Happy New Year Book Worms!
Do you track your reading? Are you a stats nerd?
It’s time to reflect on 2023 Reading Stats.

2023 Reading Stats

Image Source: Canva

Brace yourself for a nerdy post, bookaholics!

Do you track your reading?
Have you ever set a reading goal or considered a reading challenge?

Reading in 2023

I’d love to hear from you if you analyze reading data at year’s end. Although I’ve always been analytical, I think my appreciation for using data to plan was heightened during my tenure as a teacher when I poured over student data to inform my teaching. Now, instead of looking at student achievement, I’m paying attention to my own numbers as it relates to reading achievement. I realize that while numbers are not that important in a rewarding reading life, they do reveal some trends and inform future reading choices. It’s important to me that I’m reading diversely, supporting women authors, and increasing my nonfiction percentage. While this post about the numbers is mostly a self-reflection, I hope you find it interesting and possibly motivating toward considering your own reading achievement during the past year and setting some goals for the New Year.

If you’ve read ONE book this year, you’re a reader and I encourage you to celebrate that read and accomplishment!

Blog Feedback

I’d also like to know (in comments) what you’d like to see more of or less of on the blog for 2024. Has the variety this year been satisfactory for you? Thank you for your engagement and support!

2023 ended up to be a challenging year for me because I had emergency eye surgery for a detached retina in October. I’m also so grateful for wonderful books and delightful bookish conversation! Thank you to each of my followers and visitors! Thanks for the views, comments, and shares! I appreciate EACH one!

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Best of 2023

See this post for my most memorable reads in 2023.

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Let’s Talk Numbers!

Total Books Read: 138

Remember….it’s really not about the numbers! It’s about the enjoyment of reading.

This number is up a bit from last year, but as long as I’m above 100 I’m satisfied. I averaged 25-30 books a year when I was teaching full time and the majority of those were read during the summer. For me in this season of life, 100 books is a comfortable number. I average two books per week and the weeks when I can only read one dense nonfiction or a 500+ page fiction are balanced out later when I can read 3 lighter, shorter books in one week (Novellas in November helps my numbers!). Pictured below is a Goodreads generated summary for 2023.

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Books Abandoned (DNF): 4

I’m getting better at knowing my reading tastes and passing on books/genres that I know won’t be to my taste. This number does not take into account the books I abandoned after reading only a few paragraphs or pages and didn’t bother to record. I’m not reluctant to abandon books that aren’t working for me. There are too many great books waiting to be read to make myself finish something that isn’t right for me at the time. Related Posts: My Love Hate Relationship With DNF. Confessions From an Outlier.

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Women Authors: 119! (86%)

One of my goals in starting this blog is to support women authors writing about strong women and I feel like I’ve had success in this area. We’ve certainly come a long way since the days when women had to publish under a man’s name!

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Authors of Color/”Own Voices”: 12 (9%)

 Reading and promoting authors of color is one of my primary reading objectives, and I’ve really fallen short this year. I can’t give a reason, except that there were not that many books that matched my reading tastes. Another contributing factor is that the publishers or the publicity teams that offer ARCs are not promoting enough authors of color. Several of the ones I read were wonderful reads (three ended up on my best of year list), so in my mind the number was inflated. That’s why tracking is important….data reveals the reality. Hopefully, next year will show improvement. Three of my fav stories this year by authors of color include Symphony of Secrets by Brendon Slocumb, All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore (pub date: April), and Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See (not sure how she identifies but she is non-white).

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Sources:

One stat I enjoy tracking each year is the percentage of books from various sources.

Library = 17 (12%)
ARC (advanced readers copy from the publisher) = 65 (47%)
Own = 56 (41%)

 59% of my books are free! Great kindle deals help me buy books to own. (revenue from blog ads and affiliate links help my purchasing power! Thanks!) I’m not sure why my library usage is down from previous years, but I read a lot of new releases and the hold lists are long and I become impatient and purchase them…or I see an irresistible kindle deal. I always clearly state if I’m reviewing a book I’ve received for free.

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Stars:

thirty-six 4.5-5 Star Reads
(WOW! highly recommended, memorable)
sixty-two 4 Star Reads
(very good read)
six 3.5 Star Reads
(more than OK, no WOW factor, mixed bag)
twenty-eight 3 Star Reads
(mixed bag)
six 2-2.5 Star Reads
(not especially enjoyable but I finished or skimmed it)
1 Star Reads
(usually my DNFs)

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Fiction: (Broken Down by Sub-Genre): 122

(a few books fall into more than one category and I have read more sub genres than I’ve listed here)

Historical Fiction: 56
This is obviously a favorite sub-genre! Almost half of the fiction I read is historical. (Also, this is why I think I read more nonfiction than I do!) My favorite histfic this year is Go as a River by Shelley Read.

