This is hopefully the first in my three part “2016 in review” series. I have things to say about books/reading, business, and life stuff. 😛
2016 was one big reading slump.
I started out writing very, very few reviews in early 2016. In fact, between January and June I only published like six reviews. SIX! Argh, how sad.
One of my biggest problems was finding good books. I was in the slumpiest of slumps. I was not finishing like every other book and it was awful. This led to me returning to my old favourites that I knew I’d love.
- I re-read Harry Potter at least once.. maybe twice..
- I read and then re-read The Winter King (read it NOW!!).
- I re-read the entire Ten Tiny Breaths series (god it’s fabulous).
- I re-read The Queen of the Tearling (in preparation for continuing the series, which I then reviewed).
It’s been fun re-visiting old favourites, but I’m SO READY to move onto new books. I want to fall in love again, but with something new. I am VERY excited about so many books coming in 2017, so here’s hoping I find some great gems!
My favourite books I read in 2016
You can check out all my five-star reads from 2016 (only the ones I reviewed), or here are my absolute top choices:
And the entire Tairen Soul series, which I didn’t review because my thoughts were just “AHMAHGAWD I LOVE IT!” (Excuse The Sea King in there, but it completes the grid LOL.)
Reading Statistics
Courtesy of my new book review plugin:
- Books Read: 82 *
- New Books: 76
- Re-Reads: 6 *
- Pages Read: 30,243
- Reviews Written: 43
- Average Rating: 3.68 Stars (DNF counts as 0)
- Different Series: 41
- Standalones: 18
- Different Authors: 58
* I only started tracking rereads in like November so a lot are missing from earlier in the year (like re-reading Harry Potter).
Rating Breakdown
| Rating | Number of Books |
|---|---|
| 5 Stars | 21 |
| 4.5 Stars | 4 |
| 4 Stars | 27 |
| 3.5 Stars | 3 |
| 3 Stars | 6 |
| 2.5 Stars | 1 |
| 2 Stars | 9 |
| 1.5 Stars | 0 |
| 1 Star | 0 |
| 0.5 Stars | 0 |
| 0 Stars | 0 |
| Did Not Finish | 5 |
I’m pretty sure there were even more books I DNF than are on the above list, but I didn’t count them because I stopped them so early. Like before I was even 10 pages in.
Genre Breakdown
Note: I omitted any that only had one or two books for the sake of keeping the table size manageable!
| Name | Books Read | Number of Reviews | Average Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | 28 Books | 11 Reviews | 3.77 Stars |
| Adventure | 6 Books | 4 Reviews | 3.67 Stars |
| Contemporary | 36 Books | 15 Reviews | 3.58 Stars |
| Dystopian | 5 Books | 3 Reviews | 4.8 Stars |
| Erotica | 3 Books | 1 Review | 4.33 Stars |
| Fantasy | 40 Books | 25 Reviews | 3.64 Stars |
| Historical Fiction | 4 Books | 2 Reviews | 4.38 Stars |
| Magic | 13 Books | 8 Reviews | 4.14 Stars |
| Mystery | 4 Books | 0 Reviews | 4.12 Stars |
| Mythology | 5 Books | 3 Reviews | 4.4 Stars |
| New Adult | 16 Books | 6 Reviews | 3.75 Stars |
| Paranormal | 7 Books | 2 Reviews | 4 Stars |
| Retelling | 2 Books | 2 Reviews | 2.75 Stars |
| Romance | 59 Books | 29 Reviews | 3.68 Stars |
| Science Fiction | 5 Books | 3 Reviews | 4.6 Stars |
| Sports | 5 Books | 3 Reviews | 3.8 Stars |
| Thriller | 4 Books | 0 Reviews | 4.38 Stars |
| University | 4 Books | 3 Reviews | 4.25 Stars |
| Young Adult | 38 Books | 27 Reviews | 3.61 Stars |
Science fiction won with an average rating of 4.6! That’s pretty awesome.
Source Breakdown
| Name | Books Read | Number of Reviews | Average Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARC From Publisher | 2 Books | 1 Review | 4 Stars |
| BookExpo America | 7 Books | 4 Reviews | 4.08 Stars |
| Edelweiss | 6 Books | 6 Reviews | 3.83 Stars |
| NetGalley | 5 Books | 5 Reviews | 3.8 Stars |
| Purchased | 60 Books | 27 Reviews | 3.58 Stars |
Looks like I purchased most books this year.. by a long shot! But I’m also really pleased at how high my average rating is for BEA books. Looks like I picked some good ones!
Pages Breakdown
| Pages | Number of Books |
|---|---|
| 200-399 | 48 |
| 400-599 | 31 |
| 600-799 | 3 |
The first books I’ll be reading in 2017
I already have my first few books lined up for 2017, including:
I’ve actually just started The Demon King, so it’s possible that one will be completed before the year ends! (Assuming I get through it. I don’t dislike it so far, but I’m not loving it either.)
Goals for 2017:
- DNF fewer books. Not because I want to force myself to keep reading, but I’m hoping I’ll happen to choose fewer books that don’t excite me. That might be impossible, but whatevs.
