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The year was 2022 and things were pretty much back to normal. I say pretty much because there were still plenty of people in my local area wearing masks and I still hadn’t completely gone back to normal. For one thing, I’ve still been avoiding the cinema because it feels like a lot. However, I was socialising more and seeing people again. This meant there was a slight decline in the number of books I read but that’s understandable. Plus, it’s probably a good thing in its own way. On the negative side, there were been a few personal things to deal with but we’ve been luckier than a lot of people. Considering the state of the UK and the world in general, we can’t really complain too much. Let’s hope 2023 sees further improvements all around. Although, now I’ve said that some awful global event is bound to crop up again.

2022 in Numbers

Blog

Number of posts: 201
Number of words: 132,743
Total followers: 664
Most viewed post: Book Review – Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Books

Reading Stats

Reading Goal: 70
Number of Books Read: 99
Number of Pages Read: 24,705

Number of physical books: 49
Number of audiobooks: 37
Number of ebooks: 13

Fiction: 93
Non-Fiction: 5
Short Story Collections: 3
Poetry: 0
Graphic Novel: 6

Written by men: 22
Written by women: 71
Written by non-binary writer: 0
Written by more than one writer: 6
Written by BIPOC: 10

Most read authors: Anne Tyler (4), Alice Oseman (4) and Agatha Christie (3)

Shortest book: 46 pages – A Scandal in Brooklyn by Lauren Wilkinson
Longest book: 12 hours 42 minutes – Beastie Boys Book by Adam Horovitz, Michael Diamond

Book Ratings

Average rating: 3.5 stars

5 stars: 12 books

In alphabetical order by title:

• A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
• The Amazing Edie Eckhart by Rosie Jones (audiobook)
• Bear by Marian Engel
• The Book That No One Wanted to Read by Richard Ayoade
• Crushing by Sophie Burrows
• Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
• French Braid by Anne Tyler
• Hourglass by Keiran Goddard
• Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
• Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

4 stars: 37 books

Notable mentions:

• Beastie Boys Book by Adam Horovitz, Michael Diamond
• The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau by Graeme Macrae Burnett
• The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
• Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
• How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
• I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel
• Mother For Dinner by Shalom Auslander
• Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• She and Her Cat by Makoto Sinkai

3.5 stars: 9 books

3 stars: 26 books

2.5 stars: 4 books

2 stars: 10

1 star: 1

Films

Film Stats

Number of films reviewed: 47

Film Ratings

Average rating: 3 stars

5 stars: 2 films

In alphabetical order by title:

• The Father (2020)
• Nomadland (2020)

4.5 stars: 0 films

4 stars: 9 films

Notable mentions (in alphabetical order by title:)

• The Courier (2020)
• Encanto (2021)
• The French Dispatch (2021)
• Glass Onion (2022)
• See How They Run (2022)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
• Turning Red (2022)
• Wendell & Wild (2022)

3.5 stars: 9 films

3 stars: 11 films

2.5 stars: 4 films

2 stars: 9 films

1.5 stars: 2 films

1 star: 0 films

0.5 star: 1 film

2023 Goals

At the start of last year, I set myself the very doable challenge of 70 books. I knew that life would start getting back to normal, so my reading would drop off a bit. However, I was keen to keep up my pace of around 2 books per week. I did a pretty good job of this thanks to audiobooks but it wasn’t every week. I also got used to listening to books at work, which dropped off a bit during busier periods. I want to keep this up in 2023 and, thanks to my library app, I should have plenty to keep me going.

For 2023, I’ve set my reading goal as 75. I definitely want to keep trying to read a couple of books a week but I also want to push myself to read longer books. I have so many 300+ page books on my shelf but I keep picking up the shorter ones. So, 2023 isn’t going to be so focused on the number of books I read but more on the quality. I want to read fewer books that I’m only reading to keep my numbers up.

I also want to buy fewer books. I know that I say this every year but I’m serious this time. I won’t buy as many and I will aim to read new books as soon as possible. No more leaving books on the shelf for months at a time. If I am desperate to buy a new book then I might consider borrowing it first. That way I don’t spend money unless I really enjoy it.

I’ve spent another year mostly reading books by women, which I’m very happy about. This year, I want to focus more on under-represented writers. I want to read more stories by under-represented parts of society. I normally just pick books based on the summary but I want to be more aware of who is writing them.

In terms of keeping track of my reading, I want to get better at it. I’m considering starting a book journal so these end-of-year wrap-ups are easier. Storygraph makes it fairly simple with books but the films are terrible. Hopefully, I can figure out a way that I keep up with it. My previous attempts have just crashed and burned.