[Advertising – unpaid, post contains affiliate links] Before the year ends it is time for some reviews. My book review is the first one to come and I will close the year with my annual blogging review of 2022. As you you know books are an important part of me and what I do for fun. And it is always specially fun to look back on a year of reading and figuring out my favorite books of 2022. And to make it more fun I add some random statistics and fun facts just because I can. So let’s go.
For 2022 I had a list of 25 specific books that where my reading goal. I read 10 books from the list. I’ve done better. Two were abandoned. Two I am still working on. This year I swapped a few books. Also donated a few due to the move. And I was even able to tackle my TBR stacks – both the kindle one and the physical one. Combined they hold 690 books. That is 14 books more than last year (but I’m not sure I counted correctly. But then I did get a lot for birthday and Christmas…). How is your list coming along?
Overall I read 69 books which equals to around 20,000 pages with all the abandoned books. That’s 163 pages more than last year. I am proud and happy to have read this much. I have read less books with a five star rating in 2022 though but overall the rating is slightly higher. So I put that down as a winning reading year. Here are the covers of the five star books :
Best rated books this year: I have eight books that received a five star rating. They are: Kartengeheimnis | The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder – it was a re-read of my most favorite book, Mariannengraben by Jasmin Schreiber, Das Jahr des Dugong | The Year of the Dugong by John Ironmonger, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan – which actually might be the best book in the entire year, Das Geheime Leben der Bäume | The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, The Measure | Die Vorhersage by Nikki Erlick, Letters from Father Christmas | Briefe vom Weihnachtsmann by J.R.R. Tolkien, Wunder einer Winternacht by Marko Leino || Surprise – I can recommend all of them.
Best cover: This was a close one between The Last Apothecary and Daughter of the Moon Goddess. I decided to go with this one. I mean look at the gorgeous cover. I read it as ebook but I really am thinking about buying it because of the cover and the wonderful story. Unfortunate it only come out later in 2023.
Longest book: With 912 pages The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follet was on my TBR since November 26, 2020. It took me 20 days to get through. It was a great read – like everything from Ken Follett. Pillars of the Earth is one of my five best books ever so it was great to read the prequel.
Disappointment of the year: Definitely this one. I had my eye on this book for a while but when someone from my book club mentioned it I figured let’s go for it. An absolutely remarkable thing was just so very very boring. It’s more about fame than the actual story. Yawn…
Struggle of the year: The Song for the missing by Pierre Jarawan. This book was not easy to read. Yet it was beautiful. The language was beautiful and had a nice ring to it. But also it was very scattered and a bit more structure would have been nice. I am glad I read it as it showed me that I have no idea what happened in the Middle East during the 70’s and up. Now that I am aware I might try to figure it out.
Oldest Book (written): This year I read listened to a classic by Heinrich Heine the Germany: a winter tale. It am not sure listening was the best option for the book. And I somehow had hoped for a cozy snowy Christmas story. Well, it was not. But I read a classic…
Best Beach Read: Der Wind singt unser Lied by Meike Werkmeister. I know it is another one by the same author as last year but I read it in one day. And it was the only book this year so it definitely qualifies.
Surprise of the year: Bis Odette schweigt by Michaela Öhlinger was definitely a surprise. I had not expected this book to be so interesting. So engaging. So eye-opening. After all, it was a freebie and it is always a gamble if those are any good and especially when it’s a debut. Unfortunately it’s only in German. And currently not available. But if you ever get a hold of a copy its not a waste of time.
The worst book: I have to nominate The Weekend by Charlotte Wood. I really really disliked it. It was not a friendship book. It was not a book about growing old. All the things it promised. It was just boring, at times disgusting and often times irritating. This book gave me nothing but a stomachache.
The best non fiction: Lets go with two. One being The Hidden Life of Trees. It is really interesting to learn how a forest ecosystem works and is sustainable and ever since reading the book I see signs of tree behavior. And on the other one being Goodbye, things. It really motivated me to get stuff out of the apartment. And to continue. To think twice if I need it. Want it. Or what the reason behind is. Somehow this one spoke more to me than the Marie Kondo one.
