At the close of every year I check out my Goodreads stats to see how I’ve done for the year and decide where I want to go next year. I feel like this yearly review not only motivates me, but also puts into focus how my behaviours regarding books has changed. I may change my method of rating books, start reading longer books or maybe I’ve started reading monthly instead of at random.
Blogging: Where I’ve Been
Anyway, I thought it would be neat to end my 2015 year with a look at my statics on my blog since this is the first year I’ve blogged. I started Silk&Serif in February 2015 and I’ve learned so much! My layout started out as a basic, cookie cutter one, into a Customizer creation to a purchased layout. The posts around here have started to variate and my grammar has improved, albeit minimally. I’ve also discovered an entire community and world of book lovers and new confidence that I’d been sorely missing in my life for quite some time.
Blogging: Where I’m Going
So, now that I’ve gotten the basics and reintroduced myself with Photoshop, where do I want to go in 2016? I’ve been thinking that in the New Year I will do a few things different from this year while possibly exploring some new blogging methods.
- Silk&Serif’s birthday will give rise to me first ever Giveaway depending on my finances.
- I want to create my own brand creating weekly post some time next year. I’ve been toying with a few ideas, but I have yet to really decide on a topic or theme.
- I want to work on my online presence. What good blogger doesn’t? More connections, better grammar, more experience!
- I want to visit a book related event and blog about it. I probably can’t do that in Ottawa, but perhaps I’ll get the opportunity to visit an event in another city.
- I plan to, at some point, interview an established author. I have met plenty of really great authors over the last ten months but still lack the confidence to approach them about interviewing for a blog post. I will change this.
- I am going to learn to code my own blog layout even if it kills me. I have been already working on improving my skills in basic programming language and learning how WordPress themes behave but still lack quite a bit of knowledge.
Where I’ve Been: Looking at The Numbers
I’ve read the most books this year compared to any other year. I assume this is partially due to the fact that I’ve been out of school and unemployed, but largely I think this is thanks to blogging. I have been part of plenty of events and received tons of ARCs with due dates which has kept me reading even when I would usually slack off.
My winning year for pages read and books read is undoubtedly 2015. I read 25467 pages in 2015 (so far) with runner up at 19865 pages in 2014. I also read 79 books in 2015 while in 2014 I read a close number of books at 64. The types of books seem to have become more variable but my focus is still predominantly on romance and YA literature. I do feel like my reading is starting to fall into the trap of overly popularized series rather than dabbling into less read series or authors while looking at these statics.
My start ratings have also become a bit different from my earlier experiences. In 2013 my ratings were harsher with plenty of one and two star ratings while in 2o14 I had placed a large number of books in the two and three star rating categories. Interestingly, 2015 has seen the most three and four star rating increase. In retrospect, this is probably is related to the fact that blogging has opened my eyes to new authors and plenty of opinions concerning books that have probably helped me choose novels that are more suited for my reading style. Also, I occasionally receive emails from my favourite publicists with book recommendations that I probably would not have tried otherwise and missed out on!
Final Thoughts
My reading habits for 2015 has altered quite strangely this year with shorter novels, more series and even more positive ratings. I feel like perhaps my reading lists are being honed not only from outside sources, but from my own understanding of what kinds of novels I actually enjoy. Thankfully, through other bloggers and publicists I am able to learn about novels that I would not have heard about if I was still “going it alone” which only increases my sense satisfaction with each and every book I’ve read this year.
I think next year I want to work on reading more non-fiction and classics for my personal reading goals/ I want to develop more as a blogger, but also get back into reading literature that isn’t specifically blog related. I don’t want to burn out and feel like having to review everything I read is going to do just that. I may review less and find a few topics to write about. Who knows? The New Year is going to be a great year!
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Great post! I’ve been thinking about doing something similar but I haven’t done it yet. It’s so nice the GR keeps track of all this stuff! Good luck with you 2016 goals!! 😀
Hi Jade! Thanks for commenting! I love how GR keeps track of all this stuff so I can review my stats over the years to see how my reading habits have changed. Plus, it looks neat! 😉