A Month of Favorites is finally here! Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge and I will be sharing our fave experiences from this year . Today, we’re talking about our Bookish Year.
My Reading Year
No. of Books Read: 33 so far.
Genre That Got the Most Love This Year: Mystery/Thriller. Last year it was Science Fiction, which still had a strong showing this year as well. My reading tastes vary wildly.
- Science Fiction – 6
- Mystery / Thriller – 10
- Contemporary – 5
- Horror (Vampires & Zombies) – 2
- Paranormal & Supernatural (Ghost, Witches & Ghouls) – 3
- Dark Contemporary – 3
- Magical Realism – 2
- Fantasy (straight up no chaser) – 2
Most Read Author: I read 2 books by a few authors this year – Stephen King (Revival and Finder’s Keepers), Joe Hill (Horns and Heart Shaped Box), and Susan Hill (The Various Haunts of Men and The Risk of Darkness – Simon Serailler #1 and #3). Last year – my most read author was Jo Nesbo, and I managed to squeeze in only 1 book by him this year (Nemesis – Harry Hole #4).
How I Read: Audiobooks – 17; physical books – 7; eBooks – 9. eBooks are playing a much greater role in my reading now that I’ve discovered I can tolerate reading on my phone.
When I Read: I read the most books in February (6) and the lease in June (1). I’m a slow reader, and tend to average 1 book / week. But I’m also a moody reader, so some months, I just don’t feel like reading at all.
Fave Book of the Year (Just a Hint): I don’t have one favorite this year … I simply cannot choose. My list includes a book of short stories, a book about a psychopath, a contemporary novel about a young boy and a mystery that’s a part of a series.
Most Surprising Reading Thing: No historical fiction read at all – and I also didn’t read as diversely as I would have liked, which is why my Winter reading list is going to be entirely made up of titles written by authors of color, or that feature a person of color on the cover.
How I Blogged
This year, I focused on my fitness during the summer and shed almost 30 pounds. I felt all my energy and free time was dedicated to doing something, and my blogging habits needed to change.
I deleted ALL my blog posts during the summer – and then came back … slightly different. Gone were individual book discussions and posting every week day. Instead I post typically post 4 times a week now (M,W, F and Sun.) and I’m channeling my love of reading lists with more bookish posts like 8 Crazy Good Marriage Thrillers That Belong On Your Reading List or 5 Better Than the Book Audiobooks or #ReadThis … 3 Books With Talent Stealing Bitches. And, I’m still maintaining the Master List of Book Blogging Memes.
The topics are a little more varied and I hope to start focusing more on Digital Lifehacks like How To Use Evernote As A Blogging Editorial Calendar.
What’s your bookish year been like so far?
// Comments //
Sanovia
Just wanted to tell you that I joined. Super excited for the month of December. I will do my best to check out each and every blog that has joined this event 🙂
Andi
Just a heads up! I added a linky for today’s posts over at my blog if anyone wants to use it, or I’m sure you can feel free to link up here.
Tanya M @ Mom's Small Victories
I joined in today even though the post name displayed is wrong. Oh how I wish i was reading in Jamaica! Thanks for hosting this fun event!
Annabel Smith
I’ve been reading a lot of sci-fi books this year too but like you I don’t like hard sci-fi – I couldn’t get into The Martian, for example – I like character/relationship driven sci-fi.
I’m amazed to hear that more than half your reading is via audiobooks. I need to get into these – I could cover so much more ground! I might make that a challenge for 2015.
Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf
Ohhh I’m going to have to look through your sci-fi reads because like you, I’m not big on reading that genre but… I want to be. 🙂 (I’ll watch it all day, though!)
Kristen M.
I read my first Jo Nesbo this year but it was with my son and it was Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder which you probably didn’t read. 🙂 I was really pleased by how well it was written though and I’m actually looking forward to reading the rest of the series!
