2019 Resolution Review

Let’s look at my specs for the year. In 2019, I:

• Read 10,904 pages across 31 books — thanks, Goodreads!
• Averaged 351 pages per book.
• Explored 10 different genres with contemporary fiction winning most popular.
• Only read one author more than once — Kristin Hannah.
• Read five two-flame books (more than the number of the previous year-and-a-half) and six three-flame books.
• But I also had the joy of experiencing 11 books with four flames, and nine garnered a whole five flames. I’d call that a success!

But how did I do with the resolutions I set for myself in January? Let’s see how I scored (and check out the books I said I’d read at the beginning of the year in the picture below and compare them to my fully ranked list of 2019).

Read more: PASS

At the beginning of the year, I pledged to Goodreads that I would read 28 books, but deep down (and to my Big Little Lit fans), I promised 30. I surpassed that with a whopping 31 reads. That’s one book almost every 12 days! Some long flights from all of my memorable travels definitely helped me out with this one.

The Instagram posts for these books received the most likes this year.

Read more nonfiction: PASS

I must have been on a fiction kick in 2018 because I only read two nonfiction books that year. I’m proud to say I upped the ante to 6.5 this year. How can a book possibly be a half, you ask? Because the validity of In Cold Blood‘s facts has been disputed. Truman Capote created a new genre — true crime — while writing it, and it’s been debated by lit critics ever since. The increase in nonfiction has certainly opened my eyes and granted me a greater appreciation for memoirs with four in 2019. I’ve turned a corner! But there’s still one nonfiction genre that I refuse to explore and with very good reason: the business book.

Source: Mary Steffens

Read more sci-fi: FAIL

I didn’t exactly give much effort toward this resolution. I vowed to read more sci-fi in 2019 in part to connect with my partner and his literary preferences. I only took on two from this genre last year. How hard could it be? Welp, science didn’t exactly flourish on this blog. I guess I’m just holding steady with modern-day American politics.

*I can’t even produce a picture. That’s just sad.*

Read more thrillers or thriller-esque novels: PASS

I didn’t struggle to beat my 2018 total of zero when it came to thrillers. It can be hard, though, to classify a “thriller” when so many novels incorporate mysterious aspects even if that’s not the dominant genre in which they were written. In my very scientific calculation, I determined that I read five in this category. Some of them had the total creep factor that gave me all types of anxiety. Let’s just say these books served their purpose.

Read more diverse authors: FAIL

I’m so sad about failing in this category. I really do want to promote more diversity in the books I read and discuss. While it felt like I was reading about a plethora of cultures and experiences that differ from mine, I didn’t quite meet the mark. In this category, I’m including authors of color, writers from the LGBTQ community, those from other countries or cultures, and men — basically any book not written by a white woman. I read 14 books whose backgrounds vary from mine this year, which equates to 45%. This was a decrease from last year’s 48% (13 books). My biggest goal for 2020 will be promoting diversity and getting this number over the 50% mark. We all have to do our part.

Source: Amazon.com

Source: Mary Steffens

Stay tuned for the full list of my 2020 resolutions. Some exciting things are on the way for Big Little Literature!

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