Goodreads reading challenge – 2018 wrap-up

I love my reading challenges, both the Australian Women Writers one and the Goodreads one. They help me stay motivated and remember not to let all the shiny things in life — like the Sims — distract me too much from all the books on my to-be-read pile. (As if the wavering, towering stacks weren’t enough reminder to chip away at them before they topple and crush me to death!)

I didn’t do one of these dedicated posts in 2017; I think I was a bit deflated at the fact I missed my reading goals that year. But in 2018 I lowered my Goodreads goal (and then met the 2017 goal anyway, as you do), which helped. It was all part of my 2018 resolution of being kinder to myself. Also, I didn’t have to power my way through all those Sanderson Stormlight Archive books in 2018, which helped even more — I only read one, which I’d already started when 2018 began. 😉

So here are the books I read in 2018, with some handy statistics for my own amusement. I haven’t included my own books that I’ve read in the editing process — except for A Hand of Knaves, given most of that book wasn’t by me — because then Goodreads asks me to rate them and I don’t feel comfortable rating my own books.

• More than 75% of the books I read were by women writers (or had at least one woman writer contributor, in the case of the anthologies). Most of that was Sarah J. Maas (five books), and a decent number of female authors by whom I read three books. I am nothing if not consistent.
  • 31% of the books I read were part of the Australian Women Writers challenge, which clearly had a lot to do with the preponderance of women in my reading overall.
• I read 69% speculative fiction (see again re: consistent, and also, teeheehee), of which the top three four categories were:
  • fantasy — 29%
  • steampunk — 12%
  • urban fantasy and science fiction — 10% each
• Format-wise, 52% of my reads were paperback or hardcover books; 31% were audiobooks; and 17% were on my Kindle. (That’s pretty consistent with the 2016 numbers. The TBR pile topple-over threat is less intimidating for the digital ones.)

How did you go with your reading in 2018? What was your favourite book (or your favourite top five if you’re like me and can’t commit to one)?

Oh, and if you want to follow me on Goodreads and see all my reviews — although I almost always cross-post them here — you can find me here.

Goodreads reading challenge – 2016 wrap-up

Actual figure: 48. See note below.

I’m a huge fan of the Goodreads reading challenge, as it’s something that keeps me motivated to read, even when life gets crazy busy and sometimes I’d rather just sleep. (What? I like sleep!) So, once again, here are the books I read in 2016, with some handy statistics. (I also like statistics. I did up an Excel spreadsheet with formulas and everything!)

I haven’t included any of my own books that I’ve read in the editing process, because then Goodreads asks me to rate them and I personally don’t want to go there.

• 77% were one stripe or another of speculative fiction, with 27% being fantasy, 21% being urban fantasy and 17% being sci-fi. Interestingly, 10% were superhero fiction, which is something I hadn’t really read at all before 2016.
• 63% of the books I read were by women writers (or had a women co-author in the case of Gemina). I am very happy with this stat. In 2015, I over-corrected from my male-dominated reading habits to get to 87% women. I prefer it to be closer to balanced, but — given that I do the Australian Women Writers challenge every year too — the numbers are always going to favour women writers a little.
• Two new-to-me authors featured very heavily this year: Brandon Sanderson (21%) and Emmie Mears (13%). I hadn’t read either of them before 2016 and they are now big favourites. (They are also responsible for all the superhero books I read, and the bulk of the fantasy!) Sanderson also made up the majority of the books by men that I read in 2016. I am nothing if not consistent.
• Format-wise, 48% of my reads were paperback or hardcover books; 16% were audiobooks; and 9% were on my Kindle.

One thing I noticed after I got the screen grabs from Goodreads is that it didn’t record me having re-read Divided, even though I changed the date completed. Grr. I did include it in the stats above, but here is a picture of the cover, so the book doesn’t feel left out:

How did you go with your reading this year? What was your favourite book (or your favourite top five if you’re like me and can’t commit to one)?

I beat Goodreads!

That’s right, Goodreads, with your judgemental “You are 5% behind schedule”. I BEAT YOU! I only set my goal to 40 books, which is not quite one a week, but hey, that’s more than I read the year before without your incessant nagging.

So I guess I owe you thanks, you harpy.

As I’m drafting this I just started “Running Home” by Julie Hutchings. I may well have finished it by the time this post goes live. It’s not like I have anything on in the days beforehand. :p

Four observations on 2013:

1. John Marsden. Oh yes.

2. A quarter of my reads were either small press or self-published.

3. Just over a third of my reads were by Australian authors (I’m counting Katie Hamstead in that list even though she now lives in America). Almost half of that was because of point one, but I’m going to try and keep it up.

4. I read two non-fiction books, both on writing.

I was going to make point five my favourite read, but I can’t. I just can’t. TOO MANY CHOICES!

Goodreads is nagging me

Goodreads* is nagging me.

I set a rather ambitious goal for the amount of books I’d read in 2013, because last year I didn’t read that many books, and I felt bad, like my brain was a pot plant I’d left on the windowsill to wilt in the sun for lack of water.

My goal is forty books—and okay, that may not be ambitious to a lot of people, but for me that’s a lot more reading than I have time for. One book every week and a bit. Goodreads tells me I’m two books behind. I’m about halfway through two different novels that I’m quite enjoying: Keir by Pippa Jay and Quite Contrary by Richard Roberts. If I spent all of today and tomorrow reading both of them then I’d catch up, but I also want to get some writing done.

Not to mention the fact I’ve got a little boy to keep entertained and housework to do. Sigh. (I know: wah, right?)

I’ve considered getting some audiobooks so at least I can “read” in the car on the commute to and from work. That’s one thing I miss about not being able to use public transport anymore—I loved my reading time on the bus to uni and back. The only thing is that I’ve got a TBR pile that’s about fifty books deep. These are almost all paperbacks I’ve already paid for, and I hate the idea of having to buy the book again to listen to it.

Bring on the day when I can hand my smart phone a novel and it will read it for me. Maybe in David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor accent.

My 2013 reads thus far

How many books do you read in a year? Do you struggle to read as much as you’d like?

* No, I don’t have a Goodreads account linked to this profile. That’s because it’s on my personal account; I haven’t set up an author account yet. I will, when I get around to it. One day. Hey, I have lots of other social media!