Programming Note: Over the next few days, I’ll be looking back over 2021—but I’ll try to come up with some new material, too. Many/most others have already done their best-of/year-end wrap-up posts, but I’m a stickler—I can’t start doing this kind of thing ’til the year is over. My brain doesn’t allow me to work that way (I just hate projecting things in general—and some years ago when I just read irresponsibly, but hadn’t adopted the name, the last novel of the year was so far beyond the rest that I can’t start looking back until 12/31 at the earliest).
As we kick off 2022, as is my custom, I wanted to take a glance back at 2021 (may it soon be a distant memory). 307 books finished (plus comics, picture books, short stories, and the like that I don’t know how to count)—my mind is thoroughly boggled! I exceeded my goal (nothing like exceeding an arbitrary number to boost the ol’ ego), too; finishing around 86,000 pages; with an average rating of 3.69 Stars. I only DNF’d one book, which is nice (or could I have enjoyed myself more if I’d done more?).
On the blog front, I put up 562 posts—an all-time high for me—82 more than last year!! I had another year of strong gains in traffic—views and visitors—I’m not big-time (never going to be), but those numbers consistently weird me out (which is why I only look every 6-12 months). My follower count (here and on social media sites) is encouraging and humbling, I really feel like I ought to do more to earn them.
I didn’t have any big blog projects for the year this year—I did finish my trip through The History of Tom Jones, but the follow-ups I thought about never materialized, but may in 2022. I also want to get back to my Classic Spenser series…that one is bugging me. I’ll talk about some other plans soon—maybe, maybe I’ll just put them in place instead.
As is my habit, here’s my breakdown of books by genre (and I’m going to have to change things soon, this chart doesn’t show up well anymore, I just like showing the trends). Genre labeling continues to be more difficult as I’m reading a lot of hybrids (most of us are, they’re being produced more), but I tend to go with the overarching genre. Basically, everything’s the same, with just a percent or two of adjustment. It’s been forever since I’ve read a Western or a Horror novel—and “humor” is pretty useless as a category, as a lot of things I read could be considered that. Once again, for someone who doesn’t plan too thoroughly, the percentages stay remarkably consistent from year to year—tastes (and series I follow) apparently stay the same. I need to devote a Saturday afternoon some time to doing the math to make this chart more useful/attractive. I didn’t expect both Fantasy and Non-Fiction to dip the way they did this year—not at all surprisingly Mystery/Thriller/Crime picked up those percentage points, though.
| Genre | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s | 2 (1%) | 5 (2%) | 7 (3%) | 11 (4%) | 7 (3%) | 5 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Fantasy | 20 (7%) | 35 (13%) | 28 (10%) | 30 (11%) | 7 (3%) | 31 (13%) | 17 (9%) | 11 (7%) | 15 (8%) | 12 (6%) |
| General Fiction/ Literature | 22 (7%) | 16 (7%) | 21 (8%) | 22 (8%) | 29 (10%) | 27 (11%) | 17 (9%) | 7 (4%) | 30 (16%) | 30 (14%) |
| Horror | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (.4%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Humor | 9 (3%) | 2 (1%) | 4 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 1 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 3 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller | 117 (38%) | 90 (34%) | 105 (38%) | 107 (38%) | 102 (37%) | 61 (25%) | 64 (34%) | 62 (37%) | 63 (33%) | 73 (35%) |
| Non-Fiction | 22 (7%) | 28 (10%) | 25 (9%) | 22 (8%) | 10 (4%) | 11 (5%) | 8 (4%) | 4 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 11 (5%) |
| Poetry | 2 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Science Fiction | 20 (7%) | 20 (8%) | 30 (11%) | 25 (9%) | 27 (10%) | 37 (15%) | 16 (8%) | 17 (10%) | 14 (7%) | 11 (5%) |
| Steampunk | 1 (0%) | 2 (1%) | 1 (0%) | 3 (1%) | 1 (0%) | 2 (1%) | 7 (4%) | 3 (2%) | 3 (2%) | 11 (5%) |
| Theology/ Christian Living | 38 (13%) | 23 (8%) | 34 (12%) | 25 (9%) | 30 (11%) | 33 (14%) | 42 (22%) | 42 (25%) | 37 (19%) | 10 (5%) |
| Urban Fantasy | 49 (16%) | 42 (16%) | 25 (9%) | 29 (10%) | 45 (16%) | 36 (15%) | 19 (10%) | 20 (12%) | 26 (14%) | 48 (23%) |
| Western | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0%) |
Thanks to the nifty spreadsheet made by the Voracious Reader, I was able to get a few more stats. I find them interesting, maybe you will, too.
I honestly thought that re-read percentage was going to be higher—it dropped by 2% from last year. I expected it to be in the high 20s/low 30s.
Audiobooks also dropped a little this year, as that’s the majority of my re-reads lately, I guess that explains the drop there. Still, that’s another surprise decrease.
Enough about me. Now we get to my favorite part—I want to talk about you, who keep me going and show an interest in what I’m doing here and give some thanks to people for their impact on The Irresponsible Reader (the blog and the person) in 2021:
- Thanks to everyone for your comments/feedback—texts, emails, comments here/Goodreads, tweets, FB comments, even the occasional Face-to-Face conversation. Keep it up! I really appreciate the time you took to leave feedback. Hopefully, you can tell that you’ve shaped the conversation here—it has, I assure you. Many of you are pushing me to be a better writer—some of you push me to read better books. I’m going to give a particular thanks to Robert Germaux, Fiction Fans Podcast, The Write Reads, Bookstooge, Allyson Johnson, W&S Bookclub, Lashaan, Emma, and Noelle for their encouragement, retweets, and interaction.
