Notes from the Shelf

Above are my stats for 2024 in graphical form, which I’ll reference in the following paragraphs.

In 2024 I read 47 books total, which was a little bit lower than my goal of 50, but I did read the first four books of the Stormlight Archive series, which all have massive page counts, so I’m alright with being a little bit lower than my original goal. I exceeded my page goal of 17,500 (which is based off an estimated average of 350 pages per book for 50 books), so I would say overall I met my reading goal for 2024.

I also did a book challenge through my library, which I’ve posted previously (you can read it here), so I think that also distracted a bit from reading 50+ books. I don’t think a book challenge will be high on my priorities for my 2025 reading journey; I feel like I need a break from challenges and just read what seems interesting to me in the moment.

In 2024 I read the vast majority of my books from the library: physical library books came in at 15 books, ebooks through Libby came in at 14 books, and I listened to two audiobooks, which were also through Libby, so total there were 31 books I read through my library.

I usually don’t listen to audiobooks because it’s hard for me to focus on what they’re saying for an extended period of time, so I usually miss details and have to rewind, but the two I listened to were excellent. They were the Divine Rivals series (Divine Rivals and Ruthless Vows), which I highly recommend if you haven’t listened to them. I think having the dual narration helped me focus on the story.

I also read two through Kindle Unlimited (KU), which I subscribed through a Black Friday deal for $0.99 for three months, so I’m considering those as basically free reads as well, so in total roughly 70% of the books I read this year were for free. I calculated the amount each of these books would have cost if I had bought a physical copy from a place like Barnes & Noble, and that totaled to $649.69 without taxes. Although I did buy books throughout the year, I don’t think it was more than $650, so that’s a win for the year.

I read 12 hardbacks and 2 paperbacks; most of these I already owned. I would like to increase this for next year and read more of the books I own, because I have 127 books on my TBR bookcase. I think my goal with that is to read at least one fiction and one nonfiction from that bookcase per month. I also will try to limit the number of books I buy next year to not add any more, as the bookcase is already overflowing.

Looking at the breakdown of books read per month, my highest month was January at 7 books, with my second highest being July at 6 books and April at 5 books. Usually January is a slow month without much going on, so makes sense there, but I’m not sure what happened in July and April. My average books read per month was 4, which is about right as I try to finish one book a week.

For ratings, 19 books were 4-star reads, 15 were 5-star, 12 were 3-star, and one was 2-star. I would say for the most part, I don’t finish books that I would give a 1 or 2 star, so even though I do use a 5-star system, in actuality most books fall between 3 and 5, so makes sense majority of the books I read in 2024 were 4 stars.

Looking at the books by type, the vast majority were fiction books coming in at 35. 10 were nonfiction and two were poetry collections. Looking at the genre breakdown, the vast majority were fantasy or romance, coming in at 14 and 9 respectively. I thought I did a pretty good job at expanding the genres, but it doesn’t really seem like it. I think I’ll try to read more diverse genres in 2025.

My 5-star reads of 2024:

1. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
2. The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
3. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
4. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
5. Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross
6. Bride by Ali Hazelwood
7. The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
8. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
9. The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff
10. Funny Story by Emily Henry
11. Edgedancer by Brandon Sanderson
12. Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson
13. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
14. Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
15. What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

My reading goals for 2025:

1. My standard goal of 50 books and/or 17,500 pages
2. Read one fiction and one nonfiction from my TBR bookcase per month
3. More diverse genres beyond fantasy and romance

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