2014 statistics and determination

[BarryP]

I set a goal of 42,000 pages with a stretch goal of 50,400 pages (350 x12 x12). I read 53,238 pages in 139 books. Average length of a book was 383 pages, much higher than the last few years where it was less than 350 pages.
52 books were new
39 were loaned to me
7 came from the library and
41 from the used book store

Another spreadsheet I can retire.

[Susie]

I love it Barry! You are too organized :)

[BarryP]

"Organized" is the kindest work I have had used for my tracking.

[Melodie]

Barry wrote: ""Organized" is the kindest work I have had used for my tracking."

Anal?!?!?! :-)

[BarryP]

I've said enough.

[Carol/Bonadie]

OCD?

[Ann]

Love the stats, Barry. My page count for 77 books in 2014 was 27,674. I stopped listing books as audio here on Goodreads so page stats would be accurate even though I listened to most of them. My prior year stats are unreliable because I used to use the audio editions on my GR shelves.
Of course some might say a page count isn't quite accurate anyway since so few were in print. :)

[Dan in AZ]

My book total for the year was 90, down from 127 the previous year. This was a conscious effort because
I felt I was spending too much time sitting around reading. So while my book total was down, I walked/hiked almost 2,000 miles for the year in addition to mountain biking and resistance training. All in all, I'm pretty content with the balance.

[[deleted user]]

Daniel, that is excellent. I know what you mean. This year my total was down quite a bit, from 74 in 2013 to 46 in 2014. However, I made some huge strides in my professional life. It took a lot of time, energy, and effort to get those things done. Also, in November, I removed all processed foods, refined sugar, caffeine, and most salt from my diet. I replaced those things with water, whole food, and exercise. I've lost weight and I feel much better. However, this was another project that took a lot of time and effort. All in all, I feel like I had a good balance of reading, professional development, and improvements to my health.

[Ann]

Wow, Dan! Good for you! 2,000 miles. I walked a lot more in 2014 and tracked a lot of them totaling 850 or so miles. Your healthy lifestyle changes and the total miles hiked are very impressive! Mine increased my audio stats, but then my walking was on greenway paths, not on challenging trails.

[Ann]

Frankie: I think you hit the nail on the head with your comment about balance; congrats on achieving your professional goals and for your improved health.
Balance varies wildly between different people and situations, finding your own personal balance is key. I personally credit reading for lowering my stress levels and adding to my knowledge and understanding and compassion for those around me.
Listening while on the commute which can be long and traffic heavy is something I actually look forward to and the novels written by authors in various countries that I include in my listening add to my understanding of the world outside my usual boundaries. Balance!

[Shomeret]

I read 132 books which is short of my usual 150-160, but 2014 was a difficult year for me. I also think it's possible that I might have written more reviews than in previous years. This cuts into my reading time because I often do research for reviews. I also put a great deal of thought into my reviews.

[Ann]

Shomeret: You put more thought into your reviews than anyone I know and we love reading them. When you post your monthly reads I save the posts unread and go back and read the blog posts too at my leisure. I always learn something from your comments and research.
Shomeret wrote: "I might have written more reviews than in previous years. This cuts into my reading time because I often do research for reviews. I also put a great deal of thought into my reviews. "

[BarryP]

Dan, I struggle for some sense of balance as well. I'm doing more stationary bike in the winter to hit some trails I failed to do last summer.

[Ann]

I love book stats!
I am trying to gather my thoughts on my top books for 2014 and discovered my method for recording the format of books I read left my stats lacking on how many I borrowed from the library that I finished reading. Major fail for 2014 but I will rectify that for 2015.
From my own Excel file I can see that I read 25 Kindle books in 2014 of which five were considered Kindle Shorts. Kindle titles were 32% of my total and 65 of my 77 books read were all or part on audio with a lot of overlap with Kindle formats due to Whispersync allowing me to listen and read and keep in sync through audible and Kindle.

So, I can't identify my library stats for books read, but I can for books borrowed and with the export to Excel function from the library reading history they optionally allow me to record as I borrow, I can state that I borrowed 108 books of various formats in 2014. Some of those are audio books (67) some of which I have lined up for later; some I started and finished, and some I simply didn't get to or decided I didn't like them. I don't bother to record those anymore though I used to. The forty-one that were print books borrowed are the majority of the ones I didn't completely finish reading so didn't record them, and I don't think my Overdrive borrowing stats are included in the library history.

Like Carol, I like to have a printed copy of a book to go along with an audio, especially if it is a group read book and often the forty-one library print books I borrowed had a counterpart audio or Kindle version floating around too. Next year I should probably do stats on how many books I eye-read along with ear-reading. :)
As for authors, they will probably appreciate that I bought several books that I had borrowed from the library in print. I find borrowing them a good trial to see if I want to spend my $$ on an unknown book or author.
If I had kept up with the books started and not finished it would probably be around thirty more books based on the library list. I had fun reviewing it today.