My year in reading, some statistics and goals for 2019

This post is going to be a bit long and analytical, but hey some people like that stuff.  I know I do.  In my day job I'm a data analyst, what does that mean?  I play with numbers and build data visuals to tell people stuff, sometimes they like it and sometimes they don't.  Hopefully you find it interesting.  It's pretty nerdy I know, but I'm a nerd at heart so...here are the numbers and what I learned from my year in reading.

I set out to read 75 books this year.  Goodreads will tell you that I read 151 books, pretty impressive huh?  That is 51 more than last year.  I attribute most of that to audiobooks, I listened to a lot more audiobooks this year than I did in 2017.

On to the statistics.

I read 78 print books this year so I met my goal there, I also listened to 73 audiobooks.  This confirms that I've been able to almost double my reading by adding audiobooks to my routine.  Here's where really get into the numbers.

Audiobooks - All but 2 of the audiobooks I listened to this year came from the library via Overdrive or Hoopla.  The 2 I "own" were free downloads from Penguin Random House's Volumes App.  They usually do a monthly free book.  Check out the link to their facebook for announcements.

The Format of Books I Read

I'm going to breakdown the format of the books and where I got them because I thought it was an interesting statistic.  It is pretty telling that I do most of my reading from the library.  I have a physical bookshelf and a Kindle full of books, and these numbers tell me that I need to read the stuff I've spent my money on.  I support the library, as you can tell, and you should too.  Libraries are important people.  One of my goals for 2019 is to read more of the books I have already purchased (both ebook and physical book) while continuing to support my library.

• Ebooks - 66 read
• 31 ARCs
• 15 Owned
• 21 Borrowed from the library
• Hardback Books - 3 Read
• 1 Owned 
• 2 Borrowed from the library 
• Paperback books - 8 read
• 3 ARCs
• 3 Owned
• 2 Borrowed from the library

Where all of my books came from this year

As you can see from the above stats, I get a lot of books from my library.  Even some of the books I bought came from local library sales this year.  A large portion of the books I read in 2018 were ARCs.  I received 34 ARCs from various sources in 2018, which made up a significant amount of the books I read this year.  I can't express how grateful I am that publishers and authors allow me to read and review their work early.  I read some really wonderful books this year because of these opportunities.

I reviewed 83 of the 145 books I read this year.  I'd like improve that number in 2019.  I'm really bad about reviewing audiobooks.  I also didn't review a lot of the books I read that weren't ARCs.  I reviewed a lot of books, just not as many as I could have.

Goals for 2019

• Read more of my own books.  I have a ton of books that I keep buying and not reading.  Clearly I need to show some love to the books I bought.
• Review books after I finish them.  If I don't do it right away I won't ever get to it.
• Keep supporting the library.  I use the library for most of my audiobooks and I don't see that stopping.  I'll probably never stop requesting e-books either.
• Be more selective with ARC requests.  I love reviewing books, but I always have way too many due for review at the same time.  Then I feel bad because they are overdue and I get into a slump.  I do always post them though, even if they are a little late.
• Be more active on social media (instagram and facebook).  

January TBR

January starts another year which means new reading challenge prompts and new reading goals.  I have a couple of ARCs to read and review in January and February.  I'm participating in the Popsugar Reading Challenge again, and I think I'm going to try out the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge.  Some of the prompts overlap so it shouldn't be too hard.  Bookish also has a 2019 reading challenge that looks pretty interesting if you are looking to expand your reading horizons.

• 2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
• Bookish’s 2019 Reading Challenge: 52 Ways to #KillYourTBR
Book Riot’s 2019 Read Harder Challenge

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• White Stag by Kara Barberi
• This is the first book in a new YA Fantasy series.  This has some Norse mythology and deals with goblins.  I love a good mythology centered fantasy and goblins isn't something you see very often.  I started this in December.  I really like it.  So far it is brutal, violent, and well written.
• Freefall by Jessica Barry
• This is a mystery/thriller out on January 8th.  There's a plane crash, and a mother/daughter that are separated and determined to find one another.
• Firestarter by Tara Sim
• This is is a January release and the 3rd book in the Timekeeper series.  I've really enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to finding out how our Clock Spirit and Clock Mechanic fair in this installment.  This comes out on January 15th.
• Moonlight Scandals by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• I love this series about three intimidating brothers and their super creepy house in New Orleans.  You aren't sure if it is haunted or not but weird stuff happens there all the time.  This book follows Devlin the eldest brother and a sexy ghost hunter names Rosie.  This is a romance so I'm sure it will be steamy and awesome like the other 2 books.  I'm really happy I got an ARC.  This comes out on January 29th.
• The Last Life of Prince Alastor by Alexandra Bracken
• I really loved the first book in the Prosper Redding series.  It is a fun middle grade book about a vengeful spirit that has taken up residence in the body of a young boy.  His family is cursed and he's the lucky one that has to pay for past crimes.  To save his sister, Prosper has to make another deal and hope that betrayal isn't in his future.  This comes out in early February.

