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A Reader of Fictions: 2012 Stats + Some 2013 Goals

A Reader of Fictions

Book Reviews for Just About Every Kind of Book

Saturday, December 29, 2012

2012 Stats + Some 2013 Goals

After looking at some other blogger's charts to wrap up 2012, I decided to look at some of my own reading statistics. In 2012, I read 367 books. My definition of a book works as follows: a book (for any age group excluding picture books), graphic novel (individual or whole series), manga (individual or whole series), audiobook, or play.

Now here are some charts on my reading:


You can maybe see why I don't worry too much about children's books throwing off my book totals, since I only read four, and they weren't even ridiculously simple ones. I really thought I was a bit more balanced with YA and adult reading, but that might have been more true by time spent reading, since most adult books tend to go much slower.

2013 Goal: I'd like to keep YA to no more than half my total reading, but I guess I won't be that upset if it continues to dominate, because I do love YA. The important thing is to love what I'm reading. I would like to read more middle grade books, but I doubt I'll read much more childrens' fiction. I mostly just read classics within that genre.


Alright, I know this data isn't precisely accurate, since those numbers do not quite add up to the number of books that I read, but I've already spent a lot of time on this, so you'll just have to deal with it. Series books definitely won, though I did count companion novels as series books, and I know some might not have done so; using those calculations, it would probably be about even.

2013 Goal: I don't necessarily want to read less series, but I would like to stick to series more. If I read a book in a series and want to continue, if the other books are already out, I should go ahead and read them. I was a bit all over the place, and, with my memory, I end up having to reread books I didn't much like the first time so that I can read the sequel.



For those who are curious about the formatting on my books, they break down like this. Most of the ebooks were from the first 3/4 of the year, when I used NetGalley heavily. Most of the ARCs are from BEA. The majority of the hardbacks and paperbacks were finished review copies, followed by the library. I read very few of my owned books this year.

2013 Goal: Read more of those books you own, self! Why on earth do you keep buying them if you prefer books from the library? *waggles finger at self* The e-galley figure should fall quite a bit, because, even with all of those that I read, there are another hundred I did not get to. I've realized that I have no self-control as it comes to e-galleys, so they will be accepted sparingly and as needed, like for gym or travel reading.


Yikes, right? Almost three-quarters of the books I read this year were for review. This, right here, is why I end up begging for review copies of things I really want to read. Yes, I could buy them or get them from the library, but experience has shown me that I don't have much time for books that I'm not reviewing.

2013 Goal: I'm going to try to be more careful accepting review copies, and I will try to strike a better balance. The solution might just be to read MORE, but I don't know if I can. Of the books that I read that aren't for review, I would like to get to more of the ones I own but have been neglecting. The library has proved too tempting in the past.


This data goes off of every rating tag I have in blogger right now, which should be mostly 2012, since I only added ratings at the very end of 2011. There are a couple of scheduled 2013 posts in there too, but I think it's a pretty fair representation of 2012. Now, my ratings for this year are flawed for two reasons: 1) My rating system was new and it took a while for me to quite feel out what they mean. The 2.5 and 5 ratings have probably been most abused. 2) This won't change, but I review right when I finish a book, and hindsight often changes my opinion.

The rating spread is pretty good, and I'm not surprised the bulk of my reads have been from 3-4 stars. Basically, this means I've been doing a pretty good job choosing books to read in 2012. As much as I think about myself as a critical reviewer and tend to rate lower than the average person, I still try to find books I will enjoy, and, as you can see, don't have two many books that I give very low ratings to. Many of those low ratings were review copies I could not DNF for one reason or another.

2012 Goal: Basically just to have less ratings I later regret. Most of that was due to not knowing quite what I wanted my own personal rating scale to be. 5s will probably occur less, but I hope to see a good deal of 4s and 4.5s! Oh, I also hope to do a bit more DNFing, so that I don't waste my time on books I hate, though I feel bad DNFing review books, so that probably won't change.

That's it for this wrap up post on my readership habits. I'm planning to do another on my ratings broken down by publisher and imprint, something I'm really interested in, all in an affort to avoid books I probably will not like. Look for those in early 2013!

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6 Comments:

Blogger Kimberly @ Midnight Book Girl said...

Pie charts! Excellent.

I like your idea of breaking down your ratings by publisher/imprint.

Don't worry about your rating system being flawed, mine is flawed as well. Because I don't have any specific requirements for each rating it's very subjective to my mood or the last book I just read or my expectations, all of which change on a regular basis.

December 29, 2012 at 12:49 PM  
Blogger Bibliosaurus Text said...

I can't believe how many books you read this year. I'm struggling to finish my 150 goal. How the heck do you do it!?

I hear ya on wanting to finish series, and to read some of the books you actually own. I buy them, and then they sit there. *Sigh*

My 2013 goal? To meet up with you at ALA Annual ;-)

December 29, 2012 at 2:13 PM  
Blogger Bekka said...

I hope to do more DNF-ing also, though I did quite a lot of it this year. Mostly, I just want to stop reading books that I don't like.

What will your reading goal be next year? Will you stick with that crazy book-a-day schedule?

December 30, 2012 at 12:11 AM  
Blogger Lilian said...

OOOOO, Such colorful pie charts! Woah, you reached your goal! *throws rainbow confetti*

"The solution might just be to read MORE, but I don't know if I can."
I'm already starting to think you have no life. Are you sure you don't live in some cave with cobwebs? And you warn to read MORE? *o*

I am with you on the reading books I own thing. I need to drag myself from the library. But the library has NEW books. I WANT NEW BOOOKKKSSS. NEW. NEW. NEW.

*o* I am such a hipster.

Aside from review copies I rarely read my own books. I started on The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer in an effort to read more of my own books, then shoved it aside for library books thinking "I can ALWAYS read my own books! But this book from the library can't be renewed since there's a long waiting list for it! ARGH." I don't want to let go of my unread library books to other patrons. I am too selfish.

*coughiseeatypoontheyearofyourlastgoalcough*
What books have you DNFed anyway?
I think I only DNFed on book this year. (it was partly because it was a library book that I had to return...but more so because I just wasn't interested) Once I get over the 50 page mark, I'll be like "what the heck. Let's just finish this thing up so I don't feel like I wasted time. And if I really hate it, I will just rant it out in my review. It'll probably be funny."
I've also tried simultaneously reading other books to lessen the pain of plodding through a mehhh book, but I end up neglecting the mehhh book. And I know if I leave a book alone too long (even for a week) I will forget EVERYTHING.

I applaud you for setting goals. I choose to just read according to my whims. Lalalalala. Which is why I avoid challenges like the plague.

Lilian @ A Novel Toybox

December 30, 2012 at 2:51 AM  
Blogger Steph Sinclair said...

I have the same problem with not reading the books I own. I've even had a problem with library books too. ARCs and e-galleys have dominated my reading for 2012 and in 2013 I'd like that to change. I want to make time for books I've been wanting to read for a while and cut back on requesting books (unless I REALLY want it).

December 30, 2012 at 4:38 PM  
Blogger Kat said...

Yeah, pie charts and stats! I love seeing the breakdown of your reads for this year, and the publisher/imprint thing would be interesting too.

I'm going to try and read more review books next year, but my brain often considers them homework and rebels, so we'll see how that one goes.

But one thing I'm really curious about is your DNFs ;)

December 31, 2012 at 12:41 PM  

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