2019 Reading Stats and 2020 Reading Goals

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2020, and time for the end of year reading statistics and goals posts.  This post is going to be a lot like last year's post with the stats and graphs.  If you aren't into that kind of data analytics I get it.  I love that stuff so here we go.

My Goodreads goal was to read 100 books.  I far exceeded that by reading 198 books.  My goal was to read 100 print books, which I also exceeded by reading 109 of those and the rest were audiobooks, so I'm really happy with my reading this year. You can see everything I read on my Goodreads year in books.  I think I'm going to keep my goal at 100 again this year because I want to read about the same number of print books and anything more than that is a bonus.

On to the statistics.

The Format of Books I Read

2019

I thought this was an interesting statistic last year and one of my goals for this year was to read more of the books I purchased.  I pretty much failed that goal.  The breakdown of types of media I consumed really didn't change much.  I'm still consuming most of my books via ebook and audio, and most of those are still coming from the library.

• Ebooks - 93 read
• 63 ARCs
• 11 Owned
• 19 Borrowed from the library
• Hardback Books - 6 Read
• 1 ARC
• 5 Borrowed from the library 
• Paperback books - 10 read
• 6 ARCs
• 4 Owned
• Audiobooks - 89 read
• 1 ARCs
• 5 Owned
• 83 Borrowed from the library

Where all of my books came from this year

I still used the library a ton this year, but less than last year.  I attribute that mainly due to the fact that I received a lot more ARCs this year for review.  I can't express how grateful I am to all of the authors, publishers, and PR firms I am for sending me ARCs and letting me read and review these books.  

One of my goals for 2019 was to get my review stats up.  I wanted to be somewhere around 75%, and I maintained that for a good portion of the year.  I reviewed 109 of the 198 books I read this year and I owe 2 more reviews before next week.  Overall, this statistic didn't change much overall from last year as I really started slacking toward the end of the year as I focused on reading for the two challenges I was working on finishing up.  I kind of got burned out from reviewing and stopping posting.

Goals for 2020

• Read more of my own books.  I had this same goal last year, and I expect it will continue to be a goal because I don't see myself not buying books.  I want to see my number move up from 10% in 2020.
• Review 75% of the books I read.  This isn't an unrealistic goal, I just need to stay on top of reviewing.
• Be more aware of ARC release dates when requesting books for review.  I did really well with my goal of being selective with ARCs this year, but I got a little overwhelmed when a bunch of books all released at the same time this fall.  It put me in a slump that I still haven't really recovered from.
• Continue to be active on social media (instagram and facebook).  I got a lot better with posting in 2019, but I could be better.  
• Continue participating in the Popsugar and Read Harder reading challenges.  I have been doing Popsugar's reading challenge since 2017 and this is my 2nd year for Book Riot's Read Harder challenge.  They push me to read outside of my comfort zone and read books I normally wouldn't read.  

Review: The Prized Girl by Amy K. Green

The Prized Girl by Amy K. Green
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an advanced copy of this book via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

I know 2 stars isn't a great rating, but this wasn't a bad book. It just isn't my preferred type of thriller, so take my rating with a grain of salt. It kept me guessing and it is pretty messed up. This book deals with some disturbing subject matter, but it isn't overly graphic and it is not gory. I just thought the plot jumped around too much because it had so many characters. I prefer fewer characters with more developed stories and plots.

The story is told in alternating timelines from the perspectives of two sisters. Virginia the older sister is left in the aftermath of younger sister Jenny's murder, and she takes it upon herself to find out what really happened that night and maybe heal some of her own past wounds. Jenny's story is told in the past and leads up to what happened on the night she was killed. Jenny is a 13 year old former beauty pageant star, but she decides that she wants some independence from her overbearing mother. Her parents are worried that she'll end up like her deadbeat sister VIrgina who can't hold down a job and dresses like a homeless person most of the time. I didn't find either sister particularly likeable, they were both impulsive and made a lot of poor choices that seemed unrealistic. Then again I didn't find any of the characters likeable and most of the characters made a lot of poor choices.

As the story unfolds, we not only learn about what happened to Jenny, but we learn about the secrets that are being kept by everyone involved in the case. Everyone seems to hold a piece of the much larger puzzle to solve Jenny's murder, and Virgina is determined to put it all together and bring her sister's killer to justice and put her life back together.

View all my reviews

Review: Net Force: Dark Web by Jerome Priesler

Net Force: Dark Web by Jerome Preisler
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I listened to the final production copy of the audiobook.

I found the premise of this book to be very interesting. I thought this was a standalone in a long running series, but it definitely felt like I should have known the characters and their backstories going into this book as well as some of the plotlines. I'm not sure if that is the case, but it felt that way when I was reading/listening to the book. I don't think I would have taken the ARC had I known that it were part of such an established series. I feel that way because it doesn't end as a standalone. It ends as though you need to read the next book to find out what happens next.

