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Thursday, January 7, 2016

My 2015 Bookish Stats

I love breaking down my year in reading into different stats based on rating, genre, etc. The results always interest me! I did this last year, as well. I don't know if anyone really cares about these stats except for me, but I find that it's a good way to keep track of trends in my reading and certain things I might want to change for this year.

If you're wondering: no, I did not just compile all this information recently. I've been keeping track of my 2015 books all year long in a spreadsheet, so this didn't take me as long to do as you might think!

Total books read in 2015: 150
Number of rereads in 2015: 21

I hope I don't sound too full of myself when I say that I am quite proud of these numbers. It's taken me a lot of practice and prioritizing to be able to get my number of books read in a year up to 150. What's more is I've successfully challenged myself to read 25 books more each year than the year previous:


So the question becomes: can I really keep this trend up and read 25 more books for 2016 (ie. 175 books total)?!. I'm not counting on it. I would say that would be an unnecessary pressure to put on myself just to follow some trend. Instead, my goal for this year will be more conservative (relatively) at 100 books. And I think I will be perfectly satisfied with that number should I accomplish it.


Note: To make this easier, I've rounded UP all .5 Star Ratings. So 4.5 Stars is lumped in with 5 Stars, 3.5 Stars is lumped in with 4 Stars, etc.

2015 Breakdown By Rating: I didn't read as many books this year that I was *in love* with as I did last year, but overall 2015 was a pretty solid year in books, I would say! It's pretty rare these days that I pick out a book to read that I end up disliking completely.


2015 Breakdown By Genre: Now this is surprising: 2015 is the year that contemporary fiction officially became my most read genre over fantasy. Granted, only by a little bit, but still. I don't think anyone who knows me would have ever expected this to happen... But I think it has to do with the fact that I largely read via audiobook in 2015 and I'm not the best at listening to stories with complex world building like you might find in fantasies. I find it much easier to follow non-speculative-fiction audiobooks.



2015 Breakdown By Type: And here's the audiobook statistic that I mentioned above: 2015 was truly the year of listening to books rather than reading them, for me. This was purely because of the limited time I had to read physical books for pleasure. The majority of my physical reading time was devoted to scientific papers as part of my research for my thesis... I had to turn to audiobooks to get in my pleasure-reading. This year, I truly hope I can make my return to physical reading for pleasure. It's not that I dislike audiobooks - I love my experience with them - but I've missed the times when I could snuggle in for the night with a good book and a mug of tea.




2015 Breakdown By Author Gender and Protagonist Gender: I'm feeling quite pleased with these stats! I would say that's a pretty even spread between both author genders and protagonist genders.



2015 Breakdown By POC and LGBT Presence: Somewhat good proportions... or at least an improvement over previous years. My goal this year will be to exceed the proportion of books I read with a POC and LGBT presence from 2015.


2015 Breakdown of Series Vs. Standalones: Nothing surprising here. And though it may be most people's goal to read more standalones, I'm okay with having read mostly series in 2015. Actually, one of my goals for 2015 was to work on completing some of the many, many series I am currently in the middle of. And I would say I succeeded that! I've gotten my number of WIP Series down to only 6 (from 20 or so)!


32 comments :

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  2. I love stats like this! I'm so impressed with your 125 books in a year! I want to do that someday. Are they all novels? Or are there some novellas and short books in there too? What's your secret :) the pie charts are so fun. I am surprised about the contemporary fiction! But the audiobooks thing makes sense. I've found its really hard for me to read fiction - especially fantasy- with audiobook. There's just too much to keep track of.

    Jessica @ Books: A true story

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    1. I did 150 books this year! There were definitely some shorter books in there, but I would say the main reason I was able to get so much read comes down to audiobook listening - my commute to and from school was an hour both ways, and I also listened while getting ready in the morning, while cleaning, while exercising, etc. It really adds up!

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    2. What?! 150?! I want to be you when I grow up :) that's such an awesome achievement!!

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    3. Heh, thanks :) But you know, I hope this year I read more books of quality instead of ones of quantity, you know?

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  3. Your Goodreads widgets look amazing like that :D It's great that you keep reading more, but yes, definitely don't push yourself too much. I think most people read more books that are part of a series than a stand-alone.

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    1. Yes, I'm going to take it a bit easier this year - and hopefully I will read more books this year that make more of an impact on me than last!

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  4. I always love looking at your reading stats Aylee^^ I'll admit that I was shocked by your contemporary progress. Despite my success with the ones I read in 2014, I still only read 2 contemporaries this year. I thought I'd do better but I can't help gravitating towards Fantasy. Like you though, 2015 was THE year of audiobooks. I didn't listen to as many as you did but they definitely were a huge part of my reading life,especially since I only started listening to them in June O.O I'm definitely envious of your total books read though. I wish I could read that many books! Way to go!!

