2015 in Books

Are we tired of resolution and round-up posts yet? Yes? Well good thing this post is more for my benefit and enjoyment than anyone else's - haha! In case you didn't know, I find stats fascinating and my year doesn't feel complete if I don't break down my reading from the past twelve months into the nerdy details. Feel free to skip over the numbers and see which book I recommend most and which one I highly suggest you skip over and go straight to the movie.

Alright, let's get on with it. I had a pretty great year of reading. After a not so great 2014, I figured I could only improve this year, and so I'm pretty proud of getting through 38 books. I originally aimed for 20, but hit that pretty early on in the year, so I my sights for 30. This ended up being an easy enough number to achieve without putting in too much effort, so I'm aiming to read 30 books again this year.

I don't really put too much thought into which books I'm going to read…I read based on what I'm in the mood for, with some book club books thrown in. Sure, I'd like to read more books from my own bookshelves that are just begging to be read, but I don't stress about that either. Too many books, too little time, so I'm just happy to have time to read at all.

One thing I would like to read more of this year is personal-growth books. I have Daring Greatly, which I received for Christmas LAST year, and Brown's newest book, Rising Strong, both of which I really want to read sooner than later. I'd also like to re-visit The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin, which I abandoned a quarter of the way through three years ago when I felt like I was reading it too fast and not absorbing enough of it, along with her newer books. I'm also very intrigued by the book Wanderlust, which, before perusing it at the book store today, I had no idea was such a BIG book. I'll be putting that one on my birthday wish list.

Anyway, here's the oh so exciting stats from 2015:

Number of books read: 38 (up 23 from last year!)

Number of pages read: 12, 687 (up 8702 from last year!)

Percentage of female authors read: 71% (up 4% from last year)

Percentage of Canadian authors read: 8% (down 39% from last year)

Percentage of non-fiction read: 11% (down 9% from last year)

Longest book read: Fifty Shades Freed by E.L James at 551 pages - I'm horrified by this and should have looked into this a few months ago so that I could have purposely read a longer book!

Shortest book read: Doppler by Erlend Loe at 144 pages

Ratings:

5-star reviews: 8 Books (21% - up 1% from last year)

These were the best 8 books I read in 2015, and I thoroughly enjoyed each one of them for different reasons.

4-star reviews: 14 Books (37% - up 4% from last year)
3-star reviews: 10 Books (26% - up 6% from last year)
2-star reviews: 4 Books (11% - down 9% from last year)
1-star reviews: 2 Books (5% - down 2% from last year)


One book read in 2015 that I think everyone should read:

This book, despite being a middle grade book, needs to be read by every man, woman and child. It's honest and sweet and will touch your heart and soul with both heartbreak and warmth. It will encourage you to be a kinder person, and I think we could all learn a lesson from Auggie's story.

One book read in 2015 that I think everyone should skip, but watch the movie:

Oh dear, this book was painful to get through. I persevered because I kept thinking it just had to get better. It didn't. I know I've mentioned it before, but take this as a public service announcement: skip the book and go straight to the movie.



What was the best book you read last year?

Worst book?

Do you usually try to read the book before seeing the movie?



*affiliate links have been used

The Books I've Been Reading {5}

I kind of got sidetracked about talking about my recent reads, even though I've had a post in the works for months now. I was going to scrap it altogether, but I like keeping lists and I like talking about books, so I'm just going to do one big dump of the last 14 books I read in 2015. Don't worry, I'm only going to let you know if I loved or hated the book in one or two lines!

If you're interested in knowing more about what I thought about a particular book, you can always look up my short reviews on goodreads. (P.S. are you on goodreads? If you like reading, then you really should be!).

1. The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman: Loved it, a grand saga about forbidden love, scandal, betrayal and loss. You can read my full review here.

2. Wonder by R.J. Palacio: The most endearing and touching book I read all year about a young boy who doesn't fit in because of a facial deformity he was born with. Everyone should read it.

3. The Martian by Andy Weir: The best sci-fi book I think I've ever read. Funny, witty and a page-turner. Read it before you see the movie!

4. When Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid: I'm still not sure how I feel about this book, a heartbreaking and tragic story of one boy's struggle with his sexuality.

5. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: The right combination of seriousness, humour and wit to take this mystery a step above chick-lit. Had me guessing to the very end.

6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Just as good as the time I read it in high school.

7. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee: Utterly disappointing. But didn't make me love Atticus any less!  Makes for great book club discussion.

8. Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews: Ugh, started it on audiobook, and finished it on ebook, and it was the worst thing I've listened to/read all year. Movie was great though! (Go figure).

9. The Story Hour by Thirty Umrigar: A pleasant read, but not a book that stuck with me.

10. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank: One of the first post-apocalyptic books ever written (late 50s), it's amazing how relevant it still is. I enjoyed the in-depth look at what is truly required to survive after a nuclear war.

11. More Than Happy: The Wisdom of Amish Parenting by Serena B. Miller: Made me want to pack up my family and covert to the Amish way of life.

12: The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion: A fun sequel, Don is his usual quirky self (whom I love), but Rosie drove me crazy.

13: The Vacationers by Emma Straub: Such a bore. Totally felt let down by this one.

14: The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende: A fantastic novel to end off my year of reading with. A beautiful love story (not without betrayal and secrets), told in chapters from both present day and the past.


And there you have it! I promise I will never subject you to such a long list of books again, ha! I'd love


Have you read any of these books? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you have! 

Any you loved or hated from this list? 



*affliate links have been used

January Goals

I've never broken down my yearly goals into monthly ones, but I noticed a lot of bloggers do this and I'm hopeful that it's just what I need to stay on track with my goals (which I've gone into depth in this post in case you missed it!). In the past, I write up all my goals for the year, and then I rarely look back at them until it's time to do a recap. Not very conducive to being successful!

Taking into consideration some of the things I would like to achieve this year, here are my goals for the month of January.

JANUARY GOALS

1. Drink a cup of tea every night. 

When I get on the tea bandwagon, I love it. But when I fall off, I completely stop drinking it altogether. But, in the past, if I have a cup of tea in the evenings, it often prevents me from mindlessly snacking and I'm hoping it will encourage me to skip the glass of wine or beer I've been privy to these past few months. Also, I was so excited when I got my David's Tea Advent calendar, but then we were away for the first bit of December, and with all the busyness of the month, I never even cracked it open. So this month, my goal is to complete the calendar. I started last night and I'm excited to try a new tea every day!

2. Walk 10,000 steps a day.

This will most likely be a goal every month. I noticed though that yesterday, after walking on the treadmill for 50 minutes, my fitbit didn't register any of the steps, nor did it register any active movement?! Well, that's annoying. Yet, when I rock on the rocker in Sully's room, it will register steps for that! Silly devices. So on days that I hop on the treadmill, I will take the mileage on there into consideration (in case you follow me on fitbit and think I'm cheating….!)

3. Go Snowshoeing.

This is an activity I've been wanting to try for years, and I'm almost a little bit embarrassed to say I've never done it. January seems like the right time to try it since we have lots of snow on the ground!

4. Meal plan every Sunday and grocery shop on Sunday or Monday morning.

I think the hardest part of this for me, is choosing the recipes/meals for the week. Do I go based on what's on sale? But then I have to look at flyers and go to multiple stores. Do you eat the same sort of foods for the week so as not to waste ingredients? Chicken every night would be boring. I'm starting to recognize that meal planning has been avoided this long because it definitely seems overwhelming! I'm hopeful it will get easier with time and that I will finally make use of my pinterest boards!

5. Read 3 books.

January is a long month and I should be able to get in three books. Right now, I'm reading The Revenant for my book club on Friday, and then I can't wait to see the movie, (HELLO, Leo!). Anyone want to see it with me??

6. Be in bed, lights out, by midnight.

When I say that I am a night owl, I mean it. Midnight is my usual bedtime, but that means I'm usually in bed, but still reading or scrolling through social media until around 12:30/1a.m.. I know I can't change from being a night owl overnight, so baby steps.

That's it! I think this sounds like a doable month. I'm pretty sure the hardest part will be the going to bed early thing, ha!



Do you make mini goals for the month?

What's the first book of 2016 that you're reading?



*affiliate links have been used