Gooood morning, reader friends! It is December 1, and instead of posting a monthly wrap-up for November, I am jumping into the Month of Favorites event, hosted by Estella's Revenge, GirlXOXO, and Traveling with T. All month, we'll be discussing our favorite books (and book-related things) from 2014. Since I always do a best-of list at the end of each year, I figured this would be a great way to do it...just all month long instead of one day, because I know you can't get enough of me.
Today we're doing a bit of an introduction:
"About YOU and Your Reading this year (eg. fave genre, fave author, how you read (percentage (%) physical, eReader, audiobooks), when you read, what genre did you read the most from this year, which author was most prolific on your reading list, how many books did you read, give us a clue about what your fave book read this year is – but don’t tell us – let us guess!)"
Well, most of you know a lot about me already, but here goes...
Favorite genre: If I had to pick one (ridiculously broad) genre, it would be contemporary fiction.
Favorite author: Can't just pick one! Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, Jon Krakauer, Audrey Niffenegger, Emily Giffin, Michael Pollan, Gillian Flynn...I'll stop there.
How I Read in 2014:
I broke this into a few different categories.
1. Total books read: 43 (so far!)
(My goal was 40, so I am patting myself on the back.)
2. E-book vs Paper
I read 14 e-books, 28 paper books, and 1 audiobook. This will come as no surprise, given my struggles with e-reading earlier this year.
3. ARC/Tour Books vs. "Free Range Reading"
I read 15 ARCs/tour books and 28 books of my own choosing. I made an effort to cut back on ARCs this year, and it seems I did well! I am looking forward to a few more in 2015 though. Ready to get my early-reviewing hat back on.
4. Most-Read Genres
21 contemporary fiction, 11 young adult, 5 nonfiction, 3 women's fiction, 2 classics, 1 mystery/thriller.
This, of course, is based on my subjective decision on what falls into each of those genres (a mystery can be contemporary fiction too, but I had to choose one category for each book read). I was originally surprised at how much YA was there, but then I remembered the Rochester Teen Book Festival--that explains that!
When I read: In tiny snippets! That's how it feels these days. I often wake 10-15 minutes before the kids and my husband, just to get a few pages in at the start of the day. I used to read in the afternoon when Small Fry and Tater Tot had overlapping naps (90 glorious minutes! Shared with housework, but still)...HOWEVER, Small Fry no longer naps. So now I usually read while snuggling with him on the couch for about 15 minutes during an episode of Dinosaur Train. :) At night, my husband and I spend as much time together as possible after the kids go to bed, so I usually don't pull my book out until he goes to sleep...and manage about 3 pages before I conk out myself. Ha! But I maximize my reading time as much as possible...and have been known to pull my book out if I end up in a long line at the dentist, or the grocery store, or the post office...
As for my favorite book of the year? I generally don't pick one favorite for the year--my M.O. is to make a top 10 list (in no particular order), because I find it too hard to choose only one. However, I've already started thinking about my list, and unsurprisingly, it's mostly contemporary fiction novels. If you have any guesses on what I loved the most, leave them in the comments!
Here's to a month of favorites, my friends! How did YOU read this year?
I'm going to guess Man V. Nature? :)
ReplyDeleteI won't be coy about it. That is totally going on the list.
DeleteI feel you about the tiny snatches of reading. I haven't been able to get many, so thank goodness for audiobooks that were awesome!
ReplyDeleteTanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
Ah yes! Audiobooks used to be my savior when I commuted. Now, with the kiddos in the car, they tend to veto them pretty quick. lol!!
DeleteTiny snippet reading is the way I've been reading too. It's not the way I LIKE to read but it's the way it's been for a little while now. I need another readathon to get some real page numbers under my belt ;) I remember those years of having small kidlets, it's almost a miracle that you get any reading done at all, lol.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has offered to take the kiddos for the next readathon, as long as I give enough notice!!! I can't even imagine being able to read for more than 10 minutes at a time. What heaven. I hope you get a good batch of time soon too! :)
DeleteI'm 'cheating' for my best books of the year: I create categories such as novels, short stories, nonfiction books, writers, ... It's infinite ;)
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's a good way to make sure everything gets a spot!
DeleteI would have thought some of your best of 2014 would have been YA as you loved Fault in our Stars, Wintergirls, and Crank (Crank--YA?) But I would also have to assume the new Jodi book is on your top 10 (although I haven't read it yet...gahhh!)
ReplyDeleteGood guesses both, as you saw today! :) Wintergirls and Leaving Time definitely made the list!
Deletesomething totally not related to 2014 reviews, but I have been gravitating towards Christmas/holiday feel good books as usually I don't have the time or I fall asleep to Christmas movies this year (I blame the babies + toddler) so i still get my Christmas feel good fix...but in book form! Do you ever read for the season? Horror during Halloween time? Christmas books around Christmas? Romance in February? Light hearted in the summer?
ReplyDeleteI do read for the season sometimes. My favorite season to read for is Halloween, because I like the excuse to read a lot of thrillers (one of my preferred genres anyway). I don't do a lot of romance, so Valentine's is out (and I've found that Christmas books tend towards romance too, so I tend not to read a lot of those...though I would be open to holiday themed reads!). And yes to lighthearted in the summer. I looooove a good beach read!
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