Number of books I read last year: 53
2014 was the first year in a good long while where it felt like I might fall short of my reading goal. I’d originally challenged myself to read 75 books – I’ve easily read at least that many for the past few years – but it wasn’t long before I walked that back to 52.
Why the slowdown? I listened to a lot fewer audiobooks, for starters. I no longer have a job that is well-suited to audiobook listening, and I haven’t been going for walks like I used to. I also read during almost every lunch break at my old job, but I haven’t been doing that as consistently since getting my current job. All of these things combined to cut into the time I spent reading this year.
Number of graphic novels: 25
I got back into graphic novels in a big way thanks to my regular use of the Comixology app on my iPad. It helped that comic books and graphic novels are usually quick reads and made it easier for me to work in some reading time without feeling like I was committing to yet another book I might not finish.
Number of audiobooks: 14
This number is definitely low compared to previous years when my Audible membership was the primary way I did my reading. It didn’t help that two of the books I listened to took half the year to finish. Of course, they’re also the longest books I read all year.
Physical books vs. digital books: 16 to 37
Good thing I have so damn many unread physical books sitting on my shelves, right? A lot of the digital books I read were comics in Comixology, but the number also includes a few library books and all the review copies I received from Netgalley and finished during the year.
Books with female authors or artists: 13
Several of these include graphic novels written by a man but illustrated by a woman (Saga) or short story collections that include work by both men and women (Dangerous Women, Rip-Off!). I definitely need to do better on this count.
Longest books: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton and Dangerous Women by various authors
The Luminaries weighs in at a solid 848 pages in hardcover. I listened to the audiobook version, which lasts 29 hours and 14 minutes and took me from June to November to finish. Ultimately I wasn’t a huge fan of the book, but after a certain point I stuck with it out of sheer bloody-mindedness.
Dangerous Women is 784 pages in hardcover, but the audiobook version is 32 hours and 49 minutes long, possibly because the narrators read their stories at varying speeds. I listened to this collection from December 2013 through July 2014, and wrote a detailed review of my impressions once I finished.
Most favorite book: Lexicon by Max Barry
I raved about Lexicon as soon as I finished it. I loved the premise and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook version. It’s especially interesting that I loved this book so much, considering the fact that my only previous exposure to Max Barry was Jennifer Government, which I thought was pretty terrible when I read it back in the day.
Least favorite book: Pretty Deadly, Volume 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick
Pretty Deadly was doubly disappointing because DeConnick is an author who gets a lot of raves for her work on Captain Marvel. I also wrote about Pretty Deadly here.
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