Happy New Year! I hope it has been treating you well so far. As you can see, I’m back from my holiday. I had a lovely time with family and friends. My only complaint is that I didn’t get enough reading time (but when is that ever the case?).
With 2014 officially over, it’s time for me to take a good look at my reading stats for the year.
I read 56 books in 2014, which is a little on the slow side for me but within the trend of recent years. The overwhelming majority were fantasy and romance, with non-fiction trailing a distant third.
2014 was the first year I started tracking the gender of authors. I expected to discover I was reading a high percentage of male authors, since conventional wisdom says this is what most people default to. Instead, it turned out the other way around, with 69% of the books I read in 2014 written by women.
I also started tracking the number of books written by Australian authors. The figures came in at a disappointing 23%.
I read 24 new-to-me authors and 18 e-books.
I’m looking forward to seeing how 2015 stacks up against these stats.
Mt TBR status
Mt TBR @ 1 January: 191
Mt TBR @ 31 December: 216
Mt TBR finished much higher than I would have liked. Perhaps 2015 will be the year I finish with less books than I started.
I instituted a cull of Mt TBR on New Year’s Eve (which I may make a tradition), so there is some discrepancy between numbers from 31 December 2014 and 1 January 2015.
Mt TBR @ 1 January 2015: 202
Books read
54. Running Deer and Hidden Badger by K.D. Sarge. Reviewed here.
55. Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski. Review forthcoming.
56. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. Brilliant writing on themes still relevant today. However, not an easy read emotionally or all that likeable.
Books acquired
Earthrise by M.C.A. Hogarth
The Art of Mindful Walking by Adam Ford
Online Reading
Quindrebel by Helen Stubbs. A short story in which the eponymous character seeks to escape her coal-furnace prison. Based on Cinderella, the mixture of fairytale and technology gave it a curious steampunk feel.
Her Words Like Hunting Vixens Spring by Brooke Bolander. After Rosa is left at the altar, she hunts down her fiancé. I can’t tell you how much I loved this story. It’s a classic Wild West vengeance story with some gorgeous turns of phrase and lots of heart. Quite possibly my favourite short story of 2014.
Spoils of the Spoiled Ch 1, 2 by Pia Foxhall. Foxhall takes the characters from her Court of Five Thrones and places them in a Hogwarts-style academy in this alternate-universe story. I’ve enjoyed seeing how the characters translate to the new setting.
Why Wouldn’t She Be My Friend? I’m Fantastic by axolotlsGambit. From the summary: In which a bored hacker and an AI with a terrible job strike up a conversation, and determine that they are flirting. (Algorithmically.) Told via tweets and chat logs. Very amusing.
So that’s it from me on 2014. How did you fare with your reading for the year? I’m also curious to hear what sort of statistics you track in relation to your reading, so please stop in and let me know.
