Bookish Milestones and Favorite Reads of 2016

There are many bad things that happened in 2016, but I have to say it has been a great reading—and fangirling—year for me. I found two new favorite poets, I found some new favorite authors, a bunch of new favorite books, and a series that give me asthma attack, anxiety attack, and makes me cry for months (I'm looking at you, Sarah J. Maas. I'm still crying over Empire of Storms. How dare you?) There are so many great bookish things that happened to me this year, so let's start from my bookish milestones in 2016:

I. I Started a Book Blog (This Blog)

I start this blog with a hesitation. One, because I always abandon my previous blog. Two, because I don't think I could write a great review. But then, the more I think of it, the more I feel like I need to make this blog. Not because I want to be a great reviewer or whatever, but because I need a platform to channel what I feel. This year, I read so many great books, but most of the time I can't find someone to talk to about it because most of my friends are a slower reader than me. I could always go to tumblr, but I've learned that tumblr could be a pretty nasty thing if you have different opinion with major people there. So, I decided to create a book blog. I would be lying if I say I don't care if people read it or not. Of course I would be happy if people want to read my blog, but mostly I did it for my self. I hope I won't abandon this blog in the future.

II. I Made a Bookstagram Account

I pretty much started posting bookish picture on my instagram account when I started this blog, July this year. Then, I found out about bookstagram. It's basically a huge community of bookish people on instagram. If I have to be honest, bookstagram is the kindest book community out there. People are so nice, and accepting there. That doesn't mean that you won't argue about books with other people there, that still happens. BUT, compare to goodreads, tumblr, or even twitter, bookstagram is pretty chill. And I'm so glad that I decided to jump in the bookstagram bandwagon. I've met many people from a lot of different country and backgrounds who give me a bunch of great book recommendations. 

III. I Have Finished All My Reading Challenge for 2016

This is the second year I've finished the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge and Goodreads Challenge. I love to participate in the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge because it's broaden my reading horizon. Without it, maybe I would never find some of the best books I read this year. Maybe I won't even start this blog. So I'm grateful for everyone who create the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge list. I will participate again next year, and I hope I will tackle that for three years in a row.

IV. My Fanarts Got Noticed by Authors

This one actually made me cry. I have started painting again to deal with my anxiety. For me, painting is calming. I learned to paint digitally, and now I have a habit to create some fanarts of a character when I got a book hangover. I'm so lucky that two of my fanarts got noticed by the authors. The first one that got noticed is my fanart of Laia of Serra from The Embers Quartet by the amazing Sabaa Tahir.

If I have to be honest, I was so scared when I upload it on instagram because I hate the nose. This is the first time I paint digitally after one month dealing with ink, thanks to #inktober (Which now I called inknober, because I won't do it again, it stressed me out.) And I just can't get the nose right, I forget how to paint nose. But Sabaa is so nice and she liked it and regrammed it, and that made me so happy. Also, this happened like a couple day before my birthday, so I count it as my birthday gift.

The second fanart of mine that got noticed is of young Paige Mahoney from The Pale Dreamer by Samantha Shannon. I was also scared when I upload it on twitter, because I feel like my interpretation of Paige is not good enough. But turns out Samantha likes it, and I cried. No, really, I cried. I was in a bad place that day, and this thing made me really happy.

I guess, that is all of my bookish milestones this year. Now, without further ado, here are my favorite reads of 2016:

Favorite Fantasy

1) The Throne of Glass Series & A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

2) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

3) An Ember in the Ashes & A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir

4) Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Favorite YA Dystopian & Sci-Fi

1) Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

2) The Mime Order and The Pale Dreamer by Samantha Shannon

Favorite YA Contemporary & Realistic Fiction

1) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

2) Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

3) Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

4) Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Favorite Mystery & Thriller

1) Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

2) The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

3) We Were Liars by E. Lockheart

Favorite Middle-Grade

The Hammer of Thor & The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Favorite Non-Fiction

1) And Still Peace Did Not Come by Agnes Fallah Kamara-Ummuna and Emily Holland

2) Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown

Favorite Contemporary Books

1) Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan

2) Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

3) The Outcast by Okky Madasari

4) The Mango Season by Amulya Malladi

Favorite Poetry Books

1) No Matter the Wreckage by Sarah Kay

2) Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

3) Black Butterfly by Robert M. Drake

Favorite Graphic Novels

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini


Those are all my favorite reads this year. I am so grateful that I found these books and was able to read it this year. Ending 2016 with this blog post feels so right to me. Here's to a better reading year, brighter minds, and finding more great books in 2017. Happy New Year, guys. Cheers!