Opinions of a Wolf

To celebrate the new year here on the blog, it’s time to take a look back at my reading stats for 2012.  It’s always fun to compile them and see how my reading changes and simultaneously stays the same over the years.

Last year, I read a grand total of 107 books. In 2010 that number was 70, and the year before that it was 52.  This year I didn’t make it to my goal of 150, but I think I did pretty damn good anyway. 🙂

Total books read: 118
Average books read per month: 9.8
Month most read: January with 20 (I’d chalk this up to New Year Resolution momentum!)
Month least read: Tie between September and December with 4 each.  (September was part of a very busy month at work with Orientations for the students. December was the holidays plus a wedding I was in, so…..kind of understandable reading got left behind a bit!)
Longest book read: David Goodis: Five Noir Novels of the 1940s and 50s by David Goodis with 848 pages
Fiction: 86 (73%)
Nonfiction: 32 (27%) This was an 11% increase from last year.
Series: 48 (41%)
Standalone: 70 (59%) I think this is a nice balance between series and standalone books.
Formats: 
–traditional print: 34 (29%)
–ebook: 59 (50%)
–graphic novel: 11 (9%)
–audiobook: 14 (12%) (This more than doubled. I thank Audible for that!)
Genres:
–scifi: 19 (Winner for the fourth year running! It’s clear what my favorite genre is.)
–indie lit: 16
–GLBTQ: 15 (This came out of nowhere, but I’m glad I found a new genre I enjoy.)
–historic fiction: 15
–fantasy: 14 (I have found a few fantasy books I enjoy, so I will definitely keep reading, although a bit more selectively.)
–post-apocalyptic: 12
–urban fantasy: 10
–contemporary fiction: 9
–horror: 9
–mental illness: 9
–nonfiction cookbook: 8 (I had hoped to try one new cookbook a month, but I do think 8 is pretty good.)
–African lit: 7 (Thanks to the African Lit reading challenge I participated in.)
–nonfiction memoir: 7
–mystery: 6
–black lit: 5
–nonfiction environmentalism: 5
–nonfiction history: 5
–thriller: 5
–YA: 5 (Realizing I dislike this genre led to it mostly leaving my reading, except for older acquired books on the tbr shelf.)
–alternate history: 4
–dystopian: 4 (Shockingly low compared to previous years.)
–nonfiction lifestyle: 4
–nonfiction science: 4
–erotica: 3
–nonfiction diet: 3
–romance: 3
–steampunk: 3
–military: 2
–noir: 2
–nonfiction Buddhism: 2
–nonfiction relationships: 2
–transhumanism: 2
–American classics: 1
–nonfiction feminism: 1
–cozy: 1 (Given how much I enjoy cozies, I should really read more of them!)
–Cthulhu mythos: 1
–European classics: 1
–fashionpunk: 1
–humorous: 1
–Irish lit: 1
–Japanese lit: 1
–magical realism: 1
–nonfiction fitness: 1
–nonfiction reference: 1
–nonfiction social justice: 1
–paranormal romance: 1 (It seems I am truly over my paranormal romance phase.)
–poetry: 1
–short story collection: 1
–time-travel: 1
Vampires vs. Zombies vs. Aliens vs. Demons:
–zombies: 9
–vampires: 8
–aliens: 4 (I think aliens should get more attention next year.)
–demons: 3
Number of stars:
–5 star reads: 16 (14%)
–4 star reads: 50 (42%)
–3 star reads: 33 (28%)
–2 star reads: 17 (14%)
–1 star reads: 2 (2%)

Looking at my stats, I can see one thing rather clearly.  My number of highly rated reads went down, and simultaneously some genres I enjoy went down while genres I don’t enjoy (generally) went up.  I think it’s important for me in 2013 to focus in more on reads I am fairly certain I will enjoy, rather than books I think I should read.  I also would like to read more in the genres that as a writer I am currently (or intend to) write in.

On the other hand, I have definitely enjoyed adding diversity to my reading.  I’m very happy to see how much more diverse my reading is now than it used to be when it comes to areas of the world and representations of various perspectives.  This is something I would like to hold on to.

I also would like to even out the number of books read per month to a more consistent number.  The difference between 20 and 4 is huge, and I would like to see my reading not fall by the wayside if possible.  Granted, some of that numerical difference was due to reading chunksters versus graphic novels, so I suppose it’s important to keep in mind that a number is just a number. 🙂

Overall, this was a great reading year. It was incredibly varied, and I think I learned more about myself and what I enjoy reading (not to mention writing).  For 2013, I hope to read 120 books, an average of 10 books a month.  I also will be doing the Mental Illness Advocacy Reading Challenge again, as well as the Finishing the Series Reading Challenge.  Beyond that, I will continue tackling my tbr pile.  Hopefully, my 2013 will see me finding a few more gems than I found this year.

Happy 2013 everyone!  Any suggestions for my 2013 reading goals?