2021 End of Year Book Stats & Overview

 

Well, this post took far longer than I expected to finally post, but it's here! This is one of my favorite yearly posts to make because I love getting to step back and see how my overall year of reading went and what sort of books I gravitated to over the year. 2021 in particular was a weird year where I felt like my reading was a bit more unpredictable, and being a mood reader I never know what to expect from any year. There's a lot I could say about last year, but I think we should just skip that and move into the stats, starting with some information provided from Goodreads' annual Year in Review!

I am so surprised that I ended up reading 167 books this past year! Last year was truly crazy, between finishing up my Master's, searching for a new job, moving, and adopting a dog... let's just say there were a lot of days where I barely read anything. Three things I think I'd credit somewhat for still having read so much was that I really leaned into just letting myself read what I felt like rather than forcing myself to read things, reading more audiobooks, and maybe even reading more horror (I seem to speed through horror far quicker than others... I just have to know what's happening!). I'm really glad I was able to get in so many books last year, but I definitely don't plan to try to match that number next year (though I wouldn't complain if I can!). 

My average book length was a bit shorter this year, but it's still pretty on point for the type of books I read. I felt like I read a lot of pretty fat tomes this year, but I also recall that there seemed to be more shorter books I read as well, so I guess it all evens out. The Stormlight Archives books almost always seem to take the prize for longest book if I read one that year, so that makes sense. And The Drowned is a horror graphic novel from Laini Taylor and Jim DiBartolo, which was a fun look into some early work of theirs. 

I don't really take too much stock in these average Goodreads ratings, but I always like to share them anyway. Mine are always inflated because I tend to round up on Goodreads, and I do a lot .5 or .75s. I guess I'm either somewhat easy to please or I'm good at picking books I'll like. Still, it seems overly high!

This is one of those years where I sort of wish I had taken out the least popular book to see what it really was because I am literally the only person on Goodreads to have read it. It's a personal family ancestry-related thing, and I added it to Goodreads in order to add it to my books for the year, so yeah, it's pretty obvious it'd be the least popular, haha. I think Alice's Adventures in Wonderland being most popular is not that surprising, either. I re-read it this year via audio for the first time and it was a really fun new experience to read the story. Alice is a favorite!

In case you can't read that tiny font, that's a 4.72 average, which is crazy high! In all fairness, Jade Legacy is the final book in a trilogy which often predisposes books to higher ratings, but that's still exceptionally high and all the kudos to Fonda Lee for writing such a fantastic finale. I absolutely loved it and think it more than deserves that high average rating. 

Stats:
And lastly, my favorite section: the stats! I keep a running spreadsheet throughout the year with some basic info about the books I read, and then I create some fun graphs with some of that info every year to see what I'm reading, where it's from, who it's for, etc. I love doing this, and I also love seeing other peoples' stats, so if you have your own end of year post, do let me know. Without further ado, let's jump into the stats!

Genre

In a surprise to no one, I read a lot of fantasy (48.8%) this year! I would say the biggest change this year is how much horror (15.2%)  this year. I really got into horror this year and I'm excited to keep exploring the genre–I don't think I ever realized how much I really seem to enjoy it until the last couple of years. I also read a bit more nonfiction (6.7%) this year which I'm happy about because I've been wanting to incorporate more into my reading. I also read more sci-fi (9.8%) than last year (yay!) and quite a bit less historical fiction (5.5%), but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it as much last year? Hopefully this year I get back into that more .

Target Audience

And yet other obvious one, the majority of my reading was comprised of adult books (87.4%). I surprisingly read more young adult (7.8%) than middle grade (4.8%), and I'm hoping to find more middle grade this year to check out. I've struggled a lot with young adult lately, so I didn't expect it to be very high.

Format

This one is pretty evenly spread out overall, with one new category–audiobooks! 2021 is the year I really ran with audiobooks, and I'm glad I've finally been able to figure out that I can really enjoy some! I'm a little surprised at how close eARCs( 20.3%), physical ARCs (20.3%), paperbacks (22.2%), and hardcovers (27.8%) are! I actually find reading hardcovers more uncomfortable than paperback so that's also interesting, but libraries and new releases tend to be hardcover. I feel pretty good about these stats.

