2021 Reading Goals Review + Yearly Stats

Reading Goals Review

My first goal was to read 100 books. I managed to double that this year and read 205 books, my best reading year ever!! (It's because of all the manga.) 

View my Goodreads Year in Books here to see all the specific titles I read in 2021!

My next goal was to read my TBR pile. I had 390 books on my physical TBR list on January 1, 2021. I wanted to reduce that number as much as possible. I also had a goal is to read three TBR books before I allowed myself to buy one book. Well . . . that didn't happen at all. Despite reading __ books from my TBR and unhauling 59 books, I still bought 108 books (and that's not counting the plethora of book gifts I received throughout the year). So my TBR pile at the end of the year is at a whopping 476! Oops. 

My third reading goal was to read 8 specific series plus 5 specific books, which are listed below. As you can see, I didn't accomplish this goal either. I did read a ton of series this year, but only two of them were on my list. Most of the titles below will carry over to next year's goals because they are all still books I want to get to soon. 

Series:
1. The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
2. The Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel
3. The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer
4. The Nine Realms Series by Sarah Kozloff
5. The Blood and Ash Trilogy by Jennifer L. Armentrout
6. Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
7. The Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin
8. The Trylle Trilogy by Amanda Hocking

Standalones: 
1. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
2. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christoper Paolini
3. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
4. Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger 
5. Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore

Yearly Statistics

Number of books I read in 2021: 205
Number of those books that I listened to on audio: 69
Number of books I read from my TBR: 72
Number of frontlist titles I read (published in 2021 or 2022): 61
Number of ARCs I read before the publication date: 17
Number of series I started: 43
Number of series I completed: 22
Number of books I DNFed: 10
Number of books I reread: 12
Number of books I acquired this year: 211
Number of books I unhauled this year: 59
Number of books on my TBR at the beginning of 2021: 390
Number of books on my TBR at the end of 2021: 476

Books I read that were . . .
Middle Grade: 15
Young Adult: 31
Adult: 84
Manga: 75

*Note that I categorize anything not specifically labeled as middle grade or young adult as an adult title, such as nonfiction, humor, graphic novels, or religious books that could be enjoyed by any age group. 
**Also note that I added manga as its own category this year since I read an abnormal amount of manga and it could arguably fit into any age group and I didn't want to skew the numbers. 

Graphic Novels: 13
Short Stories or Novellas: 20
Nonfiction Titles: 15

Star Ratings:
1 star: 17 (8%)
2 stars: 30 (15%)
3 stars: 42 (20%) 
4 stars: 65 (32%)
5 stars: 51 (25%) 

Reading Survey

Favorite book of the year: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Least favorite book of the year: Better Together by Christine Riccio
Most surprising book of the year: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Most disappointing book of the year: Dark One, Vol. 1 by Brandon Sanderson
Longest book of the year: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson (1,080 pages)
Shortest book of the year: "We Were from the Mountains" by Kate Morton (8 pages)
Book that was on my TBR the longest that I read: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery (15+ years) 
Biggest accomplishment: Finally reading more manga and reading more new releases
Most read genre: Manga (75) followed by Fantasy (70) 

Reading Reflections

This was an interesting year. I read way more than I ever have before, but that's mostly thanks to manga, which I really went overboard on this year. I also listened to more audiobooks than the number of physical books I read (if you count all books that aren't manga, graphic novels, or short stories), which I think is a first for me. I read more science fiction than in previous years, which I'm excited about. I also bought way more books this year than I ever have before, and my TBR is bigger than it has ever been before, which is a problem! This was a just a year of more, more, more. Maybe I can turn 2022 into a year of less instead. Overall I'm pleased with what I managed to read in 2021 as it was a pretty solid reading year for me.