2022 in Review
This wrap is largely inspired by the End of Year Survey was created by Jamie at The Perpetual Page-Turner.
2021 Reading Stats
Number of Books Read: 52
I started the year with a goal of reading 26 books, since I only read 24 in 2021. But I started to outpace it so I ended up upping my goal to 52 books.
Number of Re-Reads: 12
That’s like 23% of all books I read this year. 😅
One of the rereads was Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh, which I actually read for the first time in 2022. It’s one of the first times in years that I reread, in full, a book the same year I first read it.
Four of the rereads was The Naturals series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, which I’ve been rereading every year since 2018. Six were rereads of The Dark Elements and The Harbinger series I previously read to prepare for Grace and Glory.
Number of Books from Shelves: 2.5
I did a little better than last year with reading books from my own shelves, but I also cheated a little. And I definitely didn’t read as many as I’d hoped. As for the cheating – let’s just say, I only really read one physical book. I was really into ebooks in 2022 and the 0.5 is for a book I read first from NetGalley and then was sent a finished copy.
Other Fun Stats
- First read of the year: Echoes & Empires by Morgan Rhodes
- Last read of the year: Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh
- Total pages read: 19,720 pages
- Best reading month: January
Best Books of 2022
Favorite Book I Read In 2022
Angels’ Blood, definitely. It’s the only book I read in 2022 that I multiple times in the same year.
Book I Was Excited About & Thought Was Going to Love More
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller. It wasn’t so much that I didn’t enjoy it – because I did, I just didn’t love it. I blame my friend for recommending it to me and causing me to have (unreasonably) high expectations.
Book I Read In 2022 That I’d Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year
The Naturals. Again. Since it seems like I’ve been rereading that series every year…
Shortest & Longest Book I Read In 2022
Shortest: What the Hex by Alexis Daria (78 pages)
Longest: A Kingdome of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout (637 pages)
(According to Storygraph)
Blogging / Bookish Life
Favorite Post I Wrote 2022
Did I write any blog posts in 2022? It’s hard to pick a favorite when I don’t have any memory of writing the limited selection I have to choose from. 😅
Favorite Bookish-related Photo I Took in 2022
Not exactly a “photo” but I really like how this edit I did for Cinder & Glass by Melissa de la Cruz turned out.
Most Challenging Thing About Blogging or Reading in 2022
Time & motivation.
Looking Ahead
Book I Didn’t Get to in 2022 But Will Be My #1 Priority in 2023
Don’t really have one, to be honest. I’m going to be nicer to myself and let my mood take me where it wants to go. That said, I would like to finally read Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas and also finish The Gilded Wolves trilogy by Roshani Chokshi.
2023 Goals & Resolutions
I have six bookish / reading-related goals for this year. They’re all pretty much the same ones as the goals I set for 2022, with some minor differences.
Read at least 15 min every day
This is a goal from last year that worked out pretty well so I want to continue it. I’ve realized that it helps me get out of reading slumps quicker if I feel pressured to just try to read. And this goal helps me with that.
Read 52 books
Again, it worked well in 2022 so I’m hoping it’ll work well in 2023. It really depends on my pacing though. I will reaccess every quarter and revise the goal if needed.
Read books off my physical TBR
My shelves are haunting me. And I failed to make much progress on this goal in 2022 – I only really read two books from my own shelves.
This year, I need to do better. I’m aiming for at least 6 books total. Is that a little unrealistic? Probably. But I need the motivation.
I’m also going to pull aside some books I have absolutely no interest in reading (and never really had to begin with). If I don’t touch or think about those books at all in 2023, I’m going to find some new homes for them at the end of the year. It’s historically been hard for me to let go of books because I’m always scared I’ll enjoy it sometime down the road, but at this point, I’ve owned most of the books in question for 5+ years. They need to go and this is my last chance to save them.
Limit book buying
I’m out of shelf space and clearly incapable of reading books I own. The last thing I need is to spend money on books that are just going to sit pretty on my shelves for who knows how many years.
Limiting the amount I’ll allow myself to spend on books hasn’t really been effective in the past (I love a good deal). So I’m also going to add an extra rule that I have to have read or unhauled two books before I buy one.
And like last year, I’m also going to try to only buy books I’ve read and enjoyed and will probably reread. Pre-orders for books I’m super excited about and/or to support authors I like are the sole exception. Everything else I can read first through my local library or ARCs.
Finish at least two series
Pretty self-explanatory. I’m in the middle of a lot of series and I’m hoping to complete at least two of them this year. Bonus points if they’re series I own physical copies of.
Reevaluate Instagram and this blog
I… this one… honestly this is a hard one. But times are changing and so am I. I haven’t really been consistently on either platform for a while now and didn’t make as much progress in 2022 as I’d hoped.
It’s kind of crazy how time as passed – I’ve been blogging for more than 10 years now and on bookstagram for almost 8. And honestly, I’ve been doing things more or less the same through all those years. It’s clearly not working anymore.
I need to rethink the reason I’m blogging and on my #bookstagram before I can really move forward.
And more than anything, I want to focus more on actually reading instead of just talking about reading. So if I don’t have time to blog or post on Instagram because I’m too busy exploring a fictional world, that’s absolutely fine.
How was your 2022?
[…] are pretty much just my 2023 reading goals broken down by what I should accomplish in quarters. Except for the one that involves tackling my […]