Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to share the Goodreads “My Year in Books” infographic, with some brief reflections to follow, I hope–though fewer charts this year. You can see the interactive online infographic here, or read on.
Last year, in line with whatever algorithms call tradition, Goodreads said to me, “Congratulations! You’re really good at reading, and probably a lot of other things, too!”
Apparently, I am no longer worthy of a compliment. However, I won 4 contests I had no idea existed, so that’s cool.
In 2025, I hope to win enough challenges that my bookmarks can be symmetrical. I don’t know what a Diamond Reader is, but I met my reading goal of 120 books this year (my own spreadsheet says 120, not 127). These are those books:
Here is the full infographic. Best wishes in the literary year to come!
Very impressive. I noted a fair number of scifi titles on your list. All in all, a very healthy balance — especially for an academic.
May God bless you and your loved ones with a blessed 2025. Keep reading my friend… and writing.
Thank you for the note, Rob. Whenever I’m talking about science fiction or fantasy, I am a complete hypocrite when it comes to what my favorite genre is. In my mind, I think I’m always reading science fiction at points, and then when I’m doing research all I can read is fantasy, and there is a lot of overlap in the last 20 years of fiction, especially with black women writers. A lot of 2024 was rereading, so we’ll see what’s ahead. May you have a grand reading year in 2025!
Wow! So tickled to see a lot of overlap. Discovered John Scalzi this year. This is cool days. I haven’t used Goodreads much but I’d love to keep track this year. Have you ever read The Bark of the Big Owl? Jonathan Roger’s. Delightful.
I am glad to have discovered Scalzi this year as well, but I haven’t read Rogers. I will add him to the list!
A very happy and blessed New Year to you & family, Brenton.
I hope to read more this year – depends on prying myself away from reading on the computer…
Have you dipped into Paul Kingsnorth’s trilogy? I’m slowly getting through “The Wake” – slowly because it’s challenging to read his “middle English” language. But very interesting take on the conquering of a people.
Dana
I haven’t read Kingsnorth yet. Part of my 2020s reading story is rereading. I’m finding old books as a balm for the spirit. But be has been recommended. For the last couple years, I’ve also struggled to read on screen and I have a lower tolerance for audiobooks or podcasts. So I turned more physical pages this year than I have in quite a number of years.
I hope you have a lovely New Year!
if you’ve been enjoying the Becky Chambers books then I definitely recommend “A Psalm for the Wild-Built”!! Always fun to see what you’ve been reading 🙂
I love those two robot monk stories, just awesome.
That a lot of great books read. Earthsea is one of my favorite books. I need to get to reading Anne of Green Gables.
Come see My Year in Books:
https://snapdragonalcoveblog.wordpress.com/2025/01/26/2024-year-in-books/