2023 Reading Stats

Another year down and another year of reading wrapped up. I love keeping track of my reading stats throughout the year to compare not only the quantity of books read, but the quality. If I've read less books recently, I would hope that at least the average rating of my books were improved upon. 

Here are my 2023 reading stats...

Total Books Read

Books Read: 126

Books DNFed: 13

I got a lot better at DNFing books this year. Compared to 2022, I stopped reading 2.3% more books in 2023. I read a total of 126 books compared to 147 in 2022. I am completely fine with that as I read far fewer 2 star and below books and the majority of the books were 4 stars and above when compared to last year. This is always my goal, to read better books even if I read less of them. I also want to continue to put down books that I'm not enjoying. 

Format

Physical: 52

• Paperback: 12
• Hardback: 40

E-book: 37

Audiobook: 39

A majority of the books I read are from the library, both physical and audiobook. Most of my e-books I've either purchased or gotten as ARCs from NetGalley. I use each format at different times. Physical books I read before and after work, while e-books I read before bed. I listen to audiobooks while I work out and clean. 

Genre

Fantasy: 43

Mystery/Thriller: 32

Horror: 28

Sci-fi:18

Romance: 3

Historical Fiction: 3

As per usual, my top genre was fantasy. No surprises there. What was surprising is that I read far fewer sci-fi books than I have in recent years. Instead, mystery/thriller cam in at 2nd, followed by horror in 3rd. Sci-fi took a back seat with my fourth read genre. I will definitely be prioritizing more sci-fi this year. Another change is that I will be separating mystery and thriller, as I find that oftentimes they don't overlap as much as I previously thought. 

Ratings

A majority of my 2 stars were from NetGalley early reviews. I've learned my lesson and I'm going to stop requesting thriller arcs as I was sorely disappointed this year. I'm very happy that 4 stars was my most used rating. To me, a 4 star is something that I greatly enjoyed and want to reread. That is what I want most of my books to be. Let's hope this trend continues this year. 

Date Published

Each year I have priority backlist books that I try to read, or I take them off my TBR list. This helps me read books that have been on that list the longest. I also try to read as many new releases in the fantasy/sci-fi genres as possible. Half of the books I read this year were 2023 releases and just under half were priority backlist books. I also reread 7 books last year. This year I want to reread a few more favorites but we'll see if I get there. 

Page Count

This is almost a perfect bell-curve. I read a lot of shorter novels this year with a majority between 300 and 400 pages. A few of the priority read for this year are big chonkers though, so I expect this curve to be skewed next year. 

Goals for 2024

1. Read more big books

2. Continue to DNF books I'm not enjoying

3. Pick up more sci-fi