2022 was yet another strange year, but I still read consistently. In fact, I read so consistently that my 2022 numbers were very close to my 2021 numbers.

So let’s look back on 2022 and then forward to 2023.

Reading in 2022

Here are my goals and accomplishments:

1. Read 36 books:

For the second year in a row, I set my goal at 36 books. And for the second year in a row, I far exceeded that number. I read 52 books in 2022 (53 in 2021), and I feel decent about the variety.

Goodreads made a summary page of my reading challenge, and I added all of my books to my Instagram stories, though I didn’t do a great job of keeping them in order (view Highlight).

2. Decrease my TBR:

I began the year with 64 physical23 Kindle and ended with 65/23 (one of those was a Christmas gift). As with the past few years, I didn’t buy many, and a lot of what I read came from the library.

3. Read 12 not-novels:

This year, 23 reads were audiobooks and 26 (exactly half!) of my reads were not-novels consisting of a graphic novel, a lot of memoirs/autobiographies, some true crime, personal development, and a couple of other random reads. I was surprised at the number of audiobooks vs “regular” books I read this year. I’ve come to prefer audiobooks for most of my nonfiction consumption. I didn’t read much in the realm of short stories or anthologies.

4. Read 22 minutes per day

I started this back in 2021 and it’s made such a difference to my reading. I’m currently on a 475-day streak (the last day I missed was Sept 15, 2021). I’ve started listening to audiobooks occasionally when I walk in the morning, so often I’ve finished my reading requirement before breakfast.

How Many Stars?

  • 5 stars: 10 books
  • 4 stars: 22 books
  • 3 stars:  13 books
  • 2 stars:  6 books
  • 1 star: 1 book
  • 0 stars: 0 books
  • Abandoned: 1 book (that doesn’t include several abandoned audiobooks)
  • Not rated: 0 books

Pages Read:

  • January – 2170
  • February – 1442
  • March – 2066
  • April – 1294
  • May – 1223
  • June – 1591
  • July – 1472
  • August – 1233
  • September – 1655
  • October – 774
  • November – 1171
  • December – 1764
  • Total – 17,855

This number includes the corresponding pages in the Kindle version of any audiobooks. 17,855, according to my math. Goodreads says 17,950. Close enough. That’s a few hundred more than 2021.

Hours Listened:

  • January – 20h 19m
  • February – 27h 45m
  • March – 20h 53m
  • April – 7h 6m
  • May – 7h 44m
  • June – 5h 59m
  • July – 19h 29m
  • August – 0h 0m
  • September – 11h 56m
  • October – 5h 43m
  • November – 9h 29m
  • December – 23h 14m
  • Total – 159h 37m

Wow—159h 37m over 26 audiobooks! That’s more than 6 1/2 days of listening. I didn’t track this number in 2021, so I don’t know how that compares, but I’m sure it’s up quite a bit since I only listened to 12 that year.

Other Word-Related Activities:

  • My goals were to finish my professional site refresh and beef up my freelance contracts. I made progress on both, but there’s plenty of room to go.

2023 Plans:

1. Read 45 books

I’ve increased this goal to 45. 36 felt like too little. 48 felt like too much. 45 should be doable.

2. Decrease my TBR

Once again… For as many years as I’ve set this goal, it still remains fairly constant. Maybe this is the year I purge my physical TBR. I’m starting with 64 unread physical books and 23 unread Kindle books.

3. Read 6 short story collections/anthologies

I’m doing better with nonfiction, but I’d like to read more short stories/anthologies this year.

4. Read 23 minutes per day

I’m adding another minute to the daily goal.

What are your 2023 reading goals?

(header image by hannazasimova on FreepikCopy Printed items)

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