My 2022 Reading Stats
Hi everyone!
There is no denying now that we are firmly in the year 2023, but before I share with you my goals for this year I would like to take a final look back at 2022. Many of the books mentioned in this post I talk about in our Season 4 Bonus Episode but I wanted to put together some more statistics.
I remember back in 2018 I was so sad and disappointed because I hadn’t read a single book in two whole years. I set out in 2019 to get back into reading and it was truly a concentrated effort on my part to turn it into a habit. By April of that year I had managed to finish 2 books but in June, I had my real breakthrough. My very good friend Jess recommended A Court of Thorns and Roses to me and it really ignited a fire in me and my reading has been non-stop ever since. I read 18 books in 2019, 25 books in 2020 and 51 books in 2021.
Despite these personal records, I remember comparing myself to other people on Goodreads and being astounded by those who read literally hundreds of books every year. The human brain being what it is, I felt inadequate - but also genuinely curious how reading that many books was possible. Jess likes to remind me of these thoughts often - and here’s why:
2022 was a bit … intense, let’s say, in terms of my reading. My goal was to read 50 books in 2022. I had a feeling this would be achievable, helped greatly by the podcast and also by our short-lived bookclub, but I genuinely did not foresee where I would end up. I’ve said it before and I will say it again - I am not a fast reader. I am not someone who can easily read a book in one day and therefore reading one book a week felt like the maximum I could sustainably do.
Friends - I smashed my reading goal in July of 2022 and by the end of the year, I had read a personal record of 104 books. I am honestly stunned by this number.
My most read genres of 2022
My 2022 star ratings
Full disclosure - I have been unemployed all of this year and have dedicated, I would say, 80% of my time to reading. I fully acknowledge how lucky I am to have had the chance and support to do this, it has been amazing. I’m not sure if I would have achieved this milestone if I was employed full-time, but at this point I honestly don’t know anymore!
Apart from the main contributing factor to this success - time - I think there is one new reading habit I developed last year that helped me greatly and that’s reading more than one book at the same time. It’s equal parts obvious and manic, to be honest. I started doing this around March of last year and the number of books I read during the month pretty much doubled. It was a bit overwhelming at the beginning but I found that it worked best by combining something a bit ‘heavy’ like a fantasy or a classic with something ‘light’ like a romantic comedy or Y. A. fantasy. If you are the type of reader who can jump in and out of books quite easily, I recommend this as a way of increasing your book count. Novellas, or generally short books, are also great.
All that being said - a small note on mental health (though not from a mental health professional, this is just my own opinion). If you are the kind of person who finds goals motivational and helpful, then by all means, keep setting them for yourself. If, on the other hand, you find them overwhelming and crippling, then be gentle with yourself and perhaps don’t set any. For me it’s a bit of a double-edged sword - I am a very goal driven person, but am also really harsh with myself if I don’t achieve a goal. I also constantly compare myself to others and their goals/achievements and somehow always find myself lacking in some way. Also, I am aware that the amount of reading I did this year was a form of escapism and perhaps not the best way to deal with my problems. Did I enjoy myself? Mostly, yes - I read some amazing books and found many new favourites. Was it also draining? Yes - by the end of the year it started to feel a bit more like a chore than a relaxing activity and I sometimes read only so I could say I reached that 100 book milestone.
Let me throw some numbers at you:
My 104 books read in 2022
Of the 104 books I read last year, only 15 were physical books.
I listened to 6 audiobooks.
I read a total of 35,334 pages and I did so over 325 days!
I read the most in September (4,098 pages and 14 books to be exact).
33 books were for the podcast and the rest were a combination of e-ARCs (5), bookclub picks (3), books from my TBR (50) and a bookbox feature (1).
I read 14 books as part of a buddy read.
3 books were re-reads (“Aurora Rising”, “Aurora Burning” and “Crescent City - House of Earth and Blood”).
I rated 19 books 5*.
I did not finish (DNF’d) 8 books.
The longest book I read was “Crescent City - House of Sky and Breath” and came in at 803 pages.
“The Story of Doctor Dolittle” was the shortest book with only 85 pages.
My most read genre by far was Romance (42), followed by Fantasy (29).
My most read author was Katee Robert (16).
It has honestly been a wild ride and while I am extremely proud of what I achieved as a reader, I’m not sure I want to repeat it this year. With Corrie taking a break from the podcast to focus on her new baby for at least a few months and with me starting to focus more seriously on my next career move, I will be setting a reading goal of 25 books. I hope this will keep my stress levels low and allow me to simply enjoy the act of reading again.
Did you set any reading goals for 2022 and how did they go? Let me know via e-mail or send me a DM on Instagram - we love to hear from you!
Until next time, keep reading!
~ Lucia