Book Source

This was an interesting one! I'm so glad that I was able to read so many books that I already owned this year (28.8%)–it's nice to actually work on that TBR, haha. Library usage (17.1%) was down a little as well because of various library closures and the fact that I was reading more of my own books. I also got quite a large number of books from the publisher (33.5%) and NetGalley (15.9%), so that makes up a good portion. I'm just glad it means I'm not spending that much on books... right?

Page Count

This year had more books on the lower range than there usually are and I have no idea why! Maybe there were just more smaller books published or something? Who's to say? Still, the majority of those pages came in between 300-500, which makes sense since that's the most average page count size. 

Tell me about your year in books! Do you keep track of information for stats like this? (If you do and you made a post that I haven't seen, leave me a link because I love looking at them! Or if you have any 'end of year' sort of post, link that also so I can check it out!)

Anticipated February 2022 Releases!

I can't believe we're already talking about February releases, but I'm so excited to because there are so many amazing books coming out in February! I've already read and loved quite a few of these (A River Enchanted, The Justice of Kings, and The Violence, Paradox Hotel, and Age of Ash, to name a few), and I'm currently reading Dead Silence and loving it, and hoping to dive into an ARC of Extasia soon as well. I was really surprised when putting this list together just how many books there are coming out in February, which means I've definitely left out more than a few because I just couldn't keep adding to this already long post, haha. Be sure to let me know about any books you're excited for that I've forgotten on this list!

Are you looking forward to any of these books? Have you had a chance to read any yet? Let me know!

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes || February 8th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews || February 17th (UK)

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Violence by Delilah S. Dawson || February 1st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Scorpica by Greer Macallister || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Haunting of Las Lagrimas by W.M. Cleese || February 22nd

The House of Footsteps by Matthew West || February 3rd

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt || February 8th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa Morgan || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Daughters of a Dead Empire by Tara O'Neil || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox || February 1st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Counterclockwise Heart by Brian Farrey || February 1st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas || February 15th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Extasia by Claire Legrand || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton, Faith McClaren || February 1st -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley || February 22nd -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

Shadows of Pecan Hollow by Caroline Frost || February 8th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull || February 8th -- Amazon | Bookshop.org

What are your anticipated February releases?

The Friday Face-Off: Space Murder Mystery

  

Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme at Books by Proxy. Join us every Friday as we pit cover against cover, and publisher against publisher, to find the best artwork in our literary universe.  You can find a list of upcoming topics at Lynn's Books.

This week's topic is:

Space Murder Mystery

Space murder mysteries are probably some of my favorite books to read, so I thought this was a particularly fun topic. Oddly, I found that there weren't nearly as many straight space murder mysteries in my 'read' library as I thought. The first one I thought of, though, was One Way by S.J. Morden, which I loved and is absolutely perfect for this topic. It's a locked room murder mystery style story about eight astronauts living on Mars where–you guessed it–people start ending up dead. As far as I know, this series has finished out at only two books, which is a huge bummer to me, but I really enjoyed both of those two books and would absolutely welcome another one. This series doesn't have very many cover variations, so I shared the covers available for both book #1, One Way, and book #2, No Way. Let's check them out!

One Way (Frank Kittridge #1)

No Way (Frank Kittridge #2)

My choice(s):

I love all of the reds and warm tones in these covers, which fits perfectly for the Mars setting of this series. I love the classic feel of the original One Way cover, but something about the eeriness and sheer emptiness/loneliness of the original cover for No Way really grabs me as well. These are all great covers, and I wish there were more to compare! I also wish there would be another book in this series, but alas...

What cover(s) do you like the most?

Audiobook Review: The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman
Tor Books
Publication Date: May 25th, 2021
Hardcover. 416 pages.

About The Blacktongue Thief:

"Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler that crosses his path. 

But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark. 

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is searching for her queen, missing since a distant northern city fell to giants. 

Unsuccessful in his robbery and lucky to escape with his life, Kinch now finds his fate entangled with Galva's. Common enemies and uncommon dangers force thief and knight on an epic journey where goblins hunger for human flesh, krakens hunt in dark waters, and honor is a luxury few can afford."

I've heard people talking about The Blacktongue Thief ever since it came out last year and had been interested in it, but found myself hesitant because of some of the comments I'd heard about it being a bit meandering and compared to Kings of the Wyld, which can sometimes not hit quite right with me. Still, when I saw the audiobook on sale a while back I figured it was a great opportunity to try it. The Blacktongue Thief's audiobook was so fun, and after listening to it I can that I think this was one of those books where I really don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much reading a physical copy, but the audiobook was so well done and fit the tone of the book so perfectly that I read through it in no time. 