Emma @EverEmma
I was so surprised to discover that I listen to zero audiobooks this year! I also cut back on work hours, so I have less time to listen to them. I wonder if they are somehow correlated? When do you find that you listen to audiobooks?
Martha G
It’s almost five o’clock — I want that pink drink!
Rachel
Jamaica! Love it! I also surprised myself by reading more science fiction than I usually do this year. It dominated all of my typical reading genres.
Andi
I want to be reading in Jamaica RIGHT NOW! Looks heavenly.
Andi
I want to be reading in Jamaica RIGHT NOW
Bellezza
I love how concise and organized your post is; after I read it, I felt mine was too much of a ramble! But yours gives a great indication of your year, as well as a marvelous introduction. Thanks for hosting this wonderful month!
Tamara @ Traveling With T
I’m SO jealous of your reading location! I LOVE this whole month of faves idea!
Tanya Patrice
I’m reading posts on lunch break too Flo 🙂
Flo
It’s me again!
I understand how it can be frustrating to be prevented from reading as much as you want but if you’ve mainly read great books it’s kind of perfect, isn’t it?
Like others, I do love to try your reading location of the year 🙂
Tanya Patrice
So true Flo! I wish I read more, but it’s beter to read leisurely and read good books 🙂
Alysia @My Little Pocketbooks
OHHH!! I need a Jamaica vacation sooo bad. A tropical beach and fruity cocktails sounds so perfect right now. I am aaudiobook commuter too! LOL!
Tanya Patrice
Oh Alysia – Jamaica was fabulous!
Megan
My stinky day job (well, now it’s a night job) makes me have to binge read on weekends to keep up with my reading goals, as well. It’s nice to have uninterrupted time on the weekend to read, but my reading definitely suffers through the week. Sounds like you made the most out of a year in transition. Looking forward to hearing more about your faves this month!
Tanya Patrice
Girl – I can relate! Uninterrupted reading time on the weekends is fantastic though. Doesn’t always happen, but when it does – it’s like a little bit of heaven.
Amanda R
This is so much fun! I love reading all of the fave posts!
Tanya Patrice
Me too Amanda!
Valeria @ A Touch of Book Madness
Sounds like a great reading year, even if you haven’t been able to meet your goal. Work always gets in the way sadly, but it’s awesome you got to listen to so many audiobooks. It’s even great that you ended up reading the most books out of a genre you don’t usually like much. So all in all, I’ll call it a good year!
Tanya Patrice
It was definitely a … different reading year than I normally have, but audiobooks saved my sanity 🙂
CaroG
Seems like you had a wonderful reading year so far. I am going to guess book #1 in your runner ups is The Son 😉 I haven’t read Jo Nesbo yet, but since I love those type of books (Scandinavian Noir Novellas) I feel like I really should
Tanya Patrice
🙂 You guessed it!
Sarah @ Sarah's Book Shelves
Aaah – I love your reading location…sounds SO relaxing! I read my first Sci-fi this year (I’m normally not into that at all)…and loved it (The Martian). And have you read Station Eleven? Apocalypse and I loved it.
Tanya Patrice
I haven’t read Station Eleven (nor The Martian) but those 2 are tops on my reading list for next year.
Flo
Thanks again for this month of fun! I’ve just linked up my post but I will come back later to read yours and some of the others. Lunch time! 😉
// Trackbacks & Pingbacks //
[…] These results surprise me and perhaps why I didn’t make my reading goal this year. Last year, I always had an audiobook going. I also read more paper books this year and those take me longer in general to read, partly because they are harder for me to hold and I don’t read much during the day. Reading on the Kindle is just easier for me. Linked up at Girl XOXO Month of Faves – Bookishness […]
[…] sure and check out the oh so lovely creator of this event- Tanya @ Girlxoxo (link up your post there!) and 1 of the co-partners in crime- Andi @ Estella’s Revenge posts. […]
[…] (Find more introductions here.) […]