- Fall in love with a new fantasy series, like I did with Tairen Soul in 2016!
- Read however many books I feel like (no number goal).
Um, how do I get stats like that from UBB???!
Also, 2016 was a huge “reading” slump for me as well. I started way more books than I finished.
UBB does actually have some stats. 🙂 I need to add them to the documentation lol.
I hope your 2017 reads end up a bit better! I’m so sick of slumps!
Omg I just recently finished rereading Tairen Soul XD THE FEELS And I’m so looking forward to starting Promise of Fire. I decided to leave it as one of the first 2017 books!
On that note, I’m so happy you’re going to try The Fill-In Boyfriend. It’s really fun and cute! I really enjoyed it.
Yess THE FEELS! I’m itching to reread it already!
Promise of Fire is fantastic! I can’t wait to read the second book.
I’m so glad you liked The Fill-In Boyfriend. I adore Kasie West so I’m sure I’ll love it too!
I keep seeing The Diabolic around yet I still haven’t picked it up! It’s a book that sounds like it’d be right up my alley, so I’m definitely going to check it out soon. I hope you have a great new year!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
It’s so fantastic! I love S.J. Kincaid. I hope you like it. 🙂
I agree with you.. I had a reading slump in the beginning of the year too, I only read like two in Jan-feb lol which was so sad, love how organized your post it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful rest of the year and happy holidays! 🙂
You’ve kicked my but into gear to get organized for 2017. I need to get my review pile organized by due as so I can stay on top of it.
I’m also not setting a goal for number of books read. I just want to read good books. 🙂
Sucks about all the DNF you had in 2016, but better to DNF and move to another book then to slug through one you’re not enjoying.
Good luck with finding more interesting books for 2017.
PS you also reminded me to finish reading the Ten Tiny Breaths series.
Good luck with your review pile Chrystal!
I agree with you about DNFing books. I’d rather DNF than force myself to read a book I’m not loving.
I’m sorry you had such a slump this year. I had one during the first half of the year, then things turned around.
And – I always have a goal of DNFing more books…haha! I used to finish every book I started, so am trying to get out of that mindset…life is too short!
Yes I would rather DNF than continue reading a book I don’t enjoy. I just wish I’d stop picking up books I don’t enjoy in the first place, although of course you don’t know that at the time. XD
I want to find an awesome fantasy series for 2017 too! I was really disappointed in how few books I read this year. Anyway I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Mistborn! It’s a series I’ve really wanted to read but the hype worries me. Here’s to us DNFing less books next year because it became a bad habit for me too. I love your stats btw! 😉
I did end up finishing The Demon King (which is #1 in a 4-part series) and it’s fabulous! I’m halfway through book #2 now. So I would recommend that. 🙂
I’ve felt the same way about Mistborn. The hype has been pretty intimidating. So many people love it though so I hope I do too! 🙂
You did pretty good considering how bad you were slumping! I adored the Ten Tiny Breaths series too and am definitely going to check out The Winter King in 2017!
It was the end of the year that was a reading slump for me. It’s so frustrating but sometimes life and bad books just get in the way!
Nice list, Ashley!
I finished Diabolic last month. Absolutely fantastic book. Now I have to wait for the second book to be published.
Meanwhile I may try The Thousandth Floor. I loved your review.
Keep up with the great work!
xoxo
Oh man, you’re probably the third person whose mentioned 2016 was a reading slump year for me. It was for me, too! I read like 30 books less than you did, though. I’m so pumped for reading all the books in 2017!
Eeee I hope you like Mistborn! I’ll also be finally reading Seven Realms series this year.
I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Mistborn!
2016 was also a reading dud for me. Ended up having a few months where I didn’t even pick up a book and I got away from reading books and book blogs, and my beloved Kindle got stuffed in a drawer and was forgotten. I think I read around 80 books but I don’t even know because I didn’t keep track. Ah well, other stuff happened including us very unexpectedly putting our house of 14 years on the market and buying another house that’s almost 150 years old (among its many charms it has an entire community of bats living in it-our cats are going to have a freakin’ hey day lol). 2017 is definitely shaping up to be an interesting year and I’m determined to making reading a part of it 🙂
Oh, man, the Tairen Soul series sounds so good! I’m doing the Flights of Fantasy reading challenge this year, and Lord of the Fading Lands, The Winter King, and A Promise of Fire are all on my TBR list.
C.L Wilson slayed me with the Lord of the Fading Lands and Winter King. You seem to have the exact same taste as myself. So I’ll tell you now, BRANDON SANDERSON! The Stormlight Archive (series) and Mistborn (series) followed by Elantris are absolutely my favorite books in the world. Sanderson does not write sex or romantic relationships like anyone else. He somehow keeps everything pure and innocent while making you absolutely crumble with butterflies. Also give Sarah J Mass a shot, Throne of Glass is a fantastic series that starts a bit slow and becomes incredible (trust me… you are gonna be feeling the C.L Wilson vibe hard)
You will be so in love with these books and they are sure to tide you over for a good bit. Enjoy.
~Pinky