Recap: 2016
2016 was quite the year and not in a good way (including the worst reading slump I’ve ever had), but it also brought us GREAT books (just fewer than I’m used to) and YURI ON ICE!!! so it wasn’t all bad, definitely not. Considering my average rating this year (4.1) and the number of DNFed books (only 4), I definitely made the right choices re my reading this year, meaning rereading a shit ton of books is the best ever and I’ll do even more of that in 2017.
I already reread books frequently during the past few years but never as many as this year. I ALMOST made it past 50 rereads, if only it hadn’t been for that damn reading slump. More rereads isn’t the only things that changed this year though. I barely touched any YA books (most of the ones I did read were rereads) mainly because I want EPIC fantasy, and YA just doesn’t do very well in that department, sadly. I also got really into adult scifi, buying way more new books than I could possibly read (but when has the TBR pile ever not been a problem).
2016 also had some surprises in store: audiobooks and short fiction. Holy mother of Loki, FOR YEARS I thought audiobooks totally aren’t for me (I started one once and 1 1/2 years later still hadn’t finished it) but suddenly they are!? Somehow I finally made it work and now I LOVE rereading via audiobook.
Thanks to tor.com I started reading way more novellas, this being the first time reading a lot of short fiction that isn’t just additional material for series but original content, which made me realize how great novellas can be.
The books of 2016
Book pushing is second nature to me so I could’t possibly leave 2016 behind without talking about all the books you better read ASAP (as well as disappointments because gotta warn people to stay away from certain books too).
*some books I first read in 2015 but they are 2016 releases which I reread so shamelessly adding them
The best of 2016
Fantasy
A Gathering of Shadows | V.E. Schwab
This Savage Song* | Victoria Schwab
Nevernight | Jay Kristoff
The Providence of Fire | Brian Staveley
The Library at Mount Char | Scott Hawkins
Science Fiction
Dark Matter | Blake Crouch
Aftermath | Chuck Wendig
Revenger | Alastair Reynolds
The Stars are Legion | Kameron Hurley
Hold Back the Stars | Katie Khan
Sleeping Giants* | Sylvain Neuvel
Magical Realism
The Lost & Found | Katrina Leno
The Accident Season | Moira Fowley-Doyle
When the Moon Was Ours | Anna-Marie McLemore
New to me authors
I didn’t read too many new to me authors in 2016 and could have done with a few more debuts but I still read a few I definitely want to read more from and some who made it on to my auto-buy list.
Brian Staveley | The Emperor’s Blades and The Providence of Fire
Claire North | The Sudden Appearance of Hope
John Scalzi | Lock In, The Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, The Dispatcher
Kameron Hurley | The Stars are Legion
Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant | Every Heart a Doorway
Series
Favorite beginnings
This Savage Song* | Victoria Schwab
Nevernight | Jay Kristoff
Sleeping Giants* | Sylvain Neuvel
Favorite Sequels
A Gathering of Shadows | V.E. Schwab
The Providence of Fire | Brian Staveley
Favorite endings
Morning Star | Pierce Brown
Calamity | Brandon Sanderson
The disappointments
Just nope
The Graces | Laure Eve
Captive Prince | C.S. Pacat
Not all bad but still massive disappointments
The Raven King | Maggie Stiefvater
Gemina | Jay Kristoff, Amy Kaufman
The statistics
My favorite part of every yearly recap: THE NUMBERS. Thanks to keeping track of all my books in a spreadsheet, I can look up all kinds of statistics which is my favorite thing to do, really. I want to finish books just so I can add them to my spreadsheet and see the numbers change.
Number of Books
Books read:150
I LOVE that almost a third of the books I’ve read were rereads but I actually want that number to be even higher in 2017. I joked about making it 50:50 once before so MAYBE THIS TIME.
Pages/Minutes
Pages read: 42009
Average number of pages per book: 353
Shortest book: A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers (18 pages)
Longest book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (784 pages)
Minutes listened to: 23816 (394h)
Average number of minutes per book: 814 (13.5h)
Shortest book: The Dispatcher (139 minutes / 2.3h)
Longest book: Words of Radiance (2895 minutes / 48.25h)
Genre/Audience
Really no surprise about the numbers here. As expected I read mostly Fantasy and SciFi and this year mostly adult books. The number of high fantasy books could be higher and might increase in 2017 if my current mood and 2017 releases I’m looking forward to are any indication.
