My Year in Review 2017

I love GoodReads because it filters my right-brained reading into my left brained love of organization and statistics. Who doesn't love looking at the breakdowns of GR's Year in Books.

Because I take such meticulous notes of everything, I decided to go a step further and do my own Year in Review: 2017!

First, a breakdown of Books Read Per Month. Out of a total of 63 books:

Genres and Age Demographic. My genres are fairly consistent over the years (except I only read two plays this year!) and the bulk of my reading was YA.

Publication Year and Rating. I try to read a lot of books published within the year, which I kept with, but surprisingly, no classics this year! The earliest books were Angels in America, 1992 and 1993. As for rating, oh my, do I love to give 3 stars!

I had a good mix of Series vs. Stand Alone, but my Format was wildly skewed to E-Books! A lot were ARCs from publishers, and I also read a lot more indie books from Amazon this year. Here's a graph for my Sources, too.

Now let's talk diversity. For Gender of Author, I read mostly female authors, but The Gender of the Main Character was heavily skewed to men.

Well, I get an F for Cultural and Ethnic Diversity. That will have to be a goal for 2018.

The biggest one I was personally interested in was sexuality and gender identity diversity. I changed gears this year and made a huge focus on reviewing LGBTQIA+ literature. As anyone who tries to do this has probably realized, though, is that there is a huge propensity to exploitive literature written by (primarily) cis women about gay men. So here's my LGBTQIA+ Diversity and Own Voices breakdown, as well as a more detailed look into the LGBTQIA+ Spread.

Did anyone else do a 2017 reading breakdown? Post a link below! I'd love to compare!

My Favorite Books Released in 2017

1. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater (Pub. October 10)

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.

2. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (Pub. September 5)

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.

3. A Wolf in Hunter's Clothing (The Sum of Its Parts #5) by E.M. Holloway (Pub. July 29)

Puck is hoping for a relaxing summer, but fate has other plans in mind. Every three years, the hunting community gathers to share information and discuss tactics and strategy. This year, Alex Durand is given the honor of hosting, which means that over a hundred hunters are descending on Arcadia Lake.

4. Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare (Pub. May 23)

A Shadowhunter’s life is bound by duty. Constrained by honor. The word of a Shadowhunter is a solemn pledge, and no vow is more sacred than the vow that binds parabatai, warrior partners—sworn to fight together, die together, but never to fall in love.

Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides?

Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile, rising tension between Shadowhunters and Downworlders has produced the Cohort, an extremist group of Shadowhunters dedicated to registering Downworlders and “unsuitable” Nephilim. They’ll do anything in their power to expose Julian’s secrets and take the Los Angeles Institute for their own.

When Downworlders turn against the Clave, a new threat rises in the form of the Lord of Shadows—the Unseelie King, who sends his greatest warriors to slaughter those with Blackthorn blood and seize the Black Volume. As dangers close in, Julian devises a risky scheme that depends on the cooperation of an unpredictable enemy. But success may come with a price he and Emma cannot even imagine, one that will bring with it a reckoning of blood that could have repercussions for everyone and everything they hold dear.

5. Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb (Pub. August 22)

Avi comes across these foreboding words scrawled on the bathroom mirror, but what do they mean? Is this a curse, a prediction, or a threat from Avi's emboldened bullies? And how to they know his real name when he hasn't even told his mother yet?

Then there is Ian—the cool new guy at school, who is suddenly paying attention to Avi. Ian is just like Avi, but he is also all sunshine, optimism, and magic. All the things that Avi doesn't know how to deal with...yet.

A romantic, #ownvoices fairy tale for trans boys.
Honorable Mentions: Mick & Michelle by Nina Rossing, Peter Darling by Austin Chant, The Gentlemen's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Check-In and Fall TBR

Hello, lovely followers!

It's been a while since I've written anything personal. I'm still chugging along and reading and reviewing up a fever, but some major life changes have kept me from focusing on my blog all that much. I'm going to try to change that, though! Reading and connecting with fellow book lovers is something that brings me a lot of joy, and I want to kindle that kind of positivity in my life.

Moving forward with the season, I want to take my TBR more seriously, so here is a super-serious totally-going-to-be-followed Fall TBR! There are so many amazing book releases I've had on my calendar for ages. I'm also making a huge push to read more indie LGBTQIA+ books and support that kick-ass corner of the writing community. This list will keep growing, so please feel free to drop a req below!

Cheers,
Nina @ Looseleaf Reviews

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1. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green [GR / Review]
2. All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater [GR / Review]
3. A Wolf in Hunter's Clothing (The Sum of Its Parts #5) by E.M. Hollway [GR / Review]
4. Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J. Maas [GR / Review]
5. Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater [GR / Review]
6. The Empress (Diabolic #2) by S.J. Kincaid [GR / Review]
7. One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) by Kendare Blake [GR / Review]
8. A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #2) by V.E. Schwab [GR / Review]
9. It's Not Like It's a Secret by Misa Sugiura [GR / Review]
10. Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb [GR / Review]
11. Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3) by William Ritter [GR / Review]
12. Leo Love Aries (Signs of Love #1) by Anyta Sunday [GR / Review]
13. Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg [GR / Review]
14. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera [GR / Review]
15. Loving Lakyn by Charlotte Reagan [GR / Review]
16. Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg [GR / Review]