I've always been an avid reader, but in recent years, I've not read as much as I could have. Ever since I got my first laptop sometime around 2006/7, I've spent far too much time online, when I could've and probably should've been using my downtime to do something more productive like learning a new craft or reading a book.
I wasn't proud of how much time I was spending online, or how little I was reading, so, last year, I decided to make a conscious effort to read more, and set myself the challenge of reading 25 books before 2019 was through, using Goodreads to track my progress. 25 seemed like a reasonable number as I'd managed to read 17 books the year before, and I thought I could probably achieve it by New Year's Eve if I put the effort in. Maybe.
I bought a stack of new books and began reading on January 1st. And I kept reading and reading, day after day, almost every single day, finding so many good books that I just couldn't put down. I set aside an hour or so to read every evening that I could, and tried to read before bed as often as possible, too. Some days, I'd also read as soon as I woke up, and in the afternoon, too. By August, I'd completed my reading challenge of 25 books with over four months to go, so I decided to increase my goal to 40 books to keep myself on my toes until the New Year. Then, by October, I'd smashed my second goal as well! I thought about increasing it to 52 books, one for each week of the year, but I wasn't confident I'd make it as I knew my reading would slow down with Christmas approaching, so I left the challenge there but continued to read. By New Year's Eve night, I'd ended the year with 47 books (and 200 pages of a 48th) under my belt for 2019, and it's an achievement I'm pretty darn proud of! I mean, I wasn't really expecting to reach my original goal and I read almost double the amount of books I'd hoped to. I think that's something I should be proud of. I haven't read so many books in a year since I was in primary school! (And it's been a long time since I was in primary school!)
Here is an infographic from Goodreads to show you my year in books, including what I read in 2019:
16,046 pages read across 47 books. (Plus 200 of a 48th).
Shortest Book:
A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman with 118 pages.
Longest Book:
The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver with 550 pages.
Average Length:
341 Pages
Most Popular Book I Read:
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins with 2,868,784 readers.
Least Popular Book I Read:
Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein with just 182 readers.
Shortest Book:
A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman with 118 pages.
Longest Book:
The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver with 550 pages.
Average Length:
341 Pages
Most Popular Book I Read:
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins with 2,868,784 readers.
Least Popular Book I Read:
Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein with just 182 readers.
I have to say, I'm really surprised that Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein was the least popular book I read on Goodreads in 2019, with only 182 readers, as it was such a fantastic piece of young adult fiction. It's a harrowing tale of a fourteen year old girl struggling to deal with a life-changing chronic illness diagnosis (arthritis), daily agonising pain and stiffness, the loss of her friends because of her illness, difficulties at school, and her parents' separation. I had to read this book as I also struggled with arthritis as a young teenager (although mine started at age thirteen, went undiagnosed until my twenties, and wasn't quite as debilitating as hers back then). This is the first book I've read that accurately describes what it's like to live with arthritis as a young person, and that doesn't just made arthritis sound like mild aches and pains. I found it so relatable, from the struggles with pain to the lack of support from friends, peers and doctors, and urge everyone to read it. It will help you understand the condition a little better, and if you have had arthritis from a young age yourself, you'll likely find it relatable and inspiring.
My Average Rating For 2019:
4.1 stars.
Highest Rated Book On Goodreads:
Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris with 4.38 stars.
I'm not surprised at all that Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris, the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, was the highest ratest book on Goodreads (from the 47 I read). It was one of my favourite reads of 2019, but holy crap, it broke my heart. It's been two months but I haven't quite recovered emotionally. It's a novel based on the true story of a Cilka Klein, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkeneau and Vorkuta. As a young teenager, she spent three years in Auschwitz being raped by Nazis because she was pretty, and doing what she had to do to survive. On liberation, aged just sixteen, the Soviets marked her as a Nazi collaborator and accused her of being a spy because she spoke multiple languages, and sentenced her to fifteen years in a brutal Siberian work camp in the Arctic circle. For simply surviving the holocaust. Imprisoned again, she faced a daily fight for survival in horrendous conditions, once again being raped, starved, and forced to do heavy labour while enduring bitterly cold temperatures. After a time, she befriended a female doctor, and was given the job of nursing the sick back to health, where she began to thrive and help others, but if you think her life got much better then, you'd be wrong. Her story breaks your heart, but it's also so inspiring and powerful, and well worth reading.
What I Read In 2019
My Average Rating For 2019:
4.1 stars.
Highest Rated Book On Goodreads:
Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris with 4.38 stars.
I'm not surprised at all that Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris, the sequel to The Tattooist of Auschwitz, was the highest ratest book on Goodreads (from the 47 I read). It was one of my favourite reads of 2019, but holy crap, it broke my heart. It's been two months but I haven't quite recovered emotionally. It's a novel based on the true story of a Cilka Klein, a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkeneau and Vorkuta. As a young teenager, she spent three years in Auschwitz being raped by Nazis because she was pretty, and doing what she had to do to survive. On liberation, aged just sixteen, the Soviets marked her as a Nazi collaborator and accused her of being a spy because she spoke multiple languages, and sentenced her to fifteen years in a brutal Siberian work camp in the Arctic circle. For simply surviving the holocaust. Imprisoned again, she faced a daily fight for survival in horrendous conditions, once again being raped, starved, and forced to do heavy labour while enduring bitterly cold temperatures. After a time, she befriended a female doctor, and was given the job of nursing the sick back to health, where she began to thrive and help others, but if you think her life got much better then, you'd be wrong. Her story breaks your heart, but it's also so inspiring and powerful, and well worth reading.
