It’s always so interesting to look back over my reading year. I enjoy thinking back on books that I loved, the new authors I may have discovered and of course any surprises I had in my reading. This year, was going great until about mid-Summer when I started a new job and my reading fell off quite a bit. So let’s see exactly how I did.
Here are my stats for 2018:
My favorites in Fiction: Shelter by Jung Yun, Good Evening, Mrs. Craven by Mollie Panter-Downes, This Could Hurt by Jillian Medoff, and The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddon
My favorites in Mystery: City of Lies by Victoria Thompson, Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo, and To Die But Once by Jacqueline Winspear
Other Genre Favorites: How To Travel Without Seeing by Andres Neuman, The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs and Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant by Roz Chast
The Numbers:
Total books read in 2018: 50
Books by women: 42
Books by men: 8
Fiction: 15
Mystery: 25
Non-fiction: 4
Romance: 2
Short Story Collection: 1
Graphic Novel: 1
Poetry Collections: 2
Books in translation: 6 (Spanish, Arabic, Norwegian, Italian, Slovak and Swedish)
Audiobooks: 5
Challenges participated in: 6
Challenges completed: 0
This year was not quite as good as last in that I read 15 fewer books but I still managed to read across several genres with mysteries still being way ahead of the other genres. I was very happy to see two works in translation from languages that I think are probably less represented in the world of books in translation.
The biggest surprise for me were the audiobooks. I listened to five! I’ve always had a commute of about 30 minutes at least but I feel like I finally have found a way to make audiobooks work for me. I typically choose mysteries or “lighter” fare to listen to in case I miss something I don’t feel lost. I don’t listen to books on my commute exclusively. Sometimes I want to hear NPR or listen to music but I’m very excited about having something else I can rely on for my drive.
Let’s talk about challenges for a minute. This is the second year in a row that I participate in that many challenges and don’t complete them. I don’t feel bad but at the same time I’m thinking of taking a break. I think I’ll still join in reading events like Nonfiction November and German Literature Month but no year-long commitments.
How about you? Did your year turnout like you thought it would or any big reading goals for 2019?
Thank you for sharing the book love with me. I always enjoy your comments and visiting with you via our blogs. I hope you have a fabulous year ahead! Happy New Year!
Smiles,
Iliana
My numbers were down this year, too, but it still looks like you had a good reading year. Shelter was my favorite fiction read a couple of years ago and I think it’s great that you’ve found a way to enjoy audiobooks! They are a huge part of my reading life… more this year than ever. Happy 2019!
I took a break from reading challenges this year and it was nice. I liked reading whatever I wanted to without worrying about filling a category or posting a link. But I’m ready to dive back into the reading challenge pool in 2019. 🙂
Iliana, I’m always glad to see a post from you. Challenges have never been my thing at all – always seems like too much pressure. However, I’m working (well, not so much yet) on two of them. We’ll see how it goes. I’m glad that audiobooks are now something you can enjoy. I think they do take a bit of practice for many (they did for me), but they provide a different way to experience the books we love. Happy New Year and looking forward to more book talk with you in 2019.
Happy New Year 🙂 I think 50 books is wonderful. I read more in 2018 than I have in the past few years, but for this year I’m trying to reach at least 35.
I used to listen to audio books often, I need to get back into it. I try not to do too many reading challenges but once in while I will do one or two and I like to participate in the read-a-thons.
Enjoy your week and happy reading!
Although I don’t do challenges any longer, I still add to my list when reading about what others have read in their challenges. Sometimes I set my own goal for reading an author, era, or genre, but so far I haven’t even examined my reading from last year!
It sounds like you had a wonderful year of reading! I’m hoping to read a bit more across genres in the new year myself. I need to try Sworn to Silence asap if you count it as one of your favorites! I hope that you have a wonderful year of reading in 2019! Happy New Year!
Maybe you didn’t read as much as last year, but did you enjoy the books you did read? I hope so! Happy New Year! May there be many happy reading hours in 2019!
I’d stopped participating in reading challenges for a few years and although they’re fun, I feel a bit restricted since I tend to choose books on whim. ;p I still think you were doing great with your reading despite of your busy schedules. Let’s hope this year will be a better year for us in every aspect!
I’ve found that I have a lot more fun signing up for reading challenge than participating in them myself! I have a hard time remembering to link-up the books I read and sometimes I forget to use challenges to guide my reading. So, I’m reconsidering my challenge participation next year too. I think I may try a just a few, but we’ll see!
It sounds like you had a great year and even if you didn’t complete all your challenges, it seems like you had some good experiences with audiobooks and some genre diversity 🙂
I love these posts! 🙂 I see we both read more women this year than men. That seems to be a running pattern with me in recent years. I didn’t listen to very many audiobooks this year, but everything you said–from the type of book you prefer to listen to to listening to them sometimes on your commute–I agree with. That is me too! I hope you have a wonderful New Year, Iliana!