myself a lot. :)

[@DanMartinlikesyou]

Wow. Great list. Great numbers! Thank you for the video, and for reminding me why I need to read Station Eleven.

[@mynameismarines]

+Dan Martin Thank you! I hope you do read it. It's a little strange and very beautiful and quite unlike many of the things I read last year.

[@TOEGS]

Loved hearing all your stats! I kept track of this kind of stuff for most of last year before my travels abroad kind of derailed me. I'm pretty bad about hoarding library books. Like, it's an issue, haha.

[@mynameismarines]

+ThatOneEnglishGradStudent I'm so happy I found some solidarity in these comments. I bring all the books hope and stare at them lovingly. Apparently, though, that's as far as I get. -_-

[@MelbourneOnMyMind]

I've been super good about NOT checking out mountains of books from work at once so that I can actually get through them all. And then the summer holidays rolled around, and I somehow thought it would be a great idea to borrow THIRTY ONE BOOKS. (Admittedly, one of them is New Moon, so it doesn't REALLY count. But still) Also, I understand your Fairyland love now, and the only reason I'm even remotely excited to go back to work next week is that I can grab the rest of the series from the shelves.

[@mynameismarines]

+Melbourne on my Mind ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL? I love it so much. I can't wait to reread it in March. It's going to be fantastic.

[@ShelleensCreativityRoom]

I like hearing reviews even on books that I love and others don't. I loved Shatter Me series. I am also a fan of Twilight. I loved Red Queen and Throne of Glass. I tried several graphic novels and didn't like any. I also tried a manga and couldn't do that.

[@BedtimeBookworm]

I like to get audiobooks and physical books at the same time but more so that I can switch between formats depending on what I'm doing. I've tried reading at the same time as listening but that didn't work for me because I was reading so much faster than the narrator lol.

[@KatieLovestoRead]

I'm not sure if you've read Blankets, it's 600+ page graphic novel. Lots of time for character development and it says some amazing things about religion. Station Eleven ended up being my favourite read of the year, it's so beautiful. I need to read In Perfect Light, I loved Ari and Dante. I also have the problem where I check out a bunch of books from the library and don't end up reading half of them. I need to work on that in 2016 too. I think I may just try and check out less at a time, that may help. I read a lot of graphic novels from the library as all of the libraries in Dublin are interconnected so if one of the 50 libraries has a graphic novel they'll send it to your library within 10 days which is really handy. When none of the branches have a graphic novel ie Chew I normally crack and buy it myself.

[@mynameismarines]

+Katie Loves to Read I've heard of Blankets and it's been on my radar! I want to buy a copy and have actually had it in my cart a couple of times, but end up de-prioritizing it. I gotta commit! I loved In Perfect Light but it was totally heart breaking, fair warning. I feel like if people read it because I say I love it, they might think, "THIS IS THE SADDEST, WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER." Which, legit. I didn't really have a probably not reading stuff I brought home until I realized that I was still buying more Kindle books and reading those than I was reading things I checked out. That's just not what I want to be doing. So, I'm going to try checking out fewer books and see if that pushes me to read them faster and return them actually read. Wish me luck. Chew was one of the graphic novels the library had but all the pages were falling out... This is why I crack and buy them too.

[@BohoBookworm]

Hahaha love the way you describe Twilight. Very surprised you didn't enjoy Shatter Me. They look so good and I've heard such good things on booktube. Need to start picking up graphic novels this year!

[@mynameismarines]

+Boho Bookworm People either love it or hate it, and I feel like the vast majority of people love it. I abhorred the writing and thought the plot and characters were run of the mill, YA dystopian. If you are a dystopian lover, probably you'll get along with this book, but I just did not.

[@j030977]

Could not finish "Shatter Me," I am so glad that I am not alone with that. I really tried!!

[@mynameismarines]

+j030977 I only finished because I had a reading partner who kept sending me encouraging emails. It was so bad. So, so bad. Blech.

[@booksaremysociallife]

I just got a copy of The girl who circumnavigated fairy land. I'm really pumped to read it! :D

[@mynameismarines]

+Books are my Social Life I hope you love it! If not, it's okay! I LOVE IT ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE.

[@booksaremysociallife]

Ahahaha lol

[@Robbieleecats]

I have this library problem where I bring home a bag of books, but I only get to a couple of them before they need to go back to the library. Perhaps this is something that is happening to you. I'm actually going back to a few of the books that I got about 100 pages into but had to return. I notice that everyone is into graphic novels, but I just am not interested in them. My library doesn't have any, so I can't look them over before buying them. I just can't get into them. I understand the people who get into them for the art, but I like my stories and characters to be fleshed out. I'm just not sure a graphic novel would do that for me. I also don't go in for super heroes or anything like that, and I know there's more than that out there. But...

[@mynameismarines]

+Dawn W That's totally what's happening to me. I have a book right now that I need to return, that I'm halfway through and I just don't know if it's going to get read. Graphic novels are definitely not for everyone. For the most part, I have 3-4 star feelings about most of them, but every once in a wile, I find something I can really sink my teeth into them. The art is a big pull, but I short stories that can convey a lot of information and emotion are impressive and beautiful in their own right. For me, though, it was kind of like I had to kiss a few frogs before I found what worked for me. I need to either have longer graphic novels, or else I need to jump into something that already has a handful of issues or bind-ups out, so I can marathon them. If you feel so strongly that you won't like them, though, spend your resources elsewhere!

[@welldonebooks]

i check out way more books from the library than i end up reading >.< i just get excited when i see it on Overdrive and then i have too many checked out to read before i have to return them. im trying to be more conservative in my selections, knowing that those books will still be around whenever i want to get them.

