I started writing this post as a Romance Roundup from last year, but quickly it turned into a long summary of my reading habits and how they changed in comparison to the year before. So next time I post it will be a round up, but for right now I will wax poetically on my reading stats from 2013.
Last year I actually read the highest percentage of romance novels since I started doing my stats. In a side bar, the way I do my stats is by counting. Super high tech I know. But for those of you who don't know, Goodreads has a stats page that is accessible from your My Books Page (up at the top). It put everything into cool pie charts and graphs. This is also how I found out that I haven't had a 5 star books since 2010... You can also get their from the View Books page of the current reading challenge (or you used to before they changed everything).
Anyway, back to my romance novel stats. I think two years ago it was 49% romance novels, 2012 was 46% (or I may have flipped those two), but last year was a whopping 65%! If I had to guess why there was such a jump, I would say it was for three reasons.
First, I read the last two books of the Song of Ice and Fire series last year which is quite a challenge. I am pretty sure the last books are close to if not over 1000 pages. They are interesting books, don't get me wrong, but as I read them I need to focus a lot on them. My brain needed to use a lot of power, so to balance that out, I needed brain fluff. I remember reading in particular A Feast for Crows on the beach in Abu Dhabi, having to intersperse light-hearted pirate novellas in the midst.
Second, last year accidentally turned into the year that I either catch up or finish series that I had started. I read started the Hathaway series in 2012 and finished that one up. There was also Julie Anne Long's never ending Pennyroyal Green Series (seriously, when are Olivia and Lyon getting their own book?!), and technically I am still one behind on that one. Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Hoyt, Kristen Callihan and Sarah MacLean all had next novels in their series that I read to keep (mostly) current.
Last, I actually really used my TBR shelf as a place to pick out my books and read. I think I really made a dent this year. In fact out of my 52 books, 42% (or 22 books) were ones that I had already owned before reading them. I did not count the ones I bought and then read right away, but ones that I had that sat a bit, even if it was for a week or so. That's amazing! I am finally working my way through those Boarders and Half Price Books going out of business sales that I took advantage of (see picture).
Actually because I was curious I did a little count of where each of the books came from that I read: 12 were physical books off my TBR shelf in my living room, 10 were eBooks that were on my eReader (yay! look at me working through a goal from last year), 5 were books I bought to read right away, 20 were borrowed from my sister, cousin, work colleagues or the library, 2 were review books and 2 I classified as other (one was a gift book at work that is like a book on penguins and the other was a free novella from the authors website).
So there you have it friends. I think overall last years reading was a good haul. I wish I had read more than my minimum, but I did finish or catch up on some series that have been lingering, start and continue with a book club from work which continually pushes me toward books I would never read otherwise, and in general had a good time reading.
How did your 2013 in books turn out? Let me know! I'd love to read about it!
Last year I actually read the highest percentage of romance novels since I started doing my stats. In a side bar, the way I do my stats is by counting. Super high tech I know. But for those of you who don't know, Goodreads has a stats page that is accessible from your My Books Page (up at the top). It put everything into cool pie charts and graphs. This is also how I found out that I haven't had a 5 star books since 2010... You can also get their from the View Books page of the current reading challenge (or you used to before they changed everything).
Anyway, back to my romance novel stats. I think two years ago it was 49% romance novels, 2012 was 46% (or I may have flipped those two), but last year was a whopping 65%! If I had to guess why there was such a jump, I would say it was for three reasons.
First, I read the last two books of the Song of Ice and Fire series last year which is quite a challenge. I am pretty sure the last books are close to if not over 1000 pages. They are interesting books, don't get me wrong, but as I read them I need to focus a lot on them. My brain needed to use a lot of power, so to balance that out, I needed brain fluff. I remember reading in particular A Feast for Crows on the beach in Abu Dhabi, having to intersperse light-hearted pirate novellas in the midst.
Second, last year accidentally turned into the year that I either catch up or finish series that I had started. I read started the Hathaway series in 2012 and finished that one up. There was also Julie Anne Long's never ending Pennyroyal Green Series (seriously, when are Olivia and Lyon getting their own book?!), and technically I am still one behind on that one. Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Hoyt, Kristen Callihan and Sarah MacLean all had next novels in their series that I read to keep (mostly) current.
Actually because I was curious I did a little count of where each of the books came from that I read: 12 were physical books off my TBR shelf in my living room, 10 were eBooks that were on my eReader (yay! look at me working through a goal from last year), 5 were books I bought to read right away, 20 were borrowed from my sister, cousin, work colleagues or the library, 2 were review books and 2 I classified as other (one was a gift book at work that is like a book on penguins and the other was a free novella from the authors website).
So there you have it friends. I think overall last years reading was a good haul. I wish I had read more than my minimum, but I did finish or catch up on some series that have been lingering, start and continue with a book club from work which continually pushes me toward books I would never read otherwise, and in general had a good time reading.
How did your 2013 in books turn out? Let me know! I'd love to read about it!
