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.

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