2022 Reading Recap

 

Yeah, yeah, I know most bloggers do their recaps in the final week of the year. But I never quite seem to have the time to do that. Plus, I'm usually scrambling to try to finish at least one book. So January 3 it is! 

In 2022, I finished 64 books, which is down some for me (and certainly no where near the 152 one of my book blogging friends read!). Still, considering that I felt like I was in a reading slump much of the year, that's not bad. 

And how does all of that break down? Here are some stats (although, again, nowhere near as well recorded as many of my blogging friends!): 

• Female authors - 46, male authors - 18. This is pretty normal for me. 
• Fiction - 50, nonfiction - 14. This might be a bit lower than my usual but kind of essential for me to back off the heavier stuff this year. 
• 42 of the books I read this year were checked out from the library, in print, ebooks, and audiobooks. 
• 15 of the books I read were through Netgalley, which is fewer than I often read but I was less inclined to put myself in a position where I was obligated to read books by a specific date. 
• 12 books were recommended to me by friends this year. 
• Only 1 book I read this year was set in Asia and only 4 in Africa. It's rare for me to have numbers that low. 
• Genres: 9 historical fiction, 19 literary fiction, 8 women's fiction, 12 mystery/thrillers, 3 science fiction, 1 book of poetry, 4 collections of essays, 5 memoirs, 6 books that included fantasy elements, 1 epistolary novel, 4 classics, and 1 collection of short stories.
• I read 8 books that addressed science in one way or another, 3 humorous books, 9 books that had elements of feminism, 2 books about grief, 6 books about family, 1 book about politics, and 13 books that addressed diversity. 

Usually I end the year by commenting on how I would like to read more of this kind of book or that, with scolding myself for not reading diversely enough or not reading enough classics, for simply not reading enough. I'm not going to do that this year. I read what I read and I'm going to do the same in 2023. I may, in fact, be even less deliberate about what I read and focus on reading what I'm in the mood to read. To redeem the joy of reading (more on that tomorrow!).