It definitely wouldn't be impossible for someone your size to gain 35 lbs. in a year, but the ability to do so is RARE.
In August 2004 I switched from machine weights to free weights. I also greatly upped my protein intake (and caloric intake in general) to support my lifting. At the time I weighed 160 lbs.
By May 2005, nine months later, I weighed 207 lbs. (You can see before and after pics in my profile.) To be fair, I'm betting that 5-10 lbs. of what I gained was fat, just because I was eating SO much ... I spent a good chunk of the next two years tweaking my diets and workout to try to burn off some of that unwanted mass.
So clearly gaining 35 lbs. in a year CAN be done. That said, any bodybuilder I've ever told about my 47-lb. gain in 9 months has been blown away by it ... so I think it is VERY unusual, and that I'm an abnormally "easy gainer" of mass.
Your gains with weights are largely determined by genetics ... and I'd say that for most people, a gain of 35 lbs. in a year is unrealistic to impossible. It is very important to be realistic about what's possible based on your body type, lest you become disillusioned at not reaching your goals and give up entirely. If you're a strong ectomorph, 35 lbs. in a year is probably not doable, but it might happen if you're solidly endomorphic. You never know until you try.
It is very important to focus on diet if you want to gain mass. I tell people that I attribute half my gains of 4-5 years ago to diet, with the other half coming from the lifting itself. So you are smart to pay more attention to what you are eating to support your lifting and muscle gain.
Whey protein is generally considered integral to gaining mass through weightlifting. Simply put, it's hard to shovel that much lean protein into yourself through meals alone, unless you are eating a half-dozen chicken breasts or cans of tuna a day.
Frankly, I think most brands are fairly interchangeable if you look at the nutritionals -- most offer 20-25g of protein, <2g fat, and <5g carbs per scoop of powder. For most lifters the choice comes down to taste. (You're not gonna get any benefit if you can't gag down the shake, right?)
I've had good luck with Optimum Nutrition's shakes; my current fave is the rocky road flavor. You can buy a
sampler on Amazon to try some flavors and see what you like before committing to a $40 5-lb. tub.
Good luck!
Steve