Again I found the plot to be very interesting, but I lost interest because there were far too many plotlines and characters to keep track of. This made the pacing very slow and the book very long. I expected this to have a much faster pace considering it was a cyber security thriller. While in reality cyber attacks probably have many more people involved than we meet in this book, I think I would have enjoyed this had I not met every single player in the game. I would have preferred more developed characters, and perhaps they are more developed throughout the series as this is book 12 and I've missed out. I also would have preferred a more focused plot, this just jumped around too much for my taste and it was hard to keep track of who was who and what they were doing.

View all my reviews

Tag Tuesday Fall Time Cozy Time Book Tag 2019

I was procrastinating on the long list of stuff I need to get done, so naturally I was catching up on youtube videos and saw this on India's channel and it reminded me that I really loved this tag last year so I brought it back.  I've read alot of books since last year's post so let's see if I can come up with different answers.

Fall is my favorite time of year, but this fall has been really busy.  It is technically still fall until the end of this week, although there is snow on the ground and it has steadily been in the 30's here in Pennsylvania for the last week or so.


India - Life is a Page Turner https://youtu.be/CmaAXaxQ_Tk
Sam's Nonsense // creator → https://youtu.be/Q-4nDR8jXi0


1. Crunching Leaves: The world is full of color - choose a book that had reds/oranges/yellows on the cover  - The Furies by Katie Lowe

2. Cozy Sweater - It's finally cold enough to don warm cozy clothing: what book gives you the warm fuzzies? 
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik has the most amazing relationship between Captain Laurence and his dragon Temeraire.  I truly love their bond and this alternate history.


3. Fall Storm: The wind is howling & the rain is pounding - choose your favorite book OR genre that you like to read on a stormy day
I'm not really a big re-reader.  I always intend to read books again, but I never do.  Lately I've been favoring romantic comedies, which is strange for me since I'm not big on romance.  Life can be stressful, so a little comedy is a good way to keep things light on a gloomy day. 

4. Cool Crisp Air: What's the coolest character you'd want to trade places with?
Indira Story from Saving Fable by Scott Reintgen.  She becomes the hero in her own book.  I mean what book lover doesn't want to become the hero in their own story.  Her friend Maxi was pretty cool too.


5. Hot Apple Cider: What under hyped book do you want to see become the next biggest, hottest thing? Senior Year Bucket List by J.M. Miller

6. Coat, Scarves, and Mittens - The weather has turned cold & it's time to cover up - What's the most embarrassing book cover you own that you like to keep hidden in public?  This is another great reason to own a kindle.  No one can see what you are reading.  I'm really not a fan of covers with shirtless men on them, which cover's most romance novels.  Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, however while it had a romance, was a weird sci-fi dystopian novel.  I didn't really like it, and this cover is not my favorite.  I'm glad this was the audiobook cover, not a book I was reading in physical copy.


7. Pumpkin Spice: What's your favorite Fall time comforts food/foods?  I'm going with Applesauce.  Every fall we try to go apple picking or atleast get apples from a local farm and I make and can my own applesauce for the year.  I canned 44 pints of applesauce this year and we've already made quite a dent in them.  This year I used Stayman Winesap apples (my favorite), excellent for snacking, applesauce, apple crisp, and pies  I think this year was the best batch of applesauce yet.

COVER REVEAL: Kiss of Vengeance (A True Immortality Novel) by S. Young

COVER REVEAL

Kiss of Vengeance (A True Immortality Novel) by S. Young 

Photo: Wander Aguiar

Cover Design: By Hang Le

A standalone paranormal romance from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young, writing as S. Young. 

Fionn Mór was once a high king of Ireland; a fierce warrior who led his tribes against the invading fae. It was a war he couldn’t win and to save his family he turned consort for the Fae Queen. Fionn escaped as the thing he once despised, and the people he loved betrayed him for it. Now, centuries later, it’s time to reopen the gates to Faerie to take his revenge against the Faerie Queen.

At sixteen Rose Kelly discovered family secrets that changed her forever. Years after, she’s still lost, traveling across Europe in search of that elusive missing ‘something’. When she’s attacked by a vampire, not only is she wrenched into a supernatural underworld she never knew existed, a knock on the head releases a spell on her mind and unlocks powers beyond her wildest imaginings. And with them more questions. Questions Fionn Mór claims to have answers to.

Following the powerful and enigmatic Fionn to Ireland, Rose quickly realizes she’s a pawn in his plan for vengeance. What begins as a passionate battle of wills leads to an inexplicable but undeniable connection. One that will force them to face an impossible choice between the deepest love… and the darkest revenge.

Out March 3rd 2020 

Preorder Now: 

Add it Goodreads – http://bit.ly/2pjjKF2

Apple Books – https://apple.co/2MFzUAC

Kindle US – https://amzn.to/2M8JjSq

Kindle Worldwide – mybook.to/KissOfVengeance

Nook – http://bit.ly/35v8I04

Kobo US – http://bit.ly/2B6AMsP