2019: Reading in Review
Welcome back to my annual year in review series! Last week I covered my personal life / goals in review and today is my reading life in review! Later this week I’ll cover my blog life in review, so be sure to stop back for that! This was a pretty great year for me, reading wise, and I’m excited to share alllll about that below.
📊 Statistics & Thoughts
- Total books read: 46
- Genres read (only including my “biggest” categories):
- Fiction: 30
- Nonfiction: 16
- Young Adult: 16
- Romance / chick lit: 7
- True Crime: 5
- Christmas: 4
- Mystery / thriller / suspense: 3
- Horror: 2
- Formats read:
- Library books (print copies): 26
- eBooks / Netgalley: 19
- Own (print copies): 1
- Holy nonfiction, batman! I’ve always really loved a variety of nonfiction books, but fiction is still my number one. Regardless, I’m still surprised by how much NF I read this year!
- My YA reading has gone up a lot over the last two years because of the Forever YA book club I run at work. Not mad about it!
- Obviously no shame in my library game since I’m a librarian and all. Pretty sure that will always be my largest format of books read.
- Super happy about stepping up my Netgalley game this year because I’ve got a ton of books on there in my backlog.
- I LOVE suspense, so I’m sad that my numbers were so low this year.
- On a positive note, I’m happy that my romance and chick lit numbers were up. Love me some good, light reading.
- I FINALLY joined the reading linkup this year with Steph and Jana and have really enjoyed it. I’m definitely going to continue that into the new year. I love that it’s a quick way to round up all of my books once a month instead of doing individual review posts.
- I launched a From My Shelves series this year which has been fun!
📚 Top 10 Books of the Year
It was a bit of a challenge to narrow down my favorite reads of the year to a top 10 because I had a great reading year with a lot of 4 and 5 star reads! Here they are though, in the order of when I read them. Also, I am cheating a bit and including an “honorable mentions” section for books that didn’t quite make the top 10 cut, but that I still really enjoyed.
- Surviving Execution by Ian Woods (nonfiction): this is a really in depth look at the Richard Glossip case, one I’ve been following for quite awhile. He’s a man on death row for a murder that he didn’t commit. They actually HAVE the murderer in custody (who did not receive the death penalty WTF), but he claims that Richard hired him. If you enjoy true crime, I strongly recommend this one. It was well written and researched.
- Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich & others (YA): FANTASTIC story about grappling with morality and right from wrong. I absolutely flew through it. This one is about Evan, kind of a misfit, who gets wrapped up in a classmate’s suicide. I’m really glad that I’m seeing the musical in 2020 for this one.
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (YA): an adorable, fun, feel-good story about Lara Jean and what happens to her when the secret letters she’s written to all the boys she’s loved wind up getting mailed to them all.
- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (YA): I’m gonna go ahead and call this one the sleeper hit of the year for me. The concept is SO out there, but my Forever YA book club dived right in anyway, and we all loved it. We pegged it as our favorite book club read of the year. Anyway, it takes place during the Civil War era, except that it involves ZOMBIES and the African Americans who are sent off to combat school to fight them. It was so engaging with strong, well developed characters, and I’m super excited to read the sequel as soon as it comes out.
- Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey (romance, chick lit): funny, sweet, and an absolute blast to read. If you like that forbidden romance / childhood crush / brother’s best friend trope in romance, then this is a great pick. I loved it immensely!
- Swimming for Sunlight by Allie Larkin (women’s fiction): amazing story! It definitely gave me lots of feelings but also made me laugh… a great combination! This one is about a young divorcee who returns home with her dog to stay with the grandmother who raised her.
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (contemporary fiction): this disturbing story about a teacher/student relationship was addicting, impossible to put down, and absolutely crazy. I read this one obsessively and nonstop.
- Kill Creek by Scott Thomas (horror): a classic haunted house story with a twist: four renowned horror authors are invited to stay the night for an interview. Great surprises with plenty of twists and turns!
- The Clothes Make the Girl (Look Fat?) by Brittany Gibbons (memoir): this is the latest memoir from Brittany Gibbons, a fellow plus size lady. She is hilarious, relatable, and empowering. I want her to be my BFF.
- Noel Street by Richard Paul Evans (Christmas fiction): Man oh man, do I LOVE me some Richard Paul Evans. His Christmas books continue to knock it out of the park year after year, and this one was no exception. This is the story of a young single mother who meets a veteran in the 1970’s. They’re both battling some inner turmoil and struggling to find their footing. So emotional and touching, I loved it.
Honorable Mentions: Mine by Courtney Cole, Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, Educated by Tara Westover, Between You and Me by Susan Wiggs, Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen, The Bakeshop at Pumpkin and Spice by Donna Kauffman & others, and Sadie by Courtney Summers.
📌 Recap of 2019 Reading Goals
- Read 50 books total: FAIL… but SO. FRIGGIN. CLOSE! I hit 46, which is the best reading year I’ve had since 2013 when I hit 57. After that, I was pregnant in 2014, then had Caleb in 2015, so it was all downhill from there in terms of reading. HA! I am really so proud of this number, to be honest.
- Read at least 22 book club books: FAIL… but I was SO close! I read 18 book club books this year.
- Read at least five books that I own: FAIL. I read one, which was an ARC of Sadie by Courtney Summers.
- Read at least 15 library books: DONE. I read 26 library books.
- Read at least 15 Netgalley books: DONE. I read and reviewed 19 books from NetGalley.
- Read at least five nonfiction titles: DONE. I read 16!!!
- Read at least 15 YA books: DONE. I read 15 on the dot.
- Read at least two horror books: DONE. I read two.
- Read at least four Christmas books: DONE. I read exactly four.
- Read at least one finance book: DONE. I read two.
- Read at least five mystery, thriller, or suspense titles: FAIL. I hit three in this category.
- Read at least three chick lit or romance books: DONE! I hit seven.
- Re-read Harry Potter: FAIL. I’ve been SERIOUSLY considering starting a series re-read in January though. Anyone interested in a read-along for motivation?
Total: 8/13… really awesome!
🎯 2020 Reading Goals
- Read 55 books: I want to gradually increase my numbers again until they’re back up to where they used to be (in the 70’s or 80’s per year)
- Re-read Harry Potter: seventeenth attempt is the charm?
- Read 10 NetGalley books: forever trying to catch up.
- Read 30 library books: because, duh. Do you know what I do for a living?
- Read 10 books from my own damn shelves: I really need to start making a dent in my own collection. I fail miserably at this every year.
- Read two cozy mysteries: I love them and didn’t read any in 2019.
- Read 10 nonfiction titles
- Read three horror books
- Read five Christmas books
- Read two true crime books
- Read five romance / chick lit books
- Read five suspense / mystery books
And I think that’ll do it for me! 55 is a big goal for me, but I really think I can do it if I put. down. the. damn. PHONE! I can’t wait to see what 2020 has in store for us with books!
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