Thursday, January 7, 2010

2009 Numbers & Goals Reached

This is my last 2009 summary and it was actually the toughest. Don't laugh (or go ahead and laugh) the following are just numbers, but I keep track of my reads on a simple list of books read throughout the year, in order of books read, by month. Trying to break that out into categories, etc... and weeding out re-reads and non-romance/pertinent books gave me a headache! I'll be better prepared next year.

Well, after taking out the re-reads and other books, these are the numbers.

Total books read for the year: 159

Contemporary Romance: 41
Historical Romance: 27
Paranormal Romance: 17
Urban Fantasy: 11
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 9
Young Adult: 5
Mystery: 1
Romance Suspense: 1
Historical Fiction: 1
Erotica: 4
LGBT Fiction/Romance/Erotica: 43



My personal reading goals for 2009 were quite easy.

1) Read more Contemporary Romances and Sci-Fi / Fantasy.
I did well with this goal. I read 41 contemporary romances in 2009 vs. approximately 10 in 2008.

When it comes to Sci-Fi Fantasy I met my goal, but barely. I read 9 in 2009 vs. 8 in 2008. I bought lots of books and my TBR pile is bursting at the seams, but I never got to them. So this is a genre that I want to continue exploring in 2010.

2) Give Urban Fantasy a chance. Begin 3 UF series.
I thought this was going to be a tough goal to reach for me. It turned out to be an easy one. I not only met my goal, I exceeded it by starting and catching up on 5 UF series in 2009. I'm not planning on starting too many new series in 2010, but I'll definitely continue reading this new-to-me genre. I'm loving it!

3) Finally get to some authors that have been lingering on my list of authors to try. Read one book, and if I like it, go for the backlist.
Now this goal I reached and exceeded also. I read 52 new-to-me authors. Many of them in the LGBT genre during the M/M Reading Challenge, but most of them were authors I'd had on my list of authors to try for a while. It was a great year for new discoveries. 2010 promises to be another great one as I have more new-to-me authors on my ever growing list to enjoy.

That's it! The end of 2009... now I'll just look forward.

11 comments:

  1. Omg, 52 new authors is awesome! And you really did good on your goals, woot!

    I'm pretty simple with tracking my books -- by author last/first name, title, series, characters, etc. I can't add categories -- too much work! And tracking DNF and Re-reads is hard too for me.

    I didn't set any reading goals last year. I, um, just read. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you did great with your goals! And every time I read a post that breaks down the reading it helps me fine tune my spreadsheet for this year. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like how you break this down, and measure against your goals. Ooh, Santa Olivia in your TBR. I really want to read that, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 159 books read is fantastic! I see you read a lot of Contemporary Romance, what were some of your favorites?

    Also, Great job accomplishing your goals. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. 159 books read and 52 new authors - WOW! *very impressed* I like the idea of breaking down the books read by genre...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tabz, setting those goals for myself at the beginning of the year helped me focus my reading a bit. I'm an impulsive reader, and really can't set rigid rules when it comes to reading for myself -- if I do that I get reader's block, lol! But these relaxed types of goals reminded me to pick up books I'd been wanting to read. It worked for me. :) I'll be working on a spread sheet this year... I wasn't planning on keeping numbers, I usually don't use them for anything, lol!

    Leslie, I've found everyone posts this year fascinating. We all have our #'s and see them/use them differently. Interesting. :)

    CJ, I don't usually use my #'s for anything, and this is the first year I've set goals for myself. It worked and it helped me focus my reading. I can't wait to read Santa Olivia, it's been on my radar since it released. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Brie, thank you.

    That's a good question: I read a lot more Contemporaries than I realized and was surprised by the numbers. Last year I read more historicals. My favorites this year (Top 10) -- A reads:
    This Heart of Mine by S.E.Phillips
    Virgin River by Robyn Carr
    McKenzie's Mountain by Linda Howard
    Extreme Exposure by Pamela Claire
    Anything for You by Sarah Mayberry
    Breathing Room by S. E. Phillips
    Her Secret Fling by Sarah Mayberry

    B+'s I loved, loved:
    Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas
    It Happened One Night by Lisa Dale
    Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr

    Orannia: I choose my books by genres. I have to have enough of the ones I'm reading ATM. When I get restless with one, I read another... so, it makes sense to me to break it down that way. A lot of my "old" favorite writers have either stopped writing or are no longer writing in a style I enjoy -- I'm looking for "new" favorites. I'm finding some, thank goodness!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I keep a simple list, too, and don't really pay much attention to anything other than the total number. I crunch the genre numbers at the end of the year.

    I categorized romantic suspense with contemporary romance... I guess they are slightly different genres. Oops.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I see we use the same method, lol!

    I've always kept Contemp/Rom and Rom/Susp separate, but then I also don't consider M/F Erotica as Contemp/Romance, (I keep them separate) and I've seen those put together too -- I guess we all see these differently.

    And, two of the books I read that were sold as CR, were actually Women's Fiction, a misrepresentation if I've ever seen one -- but I didn't separate them.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 41 is a really good number for contemporary romance :D Personally, I think you did really good with your reading this year :) Sounds like 2009 was a great year ;D

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nath I was really surprised at the amount of contemporaries I read. I didn't realize. I thought 2009 was a great year too -- I found some books I loved and new authors I'm really enjoying.

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous Users disallowed due to large influx of spam.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.