May the Stats Be With You

I'm really excited to be teaming up with Hannah again this year. Basically we both wanted to be a little, well, pickier about what we chose to read in 2015! We plan to be extra intentional about the review books we accept and the books we buy, and you'll see just how we'll do that tomorrow.

But today, my friends, it's a glorious day - a day of numbers. I never thought I'd be excited about numbers, but these reading stats appealed so dang much to my nerdy side when Hannah and I were puzzling out what figures and facts we wanted to include. It totally helps that I've been tracking my 2014 reads with a spreadsheet, so all these stats were pretty easy to obtain. Seeing the numerical facts of my 2014 reading has definitely inspired a little reflection on my reading habits! I hope you enjoy seeing our stats posts, and maybe even feel inspired to share some stats of your own.

SOURCE BREAKDOWN

I'm not surprised, honestly, but I'll admit that I'm a wee bit ashamed that review books made up majority of what I read in 2014. It's a far cry from the days when majority of what I would read would either be from my own books or from the library! In 2015, I'd like to make an effort to be more conscious of my reads. It's all a part of my plan to start reading more of my own TBR books, so hopefully the stats will drastically change next year.

FORMAT BREAKDOWN

Honestly, I'm not the type to really consider the format of what I'm reading. I'll devour a novel whether I'm holding an actual book in my hands or my iPad or iPhone. However, I'm pleased that there's a more or less decent mix of formats among my 2014 reads. I'll probably make more of an effort to read physical books this year, since I own so many!

AGE BREAKDOWN

Oh boy! Now here's another stat that I'm a little embarrassed by, though again, I don't regret my reading choices. I clearly am a fan of young adult novels! I'm glad that adult and middle grade are represented, even though the numbers are small; I'm also pleased that nonfiction and new adult made an appearance. My goal for 2015? Try to increase the percentage of adult and middle grade reads, and perhaps read a little more non-fiction.

SERIES VS. STAND-ALONES

Oh, look, a stat that makes me happy! I'm quite pleased that I maintained a pretty decent balance between reading books that are part of a series and stand-alone. I'm hoping to keep this up in 2015, especially by binging on a series at least every other month the way I did in 2014.

GENRE BREAKDOWN

I'll be honest - I'm shocked by this one! I mean, I know I read a lot of contemporary, but I was definitely not expecting it to be 50% of what I read in 2014. It's kind of crazy, but also kind of awesome considering that I used to be mostly a fantasy and historical reader. I'm hoping to strike a better balance in 2015, though I'll still be reading a lot of contemporary reads for sure!

RATING BREAKDOWN

It pleases me that most of my 2014 reading picks garnered positive ratings! While I do wish there were a little less 3 star ratings, I'm still pretty content with the final tally for my ratings in 2014. These ratings are a little different from what I choose on Goodreads, but I do generally put my "real" rating in the "first thoughts" portion of my reviews on there.  Hopefully, 2015 proves to be a year filled with positive ratings too!

AVERAGE RATING BY SOURCE

How interesting! It pleases me that I still know my own tastes well enough to ensure that books I've bought to read are books that I'll enjoy. And it also says a lot about the friends who recommend and lend me books that the books I've borrowed get high ratings too. Finally, I'm honestly not too surprised about the review book rating average, considering I read so many and they were all over the rating spectrum. I'll be interested to see if these stats hold true in 2015!

AVERAGE RATING BY PUBLISHER

(Note: Any publisher who I read 2 or less books from was added to the "others" classification.) Clearly, 2014 was the year I enjoyed what Disney-Hyperion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Little, Brown and Company published (with Penguin coming a close too!). Knowing that I'll probably like a book from these publishers has me motivated to keep an eye out for any releases they have this year (and their backlist titles too).

As for lowest average ratings, well, it's really not surprising that I didn't fall in love with Simon & Schuster or Scholastic books. I've had a mixed track record with both for a couple of years now. Knowing that a book from them could go either way will definitely be something I keep in mind when considering one of their titles. 

REVIEW BOOK OVERVIEW

In 2014, I received 211 books for review. It's not surprising that I read at least half of my review books! I prioritized reading these last year, because I love working with publishers to promote their newer titles and I think receiving a review copy is such a blessing. There are still a few on my TBR, but the rest were given new homes - often because they were unsolicited and not my type.

REVIEW BOOKS BY SOURCE

It certainly doesn't surprise me that the biggest sources for my review books are either from actual publishing houses, or from online galley distribution sites. One of the ways I think I can manage my review book pile a teensy bit better is by exercising more self-control on NetGalley or Edelweiss. I've been doing that for the last quarter of 2014, and it's been working out pretty well for me!

PHYSICAL VS. KINDLE

It pleases me tremendously that my book buying habits are relatively equal when it comes to print books and e-books alike! While it's certainly easier to buy e-books (that darn 1-click!), I still enjoy browsing physical books at a bookstore or getting them in the mail. I definitely want to keep this balance in 2015.

BOUGHT BOOKS BREAKDOWN

WHOA. I'm sorely tempted to swear here, but I won't because I try not to do that on my blog. But seriously, this is definitely the statistic I'm most shamed by. I bought a total of 250 books this year. I cannot even fathom the idea that I purchase that many! I bought many of my books at signings or via book bargain retailers online.

It pleases me that I've read nearly half of the books that I bought, whether last year or before then. But still, it is totally making me cringe that a little more than half that number is still on my TBR. This, my friends, is why I'm so determined to turn things around this 2015 when it comes to my reading habits - and here's to hoping that change is gonna come!

Whew! It was fun to take a trip down memory lane for my 2014 reading habits via all these statistics. But, more importantly, seeing these numbers definitely has me thinking that something's gotta give this 2015 when it comes to the books I choose to read. I certainly intend to be more selective about the age, genre and sources of my 2015 reads! How am I going to do that? Well, you'll just have to come back tomorrow to see what Hannah & I intend to do this year...