Another reading year comes to an end and while I still have a few reviews to do it is time to crunch reading numbers first. I managed to read a total of 158 books during 2014 (read 180 last year)
My Top 10 books of the year:
Deserving Death by Katherine Howell – Mystery/Thriller
The Last Shot by Michael Adams – YA Dystopian
Frontier Incursion by Leonie Rogers – YA Science Fiction/Fantasy
Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall – Non-fiction
Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance – Historical
Ronan’s Echo by Joanne van Os – Historical
Pandora Jones: Admission by Barry Jonsberg – YA Dystopian
A man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – Contemporary Fiction
Outback Ghost by Rachael Johns – Romance
Unforgivable by Sharon Robards – Historical
However, please note that the remaining 21 books on my ‘A’ list are all highly recommended and are honourable mentions.
Average score: B
My B means – Great. I really enjoyed reading it and it is a book I will be recommending to all my friends who like this genre.
Average number of books per month: 13
July was the highest number of books read (18) but this was because we were on holidays and had time to kick back and relax with snow views and red wine. The lowest months were August and October (10 each) – not sure why – a lot going on I guess.
Number of ‘new for me’ Authors: 85
Number of Australian Authors: 79
More than half of the books I read this year were by authors I have never read before and exactly half of the books I read were by Australian writers.
Book sources:
Library: 19
Own it (e-book): 85
Own it (TBR pile): 54
A few years ago there would have been no e-books at all – now they consist of more than half of my reading.
Genre Break-up
Historical – 22
Paranormal – 13
Mystery – 30
Romance – 36
Women’s Fiction – 9
Science Fiction – 7
Fantasy – 12
General Fiction – 10
Non-Fiction – 10
Dystopian – 7
Horror – 2
Out of these – 31 were YA/Children’s books
My Scoring System:
I walk to the beat of my own drum when it comes to scoring – so here are what MY scores mean to me:
A – Excellent Stuff – a real page-turner and hard to put down. I carved out extra reading time just so I could finish it. This book got carted into the bathroom with me, read over meals, read at work, and/or kept me up late at night. If this author has more work, I will certainly read it.
B – Great. I really enjoyed reading it and it is a book I will be recommending to all my friends who like this genre.
C – Above average. Was very readable and I really liked it but was easily able to put it down and walk away for a while.
D – Average – it was OK, a bit of a struggle to finish whatever redeemable aspects there were to this book, they were not fleshed out enough for me to truly enjoy it.
A – 31 books
1. Deserving Death by Katherine Howell
2. The Last Shot by Michael Adams
3. Frontier Incursion by Leonie Rogers
4. Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall
5. Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance
6. Ronan’s Echo by Joanne van Os
7. Pandora Jones: Admission by Barry Jonsberg
8. A man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
9. Outback Ghost by Rachael Johns
10. Unforgivable by Sharon Robards
11. Chasing the Valley: Boarderlands by Skye Melki-Wegner
12. Almost Dead by Kaz Delaney
13. The Girl in the Yellow Vest by Loretta Hill
14. Pandora Jones: Deception by Barry Jonsberg
15. Someone Like You by Victoria Purman
16. Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourne
17. Dead, Actually by Kaz Delaney
18. The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry
19. Outback Blaze by Rachael Johns
20. Royal Blood by Rhys Bowen
21. Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
22. Good Tidings by Terri Reid
23. The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth
24. Twin Curse by Rinelle Grey
25. Timeless by Gail Carriger
26. Deeper Water by Jessie Cole
27. Frontier Resistance by Leonie Rogers
28. Forbidden Fruit by Ilsa Evans
29. The One by Kiera Cass
30. Little Town by Don Reid
31. After Darkness by Christine Piper
B – 74 books
1. Unnatural Habits by Kerry Greenwood
2. Alienated by Melissa Landers
3. Unleashing Mr Darcy by Teri Wilson
4. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
5. Weeping Walls by Gerri Hill
6. Blood Phantom by Rhiannon Hart
7. The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald
8. Red Queen by Honey Brown
9. Blood Red by Heather Graham
10. The Newcomer by Robyn Carr
11. The Giver by Lois Lowry
12. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
13. February or Forever by Juliet Madison
14. The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson
15. The Empty Nest by Fiona Palmer
16. Anzac Biscuits by Phil Cummings
17. The Scandalous Duchess by Anne O’Brien
18. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
19. Previously Loved Treasures by Bette Lee Crosby
20. Enmity by E.J. Andrews
21. Charlotte’s Creek by Therese Creed
22. Rocking Horse Hill by Cathryn Hein
23. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
24. Time Will Tell by Fiona McCallum
25. The Tea Chest by Josephine Moon
26. Heartless by Gail Carriger