[@mynameismarines]

+WellDoneBooks This is me all day everyday. I'm always maxed out on my checkouts and then I'm haggling with myself because of course there is another book I need OMG right now. While I'm definitely a mood reader, and quite alright with that, I have to figure out a way to focus myself. This is crazy.

[@readsusiereads]

+mynameismarines +WellDoneBooks I'm so bad about this. Mostly because I work in my local library. :)

[@Ludesto]

which beautiful colorful books are those behind you? :)

[@sarahannereads]

I haven't actually read ACOTAR, but knowing how similar our reading tastes historically have been, every time I see someone sing the praises of it, I'm like, "Yea...we probably won't like the same books." Lol. Station Eleven was my first book of the year and...it just might be one of my favorites of the year. It's gonna be hard to beat. Haha. And LotR.

[@mynameismarines]

+sarahannereads I saw ACOTAR on a lot of favorite reads of 2015 lists and every time it hurt my heart a little bit. Wasn't it lovely? I was expecting something so different and I got this multilayered and multifaceted look at society and interpersonal connections and survival and IT WAS SO GOOD.

[@sarahannereads]

+mynameismarines I didn't really know what to expect other than a post-apocalyptic something or other, but goodness, it was amazing. AMAZING.

I love statistics, and numbers, and breaking down what you read! I am a bit of a numbers-nerd, I guess :-). And I am really curious to hear your thoughts on Station 11 because I had the exact opposite experience: I went in with very high expectations & was quite disappointed. (Which probably shows that having high expectations can work against a book).

[@mynameismarines]

+Britta Böhler The synopsis I heard most often about a traveling group of actors didn't really appeal to me, so while I had heard amazing things, I was going in hesitantly. And then it turned out to be this whole other, albeit strange, story and I loved it. It wasn't perfect, especially in the development of the one clear antagonist, but I loved so much of what it had to say and all the ways the people were connected and the way it made me think about humanity and survival. But yeah, if someone tells me they didn't like it, I wouldn't have a hard time seeing that.

mynameismarines Thank you for sharing your thoughts, interesting! My main problem was that I thought it all 'tied up' much too neat in the end and I saw it coming from afar (especially the identity of the 'preacher'). But: given the fact that you enjoyed it so much I will re-read it :-).

[@mynameismarines]

+Britta Böhler I don't know that I would recommend a re-read because both of those things you say your disliked I also found to be true. It IS tied up pretty neatly and the preacher was the weakest part of the story for me. I just found most of the other story was so well done, that it still equaled out to a really great read for me. If those two elements, though, dragged down your experience, that really isn't something I think will be "cured" by a reread. Not sure if I'm making sense, but just wanted you to know that I noticed both those things as well. :)

mynameismarines As always, you are making perfect sense :-)

[@WhyMermaids]

Haha! I think I read more women than men last year too, but I also read the entire Harry Potter series again... but even without that, I'm pretty sure women outranked men. Yay women! :) And yea, I'm pretty sure I'm very quickly reading through my library's graphic novel selection as well. Reading library checkouts is tough! I usually don't get around to reading it until I've maxed out the renews. I'm definitely going to check out Fables though... like you, I have a hard time really loving graphic novels because I feel like I'm not getting enough story-wise, so that sounds awesome. Station Eleven!

[@mynameismarines]

+WhyMermaids Sometime my library has it but it's in terrible shape. I tried to get Chew out and there were pages missing. -_- I had four books out recently and I returned them all unread because time. Time is hard. I have two more out now so let's see how that goes.

[@WhyMermaids]

mynameismarines I think I have like... 12? But a bunch of them are manga and graphic novels, so I don't feel AS bad, lol

[@DaniellaBooks]

When you listen to your books as you read, what speed do you listen to it on? Because I remember you saying you watch YT videos sped up and was curious if you do the same for audiobooks. x

[@mynameismarines]

+PixieTonic If I'm listening in the car, without reading along, it's 1.5x speed. If I'm reading along, 2x speed. I don't think I've ever listened to an audiobook on normal speed, EVER. Speeding things up is the way to go.

[@EmilyHornburg]

I'm the same with graphic novels. Granted, I haven't really read many. But I read an Interview with the Vampire adaptation and it was good, but found it lacking simply because it was so short. If it hadn't had the background of the novel, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.

[@mynameismarines]

+Emily Hornburg Yep, I totally get what you mean. There were multiple things I read this year that were beautiful and had really great premises, but it just felt like it was over before we ever took off.

[@EmilyHornburg]

mynameismarines which is why I've been hesitant to pick up more, other than ones which are based on novels. Ex. Dresden Files

[@LetsReadSFF]

A full year on wondrous books. I know you've already read through Lord of the Rings but the BBC audio drama is really nice as well.

[@mynameismarines]

+Let's Read I read The Fellowship of the Ring initially in 2014 and was just happy to get through it. After hearing someone rave about the audio drama, I checked it out and I loved it. That's what inspired me to listen to the unabridged version and read along and after that, I just finished off the rest of the series. I have to try out the dramatized version for the last two books... AND I'VE NEVER SEEN THOSE MOVIES. Lots of happiness in my future.

[@LetsReadSFF]

Wow. I'd give anything to be you right now.

[@ArteoftheMist]

I don't understand the goodreads rating of a Court of Thorns and Roses - WHY?!

[@mynameismarines]

+Artemist OKAY, RIGHT? I know the PC thing to say is that everyone has their own tastes and etc but honestly, that rating just BAFFLES me. THIS BOOK WAS TERRIBLE. Sorry. Sorry. Everyone has their own tastes.

[@ArteoftheMist]

mynameismarines lol...but it WAS terrible..