Goodreads Challenge 2022 Summary And Stats

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year! I hope 2023 turns out to be a special and rewarding year for you ✨

In terms of reading, I am super excited for what I have planned for the year ahead and after all the books I was either gifted or treated myself to over the festive period, my unread pile is looking rather more substantial! There are a mix of recent releases and hugely anticipated books on my TBR for the weeks to come, so it should be a good few months to come in terms of reading.

For my first post of the year however, it is one final look back at 2022 and how I fared with my Goodreads Challenge, with all the statistics to go with it. I decided to raise my target by one book to 55, and I am pleased to say that I have only just made it!

In relation to the number of books read in 2022 and how long it took me to get through them, it has been quite similar to 2021, where I read a total of 58 books. This time around I have managed 57, but I have to admit that it has been rather tricky, due primarily to a lack of time.

I have had to focus a lot of my reading into a number of short sittings and this has sometimes been made harder by having a few books on the go at any one time, which I often do because of buddy reads. The times I read the most was when I was on holiday, and were it not for the help of the occasional audiobook, I would not have reached my target with a couple of weeks to spare.

All of that said, my reading remained at a fairly consistent level throughout the year, at around five books per month. Apart from a couple of weeks around late August and the beginning of September, I did not fall into any reading slumps and I continued to read a wide range of genres.

So for this post, I am looking back on all the books I read in 2022 and have compiled some interesting statistics relating to them, which provide a useful insight into my current reading habits and preferences.

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Books Read Per Month

January: 6
February: 5
March: 5
April: 5
May: 5
June: 4
July: 6
August: 3
September: 5
October: 5
November: 4
December: 4

Looking at these stats, I definitely had less time to read towards the end of the year, which I admit has been a little frustrating as I continue to be really enthusiastic about the books I want to pick up.

For 2023 I may have to explore ways to make more time for reading, but given that lack of time I am also quite proud of myself to have still managed 57 books in 2022.

Ratings

⭐ – 1
⭐.5 – 0
⭐⭐– 4
⭐⭐.5 – 2
⭐⭐⭐ – 11
⭐⭐⭐.5 – 13
⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 18
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – 3
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 5

Average rating: ⭐⭐⭐.56

This average rating is fractionally lower than in 2021, despite the high number of four-star reads. While there are only five books which earned the full five stars, these stats make it clear that I enjoyed the vast majority of the books I read in 2022. I wish there were more five-star reads in there and indeed more 4.5 stars, but I suppose I can be fairly critical with my ratings!

In fact, the numbers for each rating are remarkably similar to 2021, with the same number of books I rated below three stars, and exactly the same totals for both three stars and 3.5 stars. Considering the books I have lined up this year, I hope 2023 can see higher ratings overall.

Genres Read

Crime: 3
Mystery: 8
Thriller: 10
Fantasy: 6
Historical Fiction: 12
Young Adult: 1
Mythological Fiction: 2
Horror: 1
General/Contemporary Fiction: 7
Dystopian Fiction: 3
Children’s: 1
Short story collections: 1
Non-fiction: 2

These stats are interesting! It turns out that I have read the same amount of genres as I did in 2021, but the numbers vary more widely. The most noticeable figure is the increase in historical fiction. It may be my favourite genre, but I had not realised quite how many I had read last year. Elsewhere, I read a couple more mysteries and fewer non-fiction books, and although I read one less fantasy novel than in 2021, my 2022 reads in that genre were much more memorable.

It must be stressed that a lot of the genres overlap, for example some of the books I have included in the mystery or thriller categories are marketed towards a young adult audience. I have just chosen the genre that I feel each book applies to the most 🙂

Standalone: 37
Series: 20

New-to-me authors: 26

This is a higher percentage of books in series than last year, which for me is not a surprise as there are a lot of series I currently have on the go.

Formats

Paperback: 25
Hardback: 11
E-book: 12
Audiobook: 9

Pages read: 20,033
Average length: 352 pages
Longest book read: Threadneedle by Cari Thomas
Books written by BIPOC authors: 10
Books with LGBTQIA+ representation: 11
Buddy reads: 13

I find the pages read and average length totals a bit misleading, as Goodreads does not have accurate page statistics for audiobooks. My reads were slightly more diverse than 2021 although I do hope to continue improving, while although there were six fewer buddy reads, they went on for much longer because of the length of the books.

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How did you get on with your reading challenge? Do you have any interesting reading stats from 2022? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading in 2023 🙂

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