I’ve had an interesting year of reading. There have been a few lows and some definite highs. I’ve read blissful and entertaining books, as well as downright depressing ones. The full year has been a whirlwind, but I did manage to get in some solid reading. Let’s take a closer look at my stats as of Dec. 26, 2020:
- Read 10,230 pages from 30 books — Goodreads for the win again — compared with 10,904 pages across 31 books the year before (though I’m trying to finish one more before Jan. 1, which would put me at my goal for the year).
- Averaged 341 pages per book.
- Explored 14 different genres with three new ones on BLL — short stories, essays, and environmental fiction.
- Dug into two authors twice — Jojo Moyes and Jasmine Guillory — and read 22 authors for the first time in my literary life.
The above stats do include one book that I’ve finished but haven’t yet reviewed (coming January 2021). Once, I include that one, my average flameworthiness for the year will be 3.9 flames, just higher than 2019. Now let’s take a look at the individual rankings:
- Read my first one-flame book with The Book of Lost Friends.
- Flipped through one two-flame book, which is a huge improvement from 2019’s five.
- Finished six three-flame books, which matches last year’s total.
- Enjoyed 14 four-flame books, which is more than 2019’s 11.
- Indulged in seven five-flame amazing reads, which is two less than last year.
Anybody else love stats and data and totally nerding out on it, especially when it’s related to books? Nope? Just me? Well OK then. In that case, it’s time for the most important part of my 2020 bibliophile review: assessing my resolutions that I set for myself back in January. Did I hold myself accountable and obtain my goals?
Continue increasing the diversity of authors I read
I’m hoping to finish one last book before January. If I do, I’ll have read 18 books written by authors who have different backgrounds than I do. This 58% figure is an increase from last year’s 45%, which makes me happy; however, I know I can greatly improve the diversity factor in my literary choices. Reading authors and reading about characters who have different backgrounds than my own is so important so that I can better understand someone’s experience. It also promotes the work of authors who may be unfairly disadvantaged in the literary community. Increasing the diversity on my bookshelves will forever be a goal of mine.
Interview more authors
I definitely failed at this resolution because I only interviewed one author when I aimed to talk to three. However, interviewing John Vercher was definitely a highlight of the year; furthermore, I chatted with him on my BRAND NEW PODCAST, The Biblio Files. Talk about dreams coming true. Not to mention I interviewed my friends in every other podcast episode. It’s sort of similar, right?
Write more Extra Extra series and introduce a new one
I always try to diversify the content on BLL with the reviews being the backbone of this blog. To assist this goal, I’ve introduced different series in the past three years, and I wanted to write more of these posts, as well as introduce a new one, in 2020. Unfortunately, I couldn’t write any Shop ‘Til You Drop posts because, well, COVID-19, though I did discover how to put really cool maps on these posts. Thanks, WordPress!
I did, however, write three Toe-to-Toe posts, one about diversity, and another about being thankful. I also reranked Emily Giffin‘s books after she published her most-recent, stellar novel, The Lies That Bind, this summer. Most importantly, though, I created The Biblio Files, which gave a ton of variety to the blog. This brings me to my final resolution.
Start a new project
The Biblio Files was already in the works when I wrote my 2020 resolutions a year ago. So maybe, just maybe, I cheated a bit. But at that point, I didn’t have my logo or photos, and most importantly, I didn’t have any recordings. So I still did a lot of work after making this resolution, and I’m so glad I saw it through. I’m hoping to start season 2 of The Biblio Files soon, so I can share more of my literary thoughts and convos with all of you.
Photo: Mandy Demuth
It’s been a strange and, at times, terrible year. But there have also been some highlights, and I’m glad I still succeeded with most of my resolutions. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see from Big Little Literature in 2021, and I look forward to continue reading with you. Stay tuned for my 2021 resolutions!
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