Audiobooks

I'm not sure what I'm going to listen to this month.  I have a bunch of stuff on hold.  I have a couple of audiobooks on my phone that I can listen to and a ton of stuff on Hoopla that I want to get to.  We'll see where the month takes me.

December Wrap Up

December was a pretty good reading month, especially with audiobooks.  I completed the Popsugar reading challenge.  I always get a little slumpy as the end of the challenge approaches.  Last year I was reading a book I really didn't like and it took me forever to finish.  This year I was reading something I actually liked, but it still dragged on a bit because there was a bit of pressure to finish up.  I also have a few ARCs and reviews looming for January, so it starts to feel like work not fun.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• I'm so glad I finally read this.  I really enjoyed it and can't wait to see what happens in Crooked Kingdom.  There are so many twists and turns.  This finished up my challenge for a book with an animal in the title.  
• Vicious by V.E. Schwab
• I've been meaning to read this forever.  It started off slow for me for a couple of reasons.  It was one of my last reading prompts (anti-hero/villain) and I think I overhyped it so I had really high expectations.  Once I settled in I really began to enjoy it.  Looking forward to the next book.
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling 
• This was my final challenge book (turned into a screenplay/play).  Since it is a play script I went with it.  I actually really enjoyed it.  Not much to say about Harry Potter, but I liked that this takes place later on, and is focused on his son.  We see Harry in a different light and as a parent with realistic parent struggles that have nothing to do with magic. As a mom I totally relate.

Audiobooks

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
• I really loved this.  I think I will finish the series in book format.  I feel like I kept missing things in audio, which is a problem I have with fantasy sometimes.  The narration was great, but I would have liked to go back a page and reread things I was confused about.  This is an awesome book and deserves all the hype it gets.  It is so unique and the author keeps things interesting.
• The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
• This completed challenge prompt book for a book involving a bookstore or a library.  It involves both.  My mom gave me her paperback a while back, but I opted for the audio.  This is a really cute book, but the main character, Nina I found to be infuriating at times.  She was a bit too clueless and weak for my taste.  I just wanted to shake her and yell at her for most of the book.  She eventually got it together, so it all kind of worked out.  
• Don't Put Me in Coach by Mark Titus
• As I anticipated this book was a challenge for me to complete.  The writing was actually pretty good, but the author's sense of humor just isn't to my taste.  I listened to about half of the audiobook then switched to the e-book to finish up which I found a little easier to handle.  It was fairly short.  I enjoyed hearing about the basketball, but the immaturity and vulgarity was a bit too much for my liking.  This did knock out a challenge prompt for me or else I would have DNFed based on my personal taste.
• Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness
• I really loved the Discovery of Witches Series, and when I heard there was a new book out I requested it from the library right away.  I really loved seeing Diana and Matthew and their children, as well as the rest of the family and get to know Marcus and Phoebe more.  This was kind of all over the place as it jumps timelines and switches character POVs.  There isn't really a plot, it is more character driven story telling.  I liked learning about the characters, but there wasn't really a plot to keep the story focused as with the original trilogy..
• The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
• This is a strange little story about a girl who finds out that she isn't who she thought she was.  The bad luck that has followed her and her mother around is actually part of a strange fairy tale world that she is connected to.  Its an OK read, not good not bad.  The fairy tales are pretty dark.  I expected to like it more than I did.
• Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
• I really loved this.  The audio is told in case files, but it is done with a full cast.  It is very well done.  This team of scientists and military/government personnel are tasked with unearthing and discovering the origins and functions of this artifact.  I really liked the premise of the story.  The book is fast paced, not terribly long.
• Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
• I really love this series.  It is a lot of fun.  I love the full cast and the fast pace.  I was able to start this directly after Sleeping Giants.  I'm a sucker for aliens, robots, and science fiction.  I'm on the waiting list for the 3rd book and can't wait to finish the series.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Didn't Get to in 2018

This week's topic:

Books You Didn't Get to in 2018

Discuss the books you didn't quite get around to this year but are at the top of your list for 2019! 

