Happy New Year! What better way is there to start off the year than looking back on accomplishments from 2024? Last year was a good one for the blog, and I read quite a few great books. Here’s a snapshot of how 2024 shaped up for me and the blog.

December Wrap-Up

Before talking about how I fared in the year overall, I first need to discuss all the things I read in December. I finished 5 books last month with a total page count of 1,793 pages. This was one of my slowest months ever because I’ve been focused on unpacking. My average rating slid below 4 stars to 3.95. Here’s a look at each of the books:

• Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown (4.25⭐)
• The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplan (3.5⭐)
• The Wrong Lady Meets Lord Right by Suzanne Allain (4⭐)
• The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky (4⭐)
• Reforged by Seth Haddon (4⭐)

2024 Reading Stats

I used StoryGraph much more consistently over the last year. So, I once again have all the pretty graphs to show off. Yay! First up is the number of books and pages I read in 2024. In total, I read 148 books and 59,734 pages. This was a pretty big drop from 2023. I started the year off strong, but things took a nosedive in the latter portion due to my move to a new state.

My average star rating for 2024 was 3.98 out of 5 stars. Oof. Apparently, I was a tougher rater in 2024 than in previous years. My average dropped by almost a quarter of a point. I’m not sure if the change says more about the books or me. I was in a funk for pretty big swaths of 2024. So, I’m sure that played a part in the change. Maybe I’ve just become more discerning? Let’s see how 2025 shakes out…

I read a wide variety of genres in 2024, but fantasy, queer, and romance books definitely dominated the field yet again. Contemporary books seem to have slid up a bit, which I wasn’t expecting. I really don’t understand why I don’t read more science fiction. It fell closer to the middle of the pack in 2024 despite my love for it.

One of the things I like most from StoryGraph is that it tracks the moods of the books I read. In 2024, I read a lot of adventurous and emotional books. I also tended to prefer mysterious and dark reads. This graph looks almost identical to the one from 2023. So, my tastes haven’t really changed all that much.

I had a few repeat authors in 2024. Sarah J. Maas took the top spot again because I finished reading the Throne of Glass series. I look forward to seeing someone else in that top spot for 2025 because I’m almost out of Maas books. lol. Some of my favorite authors also made it on this list of most read authors, including Melissa Caruso & KJ Charles. Notable new to me authors were Natasha Pulley and S.T. Gibson, and I’m sure I’ll read multiple books by them in 2025, as well.

I read mostly fiction in 2024. Those books were most often medium and steady in pace with a length falling between 300-499 pages. These stats are pretty similar to 2023, except for a slight decrease in the amount of nonfiction I read.

Progress On My 2024 Reading Goals

Goodreads Challenge

I set my annual reading goal at 100 books for the year. I read 5 books in December. This brought me to 148 books for the year! I more than met my goal, even if I read significantly less books than in 2023. I’m happy with the number considering everything I had going on this year.

Reading Journal

🤣🤣🤣 The reading journal went out the window somewhere around April. I got annoyed that I was reading more books per month than the journal had space for the reviews. So, I gave up on it. I enjoyed it, though. I might give it a shot again this year with a better journal format.

StoryGraph Pages Challenge

I managed to read every day in January 2024. So, I completed this one successfully. 🙂

Buy Fewer Books

This was an EPIC FAIL. All you need to do is check out some of my book haul posts, and you’ll see that my book buying continued as much as ever over the last year.

Read from My Shelves

I actually did pretty good with this goal. I read 31 physical books from my shelves and 15 audiobooks from my Audible library in 2024. I would have liked for these numbers to be even higher, but I’m glad I managed to squeeze in at least some stuff that I’ve bought over the years.

Unhaul More Books

I also did a great job with this goal. I sold 46 books on my Pango shop in 2024. I also donated 60+ books and a ton of old textbooks to a local college for use in their annual book sale. I’m hoping to continue this trend in 2025 because moving last year showed me that I never want to move so many books again.

Request/Accept Fewer ARCs

I don’t have any hard numbers for this goal, but I do feel like I requested/accepted less in 2024. However, I still requested way too much, especially considering how little I read in the last few months of the year.

Read All Pre-2024 ARCs

This definitely didn’t happen. lol. I read four of them, though. That’s progress, right?

Mood Read

This goal was a smashing success. I avoided TBRs like the plague and just read based on my feelings. I had a lot of fun with it. As someone who loves making lists, I might try to find a middle ground for 2025, though. Will TBRs make a comeback in some form for 2025? Stay tuned to find out!

Comic Books

I set the goal of reading at least 100 floppies before the end of 2024. That didn’t happen. I was well on my way until the move happened. Then my comics spent over a month in a PODS container, and I never got back on track. I did manage to read 68 issues in 2024, though, which I consider an accomplishment.

Blogging Review

I don’t ever set any formal blogging goals because a certain number of views and followers is something that is largely outside of my control. I continue to be extremely happy with the progress of this little blog, though. I topped 420 WordPress followers and received the highest number of views ever in 2024 despite a huge decrease in posting in the latter half of the year. SEO for the win! It does make me wonder how many views/visitors I could’ve received if I’d been more consistent with content. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get back to regular posting now that we are starting to settle into our new place. Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and engaged with the content. I appreciate all of you so much!

Most Popular Reviews of the Year

This year I’ve continued getting more traffic from search engines. These five posts have done particularly well at bringing in views from search results, especially Google. Unsurprisingly, the top spot was held by one of my hottest takes of the year. I was surprised to see the second and third spots occupied by the same posts as last year. It is nice to see that I have some content with real staying power. Here are my top five posts of the year:

1. Book Review – The Atlas Complex
2. ARC Review – Two Twisted Crowns (#2 spot for the second year in a row!)
3. Book Review – They Both Die At the End (#3 spot for the second year in a row!)
4. Book Review – Curious Tides
5. Book Review – Fall of Ruin and Wrath

Final Thoughts

I hope you all had a great holiday, and I wish everyone the best for the new year. I’m excited about what is to come in the new year, and I’m looking forward to continuing to share my thoughts about great books with you all in the year to come!