2021 End of The Year Wrap-up

 

I cannot believe the year is over, 2021 was the slowest yet fastest year to date. We have functionally moved into time is relative stage. Regardless, you are here for wrap-up info not my rumination on time 😂

What did 2021 look like for Weekend Reader...a lot apparently. As I went down memory lane here are the highlights:

• Co-organized a romance reader awards- The Swoon Awards (nominations are still open until January 7, 2022 😉).
• 30 blog posts (that translated into over 1300 views...look at my fancy chart) 
• Most popular: The Enforcer Cover Reveal 
• Two of those blog posts were cover reveals which were super fun! I should do more cover reveals in 2022 👀 And, I had the pleasure of participating in 4 blog tours. 
• Became a Seal Press Ambassador. I legit enjoy working with this publisher. 

• 150 IG posts, 62 reels, and 15 Happy Endings IG lives. 
• Most popular reel

Now for my reading highlights drum roll please! 🥁🥁

Total books read: 155

Total books bought 150 (don't judge me); I read half of the books I bought this year 💞. I call that growth!!!! 

Total pages read: 30,364 

Average monthly books read 13 (January and October read 18 books)

Total hours listened: 305 hours

Average rating: 3.5 ⭐

Genre breakdown-

*There's no surprise of the most read genre breakdown. Your girl likes what she likes.

Finally, this post would not be a wrap-up if I didn't include favorites and misses. While I had a ton of favorites, I thought it would make the blog post too long TL;DR so here's my cheeky way of saying which books stood out to me. 

Books I Hyped (are you sick of hearing about them yet) let's be clear I don't think this category will be a surprise to anyone. Any opportunity I had to talk about any of these books I did. 😅 Not only was able to find new heroes to gush over, I found a book that did an amazing job discussing why burnout happens and how it effects our relationships. 

Thirsty Mia Hopkins | Burnout Emily & Amelia Nagoski | The Enforcer Katrina Jackson

Series Standouts The Brown Sisters I think is an overall romance community favorite and I may have caused a bit of a fuss earlier in the year when I asked who was the best boyfriend. I stand by my decision that Zaf is and will continue to reign supreme. We are supposed to get a spinoff so I'm excited to see where Skybriar takes us. The Coffee Shops of Love series was a late find and ma'am was I so happy that I found it. It combined the my love of coffee shop romances with characters who were just so darling. You will probably see me posting more about Karmen Lee in 2022.  

*In an effort to avoid duplicates, Murderbot Diaries is in another category; however, I am OBSESSED!

Brown Sisters Talia Hibbert | Coffee Shop Love Karmen Lee 

Most Highlighted is a nod to my obsession with annotating my books. There is something about a sentence or two making me stop to grab my neon yellow highlighter or tab to come back to. These four books I have pages and pages of highlights. 

And They Lived.. Therese Beharrie | White Tears, Brown Scars Ruby Hamad | Bad Fat Black Girl Sesali Bowen | Credible Deborah Tuerkheimer 

Happy Surprises I can no longer say I don't read sci-fi or fantasy because I have found my niche. One, there needs to be a romance and it has to be no more than 350 pages. We can still get world building and intrigue, I just need a HEA or HFN to keep me motivated. I like what I like. 

*these books made a liar out of me*

Murderbot Diaries Martha Wells | Skin Aveda Vice | Taken to Kor Elizabeth Stephens | 

That Time... Kimberly Lemming

All The Rave (not to me though) Overall, I had a stellar reading year. So, I debated on whether or not to include a misses section. I will just say that sometimes it's not the book, it's the reader. These two books I thought had tonal issues-- Twice Shy read chaotic and Happy Readings read very robotic and the characters also read as caricatures. However, if you liked either book, that's great for you; they were meh to yeah that's a no to me.   

*but meh to me*

Twice Shy Sarah Hogle | Happy Endings Thein-Kim Lam 

Book Cover Love no illustrated covers this year, just the magnificent!!! These covers are beautiful and it is not up for debate.  

How to Find a Princess Alyssa Cole | Treble Rilzy Adams  

While I love wrap-ups, I equally love looking forward to the start of a new reading year. I've already started planning so keep an eye out for the first post of next year, which will be on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.

Happy Reading!