Book related shenanigans
Book reviews aren’t all when looking at the book wrap up on 2022. Here are few fun facts when it comes to books that represent my year of reading.
- Best reading month: Was December with 11 books (as of today). However in October read the most pages logging 3,444 pages read.
- Slowest reading month: February with two books – one a re-read with 389 pages in total.
- Pages read overall: 19,664 pages in total. I hoping to add another 435 when I finish my current book.
- Audio book vs physical copy vs ebook: The split this year was: 27 ebooks, 26 audiobooks, 16 physical copies.
- German books read: I set out to read more books in my native language German and I can report I read 29 ebooks and books. That is 42%. The is solid.
- English books read: Conversely it means I read 40 books in English.
- Money spent on books: I spent a total of 76,03€ on books including ebooks, new paperbacks but also postage for swapped books. But to be fair I had a lot of books gifted to me this year.
- Number of books bought: In 2022 I bought 16 eBooks (read 11 so far) and 2 paperbacks which I read. I also snatched up 11 free kindle deals.
- Number of books gifted to me in 2022: 16 books
- Number of books borrowed: Currently 11 books I have borrowed.
- Books swapped: 7 and 4 already read, one abandoned.
- Total of new books in 2022: 53 books (at least it is lower than I read so slowly chipping away at the TBR list)
- Books from publishers: I received 1 book from publishers for review. Which I still need to read.
And this is the reading review – my favorite books 2022 and everything else I came up with. Did you have a favorite book? How was your reading year? I’d love to chat about it.
If you are interested in my previous book round ups you can have a look here: favorite books of 2020, 2020 and 2019, favorite books of 2018 part I and part II, favorite books of 2017 part I and part II and favorite books of 2016. Also let’s be friends on Goodreads.
9 comments
Oh my goodness, this was so fun! How do you track all these stats? (I am aware that Goodreads tracks some of them, but maybe I’m not looking hard enough at the details?)
I admire that you set a specific TBR. I am such a mood reader that any intentions to read specific books fall apart quickly. That’s why I have books I asked for and received for Christmas in 2021 still sit on my nightstand, untouched! Whoops!
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Oh don’t be fooled I am a mood reader myself. I guess I like to build up my own library so I can pick according to my mood. I usually set a reading goal and then a specific TBR which is only like 1/4 or 1/3. of the amount I actually want to read. Of that list I usually only read 50%- And all because I pick books by mood.
As for the stats. I do have a very specific system on how to buy and track books and sort. I have written two blogposts about it. You can check them out here: eBook deals – how I find my next freebie & eBook organization – helpful tips and tricks
A lot is just counting my lists in Goodreads.
The Evening and the Morning was so good! And I was also disappointed in the Hank Green book! I think we probably have similar tastes in books. Your reading is very impressive and I’m glad you had such a great year of reads!
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I do think we have quite similar tastes. I know you like fantasy and dystopia and that is not everyones gem. I think I did get a few books based on your recommendation already. I am a bit scared to start Naomi Novik Scholace Series because you didnt. enjoy them much.
This was really fun to read! I love superlative categories like you’ve listed for these types of posts. I might need to include “best cover” as a superlative on my reading recap, too!
I Oh how fun that you enjoyed it. I have a few stats you always mention in your posts I may need to incorporate in my monthly recaps. Best cover is always the fun one. Tough choices… I now want to know what your is. So yes include it in your recap please.
Wow, you had a great reading year. I have to come back and bookmark some of them for my future to-read list… I am still knee-deep in the Outlander series and want to finish that first.
Finishing is a good idea. I have so many loose ends at times that I get confused. How many more books do you have?
this list of books is amazing! I’ve read a few of them and they are truly some of the great books I’ve ever come across. Your taste in literature is impressive and I can see that you have put a lot of thought into your selection. Thanks for sharing your recommendations, I’m definitely going to check out the others that I haven’t read yet. Keep up the good work!