Analyzing my 2023 reading goals and Reading Challenges

At the beginning of the year I listed my 2023 Bookish goals. I am very much a type A personality. When I set a goal I have every intention of getting it, and I feel this internal pressure to finish what I started. As the year progressed, I was really feeling pressure to hit my book challenges, but had lost sight of my reading goals. So, let's see how I did!

Here are my 2023 Bookish Goals:

1. Read 150 books for the Goodreads Challenge- this is less than last year because I want to try and read some thicker books (but when I looked at my TBR most are under 500 pages 🤦😂) ✅I read 15 books with 400 or more pages, and still read more than 150 books.
   
2. Cut back on buying books....✅up until last weekend, I couldn't remember when I had last bought a book. (Still bought 68 books this year!)
   
3. So I can read more of what I own (I read 48 books on my physical shelves last year but probably added at least that many back in) I read 53 of what I own.
   
4. Participate in less book challenges to make room for other goals and mood reading 𐄂 I felt so much pressure at the end of the year to get things done, I didn't have time for mood reading
   
5. Read more male authors-I predominately read female authors (88%) ⍻ I got this to 87%
   
6. Try some of the new to me authors that I have been saying for the last year I want to try⍻ I tried 7...maybe in 2024 😂
   
7. Work on completing book series I have already started ✅I completed 19 series
   
8. While I would still like to reach the goal of 60+ followers I can't control this-especially since I am mostly a Christian fiction book blogger, it doesn't appeal to as many readers as other genres do, so it's more of a wish list item, LOL! ✅ You all showed up in a big way, THANK YOU!

I completed ALL my reading challenges and if you are curious how that breaks down, you can check out my challenges page.

So, I read 232 books last year and here is what I learned after analyzing my reading:

I read 57 new-to-me authors woo-hoo!! 

I read 47 books that I owned (this is ok, I would love to do better)

I read or did 65 ARCs/Blog Tours (this is too much. I want this to be much lower in 2024).

I read 37 Library books (out of the hundreds I checked out 😂🤦)

I downloaded 22 Kindle Freebies (but didn't read any of them, yet-I totally forget about them)

I bought 68 books -some I have already read in the 47 that I own.

I listened to 20 books on Hoopla

I read 6 books that I own on Kindle

I read 16 books on Kindle Unlimited (not enough since I pay for the subscription)

I listened to 4 books on Scribd (I tried to cancel it last year and missed the deadline, so I canceled it anyway, and forgot I still had it for a few months after canceling, so at least I am not paying for this one anymore).

Top Authors Read in 2023:

Emma St. Clair - 10 (several were re-reads)

Denise Hunter - 8 

Lynette Eason - 7

Courtney Walsh - 6

Kristi Ann Hunter - 5 (new-to-me this year)

Irene Hannon - 5

Colleen Coble- 5

Ellie Hall - 4 (new-to-me this year)

Pepper Basham - 4

This surprises me a little bit, but considering suspense and contemporary romance have always been my go-to's, I shouldn't be all that surprised! And, that's a wrap on my 2023 reading goals, challenges, and random facts, LOL. If you saw my TTT post with favorites from 2023, you will see some overlapping authors. What authors did you read the most from in 2023?