Once again I’m wrapping up the year by taking a look at some data from my reading habits. Because I didn’t post a retrospective for 2022 or 2023, I’ve decided to include that data here and make my 2024 reading retrospective a look back at the last five years.

Disclaimer: Little to no analysis will be involved here, it’s just taking a look at some numbers for a bit of fun. I’m sure many of my fellow readers (and writers) know just how addictive it can be once you learn your way around an Excel spreadsheet.

This time I’m not including the actual list of books, either. I did debate making a top 5 so that this post includes some book recommendations, but even though I record the titles and authors of everything I read, I find it difficult to look back and recall how exactly I felt at the time and even sometimes what a particular book was about. Maybe I’ll make a follow-up post in the new year if I change my mind, or maybe I’ll try to take better notes for 2025 so I can include some recommendations in next year’s reading retrospective.

2024

It was a good year for reading, if I do say so myself. It’s interesting to look at the number of books I read each month (Count column) and match it with what was happening in my life that could have been influential, such as moving to another city and starting a new job.

The last 5 years

While I’ve really cut back on buying print books, I’m still borrowing them from my local library and finally getting around to reading the ones that I already owned.

Now that I have a drastically shorter commute to/from work, I’m predicting that my audiobook usage will continue to decrease compared to previous years; having said that, I do generally prefer listening to audiobooks instead of podcasts or music if I’m going for a walk/run or exercising, so that will influence my audiobook listening too.

I think my ebook usage will continue to increase as well. I have a kindle, but most of my ebook reading usually happens on my phone since that’s where I can access my library apps/accounts. And hey, if libraries don’t cancel my membership when I move out of the area, all the better for me!

One of the best ways to read a lot, in my opinion, is to cover all your bases so that no matter where you are, you’ve got a book on hand. I try to keep three books in progress at a time: one print, one ebook, and one audiobook. These days, any print book I’m reading tends to stay at home and I’ll read it before bed or on the couch. In contrast, ebooks and audiobooks are easier when I’m out of the house. I also ensure these books are different genres (usually fantasy, science fiction, and horror or thriller) so that I’ve always got something in progress that should interest me, no matter what kind of mood I’m in. Another way to get a lot of reading done is to only read what you’re interested in – over the years I’ve flip-flopped on whether I tough it out until the end or give up if I’m not enjoying a book. Currently, I’m fine with DNF-ing books (and I don’t keep track of them, either). Life’s too short to slog your way through books you don’t want to read. Plus there always seems to be an ever-growing list of books I do want to read.