What I read in 2014 in numbers, and goals for 2015…

Yes! It’s my annual stats post. Apologies if it’s not your thing, but analysing the numbers of what I read each year and comparing them to previous ones always flings up some interesting figures. I have kept a master spreadsheet since 2007.

This year I read more books than in any year since I used to commute by train to work (when I got through 3 or 4 books a week). 129 is my actual total this year – however … that did include quite a lot of shorter novels and novellas which is clear if I look at my chart of Books v Pages over the years …

So pages read are a better measure of how much I read?  Perhaps, although of course, ignoring any discussion of quality vs quantity, that premise is not without its flaws too!

TARGET: Aim to keep up a good reading rate in 2015.

Moving on to date of publication.

This year I surpassed myself in the number of ‘Shiny New Books’ I read with 57% of them published this year (it was 42% last year).

TARGET:  I really MUST try harder to read from my TBR in 2015 when not reading for Shiny!

One area of true success is reading more in translation.

I read 22 novels originally published in other languages this year.

Of those books published in English, I read more by UK authors this year than last at 58%. American authors accounted for 20% this year, 5% or so down on 2013.

TARGET: To keep up reading books in translation.

Last graph now – looking at categories.  I didn’t read a lot of crime novels or thrillers this year, and slightly more Young Adult books – otherwise it is my usual mix, with Non-fiction remaining around the 10% mark.

I didn’t read a lot of crime novels or thrillers or classics this year, making up for them with slightly more Young Adult books – otherwise it is my usual mix, with non-fiction remaining around the 10% mark.

TARGET: Read a bit more non-fiction in 2015, but aim to read eclectically across a wide range of categories and genres as always.

Two last stats for you:

Male / Female Author Ratio – This year it’s 67:62 – ie 52% male, 48% female so very close after having been 70:30 last year. I never choose my reading based on gender, and this ratio goes up and down each year – so it doesn’t mean a lot in terms of my reading but I do follow it at year end in case a trend does start to appear!

And finally, a new stat – that of ‘New to me’ authors, complementing my post yesterday on my best finds of the year. I was amazed to find that 76 (approx 60%) of the books I read this year were by authors I’d not read before – and as you saw yesterday, I’ve discovered some fabulous ones to follow up.

That’s all folks!  I’ll be back with book reviews in the New Year.

All the best for 2015!

0 thoughts on “What I read in 2014 in numbers, and goals for 2015…

  1. sharkell says:

    Lovely sharing the year with you Annabel, I have spent many enjoyable reading hours ‘with’ you, both reading your blog and reading some books you have reviewed. Wishing you a fantastic 2015.

  2. kaggsysbookishramblings says:

    That’s an interesting way to look at your reading, Annabel! I read more books this year than last, but I haven’t done a page count. Mind you, I did read some chunksters so it might be higher…. Happy New Year! 🙂

  3. drharrietd says:

    How incredibly impressive — I am so not a stats person, and the thought of keeping a spreadsheet fills me with horror, but I do love reading things like this anyway!

  4. calmgrove says:

    Always good to analyse reading habits, and though I’d never thought to quantify pages read it’s always interesting to see how much progress has been made in any given year!

    My main, maybe only, reading goal in 2015 is as it’s been for the last few years — to review each book I read. Certainly sharpens the mind more than sticking to quotas, though there is nothing wrong with quotas per se of course!

  5. Alex says:

    Congrats on the translations figures! I also plan to read more non-English books this year, but I’d like to read them in their original languages where I can (PT, FR, ES).

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