Hello friends! Welcome to YEAR SIX of my reading year in review wherein I look back on what I read last year, and discuss reading plans and goals are for the new year! If you’re new here, here are my Reading Year In Review posts from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
In 2022, I set my Goodreads reading goal to 25 books, essentially cutting in half what I can typically achieve in a year. I did this because I noticed the stress that the Goodreads Reading Challenge was putting on me when it came to doing something I do for fun. Throughout every single year that I’ve participated in the Reading Challenge, the pressure to complete it was ever present in the back of my mind. If I saw I was falling behind, the stress built. In 2021, I realized how much it was affecting the pleasure I derived from reading.
Now, why not just not participate in the challenge? Easy. I love year in review statistics and posts and things (clearly). When Spotify Wrapped comes out every year? It’s one of the most fun days on the internet for me. And for years, Goodreads has been the only place to track your reading (there are new places now of course, but I’m a creature of habit, I’m not ready to move on yet).
So, I set my goal to 25 books. A low number, easily achievable, and an impressive amount if it turned out to be all I read in the year. Turns out, it was very achievable. I’m not sure if it was the almost instantaneous stress free experience I had reading in the year as soon as I set that number to 25, or if it was that I entered my audiobook era, or if it was me being very selective when it came to ARCs. Probably all three. But, I read 93 books in 2022. I hit my goal of 25 in June when I finished “Where The Crawdads Sing.”
Something that I did this year that I think really made is easy to reach that number, was I made it a point to read nearly every single book that is physically sitting on my bookshelves. So, a lot of the titles I read this year were not new releases (though I did manage 28 of those), and I feel so much lighter having read most of the books I own. At this point, I have less than 5 unread books on my bookshelves.
The way I was able to read so much this year was largely due to saying no to a lot of ARCs that were sent my way unless they were books I was highly, highly interested in. And also, the best app in the world: Libby. I signed up for a library card this year in the late spring. I haven’t had a library card since I was a kid. It has been the best decision of my life to get one as an adult. I was able to borrow audiobooks from my local library, and I’m privileged that with my job, I’ve been able to listen to audiobooks while I work.
Now, here are some of the fun stats: I read 34,533 pages across 93 books (though it’s important to note that Goodreads does not count pages for audiobooks). The shortest book I read was 112 pages, and the longest was 807. My average book length was 371 pages. And my average rating of books was 3.8 stars on a 5-star scale (which is down from my 4.1 average in 2021. I purposely rated harsher this year and I think it’s the most accurate.).
I read 18 e-books this year, 55 audiobooks, and 20 physical books. Three of the 93 books were rereads, 12 were sent to me for review, and 28 of them were 2022 releases.
I started off the year with “The Wall of Winnipeg” by Mariana Zapata. All I remember about this one is that it was a recommendation from my friend because I was attempting the Instagram 12 books challenge, and this was my January book. It was too much of a slow burn for me.
Then I read a few ARCs and romance novels, but I was primarily waiting for February to come because Sarah J. Maas released the second book in the Crescent City series, “House of Sky and Breath.” I reread “Earth and Blood” the first week of February and then CC2 came out Feb. 15th. It took me 3 days to read it and wow. I’m still thinking about this book. I think about it all the time. It makes me so giddy thinking about these characters. I love SJM so, so much. Her books mean the world to me and I fear we won’t get a new book from her this year, but it’s only January 6th. Here is HOPING. I need to know what happens next.
I finally jumped on the Taylor Jenkins Reid bandwagon this year and now I fully understand the hype. I audiobook’d her big four–“Daisy Jones & The Six,” “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” “Malibu Rising,” and “Carrie Soto Is Back.” I adore the way TJR writes and how she tells stories. Daisy Jones was easily my favorite–it spoke to the former journalist in me, the fangirl, the live music junkie, and the music doc obsessive.
I read a few nonfiction books this year, more than I usually do. The first was “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green which is one of my favorite books I read this year. I listened to it on audio and let me just say, John Green was made to narrate his own books. The cadence of his voice brought me to tears so many times. I loved listening to him read these essays, and it’s just a cool book of fascinating topics. I’ve recommended it to so many people.
The other nonfiction I read were audiobooks and they were autobiographies read by the authors. I of course checked out “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy. Brought me to tears so many times. I listened to Tom Felton’s “Beyond The Wand,” which was super fascinating–I loved hearing about behind the scenes Harry Potter stuff and I learned a lot about Tom that I hadn’t known. And finally, I listened to Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” and I cannot wait for part two of his presidential memoirs. Part one was phenomenal.
I’m finally caught up on everything Tahereh Mafi has released including her middle grade books. I read multiple books each from Abby Jimenez, Emily Henry, Talia Hibbert, Ali Hazelwood, Rainbow Rowell, Angie Thomas, Jenny Han, and Casey McQuiston.
I read “The Hobbit” for the first time ever. It was so cozy. I reread The Fault In Our Stars for the first time in years. It was emotional. I finally, finally picked up “Catwoman: Soulstealer” by Sarah J. Maas. I was surprised at the DC knowledge I already had in my brain from years of watching Arrowverse shows. I read the Hunger Game prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and it fully reignited my THG love. I read my first and probably my last Colleen Hoover book. I read one Bridgerton book and decided they aren’t for me and I much prefer the show.
Now, what are the plans for 2023? Well, they’re pretty similar to last year. I’ve officially set my goal to 25 books. I have no plans to try to beat 93 books, which is the most books I’ve ever read in a year in my entire life.
I just want the books that come into my life this year to be immediately read and not sit around for years. If I buy a new book, it is with the plans to read it within the year. I want to finish those last few stragglers on my shelves and just have fun reading this year. Because 2022 was so fun when it came to reading. I want that again. I’ve actually already read two books so far this year and we’re six days in. Pretty good start.
This year is about keeping my shelves read and only picking up the books that excite me and I know I’ll read immediately.
Here’s to a fun 25 books for 2023.
Selina Falcon 