This story follows Kinch Na Shannack, a trained thief who seems to get himself into a bit of trouble. When Kinch tries to find new marks to help himself out of debt, he ends up running into a woman named Galva, and this is where things really start to take off as they embark on quite an adventure together. Along the way, we come across countless new characters, settings, beasts–it's almost impossible to really get bored of anything in this book because there is always something new coming along. Kinch's rather snarky personality worked perfectly for me and I had more than a few chuckles while reading this book. He knows when to be serious (not often) and always has something to say, whether it's welcome or not. The best thing about Kinch's personality, in my opinion, is that he's not only witty in a humorous way, but also a clever way to where he knows how to handle different people and situations. He may not always seem like the most capable person, but he really is an intelligent person who I wouldn't necessarily hate having on my side. 

The audiobook is narrated by Christopher Buehlman himself, and I'll admit that I was a little hesitant when I first started the book due to his choice to use a heavy Irish accent, which I knew would either become extremely annoying or extremely endearing pretty quickly–and fortunately it grew on me and was perfect for the story. He did a perfect job of capturing the sort of casual, down-to-earth tone of his protagonist narrator. I have no doubt that this accent choice will annoy a lot of potential readers, so I'm glad it ended up working out for me! There are also quite a few moments where there is some singing in this book, such a tavern/bard-like singing, and those are actually sung to us. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, but it worked out. 

This was a book that I could just sit back and enjoy, there was nothing overly intense that I had to focus on that made me ever hesitate to put this book on. Some books I find myself hesitating slightly to listen to if they are a bit darker or heavy, when sometimes I just need a break from that. The Blacktongue Thief was an adventure with a huge variety of characters that had some great action scenes, some great dialogue, and a truly fun story. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and I love that. Don't get me wrong– The Blacktongue Thief is more than just fun and actually handles a wide variety of themes and ideas in its own irreverent way, but it was never overbearing or felt heavy-handed. 

Now, as I've made clear, from an entertainment standpoint this book is a five star read, and that might be enough for some, but I do have a few issues with the story itself. For one, I do agree with the comments I've heard about it being a bit meandering, as I did at times find the plot somewhat buried by what felt like extended or more random scenes. For all that, it's a pretty fast-paced story and I was surprised by how quickly it moved. I felt as though I didn't always fully get to immerse myself in certain aspects of the book before it would move on or jump to something else. The plus side is that everything was so entertaining that I was able to still have a good time with this book regardless of those issues, which I think would have bothered me far more if I were reading the physical copy, so take from that what you will. I also very much feel that if you are someone who does not connect with Kinch's humor by the 30-40% mark, you probably won't after that. It took me a little while, but if it hadn't grown on me I probably would not have enjoyed this book much nearly as much as I did. 

Overall, I've given The Blacktongue Thief 4.25 stars! I wasn't sure what to rate this since it was mainly the audiobook that I enjoyed, but it is one that I would absolutely recommend anyone to try out because if you like it, you're going to have a lot of fun. 

*I received a copy of The Blacktongue Thief courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Grace Axie Oh & Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.

 

This week's upcoming book spotlights are: 

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
Publication: February 22nd, 2022
Feiwel & Friends
Hardcover. 448 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering. 

Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead. 

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all. 

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…"

This sounds so magical and exciting, I am really excited to hopefully have a chance to check it out! I am so dazzled by that beautiful cover, as well. 

and...

Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
Publication: February 22nd, 2022
Ballantine Books
Hardcover. 336 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org

From Goodreads:
"A locked-room murder mystery set at a hotel for time travelers—in which a detective must solve an impossible crime even as her own sanity crumbles—from the author of The Warehouse. For someone with January Cole’s background, running security at a fancy hotel shouldn’t be much of a challenge. 

Except the Paradox is no ordinary hotel. Here, the ultra-wealthy guests are costumed for a dozen different time periods, all anxiously waiting to catch their “flights” to the past. And proximity to the timeport makes for an interesting stay. The clocks run backwards on occasion—and, rumor has it, ghosts stroll the halls. 