If you celebrated Christmas yesterday, I hope you had a good one!  Did you get any books or bookish goodies?  I got 2 new bookshelves.  I'm very thankful for them, as my lone shelf was overflowing.  Other than that we had a nice family day, I can't really ask for much more than that.

With the year coming to an end this week's topic is kind of perfect.  I spent most of the month wrapping up the remaining reading prompts I had for the Popsugar Reading Challenge.  I have about 20 pages left in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which I plan to finish as soon as I get this post up, then I'm done with the 2018 list.  I really love working on the challenge because it gets me to read things I normally wouldn't and I still get to read a majority of books I wanted to read anyway.  I have a huge list of books I meant to get to this year, narrowing it down to 5 was really tough.  These are all books I bought in the last year but never read for one reason or another.  I've realized that I tend to put off reading books I own because I prioritize the books I get from the library and the ARCs I receive first.

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• 
• I bought this after Christmas last year when it was on sale in the kindle store.  Kate Quinn has been known to join us in our Popsugar Challenge facebook group from time to time for Q&A sessions.  This spans WWI and WWII and involves female spies.  For a lover of wartime historical fiction it sounds like something I would really enjoy.
• Radium Girls by Kate Moore
• 
• This has gotten so many good reviews.  I'm not a big nonfiction reader, but this really intrigues me.  I bought it on sale as well.  I've read several amazing non-fiction books over the last 2 years and I bought this hoping to read another.  This is one I need to make a priority.  It tells the story of the women who worked with radium, which was a wonderful substance at the time, but they didn't know that it was poisoning them.  
• Attitude by Jay Wright
• 
• Both of my boys play basketball and we are a huge NCAA basketball family.  Go Cuse!  It is pretty much the only thing on TV on our house from October until the championship game in late March/early April.  I really respect Jay Wright as a coach and I look forward to seeing his team play every year.  I bought this for my sons to read, but no reason I can't read it too. I had it slated as a book challenge prompt for a book involving a sport this year but as time was running out, I read a much shorter book and I really regret my choice.  I didn't really enjoy it, other than the fact that I finished it in a day.  Good news is I own this and I can read it in 2019 when I have more time to devote to it.
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• 
• This is another one I bought on sale and never picked up again.  I really enjoy this type of historical fiction.  This has come highly recommended by many fans of the genre.  It is high on my list of things to get to in 2019.
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• 
• I love mythology of any type.  I find it fascinating.  I bought a hardback of this at a book sale a while back and never picked it up again.  I heard the audio is great and might get to it that way.  I know Hoopla has it.  My husband and I watch Vikings and I really love the mythology that they weave into the show and hope to learn more about it.  I actually find the behind the scenes history episodes more interesting than the show itself.

Top 5 Wednesday: Most Anticipated 2019 Releases

This week's topic:

Most Anticipated 2019 Releases 

Pretty self-explanatory. 

There are a bunch of good books coming out this year.  I've got my eye on a couple of series that have new books coming out this year.  These are just a few I'm really looking forward to in 2019.  What are you anticipated releases for the new year?

• The Dragon Republic by RF Kuang
• I loved the Poppy War and can't wait to see what happens next.  This was a brutal, epic fantasy and I really loved it.  The sequel has big shoes to fill, but I expect it will.
• This is expected to come out in May.
• 
• Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
• I really love the Witchlands series.  I'm looking forward to getting to know Aeduan more, and follow Safi and Iseult on their adventures.
• This is expected out in February.   I highly recommend the audiobooks if you are an audio person.
• 
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Jen is one of my favorite authors, and her Dark Elements series is possibly my favorite of her YA series.  This is a spin off to the original series and will focus on Zayne, one of the main characters from the original series.  
• This is expected out in June.
• 
• Shadowglass by Rin Chupeco
• This is a great fantasy series.  I'm really looking forward to finding out how Tea manages to use her powers as a Bone Witch to get revenge on those who have wronged her.
• This is expected out in March.
• 
• Kingsbane by Claire Legrand
• This is the sequel to Furyborn.  This is such an interesting series.  The first book left us with just enough information to be satisfied, but wanting more.  I'm looking forward to learning more about Rielle, Corien, Simon, and Eliana and how this story ends.
• This is expected out in May.
• 