27. The Case of Jack the Nipper by H.L. Stephens
28. Dancing on knives by Kate Forsyth
29. Boy, Lost by Kristina Olsson
30. The Garden of Darkness by Gillian Murray Kendall
31. A Ring through Time by Felicity Pulman
32. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
33. The Ghoul Next door by Victoria Laurie
34. The Hero by Robyn Carr
35. Hamlet’s ghost by Jane Tara
36. Containment by Vanda Symon
37. Breaking the drought by Lisa Ireland
38. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
39. Skyfire by Skye Melki-Wegner
40. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
41. Batter Up by Robyn Neeley
42. Tiger’s Eye by Barbra Annino
43. The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard
44. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
45. Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
46. When the Night Comes by Favel Parrett
47. The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
48. Five go Adventuring Again by Enid Blyton
49. Tease me, Cowboy by Rachael Johns
50. The Wedding Bees by Sarah-Kate Lynch
51. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith
52. Wattle Creek by Fiona McCallum
53. Of Merlot and Murder by Joni Folger
54. Love, Desire and Betrayal by Margaret Lynette Sharp
55. Haunted Ever After by Juliet Madison
56. The Sunnyvale Girls by Fiona Palmer
57. Throwaway Girl by Kristine Scarrow
58. Tumbledown Manor by Helen Brown
59. Man Drought by Rachael Johns
60. Resorting to Murder by K.J. Emerick
61. Wife on the run by Fiona Higgins
62. Her Mistletoe Cowboy by Allissa Callen
63. When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr
64. Snowbound in Montana by C.J. Carmichael
65. Secret Santo by Carla Caruso
66. Meant to Be by Fiona McCallum
67. 12 Days at Silver Bells House by Jennie Jones
68. 12 Daves of Christmas by Juliet Madison
69. Ruth’s First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths
70. Festive in Death by J.D. Robb
71. New Year’s Promise by Anna Clifton
72. Jilted by Rachael Johns
73. Until Midnight by Melissa Landers
74. Talon by Julie Kagawa
C – 33 books
1. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
2. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber
3. Lost Voices by Christopher J. Koch
4. The Opposite of Magic by Colleen Cowley
5. The January Wish by Juliet Madison
6. Local Customs by Audrey Thomas
7. Murder on the Orient Express By Agatha Christie (Graphic Book)
8. The Recipe Box by Sandra Lee
9. If I Tell You… I’ll Have to Kill You by Michael Robotham
10. Time Square: The Shift by S.W. Lothian
11. Through The Cracks by Honey Brown
12. Colours of Gold by Kaye Dobbie
13. If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell
14. The Wives of Los Alamos by TaraShea Nesbit
15. Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
16. To Love Anew by Bonnie Leon
17. Tiddas by Anita Heiss
18. Blood Storm by Rhiannon Hart
19. An Unlikely Witch by Debora Geary
20. Dust of the Land by J.H. Fletcher
21. Where Earth Meets Water by Pia Padukone
22. Lily’s Leap by Téa Cooper
23. Cat out of Hell by Lynne Truss
24. Summer in Tuscany by Elizabeth Adler
25. No Sex in the City by Randa Abdel-Fattah
26. Please Don’t Tell my Parents I’m a Supervillain by Richard Roberts
27. Mothers Grimm by Danielle Wood
28. The Spirit of Imagination by S.A. Tawks
29. Driving in Neutral by Sandra Antonelli
30. Reluctantly Charmed by Ellie O’Neill
31. Natalia by Jenni Boyd
32. The Essence of the Thing by Madeleine St John
33. White Christmas by Ros Baxter
34. Of Love and Secrets by Margaret Sharp
35. Curve my Song by Sarah Gai
D – 18 books
1. Adventures with the wife is Space by Neil Perryman
2. Death of a Policeman by M.C. Beaton
3. Falling in Honey by Jennifer Barclay
4. Slipping into Paradise: Why I Live in New Zealand by Jeffrey M Masson
5. Shanghi Girls by Lisa See
6. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
7. Straying from the Flock: Travels in New Zealand by Alexander Elder
8. Dark Witch by Nora Roberts
9. The Word Ghost by Christine Paice
10. I, Migrant by Sami Shan
11. All the Birds Singing by Evie Wyld
12. Mothers and Daughters by Kylie Ladd
13. Elvis and the Dearly Departed by Peggy Webb
14. The Brewer’s Tale by Karen Brooks
15. After the Armistice Ball by Catriona McPherson
16. The Dirty Chef by Mathew Evans
17. A Sudden light by Garth Stein
18. Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse
I noticed many readers lauding A Man Called Ove and I must chase it up. I thought Rachael Johns did really well with Outback Ghost and I loved it.
I think I related because I’m married to one just like him 🙂
WOW. That’s impressive.
I might do something like this tomorrow.
I do one every year – I have a template now so just copy and paste the new figures 🙂
Do you share the template? 😉
You’re looking at it – I have this post in a word document and just change the wording every year – feel free to copy and paste and change to suit your needs 🙂
Working on my final stats post now. Will credit 🙂
[…] were unfinished book reviews. So for 2015 I’m “stealing” Sally’s year end template and will keep that as a working […]
That’s a lot of books. Wish I could read that many. I’d get through my backlog in no time.