Now, January’s job is about to get a whole lot harder. Because the U.S. government is getting ready to privatize time-travel technology—and a handful of trillionaires have just arrived to put down their bids. 

Meanwhile there’s a blizzard rolling in, and the timestream’s acting strange. Which means nobody’s leaving until further notice. 

And there’s a murderer on the loose. 

Or at least, that’s what January suspects. Except the corpse in question is one that somehow only she can see. And the accidents stalking their prestigious guests…well, the only way a killer could engineer those is by operating invisibly and in plain sight, all at once. Which is surely impossible. 

There’s a reason January can glimpse what others can’t. But her ability is also destroying her grip on reality—and forcing her to confront secrets of her own. 

Because here at the Paradox Hotel, the past is waiting around every corner. 

At once a dazzlingly time-twisting murder mystery and a story about grief, memory, and what it means to—literally—come face to face with our ghosts, The Paradox Hotel is another unforgettable speculative thrill-ride from acclaimed author Rob Hart."

I've already read an ARC of this and thought the premise was so cool! I'm really excited for this to finally makes it way into the world and hear what others think of it. 

What do you think about these upcoming releases? What are your anticipated upcoming releases?

New-To-Me Authors from 2021!

 Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly book blog meme now hosted by Jana over at The Artsy Reader Girl!

This week's theme is: 2021 New-To-Me Authors

For this week's topic, I've decided to feature non-debut authors I read for the first time last year! Most of these are authors that I'd heard of and been meaning to read books from for years and finally got around to doing so last year. I'll share which book I read from them, as well as what books of theirs I'd like to read next.

1. Anthony Ryan

What I read: The Pariah

What I want to read next: Blood Song, The Waking Fire

I've been meaning to read Anthony Ryan's work for years now, and I finally got around to that with his most recent release, The Pariah–which has now kickstarted me to want to prioritize his previous series as well! I've honestly heard nothing but great things about them. 

 

2. Scott R. Bakker

What I read: The Darkness That Comes Before

What I want to read next: The Warrior Prophet

I finally read The Darkness that Comes Before last year after wanting to for ages and now I need to actually continue the series! I think I've been hesitant because it's just a pretty dense read and I feel like there's so much pressure/hype around it as a classic in the grim category, but I will do it. I promise. (I hope.)

 

3. Erica Ferencik

What I read: Into the Jungle

What I want to read next: The River at Night

I wasn't exceptionally interested in The River at Night, but after reading Into the Jungle, I am now incredibly curious about it!

 

4. K. Arsenault Rivera

What I read: The Tiger's Daughter

What I want to read next: The Phoenix Empress

I adored The Tiger's Daughter and haven't read the sequel yet because I have heard it's not as good as the first and it worries me... but I'm hoping I don't feel that way. 

 

5. Greer Macallister

What I read: The Arctic Fury

What I want to read next: The Magician's Lie, Scorpica

I loved that Macallister played with the idea of a female arctic expedition in The Arctic Fury, and I'm super curious about some of her backlist titles and her upcoming book, Scorpica!

 

6. Nicole Kornher-Stace

What I read: Firebreak

What I want to read next: Archivist Wasp

I don't really know anything about Archivist Wasp, but after how much I loved Firebreak I think any story would be great in her hands. 

 

7. Catriona Ward

What I read: The Last House on Needless Street

What I want to read next: Little Eve, Rawblood, Sundial

I feel like Catriona Ward probably tackles 'weird' and 'creepy' pretty well, so I'm definitely curious to read more of her work...

 

8. Daniel Mason

What I read: A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth

What I want to read next: A Far Country, The Piano Tuner

I had been meaning to read Daniel Mason for a while, and since I read and loved his collection of stories, I think I'd really like to try some of his backlist titles like A Far Country and The Piano Tuner. His writing was beautiful and I have no doubt these books will be just as well written. 

 

9. James Welch

What I read: Fools Crow

What I want to read next: Winter in the Blood, Heartsong/The Heartsong of Charging Elk

I really appreciated immersing myself in Fools Crow and would love to try out a few more books from Welch!

 

10. Delilah S. Dawson

What I read: The Violence

What I want to read next: Hit, Servants of the Storm, Mine

After I finished The Violence, I knew I was going to have to get my hands on more of Dawson's work. Hoping to check out a couple of these this year!

Have you heard of or read any of these books? Let me know what you thought of them if you have!