Series/Standalones
I’m a bit surprised at my number of standalones and how few series I started this year. It definitely didn’t happen on purpose because I LOVE series way too much to seek out standalones.
Series started: 13 | DNFed: 19 | Finished: 8
Number of different series read: 56
Authors
Number of different authors: 82
Most read authors: Brandon Sanderson (12 books), Maggie Stiefvater (10 books), V.E./Victoria Schwab (7 books)
I like that it’s almost 50:50 but I actually want to try and read more books by women in 2017, especially in high fantasy (of the 22 books I read in 2016, only 5 were written by women).
Format
Okay, but these numbers just seem unreal. WHERE DID ALL THESE AUDIOBOOKS COME FROM? I don’t know, but I like it. I’m very curious how this will look in 2017. Considering that I also reread a lot, I’m surprise I still read that many ebooks.
Plans for 2017
- get fully back into blogging
- reread even more books (50:50 MAYBE)
- read more diverse books
- (re)read all Cosmere books (in publication order)
- buy less books (LOL as if)
Leave a Comment
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy
I love all your stats, and I really appreciate the fact that you created a detailed spreadsheet and you’re willing to share it. I may try it next year! And wow, 150 books! I’m so jealous!! Happy New Year:-)
Cassidy @ Quartzfeather
OMG Hello fellow Yuri on Ice fan!!!! How are you faring after episode 12???
Crini
HIII! Oh you know, still not over it and singing History Making 24/7 :D
Cassidy @ Quartzfeather
Lol, I’m currently praying for a season 2!
Kyra Morris
I so badly want to read Sleeping Giants – it looks AMAZING! I’ve also heard so many wonderful things about Victoria Schwab’s books – I MUST READ THEM.
Happy new year!
Crini
It is GREAT! (also already optioned for film I think). But with its ending it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to wait until book two comes out in April.
Happy new year!
Maraia
Woohoo, these are my favorite posts! (Mine is 10 pages, oops. xD)
I hope there were good things about 2016 besides just books and YOI. I had a pretty great June and July. ;)
I really want to see you read half rereads next year. (This should get easier every year with all the books VE Schwab writes, lol.) I only had 22% rereads this year because I wasn’t rereading via audio nearly as much. =/
I guess you’ll need to read Robin Hobb and Glenda Larke next year. :D
My male author percentage went WAY up. Last year I read 71% female authors, and this year it was almost exactly 50:50. :O
It still makes me happy that you got addicted to audiobooks. \o/
Crini
10 PAGES???? LOL (I wanna read!)
Of course, but I stopped including anything besides TV + books + music here some time ago :P
Considering that I failed to finish my Chaos Walking AND Vicious reread, I’m not sure if more books by Schwab will make it easier. Just have to stop getting so many new books I also want to read.
That’s what you get with all your buddy reads with Sebastian :P (get back to reading more fantasy so you can also rec more books again! XD)
Oh, I definitely plan to read more Hobb, at least finish Farseer and maybe also binge the next trilogy.
Not surprised that your ratio of male authors went up with all them thrillers haha
I don’t even remember how exactly you made me try again, but glad you did!
Maraia
It should be going up on Sebastian’s blog (or at least part of it, lol), but I can send you the google doc if you want!
It’s so inconvenient of authors to keep writing so many books that sound amazing. xD (I did reread Vicious last year, but I also failed with Chaos Walking. /o\)
Hey, I still managed to read an entire Robin Hobb series this year! What I need to do is avoid YA fantasy and stick with adult so I remember why I love it so much…
I know thrillers are to blame, but it still makes me sad!
I think it was The Scorpio Races?
Crini
You’ll even post your recap on Sebastian’s? oO Make you own work already! :P
Oh, I remember it was Scorpio Races but not how it happened. That’s like my least favorite Stiefvater book so no idea what made me try audiobooks again and with that books of all books.
Maraia
Lol, if I could make my posts format themselves, I would launch my (really freaking gorgeous) blog in two seconds! I’m actually having a lot of fun with the writing part. Who would have thought? xD
Crini
Wait, that’s all?? What’s the problem with the format?
Ha, could have told you :P
Cynthia @ Bingeing On Books
I am so sorry that you have been in such a reading slump! I hope you are coming out of it. I discovered VE Schwab this year. I love her so much. I read Vicious and A Darker Shade of Magic. I definitely need to read the rest of that series. And I am so happy to see The Library at Mount Char on here. I don’t hear nearly enough about that one, which is a shame, because it is so awesome! Happy New Year!