Top 5 Wednesday: Books to Give as Gifts

This week's Topic:

December 12: Books to Give _____ as Gifts

Create a recommendations guide for a person. Be creative with this. It can be simple such as "books for parents", more elaborate like "books for Ravenclaws", or expert level like "books for -insert your favorite fictional character here-". You can even take out the category completely and have all 5 be suggestions for different types of people!

I'm going with books to give young readers as gifts.  I'm leaving Harry Potter out because, that's obvious.  I have a voracious 10 year old reader, and I'm always trying to find series that will keep him entertained and engaged.  

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan
• I also recommend the Heroes of Olympus series.  I really enjoyed all 10 books.  If you have a reader who likes mythology this is a great gift option.
• The Inheritance Cycle Series by Christopher Paolini
• I enjoyed this fantasy series, and my 10 year old read it this past year and loved it as well.  It was nice to share a series we both liked.  This has magic, dragons, adventure, and action.  
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• This is for the more advanced young reader or any reader for that matter.  If you enjoy historical fiction with a focus on WWII, I highly recommend it.
• The Land of Stories Series by Chris Colfer
• My son loved this series, and with fairy tale retellings on the rise this is a great gift for a young reader. 
• The Wings of Fire Series by Tui T. Suitland
• This is my son's favorite series.  Whenever I ask him what books he wants it is the next book in this series.  There are 12 books in this fantasy series about dragons and more to come, so that will keep you reader busy for a little while.  

Top 5 Wednesday: Book Wish List

December is upon us and that means many holidays as well.  My family celebrates Christmas, and while we haven't quite put up the tree our outdoor decorations are up.  My husband embodies Clark Griswold each year and puts up more lights than any one house really needs, and synchronizes them to music.  Clark would be proud and its fun and the kids in the neighborhood enjoy it.

This week's topic is:

Book Wish List If you celebrate a gift-giving holiday this time of year, or even if you don't, talk about the books or bookish items you have on your wishlist!

• I actually asked my husband for a new bookshelf (or 2) for Christmas because mine is overflowing and I've got books all over the place in our guest bedroom.  It is getting a bit out of hand
• An Amazon gift card is always a good idea since I read on my Kindle alot, and I like to use gift cards to buy e-books.  I have a long wish list of books I want to buy, some I've read and want to buy and some I want to read.
• As for physical books, I'd like a copy of Time's Convert by Deborah Harkness.  I have the other books in the series and this would finish up the collection.
• 
• I'd like a hardback copy of Intensity by Sherrilyn Kenyon, with this particular cover.  I read an ARC of this so I haven't been in a hurry to buy it because the cover didn't match, but I have all of the other books in the series so I'd like to finish out my set.  This was self published with a different cover, now I think the original publisher is going to publish it with the regular covers so they will match.  If the cover matches I'd happily add it to my collection.  I'd like to reread the series at some point and I'd like to share it with my boys because I think they'd like it and it was geared toward YA boys.
• 
• The last book I think I'd like is Death Doesn't Bargain by Sherrilyn Kenyon.  This the second book in the Deadman's Cross series and I have most of her other books.  
• 

December TBR

Most of these are for my reading challenge prompts, so I'll be reading those by the end of the year.  Most of these were on my TBR for November and I just didn't get to them.  I also have a couple of ARCs for books that come out in January, but I'm not sure if I'll get to them in December.  Most of these are fairly long, so we'll see how it goes.

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Vicious by Victoria Schwab
• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling 
• I'm reading this for a challenge for a book turned into a screenplay or play.  Perfect fit I think.
• White Stag by Kara Barberi
• This is the first book in a new YA Fantasy series.  This is supposed to be brutal, and have monsters.  Sounds like a fun read.
• Firestarter by Tara Sim
• This is is a January release and the 3rd book in the Timekeeper series.  I've really enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to finding out how our Clock Spirit and Clock Mechanic fair in this installment.
• Freefall by Jessica Barry
• This is a mystery/thriller out in January.  There's a plane crash, and a mother/daughter that are separated and determined to find one another.

