2021 is over, and it is now 2022, which feels very weird to say! I read a lot of fantastic books in 2021, and even though I read a lot less than last year, I will say that it has still been a great year of reading. To compare and contrast with last year’s reading wrap-up, I have all the same stats, and I will again be reflecting on what I read in 2021 and sharing my reading goals for the new year.
So just for a quick overview and some context: my Goodreads reading goal for 2021 was 60 books, an increase of 10 books from my 50 book goal last year. I did not end up making it, and I read a total of 47 books in 2021. Even though I didn’t make my goal, I am still very pleased with how much I was able to read in 2021, especially considering how busy I have been with school the last few months. I also continued to read diversely in 2021, which is something I hope to continue to improve on in 2022. Also, I think it’s important to note that although this is a YA-based blog, not all of the books I’m going to mention in this post are YA or necessarily appropriate for younger teens.
Reading Stats
I have some graphs to show for fun! I love seeing my reading represented visually as graphs, and I hope you enjoy them too!
What star ratings were my reads?
As with last year, most of my reads in 2021 were 4-5 star reviews. I only post positive reviews on here. I am very particular about what I read, and I DNF what I don’t like, so I ended up liking the majority of what I read in 2021. 3 and 3.5 star reviews each only accounted for 2.1% of the books I read in 2021. 4 star reviews composed 38.3%, and 4.5 star reviews accounted for 10.6% of my 2021 reads. 5 star reviews made up just under half of my reads this year, with 46.8% of the books I read being 5 star reads.
What book formats did I read?
I read a LOT of ebooks this year, and almost all of them were from the e-library! Audiobooks also helped me read a lot this year, and they made up 10.6% of the books I read this year. Ebooks made up 57.4% of my reads this year, and physical books made up the last 31.9% of the books I read in 2021.
How much fiction and nonfiction did I read?
I read a little less nonfiction than I did last year, but still way more than I have most years. Fiction has always been my favourite, so it will probably continue to make up the majority of my reads in 2022. In 2021, 12.8% of my reads were nonfiction, and 87.2% were fiction.
What was the intended audience of my reads?
Most of the books I read this year were young adult, and YA reads composed 68.1% of my reading in 2021. Middle grade books made up 8.5% of my 2021 reads, and adult books made up about 23.4% of my 2021 reads.
What genres did I read?
As usual, my primary genre was contemporary, which made up 29.8% of my 2021 reads. However, contemporary as a genre also includes some books that were contemporary romances but I felt leaned more towards the general life side of the story than the romance. These categories are all a little fuzzy and not totally accurate because it’s hard to assign just one genre to a book. I also read a lot of mystery and thriller books this year, which made up 17% of my 2021 reads, and a surprisingly large amount of fantasy, which made up 10.6% of the books I read in 2021.
Where did my books come from?
As I mentioned earlier, I read a lot of books from the e-library in 2021! This year my library usage was all online due to COVID, so most of the ebooks and audiobooks I read came from the library. Overall, 66% of the books I read in 2021 came from the library. However, I did buy quite a few physical books in 2021, which can be found in my book haul posts throughout the year!
What types of content did my books have?
As always, the majority of my reads were novels written in regular prose. I particularly enjoyed graphic novels this year, and they have become my go-to whenever I get into a bit of a reading slump. Poetry/verse and short stories also accounted for 4.3% each of my 2021 reads.
Favourite Reads of 2021
My favoutite reads of 2021! All the covers link to my review of the book, either on this blog or Goodreads.
My Top Ten Favourites
My top ten reads of 2021! It was very difficult to choose just ten favourites, but these are all truly wonderful reads that I absolutely loved this year.
Surprise Favourites
My favourites from 2021 that were unexpectedly awesome or I wasn’t sure I’d like and were from an author I’d never read before! This list could go on and on, but these are some of the highlights!
Important Must-Reads
The books I read in 2021 that stuck out to me as particularly special and important that I think everyone should read!
Best Nonfiction Reads
My favourite non-fiction reads of 2021 that I think are incredibly important, interesting and informative!
I wish I could mention every fantastic book I read in 2021, but that would take forever, so feel free to check out my entire 2021 year in books on Goodreads here too!
Goals for 2022
Lastly, I just wanted to share some of my reading goals for the new year!
- Read 55 books in 2022
- I am hoping to up this year’s reading by eight books in 2022
- Read more books by trans and non-binary authors
- This is a goal I had last year as well, and while I feel that I improved in 2021, I want to continue to deliberately include trans and non-binary authors in my reading as much as possible
- Read more books by Indigenous authors
- Again, this is a goal I had last year as well, and while I think that I did reasonably well with this goal in 2021, I want to continue to improve in 2022
- Read more books by disabled authors
- This is an area that was really lacking in my 2021 reading, and I want to fix that in 2022
- Read more audiobooks
- I read fewer audiobooks in 2021 than I did in 2020, and I would love to get back into them as they can be such a helpful tool for reading when I can’t find time to sit down with a physical book
That’s all for today, I wish everyone a happy new year and all the best in 2022!
Until next time,
Sidbookreviews 
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