2023 Book Wrapped

While we're still in that stage of reflecting on 2023, I thought it would be fun (for me at least) to look back at my reading stats from the past year and compare my goals to what I actually read! 

Reading Goals

My only formal goal in 2023 was to read 70 books, and I only ended up reading 66 (this does NOT include the reads I didn't finish).

I had two informal goals as well: one was to finish all the books from the first page of my TBR list (I get all my books from the library, so I have a list, not a pile). For reference, this is what I mean by a "page":

I only got serious about this goal during the second half of 2023. I didn't quite manage to do it (I'm currently reading Climbing the Mango Trees and I'll finish War and Peace this month as well), but I think I did pretty well!

My second informal goal was to read equal numbers of fiction and nonfiction. I didn't quite accomplish this goal either; I read 35 fiction books and 31 nonfiction books.

Even though I didn't complete any of my reading goals for 2023, I got really close, and considering how busy this year was, I'm very happy with what I did accomplish.

Reading Stats

Top Artists (Authors): 

1. C.S. Lewis (The Horse and His Boy, The Four Loves, and The Pilgrim's Regress)
2. Fredrik Backman (Anxious People and Beartown)
3. Naomi Novik (Black Powder War and Empire of Ivory)
4. Tricia Levenseller (Blade of Secrets and Master of Iron)
5. Anna Hess (Trailersteading and The Weekend Homesteader)

Top Songs (Books): 

1. Moment of Truth, by Kasie West
2. Back When We Were Grownups, by Anne Tyler
3. My Kitchen Year, by Ruth Reichl
4. Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George
5. The Weekend Homesteader, by Anna Hess

 

Bonus: Best Duologies I read in 2023!

I really wish that more authors would write duologies. I don't like long series, but if I enjoy the world and characters, I want a teensy bit more than a standalone novel. So in my opinion, a duology strikes the perfect balance! Here are the two that I read this year (both of which I loved):

• The Rule series (Rule and Rise), by Ellen Goodlett   
• The Bladesmith series (Blade of Secrets and Master of Iron) by Tricia Levenseller

Minutes Listened Number of Books Read: 66

Top Genre: Fantasy

Here's the breakdown!

Fantasy: 19 books

Memoir: 12 books

General Nonfiction: 10 books

Contemporary Fiction: 9 books

Christian Living: 5 books

History: 4 books

Historical Fiction: 4 books

Classics: 2

Middle Grade: 1

I'm excited to soak in more stories in 2024! Next Wednesday, I'll be listing my most anticipated reads of 2024 (this doesn't necessarily mean they're new releases). Talk to you then!