- Flattered thanks to (in roughly chronological order): Priya Prakash, David Donaghe, Leigh Hecking, Dark Corners, thebookinhandsam, jenniereads, Bec @ bec&books, MCG, thisdadreads, mybookishbliss, Masha, mybookishbliss, josbees, rtslaywood, deardailydiary81, Operation X, Siddharth menon, Hannah , Ccoutreach, bookish_renee, unclearer, Zeeshan Amin, Cole Rush, saniya | sunnysidereviews, Esther, ljwrites85, Bethany Waller, tubasarwat, Elias Graves, jakeschubert7, Amanda @ Bookish Brews, Joseph D. Newcomer, Hit-Man Slade, Sheri Dye, evidencemutumbu, wallacepublishing, pranjal Narayan, Angela, Cristina Monica @ Hit or Miss Books, Amy, Anketsu, Marilynn Champion, Mahmoud Dualeh, Tarahaddasa, Inspired, davidlonan1, //Anannya//, pattimouse, doggydogguy, Shannon K Sexton, Carol, Prog.Gaming, Stephanie, EmmabBooks.com, Peat Long, sang, and Beth Tabler for being new followers (at least for a post or two) of the blog this year—the size of this list shocks me, and I hope you all got at least something out of it. (I sincerely hope I didn’t miss anyone)
- Hearty thanks to all the authors, editors, illustrators, translators, and other people behind the production of the books I spent time with this year—this blog would be nothing without your efforts, your blood, sweat, tears, fears, work, love, dreams, hopes, art and words. Your books were my companions throughout this year, and I can’t thank you enough for them (and I hope I get to spend time with many of you again soon!).
- More thanks to all those who requested that I read and talk about your (or your clients’) books. I know how much the work, effort, heart, and everything else that went into your books. It’s super humbling, I know you all didn’t like what I said, but, I am grateful for the opportunity.
- I didn’t do as many Q&As this year as I intended to, but many thanks to those who took time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions: Matthew Iden, Robert Germaux, Jonathan Nevair, John McMahon, Ian Shane (for the second time), Matthew Hanover (for the third time), Scott Spires, K.R.R. Lockhaven,
- I want to thank one more time, those who pitched in with my Strolling Down Amnesia Lane project:
Robert Germaux, K.R.R. Lockhaven, Jeff Quest, and Ian Patrick Robinson. - My son Owen provided a lot of the technical support I needed this year. Owen’s my best editor (sadly, it’s all after I post something…), too, and he’s saved me from looking stupid on more than one occasion.
- All my kids have acted as sounding boards this year–helping with some graphics, jokes, themes, etc. A hat tip to Calvin, Carleigh, and Machen, too.
- Micah Burke, who handles the tech stuff that Owen can’t and is a great sounding board. I can’t thank you enough. The instant I make a dime on this thing, you’ll get the first nickel!
- A special thanks to my wife. Without your support, indulgence, and patience this thing wouldn’t exist—and I’d read a lot less (the horror!). Thank you. I love you.
- And thank you all for reading. Honestly, each time I get a notification of a like, or a share, or a follow, etc. it makes my day. To know that someone took a couple of seconds or more out of their day to glance at this? It means the world to me. Thanks.
Have a great 2022, hope you find plenty of good things to read!
WS_BOOKCLUB
Happy new year! I hope you and yours have a great 2022!
HCNewton
Thanks, Jodi – back at ya!
ThemisAthena
Happy New Year!
HCNewton
And to you! May 2022 be better than the last couple of years
ThemisAthena
From your mouth straight to God’s ears …
Bob Germaux
Gotta tell you, H.C., that when my wife heard that you’d read 307 books last year, she said, “I’m lucky if I read 307 pages!” That’s somewhat of an exaggeration, since Cynthia, like me, is a reader, but I loved the line so much, I had to pass it along. Thanks again for the shout-outs and, especially, for your blog. It’s a breath of fresh air to a lot of us every day. Best of everything for you and yours in 2022!
Bob Germaux
P.S. A quick side note. I’ve noticed that you’ve used two spellings of my last name. Sometimes you throw in an extra “e,” which would be actually be the preferred French spelling. Unfortunately, my family has never used that spelling. Hasn’t stopped me from telling people I’m part French:)
HCNewton
That’s a number that snuck up on me, for sure. I was shooting for 250-260. I don’t get hung up on that number, but seeing it is pretty cool. There was a 2011 movie called The Big Year, which I remember my wife and I really enjoying, it was about some bird watchers trying to hit a record number of unique birds spotted. That year was a big year for both of our reading (my wife hasn’t hit that number for herself again, but I’ve topped it a couple of times), and we’ve referred to it as our Big Year (you can hear the capitalization when we say it). I’m thinking this one will go down as my Big Year, and I won’t touch it again for a long time–if ever.
(this part is written from the deep, dark hole that I’ve crawled into after reading your comment) As far as your name goes, I find myself misspelling it frequently, so I copy and paste it from another post rather than trusting myself to type it. Apparently, I don’t use a consistent source for that. I will work on fixing that!
Somewhere, my High School and University French instructors are smiling, knowing they’ve infected my subconscious to the extent I default to French spellings if I don’t think about it.
Bob Germaux
What’s the old saying, about there’s no such thing as bad publicity? So anyway you want to spell my name is fine with me, H.C. I just appreciate the shout-out on your blog. Plus, as I indicated above, the French spelling and pronunciation make me sound sexier. Okay, I’m 75, but in my mind, I’m still somewhere in my mid-thirties, so cut me some slack:)