So this is the new year (I don’t feel any different) – Reads & Recap

If you know that song, all the power to you.

It’s another wrap for the year and I feel like my sentiments are exactly the same.  I tend to read 52-55k pages per year, regardless the number of books, and this year was no different

The thing that interested me most was that my average rating moved up to 4.0 – either I’m getting soft in my old age 😂, read better books (maybe) , or was simply less critical this year.  Everyone else’s criticism wears on me.

I also have been going to journals and literary zines to find reviews and criticism, I just can’t with people on Goodreads who have nothing better to say than “oh this book wasn’t _____ enough, ONE STAR”

No thanks. That sentiment hasn’t changed from last year at all – stop telling me what to read and stop insinuating that people are X for reading Y book for Z reason, just stop

I lost track of my ARCs vs Backlist vs purchased reads, but think I read about 60%/40% new + gifted books vs backlist ones. Backlist Bingo helped a lot with that.

From the above screen shot, the Ransom books were a huge highlight this year. House of Dragons was a great standalone

In the Orbit of Sirens is one of the better indie books I read this year, the author featured on the Sunday Brunch Series as well. I was due for a Life of Pi reread and it did not disappoint on audio

I finally read (actually listened) to the first three Red Rising books. The audio, read by Tim Gerard Reynolds, was phenomenal and I can see that all the hype is real.

Shit escalates – Sevro

Dragon Mage was the longest book of my year, 986 pages, and also easily in my top 3 reads of the entire year

I also started the Wheel of Time series and managed to read the first three, plus 1/3 of The Shadow Rising. I’m not sure how much I really like the books, and the tv adaptation seems like a liberal media festival

Dreams of the Dying was another of my top three reads this year! Search that on my blog for review plus author interview! One of the first books that I have both mixed feelings and great love for

I also finally tried Janet Evanovich, fun reads, and Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series

Winterlight rounds out my top 3 books of the year.  Kristen Britain came back from two (IMO very weak books) and absolutely slayed Winterlight.

The Keeper of Night was one of the better YA books I read this year, as my other top three should be considered adult fantasy.

A Ritual of Flesh is an honorable mention for favorite books of the year.  Lee Conley also interviewed!

Lastly – I finally started reading some King books, and I think the Bill Hodges Trilogy was absolutely stellar.  Will Patton delivered an amazing narration.

I ended the year on a binge of the Lunar Chronicles series and have no regrets, Cinder is probably one of my top 5 favorite YA characters!

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Well there you have it! I wish I had room and space to show all of the books (not all of the reads were shown) but I covered the highlights. That said, I read over 150 books and there are MANY more I would like to mention again – but reviews can mostly all be found on the blog here.

I think I was much more selective this year with arcs and book tours and it helped overall enjoyment.

My best advice for everyone in the coming year is to make sure you’re reading for YOU