What I Read In 2019
1. Bird Box by Josh Malerman.
2. VOX by Christina Dalcher.
3. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.
4. A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman.
5. The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom.
6. The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Morgan.
7. The Extinction Trials Rebel by S. M. Wilson.
8. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott.
9. An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim.
10. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.
11. The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe.
12. The Amateurs by Liz Harmer.
13. The Giver by Lois Lowry.
14. The Passengers by John Marrs.
15. The Next Together by Lauren James.
16. The One by John Marrs.
17. The Last Beginning by Lauren James.
18. The Good Samaritan by John Marrs.
19. When You Disappeared by John Marrs.
20. Welcome to Wherever You Are by John Marrs.
21. Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler.
22. Her Last Move by John Marrs.
23. I'll Find You by Liz Lawler.
24. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James.
25. The House of Thunder by Dean Koontz.
26. Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein.
27. Before Her Eyes by Jack Jordan.
28. Night by Night by Jack Jordan.
29. My Girl by Jack Jordan.
30. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.
31. Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh.
32. I See You by Clare Mackintosh.
33. I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh.
34. On My Life by Angela Clarke.
35. In to the Water by Paula Hawkins.
36. After the End by Clare Mackintosh.
37. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell.
38. Disclaimer by Renee Knight.
39. You Were Gone by Tim Weaver.
40. Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews.
41. Under the Water by Paul Pen.
42. Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver.
43. Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris.
44. The Dead Tracks by Tim Weaver.
45. Vanished by Tim Weaver.
46. Never Coming Back by Tim Weaver.
47. A Literary Christmas: An Anthology by The British Library.
It was a great year for reading, and I'm so glad I found my reading mojo again. I read some amazing books in 2019, discovered some fantastic new-to-me authors (like John Marrs and Clare Mackintosh), and particularly fell back in love with psychological thrillers, which I read more than any other genre last year. What can I say? I love a good murder, stalker, or missing persons story. They're so addictive!
I know I could've read a little more variety, and turned to different authors and genres much more- which I hope to do more of this year- but I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of books I did read, so I don't have any regrets about my choices.
Favourite Books I Read:
(In no particular order).
(In no particular order).
♥ The One by John Marrs
♥ The Passengers by John Marrs.
♥ Bird Box by Josh Malerman.
♥ The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Morgan.
♥ An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim.
♥ Before Her Eyes by Jack Jordan.
♥ I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh.
♥ After You'd Gone by Clare Mackintosh.
♥ After You'd Gone by Clare Mackintosh.
♥ Cursed by Karol Ruth Silverstein
♥ You Were Gone by Tim Weaver.
♥ Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler.
♥ I'll Find You by Liz Lawler.
♥ The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.
♥ Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris.
♥ VOX by Christina Dalcher.
Least Favourite Book I Read:
The House of Thunder by Dean Koontz. (So cheesy and badly written).
New Authors Discovered:
V.C. Andrews, Angela Clarke, Christina Dalcher, Liz Harmer, Paula Hawkins, Antonio Iturbe, Lauren James, Lisa Jewell, Jack Jordan, Renee Knight, Liz Lawler, Thea Lim, Rachael Lippincott, Lois Lowry, Clare Mackintosh, Josh Malerman, John Marrs, Karol Ruth Silverstein, and Tim Weaver.
Favourite New Authors Discovered:
John Marrs, Clare Mackintosh, Tim Weaver, Jack Jordan.
Books I Started But Never Managed To Finish
The Martian by Andy Weir.
The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris.
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (reread a few chapters).
Fall From Grace by Tim Weaver (200 pages read by NYE- finished last night).
Books I Started But Never Managed To Finish
The Martian by Andy Weir.
The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder by Sarah J. Harris.
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (reread a few chapters).
Fall From Grace by Tim Weaver (200 pages read by NYE- finished last night).
I enjoyed reading so much in 2019 that I've decided to do the Goodreads Reading Challenge again this year. It wouldn't be a challenge unless I upped the stakes, though, so this year I'm aiming to read at least 52 books- one for each week of the year. I'm confident that I can do it if I can keep reading at a similar pace to 2019 (or better!), and keep using Goodreads to keep track of what I've read. I finished my first (600 page) book of the year last night, so I'm off to a good start, and I've just treated myself to a stack of new books that I can't wait to read, so I'm on track and I'm sure I'll be racing ahead in no time.
If you'd like to keep up with what I'm reading this year, you can find me on Goodreads here.
Did you take part in a reading challenge in 2019, and have you set yourself a reading challenge for 2020?
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