Book topic

 I joined a book lovers group on fb a few months ago, mainly to get book recommendations but also to connect with people who also share a love of reading and books in general.  However, I've had a change of heart about the group.  Since the New Year some people have been posting their Goodreads 2022 reading challenge results on there, along with what they have set their reading challenge to be for 2023.  I was shocked at all the nasty comments from people, most saying that reading was not a competition and that people were showing off saying how many books they had read and they couldn't understand why anyone would want to keep a record/track of what they read, I even read one comment that said they thought it was inappropriate to put what you're reading challenge was for the coming year as it might offend those that did not read that many books....What!  Some of the things being said were just ridiculous.  I set a challenge for myself every year, It's a personal challenge, It never crossed my mind that someone would think it was showing off.  I also like to keep lists so keeping a list of books I've read is just another list to me.  I just couldn't understand the objections.

Audio books was another topic that got a lot of negative comments, with many people saying that if you listened to audio books it didn't count as reading, neither should it be counted in the number of books you've read!

 I'm just giving you the gist of what was said, some comments where quite nasty and I gave up reading any comments on posts that were about reading challenges, I've since left the group, I can do without those sort of negative feelings.   I think there is a  lot of snobbery associated with books, but does it really matter what anyone else reads?  We are all different and like different things, not everyone will enjoy the same books and people will take different things from the same book, and that's ok.

All that made me wonder if I should do an end of year book post, but then I thought, why shouldn't I?  I like seeing what other people have been reading, there may be something hasn't been on my radar, plus this blog is about my life and hobbies, reading and books are a big part of my life, so, here are my end of year reading stats.

My views on audio books are the complete opposite to that person on the fb group. Studies have been carried out and the findings were that there is no significant difference in comprehension between reading and listening.  I can visualize the scene whether I'm reading a physical book or listening to an audio book, for me there is no difference, infact, in some cases an audio book may be better than the physical equivalent as a good narrator will bring interest, enthusiasm and atmosphere to the story.

It took me a long time to get into audio books but for the last couple of years I almost always have one on the go alongside a physical book.  I listen while I'm walking, doing chores or while I'm crafting, I spend a lot of time on my own so they fill the silence at times.   Granted some are better than others, the narration has to be good otherwise it will spoil a good book.

My total for audio books in 2022 was 24

The best by far was Lesson in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.  Wonderful writing, sad and funny and great narration

The best series was the Middle Fall Time Travel series by Shaun Inmon.  There are 17 books in this series and I've finished 8 so far.  They are good escapism.

I think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was the most overrated, I was expecting good things and it didn't deliver

I've been making more use of my local library recently too and read 13 library books in 2022.

The best of these are the Detective Washington Poe series by M.W Craven, extremely well researched and written.  (If you read any of his books make sure to read the about the book section at the end)

I read 6 books from my shelves.

Really enjoyed The Woman in the Window and The Child, The Animals at Lockwood Manor was really boring and the most overrated, in my opinion was Where The Crawdads Sing.

 

This last selection were my Reading Group books, there were others but they were ones I'd already read so chose not to re-read them.  As a group we are all agreed that the book choice this year haven't been great,

The most disliked book was Normal People, I was the only one that liked it but I do think its a book that would probably mean more if it were read more than once.  I really didn't like The Gustav Sonata although lots of others liked it and strangely the book that none of us enjoyed at all, All Among The Barley was the one that sparked the most discussion.  

My Goodreads challenge for the year was 50 books, I'm happy that I reached that goal.  

According to goodreads that equates to 17,865 pages

My longest book was True Colours by Kristen Hannah with 544 pages

My shortest book was A Bachelor Establishment with 206 pages

Of the books I read, the most shelved on Goodreads was Where the Crawdads Sing,  which was shelved 3,942,045 times

The least shelved book, of my books, was A Christmas Carol, 11 times.

The highest rated (star rating) on Goodreads was A Christmas Carol

The average rating I gave to books in 2022 was 3.3 stars 

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Lessons in Chemistry I think was the best book for me last year,  I will continue to read the Washington Poe series as he releases them, they are so well written, and I will carry on with the Middle Falls Time Travel books, they are easy listening and entertaining.

I can't remember a time when I haven't read, from when I was very small I can remember having a book with me, but it's not only reading I love, I love books, the smell, the feel even just flicking through pages, there is just something about them that brings me joy.  As a child I would spend hours in our local library and as an adult there is nothing better than finding a new book shop to explore.

So what about you?  what books do you enjoy?  Do you think it's cheating to count audio books in the number of books read? Do you also like to keep count?

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