January 9, 2013 • randomness, reading •

2012 in Review–‘Riting & Randomness…and a little ‘Rithmetic

I usually do a little year-end number-crunching in the process of coming up with my Books of the Year, but this year I decided to share those before I put up the stats. However, before I get to the Bookkeeping, I have answers to some questions from the “Book Blogging/Reading Life” section of Jamie‘s annual End-of-Year Book Survey.

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Favorite review that you wrote in 2012? 

If I leave my Books of the Year reviews out of the running here, it’s my review of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (audiobook read by Jim Dale). And since I also use the “review” label when I blog about movies, I’ll include my discussion of my husband’s favorite movie of 2012, The Avengers, here too.

Best discussion you had on your blog?

The fact that these two related posts went up back-to-back during Book Blogger Appreciation Week probably helped, but book bloggers do enjoy talking about book blogging, don’t we?

Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

I read quite a few good discussions, but was a bit lax about keeping links! The Unconventional Blog Tour (May/June 2012) had some outstanding blog posts about blogging that I still have saved for reference, though, so let’s go with that one.

Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

Although it technically wasn’t an “author event,” I’m going to count seeing The Rock Bottom Remainders’ final performance here, since the members of this ramshackle rock band are all better known for their writing than their musical skills. And I’m glad I was able to attend Book Expo America again in 2012, especially since I don’t think I’ll be going back in 2013. We’re overdue for a family vacation that doesn’t have anything to do with conferences, but I’ll miss seeing New York City with some of my best book-blogging friends.

Best moment of book blogging in 2012?

I devised the Book Blogger Buddy System when inspiration struck me in the wake of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and was thrilled by the enthusiastic response and participation it received! Although I’m afraid I haven’t been too great a Buddy myself–sorry, Angela, and I’ll try to do better in 2013!–I hope it’s working out well for most participants, and I’m still planning to open a new round of sign-ups in the spring.

Most Popular Post(s) This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

My most popular posts (according to Google Analytics) don’t usually have much to do with books; I tend to discount the views for posts involving a giveaway; and I do have some older posts that still get decent search traffic. Having made all those disclaimers, these are my five most-viewed written-in-2012 posts:

Post(s) You Wished Got A Little More Love?

I spent so much time working out my evolving position on indie authors that I had to break it into two posts, but neither seemed to get all that much of a response:

Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

This year seemed to be more about making better use of bookish things I’d already discovered than finding anything new. I retired my dedicated e-reader in favor of using several apps on my iPad for e-book reading (I like the iBooks reading experience best, but I’ve also got the Nook and Kindle apps installed); I got more use out of Audible; and I finally figured out a good use for my Goodreads account (if you’re looking for my book-review archive, it’s over there.)
New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012? 

I don’t add new book blogs to my rotation nearly as frequently as I did a couple of years ago, and sometimes I forget exactly how long I’ve been reading a particular blog, but I’ll single out three new additions this year: Tread Softly, Books, Personally, and Sorry Television.

One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

During a couple of weeks late in the year, I read three books concurrently–one in print, one e-book, and one audiobook. I’d like to practice that particular combination to read polygamously more often, since it’s probably the only way I’ll get my average reading rate up from a book a week!
And now, let’s run some numbers!
"Bookkeeping" at www.3rsblog.com

Total books read: 52 (counting one I’m still reading at year-end)
Total pages read: 14,363 (I’ve never tracked this before, but since Goodreads does, I’ll include it here)
Total reviews posted: 50 (books #51 and #52 will be reviewed in Shelf Awareness in January 2013 and posted on the blog after publication there), including 2 re-reads reviewed for the first time

Genre/category stats

Fiction: 36 (70%)

  • Adult 32
  • YA/children’s 4

Nonfiction: 16 (30%)

  • Biography/Memoir 11
  • History/Culture 3
  • Other 2 

Female authors: 36 (70%)
Male authors: 16 (30%)
(Despite the similarity in the numbers, there is no correlation between genre and gender. I read fiction written by men and nonfiction written by women, and vice versa.)

Review stats:

Paid reviews: 14
Reviews for blog tours: 10
Reviews of books published in 2012: 38

Book sources:
Personal (purchased/gifts), all formats including ebooks and audiobooks: 25
Publisher, for blog tours: 9
Publisher, for paid reviews (Shelf Awareness/BlogHer Book Club): 14
Publisher, direct: 4

Ratings:
4-5: 22, including 3 rated 4.25 / 5
3-4: 27
2-3: 1
Unrated: 2 (reviews not yet posted)

2012 Reading Challenges (goal / read):

Goodreads 2012 Reading Challenge: 52 / 51 (not including book #52, currently in progress)
Memorable Memoirs Reading Challenge: 4 / 4 (I read more than 4 memoirs this year, but stopped counting them after I hit this target)
2012 Ebook Reading Challenge: 5 / 5 (signing up for the same level in 2013)
2012 Audiobook Challenge: 6 / 10 (jumping to the “Going Steady” level–12 audiobooks–in 2013)

Did you have reading goals for 2012? Did you accomplish them? And what reading plans do you have for 2013?

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