2014 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge: The Winner

Hosted by Erratic Project Junkie

January 6th : Initial eliminations. All rounds of eliminations needed to get the number of contestants reduced to 32. 

January 8th : Elimination to find the Sweet Sixteen.

January 10th : Reducing challengers to eight books - the Elite Eight.

January 13th : Quarterfinals. Determine your Final Four.

January 15th : Semi-Finals. Only two may enter the final arena.

January 17th : Finals...the Champion will be determined. Announce your Book of the Year! 

And that is it Open Road Summer by Emery Lord is my winner. This was a 2014 debut novel for Emery Lord, but she is clearly wise beyond her years. This book seemed like it was written by an author that had already wrote 10 novels. I fell in love with the two main characters, Regan and Lilah. My review can be found here.

I would recommend any book from the top 16 down. Thanks for being apart of my Book of the Year. If you are participating I look forward to finding out your book of the year. Are you surprised by my book of the year? Have you read Open Road Summer? Let Me Know Your Thoughts.

Bout of Books Wrap Up

Bout of Books

Day 1 1/5/15

Catching Fire

pg 128 to 218

Day 2 

Catching Fire

pg 218 to 280

Day 3

Catching Fire

pg 280 to pg 391

Mockingjay

pg 0 to pg 22

Day 4

Mockingjay

pg 22 to pg 76

Day 5

Mockingjay

pg 76 to pg 148

Day 6 

Mockingjay

pg 148 to pg 204

Day 7 1/11/15

Mockingjay

pg 204 to pg 246

Okay so I'm combining my progress and wrap up post for bout of books. I want to make read-a-thons fun and enjoyable again. I read a total of 509 pages in 7 days during Bout of Books.

Books Finished:

I finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins during the read-a-thon. 

Books Started:

I also started Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. I have finished Mockingjay now and I will have a review on both of them up soon. 

2014 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge: Final Two

Hosted by Erratic Project Junkie

January 6th : Initial eliminations. All rounds of eliminations needed to get the number of contestants reduced to 32. 

January 8th : Elimination to find the Sweet Sixteen.

January 10th : Reducing challengers to eight books - the Elite Eight.

January 13th : Quarterfinals. Determine your Final Four.

January 15th : Semi-Finals. Only two may enter the final arena.

January 17th : Finals...the Champion will be determined. Announce your Book of the Year! 

1. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
2. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord

Here's my final two. Which one do you think is going to win. Have I gave you any hints in the previous posts that lead you to think one of these books will win. Let me know below in the comments. I would thoroughly recommend either one of these books and have pushed people to read both of these books throughout this year.

Book of the Year will be Up on January 17th

2014 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge Final Four

Hosted by Erratic Project Junkie

January 6th : Initial eliminations. All rounds of eliminations needed to get the number of contestants reduced to 32. 

January 8th : Elimination to find the Sweet Sixteen.

January 10th : Reducing challengers to eight books - the Elite Eight.

January 13th : Quarterfinals. Determine your Final Four.

January 15th : Semi-Finals. Only two may enter the final arena.

January 17th : Finals...the Champion will be determined. Announce your Book of the Year! 

Books Remaining:
1. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
2. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
3. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
4. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

I'm actually really surprised that most of my series books didn't make it to the final four. The NewSoul series was probably my favorite of this year followed by Burn for Burn trilogy. I had to eliminate City of Heavenly Fire which is A) easily the longest book I have ever read and B) a book I fell in love with. I had to say goodbye to some of my favorite characters. Also The Distance Between Us was not an easy elimination as I loved that book. It was such a sweet read. Incarnate had to be the hardest. I fell in love with Open Road Summer by Emery Lord. I had to let it move on and leave Incarnate behind, but seriously pick up the NewSoul Trilogy. It is great.

Semi Finals post will be up on January 15th followed by The Book of the Year on January 17th.

Top Ten 2014 Releases I wanted to Read, but Didn't Get To

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten 2014 Releases I wanted to Read, but Didn't Get To

1. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins- I had this book checked out from the library, but I wasn't able to get to it before I started my Christmas reads. I will get around to it in early 2015. 

2. Landline by Rainbow Rowell- This is the only Rainbow Rowell book I didn't get around to this year. I love Rainbow Rowell as an author so I'm sure I will get to it soon. 

3. To All the Boys I have Loved Before by Jenny Han- I even own this book so there is no excuse not to read it. I just didn't get around to it in 2014. 

4. The Crystal Heart by Sophie Mason- I am really excited to read this book, but I have to wait for it to get old enough for me to interlibrary loan. 

5. Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson- I'm hoping to start Morgan Matson in general in 2015. I haven't read anything by her so far. 

6. The Dyerville Tales by M.P. Kozlowsky- The Book Monsters loved this book I hope to also. 

7. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith- Another book I own, but haven't read. 

8. Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis- This book looks amazing. I hope to read it in 2015. 

9. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee- I have wanted to read this book since fairy tale fortnight last year, but never got around to it. 

10. Mr. Miracle by Debbie Macomber- This is a Christmas novel so I most likely won't read it until next December, but I would have liked to read it this year. 

I found for this top there were a lot of books I could have listed as 2014 books I didn't get around to.  For reading 21 new releases I still feel like I missed a lot of 2014 releases. I actually still feel like I have a lot of 2013 releases I want to read.