I'm back with another "2023 in review" type of post. This time I'm reviewing my 2023 reading. I have two ways of tracking my reading - goodreads and a spreadsheet that I get as a benefit of being in the Sarah's Bookshelves Live patreon community. That spreadsheet has a dizzying number of things you can track - I probably only track about half of the categories available. But I just hide the things I don't care about/don't want to track.
The stats
Here are some breakouts I find interesting!
Number of books: I read 97 books in 2023 versus 114 in 2022. It was the first year since 2018 that I didn't read over 100 books but I don't really care at all. I don't push myself to read a certain number of books. I read when I can. I can see that my evening reading time will be compressed as the kids get older, stay up later, and are involved in more activities.
High-level genre: Fiction = 69%; Non-fiction = 31% - this split was identical to 2022 which is kind of crazy!
Backlist (books not published in 2023) = 47%
Book format: 93% e-books; 4% hardcover; 2% paperback; 1% audiobook - again this breakout was identical to 2022. Similar to 2022, I only listened to one audiobook. I am not an audiobook person as I choose podcasts over audiobooks.
Book source: 95 out of 97 came from the library! Because I lean so heavily on the library, we make a donation each year as part of our charitable giving.
Top 4 genres: Memoir/Essays (21%), Literary Fiction (21%), Contemporary Fiction (19%), Historical Fiction (13%). I read more historical fiction than previous years. That's usually a genre I'm not drawn to but a couple of my best books were historical fiction so it can work for me - so long as it's not about WWII. I got way too burned out on that time period!
% of female authors: 79%!! Not at all surprised by this stat. I am far more drawn to female authors.
% of diverse books: 40%. I feel pretty good about that stat. It could be higher of course, but a good amount of what I read features diverse characters or is written by a diverse author.
The ratings:
5 stars = 20 books
4 stars = 38 books
3 stars = 33 books
2 stars = 5 books. I'll list them since there are so few. Vita Nostra, Girlhood, and Bleak House were books I read for book clubs. I also rated The Guest Lecturer and The Puzzle Master as 2 star reads.
Average rating = 3.8. This is down from my average rating of 4 stars in 2022. I read a lot more 4 star books in 2022 versus 2023. 3.8 is still pretty good, though.
DNFs: I DNF's 6 books in 2023 v. 8 in 2023. If I DNF a book, I do not rate it so those are not included in the ratings above. I can DNF a book as early as 5% so I don't feel it's fair to rate a book I didn't finish. I have an shelf set up for DNFs in goodreads so they don’t get included in my # of books read.
Do you track your reading in a detailed manner? I'm such a data geek so I love having access to all of these details!
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