Looking Back
Reading Stats
Last month, we moved back home, as the major works of our renovations were done. This also meant that I had to avail myself on those days that workers came in to continue, so I didn’t have much spare time left to read. In the end, I read 6 books. Three were hardcovers, two were audiobooks, and one was a paperback.
None of the books I read excited me so much that I wanted to shout about them from the rooftops. On the flip side, none of them bored or upset me either, so that was kinda nice as the year wound down. This lead to an average rating of 3.436 out of 5. That’s lower than my overall average for the entire year but I still reasonably enjoyed each of the six books, so all’s well.
For print book editions, I read 1,265 pages. As for audiobooks, I listened to 16:58 hours (equalling 672 pages). After converting the listening hours to pages, that’s a total equivalent to 1,937 pages. This amounts to just about half, if not less, of what I read most months but that couldn’t be helped.
Books Read
- Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson | Rating: 4.063*
- And We’re Off by Dana Schwartz | Rating: 3.200
- Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger | Rating: 3.188
- Tea: A Miscellany Steeped with Trivia, History and Recipes by Emily Kearns | Rating: 3.000
- Everless by Sara Holland | Rating: 3.389
- This Is Not the End by Chandler Baker | Rating: 3.778
*Note on ratings: I rate books on a scale of 0 to 5, 0 being the worst and 5 being the best. I first rate various aspects such as prose, characterisation, plot, originality, etc. Then I average these out for my overall ratings. To obtain my star ratings, I round to the nearest 0.5.
TBR Pile
TBR Reduction
In December, I hauled 6 books — all in print. I read four books from my TBR pile and added three.
While unpacking cartons and sorting through my books, I found some that I hadn’t catalogued, which messed up my actual TBR tally. After accounting for them, ended the month with 400 books on my TBR pile. That’s 11 more than I had started out with. Not what I had aimed for but in the end, I didn’t acquire significantly more books than I was able to read. That’s already a step on the right direction.
Book Haul
I didn’t haul a lot of books, which is good, seeing how I’ve so many I own and need to read. The ones I did haul though, I’m extremely excited about.
Firstly, look at that gorgeous edition of The Words in my Hand! I can’t stop looking at it. Rhiannon from The Willoughby Book Club picked this one out for me as part of their bespoke book club subscription. I blogged about how it their book subscriptions work a couple of weeks ago. And if you’re interested in subscribing, you can get 10% off with this link. You save, they donate a book too, and I receive a small commission — win-win all around, if you ask me.
Towards the end of December, I was invited for an author meet with Sharlene Teo and Rachel Heng, which was very informative and got me excited about their upcoming debut novels. I’m grateful then, that I received review copies of Ponti and Suicide Club.
For Christmas, I received one book, Scandikitchen: Fika and Hygge Chocolatier and Lunchbox Salads. Again, I can’t wait to try out recipes! Alas, our kitchen won’t be done for another few weeks.
