Opinions of a Wolf

Every year, I wrap up the old year and start the new one here on the blog with a look back at my reading stats.  You can see my stats for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 by clicking on the years.

Total books read: 66
Average books read per month: 5.5
Month most read: September with 9
Month least read: Tie between August, June, and April with 4 each
Longest book read: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King with 531 pages

Fiction: 57 (86%)
Nonfiction: 9 (14%) (I read slightly less nonfiction this year.)

Series: 32 (48%)
Standalone: 34 (52%) (This was an exact flip-flop from last year.)

Formats:
–traditional print:  17 (26%) (Most of these were Bottom of the TBR Pile books.)
–ebook: 34 (52%) (This went up again.)
–graphic novel: 0 (0%) (I really need to read the 3 graphic novels I have sitting on my shelf.)
–audiobook: 15 (22%)

Genres:
–Fantasy: 23 (I was shocked by this win after 5 years in a row of scifi winning.  I can only say that urban fantasy and non-medieval fantasy works for me, and I’m glad I’ve found the type of fantasy that does.)
–Scifi: 22 (A close second!)
–Indie: 14
–Horror: 12
–GLBTQ: 10
–Urban fantasy: 8
–Dystopian: 7
–Historic fiction: 6
–Mystery: 6
–Time travel: 5
–Contemporary fiction: 4
–Mental Illness Advocacy Reading Challenge: 4
–Nonfiction history: 4
–Postapocalyptic: 4
–Thriller: 4
–YA: 4
–Nonfiction lifestyle: 3
–Romance: 3
–Nonfiction diet: 2
–Nonfiction fitness: 2
–Nonfiction food: 2
–Nonfiction psych: 2
–Transhumanism: 2
–American classics: 1
–Chinese lit: 1
–Cyberpunk: 1
–Middle grade: 1
–Nonfiction memoir: 1
–Nonfiction relationships: 1
–Paranormal romance: 1
–Short story collection: 1

Aliens vs. Demons vs. Vampires vs. Zombies
–demons: 8 (A tie between demons and aliens! Not really a surprise given that fantasy and scifi were numbers one and two in the genres I read.)
–aliens: 8
–vampires: 5
–zombies: 2

Number of stars:
–5 star reads: 6 (9%)
–4 star reads: 28 (42%)
–3 star reads: 23 (35%)
–2 star reads: 9 (14%)
–1 star reads: 0 (0%)

Glancing at my stats, I am happy to say I succeeded at my goal of getting to at least the lowest level of my Mental Illness Advocacy Reading Challenge. I read four books for the challenge, which puts me at the Acquainted level.  I am sorry to say that I totally failed to read a graphic novel again this year, which I find baffling since I have three of them on my bookshelf at the moment.

I am sad to see so few 5 star reads this year. They went down by 8%.  Thankfully, my one star reads didn’t increase at all, but my 2 star reads went up by 9%.  Looking at it, I can see that most of my 2 star reads were either ARCs or Bottom of the TBR Pile reads that disappointed me.  I was working quite hard on getting through both of those piles, and while it’s sad to me that a number disappointed me, I’m still glad I got the piles smaller.  By the middle of last year I had set up a cycle of reading one ARC, one Bottom of TBR Pile Book, then one book just for fun.  I plan to continue this cycle, as I really need to get through my piles.  My piles are smaller each year, thanks to purchasing and requesting fewer books, and I’m hopeful that by next year I will be back to mostly reading just for fun.

As for the genres, I’m glad I still had a wide variety, although I would like to see my nonfiction reads increase to 12 (one per month).  Maybe I should enter nonfiction into the official rotation.  😉

Other than my reading cycle, I have a couple areas of interest I would like to read more on.  I’m going to keep these areas a secret for now so you can be surprised by the new genres and information working their way in.  Suffice to say, it might have something to do with history and science.

Happy 2015 everyone!  I hope you have found fun reading goals for yourself.  Remember it doesn’t matter how much or what you read, just that you do!