2017 in Review

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope you had a safe and happy celebration.  My husband and I were asleep before 10:30 this year!

Before we get started with a whole new year of bookish things, and I am really excited for what this year is going to bring, I want to take a few minutes to look back at what 2017 gave us.  It helps me to see what sort of reading trends I had and it is fun to look at why I might have read the way I did.

So first, here are some book stats for 2017.

BOOKS READ: 46

Wow! This was my lowest reading year. I was off to such a great start the first half of the year and then things just fell apart! I started choosing to go to bed earlier and not reading and my audiobook listening dropped off too with work being a little more crazy. I’m not happy with this number and a going to work hard at it for next year.

BOOKS REVIEWED: 41

The majority of the books I read this year resulted in reviews. Those that did not were genres that I don’t review but still enjoy reading, but you know what? This year I don’t have any reviews owed for stuff I read last year!

PAGES READ: 14, 247

That’s about 700 pages more than last year. While I read less books, I clearly read longer ones, so that helps with my pain for my total book number. Year over year I have read more pages.

HOURS LISTENED: 142.15

Again, trending, this number went down for a third year in a row. My commute is actually longer than in was for most of last year, but I haven’t been listening much in the car (because my Bluetooth capability became difficult and I forgot I had another way to plug it in). And I haven’t had as much opportunity to listen at work lately. Honestly, I thought it was even less hours!

FORMAT: (some may overlap)

• Hardcover: 2
• Paperback: 3
• ARC: 37
• Audio: 19
• E-Book: 24
• From My Personal Collection: 9

I read more of my own personal books than I had expected! This is great because I have so many of them to get to!

GENRE: (may overlap)

• Historical Fiction: 35
• Young Adult: 7
• Contemporary Fiction: 0
• Romance: 13
• Non-fiction: 9
• Western: 2
• Memoir: 2
• Fantasy: 1

A couple noticeable things here: I read no contemporary fiction this year, which while that has never been a huge portion of my reading, I am surprised to have none. I read more YA this year than I felt like I had. My romance reading also went down – like all my reading has!

SETTING: (may overlap)

• England: 14
• France: 4
• Ancient Worlds: 1
• Scotland: 2
• America: 15
• Fantasy: 1
• Germany: 1
• Spain: 1
• Middle East: 1
• Italy: 1
• Canada: 3

No surprise here that America and England top the lists, again! A lot less diversity this year, just dabbling in other countries.

MALE/FEMALE AUTHOR RATIO: 9/40

FIRST LADY READS/PRESIDENT READS:  0/0

What happened to my quest to read about Presidents and First Ladies!?! This must change. I’m currently part of the way through a book on George Washington, so this is an effort to rectify that. I have another friend who is doing a Presidential Reading Challenge this year, so maybe that will kick me into gear as I see her posts!

AUTHORS MOST READ:

• L.M. Montgomery (3)
• Darcy Burke (2 – Also currently reading another)

Not too many author repeats this year – I spread out the love!

FAVORITE BOOKS READ IN 2017: (in no particular order, not all released in 2017):

• The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
• The Jersey Brothers by Sally Mott Freeman
• A Deadly Affection by Cuyler Overholt
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• The Secret Life of Anna Blanc by Jennifer Kincheloe
• The Beauty Shop by Suzy Henderson

All 5 Stars in my book!

MOST ANTICIPATED OF 2018: (in no particular order)

• The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard
• The Romanov Empress by C.W. Gortner
• The Dutch Wife by Ellen Keith
• Varina by Charles Frazier
• Templar Silks by Elizabeth Chadwick

I am SO Excited to see a new novel from Elizabeth Chadwick and to see it has to do with my favorite, William Marshall!!! And an additional novel from another fav, C.W. Gortner! There are also some great novels on niche subjects that I am so excited to see coming out this year.

You can check out a really cool visual of my reading year on Goodreads here.

I enjoyed the survey questions from The Perpetual Page Turner that I used in my year-end review the last couple years, so I wanted to continue this for 2017.

Book you read in 2017 that you recommended to people most in 2017?

There are two that I have recommended over and over – The Beauty Shop by Suzy Henderson and The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. The latter has been recommended over and over by historical fiction enthusiasts, and for good reason, it’s an AWESOME book. The Beauty Shop is independently published and has a bit of a deceiving title, but it is an excellent book about WWII and fits beautifully into my niche area. Very worth your time!

Best series you discovered in 2017? 

I’m going to have to go with the Anna Blanc Mysteries by Jennifer Kincheloe. Although I have only fully read and reviewed one book so far, the second book was released in 2017 and I’m loving it as far as I am so far!!!!

Favorite new-to-me author discovered in 2017?

Cuyler Overholt– I so enjoyed A Deadly Affection because of how fascinating the characters were and how the city itself became a character too. And reading about the medical understanding of the time made the mystery even more interesting.  I have book 2 in my listening queue!

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2017?

Several of the books I read this year were entries in my Cover Crush series, but my favorite I would say is The Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb.

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2017 to finally read? 

Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I had heard a lot of great things about the book and saw the commercials for the film, but really had no interest in a book about hiking. But it is so much more than that. I first decided to pick this book up after seeing it in a list of books for people who have lost their mothers (which I did about a year and a half ago) – and that was the driving force behind me picking it up.

Favorite book you read in 2017 from an author you’ve read previously?

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. I have read several of Quinn’s novels set in ancient Rome, as well as one of her Borgia series, and her contributions to the H Team collections, and really have enjoyed the wit she brings to her writing and her fab female characters. The Alice Network blows all her prior novels out of the park!

Best 2017 debut you read? 

The Beauty Shop by Suzy Henderson – for all the reasons I stated above and I look forward to seeing what she will come out with next.

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Beyond reading, this year has brought a lot of new energy to The Maiden’s Court. I reinstated some old post series that I loved, I worked on doing more than just reviews and keeping relatively consistent with my content, and I worked on sharing this content with you all in more ways. I have built greater bonds of friendship with several wonderful ladies in the book reviewing community who I look forward to talking with everyday about things both bookish and not. Make sure you check out The Maiden’s Court Facebook page as I have been sharing fun and random bookish content there that I haven’t been sharing here – Live book chats, book clubs, and more! I hope you all enjoy the materials that I am sharing with you and that you stick around throughout the year! Happy New Year!!

What have you learned about your reading habits in 2017? Did anything surprise you?  What were your favorite reads?

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