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    1. I was shocked by the contemporary stat too... But it really makes sense when I consider that most of the audiobooks I read were contemps! I do hope to return to my roots a bit this year: more physical reads and more fantasy. I feel like I've missed out on some great reads last year!

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  5. First of all, congrats on reading 150 books! That's amazing. Second, these stats are really interesting! I'd love to do this for myself one day. Your author and protagonist stats are impressive, and you read a real mix of things this year. I think I read mostly fantasy, but definitely more contemps that usual (yay for contemps!). And wow, so many audiobooks. I have to confess I'm not a the biggest fan of audiobooks but they're definitely useful when you don't have time to read a physical book. Thanks for sharing this with us!

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    1. Thanks, Liz! I didn't use to be the biggest fan of audiobooks because I found them so hard to focus on at first. But I think I've just become more practiced at listening to them now.

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  6. I love looking at and collecting my own reading stats. I agree, it helps me prioritize and focus my reading. Thanks for sharing yours!

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  7. Eee, love this :) Awesome post Aylee. <3 Thank you so much for sharing your reading stats :D YAY. And ahh, you read lots of books :D YAY. I only read 105, so I'm a bit behind. But really hoping to read lots more this year :) I hope you will be able to read lots too. <3 Happy reading sweetie :)

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    1. 105 books is LOADS, Carina!! You are definitely not behind at all!

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  8. I tend to mostly read standalone novels because it's difficult to keep up with series. However, there are some that I'm in the midst of and want to finish - as well as a lot of series where all (or most of) the books are out, so I need to finally read those! We'll see how it goes - I have the first book in different series so it would be nice to start a new series as well as read my own books, as long as I keep up!

    -Lauren

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    1. Yeah, I was finding myself a bit too overwhelmed with all the series I had on-the-go. I'm glad I've caught up on my series reading last year... and now I just need to keep up my progress this year and stay on top of them all!

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  9. Wow, you actually managed to read more than me! I feel like I read more series than standalones, but at the same time, I feel like most books that are being released are either part of a series or end up being turned into a series.

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    1. I did I guess, but only because of all the audiobooks I listened to, I bet. I kind of envision reading less this year.

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  10. Congrats on reaching 150 books! The most I've ever read in a year was 132. I've decided that I don't need to beat that number, so each year I just set my goal at 100 and read however many I can. For me, it's not worth the stress to reach a new goal.

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    1. 132 is way impressive!! I am in complete agreement with you though. 150 books in a year was kind of a lot of pressure to put on myself. Hopefully I'll do more quality reads this year, rather than quantity.

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  11. 150 in WAY impressive! Although I give myself a umber every year- I am always aiming for that 100 mark. It's so cool you go there! So exciting. I am also WAY impressed with the amount of contemporary you read. However, I am also wondering if this is also why you didn't love as many books this year as last... just a thought.

    Way to go in 2015, I am excited to see what 2016 brings (I bet you surpass 150- by at least 10 ;))

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    1. Thanks, Sara :) I don't know that the number of contemporaries I read was related to not loving as many books this year... Honestly, when I do read contemporaries, I usually love them, I think because maybe they're a breath of fresh air in my reading? And also, I'm pretty choose-y about them and only tend to read the few that get the best reviews. I tend to think I didn't enjoy as many books in 2015 just because I wasn't in the right headspace. It was a hectic year! I know 2016 will be quieter... but I don't know that I will necessarily read more than 150, maybe just read more physical books :)

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  12. I applaud you for keeping track of all these stats, Aylee. It takes so much patience to get all this done. Also, out of context, but your pie charts are so cute! Impressive stats! It's awesome to see your Goodreads goal get better with each year, and the fact that you stick to it is admirable. Kudos to you!

    Sarika @ The Readdicts

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    1. Heh, thanks Sarika :) I don't know, I kind of enjoy doing these kinds of things so it didn't require too much patience from me!

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  13. I liked graphic that Goodreads sent out at the end of last year showing your reading stats.

    I have shelves but I really only keep track of the number of books read (16 in 2015)

    You did great!

    Karen @For What It's Worth

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  14. I love how you keep stats!!! I think I may have to get your spreadsheet template from you because this is a wonderful idea!! :D I thought about doing an end of the year survey this year but it was so long that I got overwhelmed and decided not to do it after all. :P But I like that this is the kind of thing that you can update all year! :)

    Thanks for sharing, Eilidh! I love seeing how your reading was spread out, and I'm seriously impressed with your stats! :)

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    1. haha, thanks! My spreadsheet ain't much really, just a list of books read.

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  15. You're welcome! :) Then maybe that's all I'll have to do, too. Going through the list on Goodreads usually just makes me tired by the end of the year. :P

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  16. It looks like you had a great year! I think it's great that audiobooks let you keep reading this year when you were too busy do much reading any other way :)

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    1. It is pretty great! And yet I'm glad things have calmed down for the time being.

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