Reading Stats for 2020

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For so much of 2020 it didn’t actually feel like I was reading very much, but in the end I was surprised with the total number of books that I read! Here’s a breakdown of what I read this year (and for those interested, here’s what 2019 looked like).

First let’s start with how many books I read per month:

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January started off slow which makes sense because we had just moved back to Utah and I was probably busy unpacking boxes and settling into our new place. It’ll be interesting to see what this January’s numbers look like because we moved again (but this time we stayed in the same state and we aren’t moving again for a very long time). 20 looks like a huge month for me, but a big piece of that was reading all 9 volumes of Saga. Then I clearly had a dip over the Summer. I’m not totally sure what happened because it’s not like we did a ton of travel or anything, but a summer slump happened. Luckily I was able to claw my way out of that hole when I embraced my desire to read romance and only romance for three months.

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I’m obviously pretty liberal with my four star ratings–that’s something that surprised me from 2019. But then I’m very stingy with books going from four to five stars. I really have to love a book for it to get five stars. Like…hug it to my chest after I close the back cover love. I am surprised more books didn’t get 4.5 stars, though.

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I can definitely say that this is the first year that I’ve read more adult fiction than YA. I’ve found myself starting to get impatient with some YA protagonists and this year I found myself gravitating towards books with characters the same age as me (late 20’s, early 30’s).

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I read many, many eBooks this year and was sad to see that I only read three audiobooks! In 2019 I read a couple of different series’ through audio while going on morning walks with my son, but last year our stroller was out of commission with flat tires, etc. Hopefully we can get that up and running again for this summer. If anyone has any recommendations for a series that is good over audio (and not too inappropriate as I may be listening around my toddler) please let me know!

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Despite libraries shutting down for a portion of the year, our library was able to safely offer curbside pickup and then later, they were able to open at partial hours. But even if they hadn’t, a lot of the books I ended up checking out were through Libby. I cannot hype Libby up enough. You guys, if you’re not already using Libby, what are you doing? Check if your library offers it (I think most do at this point) and you’ll get access to all kinds of eBooks, audiobooks, and more.

That was my 2020 reading year! Overall, I’m pretty happy with it. I wish I’d read more of my own books and also more audio. We’ll see how this year goes!

WRAP-UP: Reading Goals for 2020

Maybe you saw my original post for my 2020 reading goals? Honestly, I thought I did a pretty good job of setting attainable goals, but then (as we all know) 2020 changed drastically. Despite all of that, by September I had made pretty good headway on my goals (see my update here). Between September and the end of the year, however, I went through a bit of a slump. Finally, I discovered that the only books I could really get through were romances for some reason. In the last couple months of 2020 I decided to really embrace that and have been reading romances almost exclusively since then. With that being said, here’s how my 2020 goals ended up shaking out:

It’s in the exact same place that I left it in September, but I don’t really mind. I still feel like I got a lot accomplished and I think the two I didn’t finish will fit in with my 2021 reading goals as well.

How did you do accomplishing any 2020 reading goals? And how did COVID effect your reading this year?

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?

April 2020 Wrap-Up/TBR Update

This has just been a weird month all around and I’m pretty proud of how much reading I managed to get done.

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Also read/reading:

Books finished this month: 13
Books currently reading:
2

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 296
TBR at the beginning of April = 307
Books added to TBR = 4
Books read/deleted from TBR = 3
Total on TBR now = 308

How did your reading go this month?

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.

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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?

Reading Goals for 2020

New year, same reader! My reading goals for last year were such a success that I decided to do it again! I tried to get a good mix of classics, rereads, and new books similar to last year.

Reading Goals for 2020

So there you have it! What are your reading goals for 2020? If you’ve already posted about it, link it up in the comments!

2019 Reading Goals: A Recap

Wow. 2019 has been a YEAR, hasn’t it? Our family moved not once but TWICE to a different state (Utah to California and back to Utah) and are now settling into our new home in Utah Valley. Luckily, I think we’re done moving for a while. But let’s get to the point of this post, shall we?

2019 Reading Goals

Here’s a link to my original post for those interested, but here were my reading goals for 2019:

I’m happy to report that I pretty much accomplished all of these! I didn’t read quite as many Neil Gaiman books as I’d hoped (besides Stardust, I only ended up reading Coraline and some of his picture books with my son). But all the rest I DEFINITELY accomplished! I’d been meaning to reread Harry Potter for a while and am so glad that I finally did it. My husband and I ended up rewatching all of the movies too as I finished reading the books! It ended up being a really fun thing. I absolutely ADORED The Book Thief and V.E. Schwab’s books. Jane Eyre…not so much for me, but I’m glad I read it.

How did you do with your 2019 reading goals? I’ll be posting my 2020 reading goals soon, so stay tuned!

Tis the Season | December TBR

December is always hit or miss, right? Maybe I won’t be able to read much because of the holidays, traveling, etc. But then again, maybe with the holidays I’ll be able to pawn my baby off on family members and get some serious reading done without interruptions? Wishful thinking I’m sure.

As you might be able to tell, December is also my last ditch effort to complete my year long reading goals. I’ve done alright so far, but still have a few things to check off the list…

What are you guys reading this month? Let me know 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.

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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?

Summer TBR Update

At the end of May, I posted a list of 9 books that I wanted to read over the Summer. Now that we’re halfway-ish through said season, I wanted to post a quick little update as to how my Summer reading is going!

The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley – Read! I’ve been bingeing the audio books on our morning walks and I’m currently on #5 now!
eBook | Paperback

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

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – Also still just hanging out…
eBook | Hardcover

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He – Not yet, but I just put it on hold at my library!
eBook | Hardcover

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

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Read! My review for this one is coming (but spoiler, I didn’t LOVE it).
eBook | Hardcover

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills – Read! I really, really liked this one and am excited to share my thoughts on it soon!
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black – Haven’t read it yet, but I do have the paperback on my shelf now.
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi – I currently have this checked out from the library and I hope I can get to it before it’s due!
eBook | Hardcover | Paperback (Preorder)

So far I’ve read 4/9 on my Summer TBR which isn’t bad! I hope that I can at least get to the three that are sitting on my shelf, staring at me right now…

How is your Summer reading going? Have you been getting to everything you’ve wanted to? What’s been your favorite Summer read so far?