Literary Fiction: 11
This is a category that brings about some debate among readers….the most simple definition is that literary fiction is not genre fiction. Also, it’s usually character-driven, beatifully written, and written to explore the meaning of life and its issues (most prestigious award recipients and national prize winners are categorized as literary fiction). My favorites this year include The Little Liar by Mitch Albom, Go as a River by Shelley Read, An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain, and No Two Persons by Erica Bauermiester.

Women’s Fiction: 47
Ever since the pandemic started, I’ve been reading more “women’s fiction.” There were months when these lighter, escapist reads were a balm to my pandemic brain! Again, a reader’s definition may vary….for me they are books in which most characters are women and the plot centers around women’s concerns and issues….some in this category are lighter reads that readers refer to as “beach reads” or “vacation reads.” One of my favorite lighter, escapist reads this year is a seasonal read, Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews. There are also more and more women’s fiction/historical fiction mashups that include more substantial themes. My favorites this year include the Wartime Bookshop Series by Lesley Eames and All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore (pub date: April).

Mystery/Thriller/Suspense/Science Fiction: 7
Clearly, I don’t read too much in this category because real life is scary enough. My favorite mystery this year is Symphony of Secrets by Brendon Slocumb.

Issue Centered: 3
The main purpose of these stories is to focus on a certain issue. I usually enjoy these books unless they are heavily agenda driven by the author. My favorite title in this category is The Woman With the Cure by Lynn Cullen, the fictionalized biography of the scientist who made great sacrifices to develop a vaccine for polio.

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Nonfiction (broken down into sub-genres): 16 (12%)

My goal is to have a 20% nonfiction percentage. I’m far away from that goal. My favorite nonfiction reads in 2023 include And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham (audio), The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (audio), and How Far to the Promised Land by Esau McCaulley (audio).

Memoir/Biography: 10
Narrative Nonfiction: 1
(Nonfiction written in story format.
Essay: 5

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Story Graph

You may have heard about Story Graph, an alternative book tracking app to Goodreads. I decided to use both Goodreads and Story Graph and compare them (a blog post here about the results). I remain undecided, so I’m still using both. Two delights of using Story Graph include the ability to use half stars and the neat charts and graphs. My Story Graph handle is reading_ladies_blog. Here are three of my 2023 charts/graphs:

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Let’s Consider 2024 Goals

(please share yours in comments):

Goal 1: Tracking:

Goodreads Reading Challenge
(determine how many books you’d like to read and track them through the Goodreads app)

This is the easiest of the goals/challenges as it simply involves setting a number. This number can be adjusted throughout the year if you are reading above or below your goal. I recommend setting a reasonable goal and then raising it if necessary. My goal is 100 books. I met this goal in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, and it’s reasonable that I will meet it again. Retirement helps tremendously! Have you set your 2023 Goodreads challenge? Are we friends on Goodreads?

I also track my reading on Story Graph ( reading_ladies_blog ) and on an Excel Spreadsheet. I’m thrilled that I managed to stay synced between all three for the entire year (I.e. no backtracking to find a discrepancy). The reason I like a spreadsheet is so that I can track categories such as diverse reads, library books, arcs, women authors, star ratings, sub genres, etc. I know I could create shelves on Goodreads for the same purpose but the number of shelves I would need might be overwhelming and not of interest to anyone else. I am going to add the category of setting/location to my excel spreadsheet this year. I’ve seen others track this and I’m curious about my results.

Goal 2:

I want to curate a satisfying reading life in which I read what I want, when I want! (Thus, no other challenges for me this year.) I’ve come to the conclusion that life is hard enough without adding book challenges.

My goals are simple: read at least 100 books in 2023, read widely and diversely, and increase my nonfiction percentage.

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What reading goals do you have for 2024?

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Happy reading in 2024! I hope you’ve experienced some pleasurable and challenging reading in 2023 and are eagerly anticipating the reading year ahead! I wish you health and happiness and a tall stack of unputdownable 5 star reads!

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QOTD:

Did you meet your reading goal for 2023?

What is your 2024 Reading Goal?

Do you use a method for tracking your reads during the year?

Have you considered your best read of the year? My Top Ten List for 2023 (plus honorable mentions) is in this post.

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Happy Reading Book Worms!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

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Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
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Pinterest
SubStack: @carolreadingladies
Reading Ladies Book Club on Facebook

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Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photo are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.

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