Total Books Read: 144
Includes books for all ages and shorter works, but not picture books.
144 books in a year isn't too shabby! This does make it quite clear though that a LOT of the 336 titles I read for #TheUnreadShelfProject2018 were picture books. So now for some nerdy stats...
Middle Grade: 56 books
Young Adult: 11 books
Adult Fiction: 17 books
Poetry/Novels-in-Verse (MG, YA, & Adult): 20 books
Graphic Novels/Comics/Illustrated: 7 books
Non-Fiction (almost entirely Adult): 33 books
I read a lot more non-fiction than I thought I had and I'm fairly sure this is the most titles I've read in a year in quite some time! And I'm very pleased with 20 poetry/verse books because I've been actively trying to read more of those as well. I was very light on the adult fiction this year and I'm OK with that, though there are a LOT of unread adult titles on my shelves, so I really need to remember that when I'm buying new books.
Print: 100 books
Audio: 36 books
Print + Audio: 2 books
eBook: 6 books
Nothing too surprising here! I'm not a fan of eBooks because I feel like I'm on screens enough as it is without doing my *regular* reading on a screen as well, but I do have a small collection mostly of shorter works not available in any other format, freebies (from Amazon's First Reads, etc.), and "extras" I got because the Audible audiobook was cheaper if I bought both formats (oh, the irony of Whispersync deals!) I love audiobooks and averaged 3 per month, but read in print as much as I'm able.
Borrowed: 16 books
Owned: 128 books
I love my library and read TONS of library picture books, but I'm very happy the vast majority of books I read for myself were from my own shelves. I must admit, I borrowed a lot more than 16 titles, but many were returned unread. I sometimes feel bad about that, but it's nice to have options and it helps me (sometimes) avoid the impulse to purchase a new book I've just heard about if I see my library has it. If I end up not reading it before I return it, I'm extra glad I didn't shell out the cash!
A few specialized categories I tracked were:
Books About Books: 14 books
Classics: 15 books
Newbery Honor/Medal: 11 books
Re-Reads: 10 books
I'm very happy with these numbers as well! The idea behind reading more Short Works was to have some options especially when my reading time is limited. Whether I was reading bit by bit from a collection with many essays/stories/poems or a stand-alone short work, being able to read something in its entirety was always a good feeling, especially when reading a full novel was taking what felt like ages.
I also discovered this year that Books About Books are not an automatic home-run with me -- I've encountered some duds and even DNFed one! They can't all be for every reader and that's OK -- the the ones I loved were really excellent.
My Classics category includes classic children's novels, but no picture books. I lumped all nine of the Paddington Bear novels I read together as only one in my tally because while I definitely consider them children's classics, Michael Bond continued writing them for so many years it gets rather fuzzy where classic ends and contemporary begins. But I'm also glad I finally tackled a few more traditional classics like Wuthering Heights, Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and A Little Princess. In addition, quite a few, though not all, of my Newbery reads overlapped with the Classics category.
And lastly, I shouldn't be surprised to see that all my Re-Reads were on audiobook this year! I love to re-read favorites, but I don't often like to dedicate my *main* reading time to them, so it's nice to sneak in those re-reads in another format -- plus, I'm less worried about the occasional times my attention wanders while listening because I do already know what happens!
OK, I will admit it was kind of fun to take a look at my year as a whole -- even though I'm still anxious to move on with 2019 already!
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Did you track your reading in 2018? I'd love to hear how it went!