Mid year check in

I can’t believe we are half way through the year already, it’s crazy how quickly it’s disappearing, but it also gives me chance to have a look at how my reading year is going. I saw a few people doing something similar last year and it got me thinking that whilst I keep track of the books I read for my Goodreads challenge, I haven’t kept track of anything more in-depth about the books I read.

So I decided that this year I would keep a little more detail over the year of every book that I read, so that I can see what I have been drawn to and maybe that will make me more mindful about what I choose to read for the rest of the year. I think the first two important stats are that so far this year I have read 26 books; I’m a little under where I need to be to get to my goal but I have some holidays coming up so I’ll make that up in no time; and that out of those 26 books 80% were by female writers.

So lets start with how many books I managed per month, so as you can see the most books I have managed in a month is 6 and I have had a few really good reading months, but unsurprisingly I am far from consistent. I’m hoping that because I now kind of mix up the way I am reading, by reading an ebook, a physical book, and an audiobook simultaneously that I will, going forward, have a bit more consistency as I am a total mood reader so switching it up will help.

I am actually quite surprised that these are so close, I always assumed that I read more books in a series, but this year it turns out I have read a more standalone books so far, although it is pretty close. I’ll be interested to see where this stands at the end of the year.

Another big surprise for me, I thought that the amount between adult and YA books would be a little more equal. I also thought I maybe would have read a couple of MG books by now because I do like to read a few in a year, but there have obviously not been any that have quite turned my head yet, hopefully there will be a few in that column by the time we get to the end of the year.

This is an interesting one because my only big goal for reading this year apart from the Goodreads challenge was to try and improve my Netgalley percentage and I’m feeling like this shows that there is a good chance that I won’t get there. But you never know maybe this will be the push I need to get to more of my ARC’s, stranger things have happened.

I have really gotten into audiobooks over the last couple of years and it really shows in these stats, I was initially surprised that it had eclipsed physical books but then I realised that I actually have so much more access to audio books because I can listen on my commute or when I am cooking etc etc. It is unsurprising that Ebooks are my most used though because I have access to my own books and ARC’s on there.

For these stats I decided that I would class a backlist if I read it more than 6 months after it published, therefore new is if I read it 6 months from when it was published. I’m glad that the backlist is higher because I am trying to make my way through old ARC’s that I haven’t got to yet and I’m trying my very hardest not to request any new books on Netgalley, and of course trying not to buy too many new books…with mixed results.

As for genres I’m so happy that this is so varied, it’s not surprising that fantasy is up there at the top, maybe a little surprising that romance is because in previous years I would have maybe have gravitated more to crime and mystery books, but it’s not a bad thing. I’m hoping that it stays just as varied when I check back in at the end of the year.

Very happy to see that the big sections on this are the higher ratings, means I’m picking books that I will enjoy. I’m also glad that there is nothing lower than a 2.5 because nobody enjoys reading a book that they rate two or lower, so I’ve not had to put myself through that. I’m definitely hoping that this trend continues in the coming months and that by the end of the year I’ve only been reading books that I really enjoy.

As for my top books for this year, there are definitely some that I have read in the last six months that I feel will make the list, although I’m interested to see what the next six months bring, but so far these books are my top contenders…