So, that’s 2014, eh? 169 books read (short of my goal by 21), 211 posts (short of my goal by a couple hundred), almost triple the traffic over last year.
I did a quick breakdown of how my reading broke down by genre over the last few years. There were a few anomalies this year (what’s up with my Urban Fantasy and General Fiction numbers?) which makes it interesting for me, anyway — don’t know about the rest of you.
| Genre | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2012-2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fantasy | 11 (7%) | 15 (8%) | 12 (6%) | 38 (7%) |
| General Fiction/Literature | 7 (4%) | 30 (16%) | 30 (14%) | 67 (12%) |
| Humor | 3 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (1%) |
| Mystery/Suspense | 62 (37%) | 63 (33%) | 73 (35%) | 198 (35%) |
| Non-Fiction | 4 (2%) | 2 (1%) | 11 (5%) | 17 (3%) |
| Science Fiction | 17 (10%) | 14 (7%) | 11 (5%) | 42 (7%) |
| Steampunk | 3 (2%) | 3 (2%) | 11 (5%) | 17 (3%) |
| Theology/Christian Living | 42 (25%) | 37 (19%) | 10 (5%) | 89 (16%) |
| Urban Fantasy | 20 (12%) | 26 (14%) | 48 (23%) | 94 (17%) |
| Western | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (0%) | 1 (0%) |
Hopefully everything will be higher next year — books, posts, and traffic. We’ll see — I’m doing the Goodreads Challenge again (same goal as the last 2 years, 190) and I think I’m going to try to work in The Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge
. I might throw in a couple other “projects” that I’ve been thinking about.
- Lastly, I’d like to thank some people for their promotion/helpfulness/contributions to the blog and my reading this year:
- Paul David Ondik, houseofadelaide, Eli Glasman, ronweasleyfans, MaxMuscles, TheCoevas Official, hannahbananah412, taylor oceans, urbanwallart, Planetary Defense Commander, jH, Kameron George, jordynmtz, Brian Moore, henrylib, kyleolsonsblog, Brian Marggraf, immabelike, Jonathan Roumain, Anna Bayes, poetreecreations, Timothy Pike, Allison Chaney, williamthebutler, Melonie Ann, gradypbrown, jgiambron, Giorgia Penzo, mindset, criticaldispatches, Everyrosehasathorn, Jarosław PlayWithLifE, Opinionated Man, theeditorsjournal, Kevin Cummings, teutah, Carole Parkes, shaun890, gregmercer601, R. G. Tamaki, bdhesse, Ana Franco, psychocinderella, psychosis5116, Martin Cosgrove, sheilarparker, vonj productions, adoptingjames, lovabletm24, pimpbooks, Kurt Brindley, Caroline, Jennifer Reed/bookjunkiez, Mr. Smith, saracroethle, J.W. Kurtz, Maggie Mae, Jay Dee, apprenticenevermaster, TyCobbsTeeth, Felicity, Leroy Milton, Ramona Crisstea, Holy Moly, smilehopebehappy, The Eye-Dancers, michaelpatricks, bradsdesk, lightningpen, Cindy Baker, and a few others I might have missed for following the blog (at least for a couple of minutes).
- Sorin Suciu, allthoughtswork, jordynmtz, justrozie, Hai, Andrew Bishop, and Keith R.A. DeCandido for taking the time to interact a bit. I really appreciate it.
- @Paul_Cornell, @ShaneSKuhn, @wes_chu, @MikeRUnderwood, @TeeMonster, @byharryconnolly, @MarleneStringer, @ReedFColeman, @LeeGoldberg, @KRADeC, @AlexBledsoe, and @explauramay (and others that I lost track of — oops) for sharing, retweeting and replying to my meager words about their books on twitter. You’re all too gracious and kind (and frequently funny).
- Big, big thanks to Erin Mitchell, Shannon A. Thompson, Laura Skillen, Jamie Schultz, Ty Patterson, Carac Allison, and Lee Goldberg/Brash Books for asking me to read their (or their client’s) books — and for giving me those books to read. Seriously, thank you for this.
- Paul, Angela, and Jamie for all that real life encouragement and interaction with what I’ve put here.
- Maria Semple, Pittacus Lore, Chuck Wendig, Mark Jones, Carrie Vaughn, Iain H. Murray, R. J. Palacio, Thomas Harris, David Baldacci, David Abrams, Robert Goldsborough, Eoin Colfer, Myke Cole, Matt Haig, Chris Grabenstein, Joe Queenan, S. J. Rozan, Craig Johnson, Kelly Meding, Ben Aaronovitch, Jaye Wells, Brian Borgman & Rob Ventura, Pierce Brown, Michael Lefebvre, Diana Gabaldon, Bruce A. Ware, Thor Ramsey, Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., Patricia Briggs, Ernest Cline, Wil Wheaton, Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg, Seanan McGuire, Faith Hunter, Brad Parks, Rob Thomas, Jennifer Graham, Marissa Meyer, Reed Farrel Coleman, J. Gresham Machen, Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris, Daniel R. Hyde, Shane P. Lems, Adam Sternbergh, Shane Kuhn, Ty Patterson, Ace Atkins, Alan Bradley, Ari Marmell, Simonetta Carr, Jim Butcher, Wesley Chu, John Brown, Owen Laukkanen, William Lashner, Michael S. Horton, Ryan M. McGraw, Paul Cornell, Christopher Healy, Matt Kibbe, Michael Koryta, Kevin Hearne, Janet Evanovich, Aaron Elkins, Michael R. Underwood, Thomas Watson, Robert Galbraith, Kady Cross, Thomas Boston, Andy Weir, Ellen Raskin, Jennifer Weiner, Richard D. Phillips, Tom Rachman, Douglas Bond, Kevin DeYoung, Jim Gaffigan, Lee Child, Spencer Quinn, Sue Grafton, Marcia Clark, Harry Connolly, Kim Harrison, Richard L. Pratt, Jr., Alex Bledsoe, Robert Crais, Tom Kakonis, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, Rainbow Rowell, John Moe, Lev Grossman, Iain M. Duguid, David Rosenfelt, Andreas J. Köstenberger & Michael J. Kruger, Scott Lynch, Thom Notaro, Sorin Suciu, Thomas Goodwin, Jamie Schultz, Matthew Barrett, Carl Trueman, Justin Richards, Chelsea Cain, Sam Allberry, M. R. Carey, Benedict Jaka, Donald MacLeod, Dennis Lehane, Carac Allison, Robert Letham, Anton Strout, R. C. Sproul, Thomas Brooks, Keith R. A. DeCandido, Rick Riordan, Patrick Rothfuss, Laura May, Rick Yancey, Jacqueline Carey, Shane Sowers, David Nicholls, Sinclair B. Ferguson, R. Scott Clark, Alafair Burke, William Lashner, Brian Cosby, Ralph Venning, Jay Kristoff, Greg Haslam, Erin Kelly, and Cary Elwes for all hours of pleasure I had with your words and books this year.
- And you all for reading.