This Week's Topic
My Year in Books - 2024
Another year that was full of books! I was successful with my challenges which is expected because, sorry not sorry, I select challenges I know I can complete. I will admit that the Literary Escapes can get a little dicey, but I made an early push to be sure to get all those states checked off.
Goodreads Challenge
I always set my Goodreads Challenge to the same number because I know I can read/listen to five books a week. Though I surpassed my challenge by reading 319 books, I continue to read less than the previous year which I contribute to my declining audiobook listening.
I am still pleased with my reading because I did read some great books.
- 34 books were 2024 debuts
- 131 books were by new-to-me authors
- 101 books were ARCs
- 64 books were audiobooks
- 15 books were borrowed via KU
- 182 books were borrowed from the library
- 201 books were new releases
- 27 books were from my shelves
- 43 books earned a 5-star rating
Looking at these numbers, the majority of books I read were from the library (57%) and 41% were by new-to-me authors. I am still reading a LOT of new releases (63%), but less than a third of the books I read were ARCs which means I borrowed the majority of those new releases.
I could obviously do better with my shelf books which only made up about 8% of my reading, but I branched out quite a bit. The biggest trend I noticed for myself is how much Asian lit I read. I largely attribute this to so many translations released this year, but also to the fact that they seem to put cats on their covers. I won't lie, the cats made me look twice at many of those books.
I also started tracking something totally new this year. I have spoken in the past about how so many characters have red hair, green eyes, or both given that these are not common hair or eye colors. I started tracking when a main character had any of those traits, and I read 131 books where characters fit that description, that's 41% of the books I read.
Literary Escapes
The states that are always hard were still hard this year, and I read a few stinkers to get all those states checked off. I was excited when I saw all the "hard" states that are visited in PS I Hate You. As I previously disclosed, I set that book aside just so I could use it for my 2025 reading challenge, and I am not ashamed of this behavior. Seriously - North and South Dakota!!! Would you do the same thing if you were in my shoes?
I am going to try and keep a running graphic for this and the Alphabet Soup challenge. It's too time consuming to build the HTML table and do the graphic now, but feel free to hit me up for some state options or check out Sloth Goes Places.
Alphabet Soup
This challenge was not too bad. I sort of took the easy way out with X and Z, but I was strict with all the other letters.
Monthly Motif
There were a few I struggled with, but I would say all these books were ones I wanted to read.
Keyword Challenges
This is one of the more challenging challenges for me. Some of those keywords are hard to nail down, but I did it!
The Discussion Challenge
I am always most proud of this challenge because the discussion posts are really hard for me. My goal was one per month, and I managed to surpass that (slightly) thanks to some discussion leaning Top Ten Tuesday posts. View my discussion posts here.
Now it's your turn!
Did you meet your reading goals? Did you notice any changes or trends in your reading?
How was your reading in 2024?
Let us know in the comments!
Let us know in the comments!
Great job on the Literary Escapes Challenge! I think I only managed 22 states. LOL at the tracking of characters' physical traits - for me, they always seem to have curly hair, which I rarely see in real life!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard, and I bet it's even harder for fantasy readers. HA! I see curly hair more than green eyes.
Delete"I select challenges I know I can complete" -- I mean, challenges are for us first and foremost, right? Sometimes I see a challenge and think it might be fun... for someone else.
ReplyDeleteThere are people who like challenges that "push" them outside their comfort zone. That is not me. I want a goal but to read books I like.
DeleteYou did wonderful on all of your challenges! I should figure out how to track my reading better. I love how you can break it down so well. The Literary Escapes Challenge sounds like a fun one. I should try and do more interesting challenges. And no, I wouldn't feel guilty for signing up for ones I knew I could make! I do the same thing. And I would totally save a book for 2025 that would help me hit them all!
ReplyDeleteI mostly read contemporaries, so Literary Escapes is a good one for me. It makes me find those books set in "fly over" states. I made spreadsheet with the things I want to track and have a tab for the summary and each challenge. I also create current year shelves for certain things in Goodreads, so those numbers are easy to find at year end.
Delete"I was successful with my challenges which is expected because, sorry not sorry, I select challenges I know I can complete."
ReplyDeleteThat's understandable...I do the same when I set my posting goal for the new year.
131 books by new-to-you authors is a big number! And it's great that you managed to read books published as far back as 1999, though on the other hand, books already on your shelves took a backseat. But that's the bane of every reader and hoarder LOL.
"The biggest trend I noticed for myself is how much Asian lit I read. I largely attribute this to so many translations released this year, but also to the fact that they seem to put cats on their covers."
Ha! that's true.
Great job with your discussion posts, too. Reading so much and posting (almost) every day, plus managing to come up with new discussion topics...
I find I read a LOT from the library, even old books, but I am at the mercy of the when the holds come through. It messes with my plans a lot. Me and cats. I am a cat lady without a cat.
DeleteI don't know how you can read so much Sam! And congrats on the discussion challenge!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Reading is about the only hobby I have the energy for
DeleteI did very well with my challenges, but of the 5 Bookish Goals I set last January, I did not achieve any of them. I'm not setting any this year. Congratulations on doing so well with yours.
ReplyDeleteYou are a beast at challenges. You read so much. I try to be realistic with my goals. They should be fun, this is a hobby, and I need something on my to do list that I can accomplish.
Delete