Audiobooks

• The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
• Everyone keeps talking about this series.  So I thought I'd give it a try.  It sounds like something I'd like.  I've already started this and while it started out slowly I'm really enjoying it.
• The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
• This is a challenge prompt book for a book involving a bookstore or a library.  It involves both.  I've started this one as well and its cute, though the main character is infuriating at times because she so ridiculously afraid of everything.
• A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
• This is a repeat from last month.  I own it so I'll get to it when there is a break in my library holds.
• Don't Put Me in Coach by Mark Titus
• This is a challenge book to for a book involving a sport.  I listened to the intro, and I can tell that this is going to be a difficult listen for me because the writer is a self titled clown.  He doesn't take anything seriously, so we'll see how it goes.  I want to give it a chance.

November Wrap Up

I had a pretty good reading month.  I read 9 books and 4 audiobooks.  I am finally caught up on all of my ARCs that I needed to review.  And I knocked out 5 reading challenge prompts.  

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
• Review
• This came out October 2nd.  I got super backlogged in October.  This was fairly long, and it took me a while to read.  This wasn't scary at all, and it was a bit slow paced.  Overall I liked it.  It had decent diverse representation and good character dialogue.
• Lies by TM Logan
• Review
• This came out on September 11th.  The plot was pretty good, and there was a great plot twist at the end.  Overall, I thought the main character kept doing really idiotic things to get himself in trouble, which played into the twist eventually.  It was certainly not the scariest or best reads of the year as promised.  It was an OK mystery/thriller and a quick read.
• Evermore by Sara Holland
• Review
• This is the sequel to Everless.  I really like the premise of how time is currency in this story.  This moved a bit slow for me.  There was a long time where not alot happened as the main character tries to remember her past lives.  It is a good conclusion to the duology, but what I was expecting.
• Cranberry Bluff by Deborah Garner
• It fits the prompt for a fruit or vegetable in the title.  It was a quick, cozy mystery type book.  I got it for free and it was pretty cute.
• Blue Water by J.A. Armitage
• Review
• This is a reverse fairy tale/retelling of The Little Mermaid.  It is a fun YA story line with some interesting mythology that I'm enjoying.  Overall I'm liking the series and am looking forward to the third book.  
• Pittsburgh Irish by Gerard F. O'neil
• I read this for the reading challenge.  I really enjoyed learning about the city I grew up in and walk around in everyday.  I learned so much from this and about the surrounding areas of Pittsburgh.  It was really nice reading about places that I know and learning about their namesakes and more about the events that took place there and the people who formed the city I call home.
• Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
• I used this for my time travel prompt book.  I'm so glad I read this.  It was a quick enjoyable read.  I really enjoyed the historical and secret society aspects to the story.  I also like that the main character is not having he male chauvinism and she is speaking up for herself more and more as the story progresses.
• The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• Loved this Lux spin-off series.  I always thought Luc was a great character and I'm happy we get to finally know him.  We meet some new characters, and see the return of some old favorites.  I would have liked to see Katy and Dee, but we got Daemon and Archer so...
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• This fulfilled another reading challenge prompt for a book I meant to read last year, though it could have filled several others.  It was a short, but powerful book.  I really loved it and the illustrations were as beautiful as the words.  So glad I finally read it!

Audiobooks

 I did pretty well in the audio department this month.

• Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor
• I really enjoyed this.  It was a little heavy on the romance, but it was still great!  I loved the mythological and paranormal element to the story.  I can't wait to read more of Taylor's writing.  This didn't really go where I expected, but I liked where it ended up.
• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
• I loved this installment of the series.  We finally get to know what happened to Sofos who kind of just disappeared from the story a while back.  It also kind of brings all of the political plotting of the 3 kingdoms together once and for all.  There is still plotting but it seems that finally all of the kings and queens will be united.  This series keeps getting better.
• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
• Review
• I got an ARC of this from Edelweiss after it was published, so in an attempt to get to clear my review list up I grabbed the audio book.  This was a great mystery with alternating times.  I really enjoy the way Sager tells stories.  If you liked Final Girls check this out.
• Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
• This surprised me by following a completely new character in the series.  It took me a bit longer than normal to get into the story, but it was just as good as the rest of the books.  The writing is amazing, and now I have to wait patiently for book 6 which doesn't come out until March.