Tag: audio books

UPDATE: Reading Goals for 2020

Reading Goals for 2020

I’m a little late on this update, but when I checked on my goals I was surprised by how much I’d gotten done! Here’s my original post from the beginning of the year. But for those of you who don’t want to click through, here’s my list:

I’m super proud of everything I’ve accomplished so far. Early in the year I read The Little Prince and the beginning of quarantine was a great time to binge the entire Princess Diaries series. I quickly binged the Twilight series before Midnight Sun came out this summer (I was never planning on reading it, but it reminded me that I had this as a goal). I was really curious to see how the series would read as an adult since the last time I read it, I was still a teenager (my review).

I only ended up reading one Kristin Hannah and Ruth Ware book apiece–I just didn’t LOVE their writing styles so I didn’t feel that urge to pick up any of their other books. For Kristin Hannah, I read The Great Alone (review)and for Ruth Ware I read The Death of Mrs. Westaway (review). I liked The Great Alone a lot more than the Ruth Ware book, but I’ll definitely have to be in the right mood before I read another Kristin Hannah book I think.

I ended up listening to the audio book for The Tale of Two Cities and I thought that ended up being a really good decision. I think if I’d tried to read it, I would have missed some things. I think I would have been more confused as to what was going on and I definitely would have missed the little jokes throughout–Dickens is funny! Who knew? So to anyone who’s struggling with reading classics, I might suggest finding an audio version!

I’ve got 1984 sitting on my Kindle right now, but I’m not sure I’ll get to it before it’s due back at the library. I still need to pick which series I want to finish, but right now I think I’m planning on doing three which would consist of four books that I own. We’ll see though…

How are your 2020 Reading Goals coming?

March 2020 Wrap-Up & TBR Update

As a stay-at-home mom to a toddler, my day-to-day life hasn’t changed much with the quarantine/social distancing. And yet. Everything has changed, right? Somehow I still managed to read a ton this month. I’m not totally sure how, but here we are. Perhaps you can spot a pattern in my reading below…

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 15, 3 DNF
Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
TBR at the beginning of March = 305
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 6
Total on TBR now = 307

How did your reading go this month?

March 2020 TBR

Last month was pretty good and I hope that carries through into this month as well. And, of course, here’s hoping I can stay caught up on here as well.

monthly tbr

I know, I know. I’m reading a lot of books at once–I do that sometimes. I get into this mode where I’m reading one book in each format (physical, Kindle, phone, audio).

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

February 2020 Wrap-Up & TBR Update

I had a great reading month in February! With Locke & Key hitting Netflix, I decided to binge the whole graphic novel series–I’ll probably do an overall series review sometime…soon.

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 15 with 2 DNF
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
TBR at the beginning of February = 302
Books added to TBR = 9
Books read/deleted from TBR = 6
Total on TBR now = 305

How did your reading go this month?

February TBR

I feel like I’ve been in a bit of reading slump lately. I just haven’t felt the motivation to read that much and I know if I just found the right book, I’d be all over reading again. Perhaps one of the books for this month will get me out of it…

monthly tbr

I think Lucky Caller could be the one (I LOVE Emma Mills) but I’m just waiting for my hold to come in to the library…

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

January Wrap-Up

Okay, I didn’t have an official TBR for January, but here are the books I read this month/what I’m currently reading.

Books finished this month: 5 books read with 1 DNF
Books currently reading: 2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
Books added to TBR = 8
Books read/deleted from TBR = 2
Total on TBR now = 302

How did your reading go this month?

Reading Stats for 2019

Reading Stats 2019

This is the first year that I’ve really kept a reading log. I’ve done a journal basically ever since I started blogging to keep track of notes, ratings, etc. For my new log I just used a few basic categories: Title, Author, Date Finished, # Pages, Genre, Type (physical vs eBook), Source, Rating, Position in Series, Continue Series?

I liked having some basic reading categories and then the series categories were really helpful for me as well. I have a hard time remembering sometimes if I really want to continue on with a series so I’m hoping this will help in the future.

But now…graphs!

Format

I’m actually really happy with the number of physical books that I read compared to eBooks. I think in the past I’ve read probably 90% eBooks. I’m also surprised by how many audio books I read this year! I didn’t realize it was that many.

Source

I’m so happy with the number of library books I read this year! I think I typically do read a lot of eBooks from the library, but I know a TON of these were physical books that I checked out as well.

Genre

I still read mostly YA Fiction (not surprising) but I’m happy that I’ve started branching out into Adult fiction as well. I’m thinking this year I need to try to increase that nonfiction number too.

Per Month

I’m kind of amazed by how much I read this summer. March was the month I discovered the LumberJanes series, so a lot of those books are those graphic novels. June and December were both moving months so that explains why those numbers are a little lower.

Ratings

Let me tell you, it didn’t FEEL like I had this many 4 star books, but I guess I did? If I had to guess, I would have guessed that most of my reads were 3 or 3.5 stars. Apparently I read better books than I remembered.

So there you go! Making these graphs was really interesting for me and I’m definitely going to keep this same reading log this year as well. I’d also like to give a shout out to my husband who made these graphs for me! Best husband ever.

Did you keep a log of reading stats for 2019? If so, link your post in the comments!

California Winter | November Wrap-Up & TBR Update

This month hasn’t been great blogging wise (you might have noticed) but it’s been pretty good reading wise! I was able to snag some library copies of a couple of my anticipated November releases, so that was awesome. It always feels like I’m slogging through a book that’s taking me too much time, so then I’m surprised when I see how much I’ve actually read in a month.

monthly tbr

Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 12
Books currently reading: 3

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of November =305
Books added to TBR = 2
Books read/deleted from TBR = 7
Total on TBR now = 300

How did your reading go this month?

It’s reading season | October TBR

I had a really great summer reading-wise (and otherwise) and I’m excited to carry that into fall as well! This time of year is really great for spooky and atmospheric reads (for obvious reasons) so we’ll see what I actually end up reading.

monthly tbr

There we go! I’m getting close to finishing the Flavia series and have been thinking about starting Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series to replace it. Any thoughts on that?

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

Summer TBR | Final Update

At the beginning of the summer, I posted a list of 9 books that I hoped to read. Then, I posted an update halfway through July. Now that summer is over, I just wanted to give a final update on how I did.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley – This was read from before. I’m continuing with my audio binge and am currently on #8
eBook | Paperback

Legendary by Stephanie Garber – Still waiting on my shelf…
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – I read this one as a buddy read last month and had some thoughts. Review coming soon!
eBook | Hardcover

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – I checked this one out from the library. It took me longer than I thought it would to get through and I didn’t love it.
eBook | Hardcover

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen – Read from before. Sarah Dessen is a queen and I really liked this one. Review
eBook | Hardcover

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Read from before. I was a bit disappointed in this one. Review
eBook | Hardcover

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills – Read from before. I’ve read all of her books that are out now (I think?) and have enjoyed them all! Mini-review
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black – I’m hoping to get to this one within the next couple of months!
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – Still haven’t gotten to this one unfortunately, but the eBook is like…always available from the library, so hopefully soon!
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback (Preorder)

With my last update, I’d read 4/9 and at the end of the summer I’d gotten to 6/9. Which I don’t think is too bad! Especially considering two of the three books I didn’t get to are currently sitting on my shelf, I think I’ll finish this list before the end of the year.

Let me know in the comments what your favorite 2019 summer read was!