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This post may be too detailed for all of you, but I enjoy taking a deep dive into my reading trends each year. I also like sharing favorite books from various genres that might not make it into my “Top Ten Books of the Year” post. This is always long so bear with me as I review my 2024 reading by the numbers. Links will either go to my review, my GoodReads shelves, or Bookshop.org.
The Stats
Number
GoodReads challenge goal: 100 books
Completed: 112
Did Not Finish: 1
Format
- 32 audiobooks
- 46 e-books
- 35 physical books
Number of New-to-Me Authors
68
Number of Series Books
I read 46 books that were part of a series
Number of Re-Reads
3
Target Age Groups
I seem to be unconsciously shifting away from books for the younger crowd, even though I do love them. I was genuinely shocked when I realized how few middle grade books I read in 2024.
- Adult: 89 books
- Young adult: 13 books
- Middle grade: 4 books
- Children: 6 books
Average Rating
- Month with highest average rating: January with 4.0
- Month with lowest average rating: April with 3.07
- Average for the year: 3.72, down from 3.8 in 2023
Shortest and Longest
- Shortest: “By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain” by Joe Hill, read by Kate Mulgrew, coming in at 30 pages.
- Longest: Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History #1) by George R. R. Martin, illustrated by Doug Wheatley, 706 pages
- Average length of all books: 293 pages
Fastest and Slowest
- Fastest read: I read a lot of picture books and graphic novels in less than one day
- Slowest read: I took 59 days to finish Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by Charles Martin
- Average across all books: 10 days
Author Gender
I am aware that these numbers add up to more than 113, but I read a couple of books that had co-authors this year.
- Books by women: 57 books
- Books by men: 56 books
- Books by genderqueer authors: 1
- Publisher as author: 1
I skewed heavily toward women authors last year. It’s nice to be more balanced this year.
Page & Hour Count
I’ve had an account on The StoryGraph for a few years but I really only started using it in addition to GoodReads in 2024. There are things I think it does better than GR and vice versa. That said, there are some discrepancies in my stats that can probably be accounted for by the abysmal way GR tracks audiobooks.
According to GR, I read 32,534 pages, about 2000 pages less than last year.
According to TSG, I read 21,804 pages and listened to 294.87 hours of audiobooks. This is the first year I’ve seen how much time I spend on audiobooks and I am blown away!
The average length of my books was 290 pages, about 40 pages less than last year.
Favorite Covers
I tried hard to narrow this down to one but I just couldn’t.
Favorite Reads among Genres
The breakdown by rough genres. The totals from these categories will likely equal more than 113, since I shelve books across multiple categories. If I didn’t review a book, I linked to a synopsis.
Anthology
Read: 6
Favorite: Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century, edited by Alice Wong (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Audiobooks
Read: 32
Favorite: Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery, read by Kate Burton (Re-read, Top Ten Book) (link to an old review)
Runner-Up: Wishin’ and Hopin’ by Wally Lamb, read by the author (link to my GR review)
Banned/Challenged
Read: 2
Favorite: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, read by Ethan Hawke
I did not care for the other banned/challenged book I read, so I’m not choosing a runner-up in this category. That doesn’t mean that I think it should be banned or challenged though. Others have found a lot of value in the book over the years.
Biography/Memoir
Read: 11
Favorite: The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter, translated by Jane Degras (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Children’s
Read: 6
Favorite: Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua (link to my GR review)
Runner-Up: Lunch Walks Among Us (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist #1) by Jim Benton (link to my GR review)
Classics
Read: 9
Favorite: A Woman in the Polar Night by Christianne Ritter, translated by Jane Degras (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Runner-Up: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (link to my GR review)
Contemporary Fiction
Read: 16
Favorite: This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: The Translator by Leila Aboulela
Fantasy
Read: 30
Favorite: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Runner-Up: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Graphic Novels
Read: 7
Favorite: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (link to my GR review)
Runner-Up: Lumberjanes, Volume 4: Out of Time by N. D. Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Shannon Watters, illustrated by Gus Allen (link to my GR review)
Historical Fiction
Read: 11
Favorite: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
History & Politics
Read: 12
Favorite: Can We Talk About Israel?: A Guide for the Curious, Confused, and Conflicted by Daniel Sokatch, illustrated by Christopher Noxon (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Runner-Up: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (link to my GR review)
Horror
Read: 5
Favorite: You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Runner-Up: The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig
Middle Grade
Read: 4
Favorite: Amari and the Despicable Wonders (Supernatural Investgations #3) by B. B. Alston, read by Imani Parks (link to my GR review)
Runner-Up: Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (Paola Santiago #1) by Taylor Kay Mejia, read by Frankie Corzo
Mystery
Read: 15
Favorite: Joyland by Stephen King
Runner-Up: Track of the Cat (Anna Pigeon #1) by Nevada Barr
Retold Stories
Read: 3
Favorite: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Runner-Up: Lore Olympus: Volume 4 by Rachel Smythe
Romantic
Read: 20
Favorite: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Runner-Up: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Top Ten Book) (link to my review)
Science/Nature
Read: 10
Favorite: The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk W. Johnson
Runner-Up: How to Astronaut: Everything You Need to Know Before Leaving Earth by Terry Virts
Science Fiction
Read: 5
Favorite: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, read by Ethan Hawke
Runner-Up: You Like It Darker: Stories by Stephen King
Southern Literature
Read: 7
Favorite: The Speckled Beauty: A Dog and His People by Rick Bragg (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell (link to my GR review)
Translation
Read: 6
Favorite: A Woman in the Polar Night by Christianne Ritter, translated by Jane Degras (Top Ten Book)
Runner-Up: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot
Young Adult
Read: 13
Favorite: We Are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults by Susan Kuklin (link to my GR review)
Runner-Up: Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek
Reading Challenges
I did pretty well with my reading challenges, completing four of my six yearly challenges. I did cheat a bit by reading books for certain prompts when I felt like it, rather than in the designated month. As always, I reviewed very few books that I read for these challenges so that’s something I need to work on. I made progress on my 50-book, 5-year Classics Club challenge but I need to buckle down if I’m going to finish the other 25 books by April 2026. For full details, see my 2024 Reading Challenges page.
| Number Read | Goal | Complete? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GoodReads/The StoryGraph | 113 (Including 1 DNF) | 100 | Yes |
| Books in Translation (Hosted here!) | 6 | 4-6 | Yes |
| Southern Literature (Hosted here!) | 7 | 7+ | Yes |
| Nonfiction | 12 | 12 | Yes |
| Key Word | 11 | 12 | No |
| Classics | 8 | 12 | No |
| Classics Club | 25 | 50 | Not yet. This is a 5-year challenge that ends for me in April 2026 |
Graphs
One of the things that I really like about The StoryGraph is that they create all these beautiful graphs and bar charts for me each month and year. Here are screenshots of a few that I found the most interesting.
All Books Read
See all of the books I read in 2024 by clicking the button below. You can view my 2024 reading stats on GoodReads as well.
1 Comment
I love these posts and seeing the details of people’s yearly reading!
Storygraph really does have great graphics, but I haven’t taken the plunge yet. I can’t figure out how to fit another book-related thing into my life.