2018 Year in Review

It is nearly 2019, which means it is time to discuss all the bookish things I did or did not do in 2018! Overall, I am quite happy with the way 2018 turned out, especially for reading and blogging, even though I started college this fall. I have reached my Goodreads goal for the first time ever, plus I have lots of amazing books to share with you as a way of saying goodbye to 2018, and hello 2019!

I have reached my Goodreads goal of 50 books for the first time EVER!!! I have been using Goodreads for several years, always at a goal of 50 books, and have never been able to achieve that goal. But, this year I have done just that and even surpassed it by reading 51 books!! I know that is not a lot compared to those people who can reads hundreds of books in a year, but I am quite pleased with myself, especially considering how busy my year has been.

What I’ve Read

Pages:

Of my 18,057 pages read this year, nearly half of them came from books in the 300 range. Surprisingly, I had three books above 500 pages! My shortest book was Fracture Me at 62 pages, while the longest book was Gemina at 659 pages, though I listened to that on audio.

Type of book:

Exactly half of my books read this year were hardcover, which is interesting. They are my most preferred method of reading, but I also discovered the amazing time saving qualities of audiobooks! I found that I can be reading and doing other things at the same time, which is the only reason I was able to succeed at my Goodreads challenge this year.

Where my books came from:

I am a huge library lover, thus the majority of my books came from the library. I am lucky to have such an awesome library system, and I don’t know what I would do without it!

Year published:

Many of my books were backlisted, as I was trying to get through some that have been on my TBR forever and as part of the Backlist Reader Challenge. I got in more new releases than I thought, though!

Series vs. Standalone:

I’m not surprised to see how many of the books I read were part of a series. Many of the first books in a series were rereads, which I had several of this year. Although, I read many standalone’s that were quite wonderful!

Rereads:

Before this year, I had maybe reread two books in my entire life. I always thought there are so many amazing new books, why reread the old ones. Well, I found that old favorites are just as good the second time around, if not better! I started utilizing audiobooks by listening to rereads, just to see if I could pay attention to the story while doing other things, and it worked fantastically! Now, I want to reread basically everything, which is kind of hard, but I already have a few rereads planned for the future!

Books I Loved

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi:

This series has become one of my favorites, tied right alongside The Lunar Chronicles. I am so looking forward to the next books in the series releasing in 2019!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell:

I found this book particularly awesome because Cath is starting her first year of college, and I started my first year this fall. I just loved her character and the little glimpse into college life.

A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews:

This book will actually rip your heart out. I loved the writing and the characters and everything about this book was just amazing. It was both loving and evil, and I want to read it again and again.

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi:

I think Tahereh Mafi is one of my new favorite authors. This book was so different from Shatter Me, but it is inspiring and powerful.

Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch:

I finished this book just yesterday, and it was so adorable! Lina and Ren are wonderful characters, and they are just so cute and fun!

Rereads

Wires & Nerve by Marissa Meyer:

I just love The Lunar Chronicles, and I reread this one in preparation for the second graphic novel, Gone Rogue. Both were amazing, and I am sad that the series is complete. I think it’s time for a whole series reread, now!

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff:

I reread this series in preparation for Obsidio. I listened to the audio version, and I LOVE all the different character voices. It added so much to the story! I still haven’t read Obsidio yet…

Legend series by Marie Lu:

I nearly wrote “Legend Trilogy” but there is a fourth book coming out, so that is no longer true. But, I am SUPER excited for the series to continue, because UGGGH that ending. Anyways, I loved the audio and the story is still wonderful!

Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver:

This is another one of my old favorites, and I figured it was a good time for an audiobook reread. I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first time around, but still an old favorite!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan:

I also listened to these first two books on audio, and I love the narrator as Percy! These are such great childhood books, and I love revisiting them!

Warcross by Marie Lu:

I remembered very little from my first reading, so I decided to reread before diving into Wildcard. The world building in this series is so awesome!

The Blog & Other Bookish Things

I can’t believe I have been blogging for almost two years! This year has been a year of incredible growth for Blue Binding, with all my stats nearly doubling from last year! I hope that I can continue to grow my blog and share my love of books with others!

My most popular post this year was Top 10 Favorite Bookish Websites, followed by Top 10 Books I Need to Reread.

My favorite post to write was paying homage to The Lunar Chronicles: 6 Reasons You Should Check Out the Lunar Chronicles (AKA Why TLC is AMAZING!)

According to my 2017 wrap-up post, I owned 173 books. Now, I have 209!! I am making it my goal to one day have a huge, magnificent library, so I must start now!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year! 🙂

Did you have a fantastic reading year? Were you able to meet your reading goals? Do you frequently reread old books? Do you like audiobooks?

 

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