Annual Reading Review - 2015

Another year has come and gone and the best part of the reading year is upon me as I get to look back and evaluate what I read and how my stats measured up. I am thrilled to report that not only did I meet my goal, but I exceeded it. I read 55 books, 10 of which did not work for me and did not review. I can see that my tolerance for stories that don’t work for me has deteriorated to a non-existent level. With a to be read pile of over 1,500, I have noticed this decrease in tolerance much more. My goal was to read 50 books and I completed 110% of my goal. Hopefully, this continues into 2016, so decided to push myself a little bit and make my goal even higher.

Goal for 2016: 60 books

Review requests continued to dominate my reading and to be read pile in 2015. I was quite taken aback and surprised at how many books out there that authors and publishers are clamoring to have reviewed. I had to deny a few requests because of the backlog and I wish I could review every single book, but it just isn’t possible.

I read more Chick-Lit romances than any other genre in 2015, which isn’t a surprise considering my reviewer commitments. Cozy Mysteries continued to be absent from my reading in 2015 and hope that changes this year. I actively sought more Christmas themed Chick-Lit stories at the end of 2015 and will continue into the beginning of 2016. In comparison to 2014, Chick-Lit, Historical Romance & Young Adult went up by at least half. General Fiction more than doubled. Contemporary Romance, Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy remained the same. There was a slight decrease in Erotica, Mystery / Thriller / Suspense & Romantic Suspense.

I was fortunate to come across many new to me authors in 2015 which is always a joy as well as reading multiple titles by favorite authors. Here's how 2015 stacked up:

Chick-Lit: 27
Contemporary Romance: 2
Erotica: 1
Historical Romance: 2
Mystery / Suspense / Thriller: 6
Paranormal Romance: 2
Romantic Suspense: 3
Urban Fantasy: 2
Young Adult: 3
Other Fiction / Literature: 7

A big shout out to the authors who were new to me and the authors that made multiple appearances in my reading year:

New To Me Authors In 2015
Faith Bleasdale
Allison Brennan
Carla Caruso
Sophie Childs
Shannon Clayton
Sharisse Coulter
Dianne Emley
Tina Ann Forkner
Jeff Gardiner
Whitney Gaskell
Lily Greene
Beth Harbison
April Henry
Zara Keane
Sally Koslow
Chelsey Krause
Lindsay Lewis
Jodi Linton
Dianne Maguire
David J. O’Brien
Dana Reinhardt
Kate Robbins
Talli Roland
Kristi Rose
Ruth Saberton
Sophie Sloane
Vanessa Leah Stevenson
Nick Trout
Fiona Valpy
Carrie Vaughn
Madeleine Wickham
Sonja Yoerg

Authors Read Multiple Times In 2015
Michele Gorman
James Patterson
J.D. Robb
Kate Robbins
J.K. Rowling
Sophie Sloane
Nick Trout


My selection for the best reads of 2015 in the order they were read are:
Can’t Always Get What You Want by Chelsey Krause
10th Anniversary by James Patterson
House Broken by Sonja Yoerg
The Patron Saint Of Lost Dogs by Nick Trout
The Unexpected Consequences Of Love by Jill Mansell
Pretty Reckless by Jodi Linton
Dog Gone, Back Soon by Nick Trout
The Curvy Girls Club by Michele Gorman
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Love And Shenanigans by Zara Keane
Weightless by Michele Gorman
Cop Town by Karin Slaughter
Concealed In Death by J.D. Robb
The Night Visitor by Dianne Emley
Promised To The Highlander by Kate Robbins
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Girl He Knows by Kristi Rose
Dead Romantic by Ruth Saberton
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Festive In Death by J.D. Robb
The Creatives by Lindsay Lewis
Poppy’s 3 Men by Sophie Sloane
Behind The Scenes by Sophie Childs
The French For Christmas by Fiona Valpy
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
T Is For Trespass by Sue Grafton

Here's hoping 2016 will be a keeper-shelf-book year!