My 2014 - 2015 Reading Year Wrap Up

This is just going to be talking about books. And maybe some math. If that's not your thing, come back next week when I hope to have a little more sewing/quilting/crafting progress to share. 

Some background:
In October of 2010, prompted by a very disappointing surprise cliff-hanger ending to a book I'd enjoyed up until that part, I started keeping track of the books I completed reading throughout that year. What I had intended to be a fairly simple list of title, author, and a short note or reaction quickly turned into a series of spoiler-filled summaries, and paragraphs of reactions. Later I started rating books on a 1-5 scale mostly based off my enjoyment and feelings immediately upon finishing the book. 

In the year between October 15, 2013 and October 14, 2014 I completed reading 74 books - which was about 22,380 pages (not including pages of sources, citations, previews for other books, or the pages of the 6 graphic novels I read). 

Of those 74 books: 

• 51 would probably be considered Young Adult
• 5 would probably be categorized as Romance (only)
• 3 were fairy tale retellings (a record low for me) 
• 9 were non-fiction
• 6 were graphic novels
• 3 were rereads from previous years  

Mathematically, I averaged just over 6 books per month.
The highest finishes by month happened in: February (8) then November/December/January/March/September (7 each).
The lowest finishes by month happened in: June and July (3 each)

My average rating was: 3.3 (mathematically, since I only rate in .5 increments). This is slightly lower than in the past. This year I did not rate anything as 5, but I had two 4.5 ratings: Marissa Meyer's "Cress" and Rainbow Rowell's "Landline." I did have one 1 rating, Jane Feather's "Trapped at the Altar," and as usual, I did not keep track of my 'did not finish' pile. I plan to keep better track of those in the coming year as it might be as useful to know. 

Looking back on the year, I'd say the standout titles were:

• "Cress" Marissa Meyer
• "Landline" Rainbow Rowell
• "Mastiff" Tamora Pierce
• "Flapper" Joshua Zeitz
• "Howl's Moving Castle" Diana Wynne Jones
• "Parenting Beyond Pink & Blue" Christia Spears Brown PhD
• "Trickster's Queen" Tamora Pierce

This list isn't necessarily the books I gave the highest ratings -- though this year it comes close -- but instead is comprised of the books I find myself still thinking about even months or longer after having finished them. I think that's probably a better determination of what's really caught my attention and gave me something to think on than a ranking I give immediately after reading. In all fairness, I continue to be absolutely haunted by one of my 2012-2013 standouts, "The Summer Prince" by Alaya Dawn Johnson, which I still think about on a monthly, sometimes weekly basis. 

Since I'm finding more time for reading than for sitting down and completing my thoughts, I've actually already finished a book for my 'new' year. I do still have two 'in progress' books I'm still working on -- one of which I'd really like to mark as a 'did not finish' and walk away from, but I also hate to 'waste' all those hours and not get to mark it as 'read' on my personal list or goodreads account.

I did not accomplish my goal of finishing the Game of Thrones series. In fact, I'm not sure I read any of it. I really need to do that in the coming month or two, especially since those books are on loan from a friend. Other goals for the coming year include tracking my 'did not finish' books, and hopefully hitting 80+ books in 2014-2015. I'm hopeful, but also realize I have a number of things on my plate that keep me from reading, and a lot more quilts needing finished than ever before (or perhaps I should say bigger, more time consuming quilts). I'm also working a record number of hours, all of which makes reading any more harder. 

As usual, this is probably far more interesting to me than anyone else, but I always look forward to getting to spend a few minutes wrapping up a years worth of reading. I may have started this whole process with the idea of keeping track of what I read - and which authors are worth going back to - but I've found the entire thing has improved my enjoyment of reading as a whole. I can't say I'm a better reader now than I was before, but spending an average of an hour thinking about each book while I recap it and react to it has made me more aware and more selective about what I find worth talking about or suggesting to others.  

Anyway - here's to a new reading year, and to all the books on my 'coming soon' list that are that much closer to falling into my eager hands!