My 2016 Bookish Stats

For three years now, I have been keeping track of my bookish stats in an extensive spreadsheet so that I can compile the data at the end of the year, make some graphs, and keep track of the trends in my reading (see my 2014 bookish stats and my 2015 bookish stats). Yes, I am a nerd. But I will not deny my unabashed love for Microsoft Excel and all its many uses... 

So. In 2016 I read 175 books. I am proud not only of this number, but of the fact that I have been steadily increasing my number of books read every year by 25 books since 2011. So of course now that I am so close to *200 books* read in a year, I feel like I just have to challenge myself to do it, you know? Of course, I will need to read a bunch of shorter books this year to have a shot at meeting such a goal... We'll see what happens.

I consider it a good reading year when the majority of books I read are 4 stars and above. So I am happy to say that 2016 was a very good year for me in books as roughly 75% of books I read were 4 (or 3.5 rounded up) stars to 5 stars, with only a few duds.

Here is a breakdown of books read by genre from 2014 to 2016. Fantasy reading is back on top for me after that weird anomaly in 2015 when contemporary reads actually surpassed fantasy reads. I also read a lot more dystopians in 2016 (I read a few backlist series that I've had on my TBR forever, like the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld and the Shatter Me Trilogy by Tahereh Mafi). And I've really been embracing and enjoying non-fiction a whole lot this past year.

I read zero review books in 2016, nor did I purchase any books. All the books I read in 2016 were either borrowed from the library or gifted to me (i.e.. FREE). Now this might be the stat I'm most proud of, and my wallet thanks me! Occasionally I do miss the days of receiving advanced books for review from publishers and all the excitement that went along with that, but overall I find I'm happiest not reading and reviewing on anyone's schedule but my own.

Only three data points here, but I'm pleased that I've managed to meet my goal to read more diverse books: in 2016, almost 25% of the books I read had a MC who was a person of colour.

I've also managed to read more books with an LGBT representation, with over 15% of books read in 2016 featuring a LGBT MC.

And finally, I've managed to increase the percentage of standalones I read in 2016 to almost 50% (probably all those non-fiction reads I read). I still love me a good series read, but I was getting a bit overwhelmed with the number of series I was taking on so I am happy I decided to do less series-reading in 2016.


So there you have it (if anyone did indeed read this post to the end...)! In 2017, I would like to continue to read more non-fiction as I really enjoyed it in 2016. I would also like to read more diversely and limit the number of series I have on the go. I am considering taking up e-galley reading for publishers again (though not in any major capacity), and I plan on maintaining my book buying ban for 2017. Here's to a good year in reading!