I can’t believe tomorrow will be the last day of the year AND the last day of a decade! I recently came across an amazing spreadsheet created to track bookish and blog stats provided by Kal @ Reader Voracious and I couldn’t resist plugging in all my books for the year! As someone who is mathematically and logistically challenged, this extensively thorough spreadsheet left me in awe. And that it is all available for free!! Who is this amazing person?? Go check out her spreadsheets and her blog!

I also really liked the Reading Survey shared by Merline @ Merline Reads, originally shared by Gabby @ Gabby Reads so I’ll be using it to summarize my 2019 year of reading! Let’s wander in!

Reading Stats

Source: 36 came from my physical or virtual shelves, 30 ARCs (24 from Netgalley), 12 I purchased new or used, and 1 I borrowed

Genre: 16 Romance, 14 Historical Fiction, 7 Contemporary, 7 Fantasy, 6 Literary, 6 Non-Fiction, 4 Humor, 4 Science-Fiction, 3 Thriller, 3 Classics, 3 Mystery, 2 Horror, 2 Graphic Novels, and 2 Children books

Audience: 52 Adult, 1 New Adult, 16 Young Adult, 5 Middle Grade, and 2 Children

Format: 34 Ebooks, 23 Paperbacks, 20 Hardcovers, 2 Graphic Novels, and 2 Audiobooks

*Compiling these few meagre stats brought on a stress headache which made me wonder why in the world I was doing this again. Oh yeah. It’s fun! 😉

I was surprised to discover I read more off my own shelves than I thought. I was convinced that the majority of my reading in 2019 had been ARCs.

Reading Survey

(Link to add on Goodreads through the book title.)

How many books did you read? Did you meet your goal?

I have read 79 books this year! I’m halfway through Winter Storms by Elin Hilderbrand, but I don’t know if I’ll finish it by January 1st or not. (UPDATE: I did finish it! Yay for 80 books read!)

I had a goal of 75 books on Goodreads, and I participated in the Popsugar Reading Challenge, which I completed in November. Here’s my wrap-up for Popsugar 2019!

I only DNF’d 2 books this year. Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews and Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. I think the timing was just wrong for Hollow Kingdom and maybe I’ll pick it up again someday. I’m hoping to be better about putting down books that I can’t get into next year, but I’m also trying to request less ARCs, so maybe I won’t need to DNF many anyway.

Most read genre?

I clearly like romance and historical fiction. I’m not surprised by that at all.

Longest and shortest books you read?

Favorite book published in 2019?

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center and Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Favorite debut book published in 2019?

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo and Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Favorite book NOT published this year?

The Dry by Jane Harper

A book that lived up to the hype?

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

A book that did NOT live up to the hype?

I had a few disappointments this year. If you’ve read my blogs recently you’ve seen how upset I was about my lukewarm response to The Secret History. I’m still sad. I was also disappointed in The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Grace Year.

Book that felt like the biggest accomplishment?

The Shining by Stephen King. I’ve had that one on my shelf for so long and it was nice to finally cross it off my tbr. AND I finished it on Halloween.

Favorite character?

It doesn’t seem fair to pick from The Raven King since that was a reread for this year (Blue and Gansey will always win favorite characters), but I will say my favorite character from Call Down the Hawk was Declan. Surprised? So was I! I also adored Cassie and Owen from Things You Save in a Fire and Frank from Frankly in Love.

Least favorite character?

Richard, Henry, Francis, Camilla, Charles, Julian and yes, Bunny from The Secret History.

Most shocking book/moment?

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Favorite couple/OTP?

Cassie and Owen from Things You Save in a Fire and Jane and Gifford in My Lady Jane

The best written book you read this year?

Beside books written by Maggie Stiefvater? The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. If you can’t tell, I really liked that one.

Book that you pushed most people to read in 2019?

Anything by Katherine Center or Maggie Stiefvater.

Favorite book cover of the year?

Frankly in Love. It’s even more gorgeous in person.

Favorite book adaptation?

Outlander (TV) and The Goldfinch (Film)

What book made you cry the most?

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

What book made you laugh the most?

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

A new favorite author you discovered this year?

Christina Lauren, Jane Harper, and Fredrik Backman

Guilty pleasure read of the year?

Maybe The Raven King?? I really didn’t have time to reread it, but I did anyway. And it was wonderful! One of my goals for 2020 is to reread more–even though I do feel guilty when I reread.

Favorite book you reread this year?

Ha. See the above response. I only reread 4 books this year, which is very sad to me because I love to reread books.

What is the best non-fiction book you read this year?

The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

Were you happy with your reading year?

I think I was happier this year than last. I managed to DNF 2 books, which was a big accomplishment for me. But I’m still a little disappointed when I look back at my reading year and many books were just ok for me. Many of them ARCs, which reaffirms my decision to request less and be much more selective about what I do request.

(Images with stats are from my Goodreads 2019 Year in Books.)

Happy Wandering & Happy 2020!