2019 Reading & Blogging Year in Review

Well, my friends, 2019 was a different kind of blogging year for me. I signed myself up for a grand total of 40 Reading Challenges. I haven't looked at my challenge backlist to be sure, but I'm fairly certain that's a record. I was beginning to think I was going leave about half of them undone, but I managed to pull myself together and complete all but four. Not too shabby. The one that had me most worried was Mount TBR--my very own challenge. There was a year that I didn't complete it--but that was the year I got rather cocky and decided to aim for Mount Olympus on Mars (150+ books from my own shelves). I've never made it very far past Mount Everest (100+ books)--but I've always managed Everest. This year it was looking kind of iffy and I came into the home stretch needing to do ten books in as many days. I pulled it off! 

Overall, my reading total has gone downhill since I started blogging. The first few years, I regularly topped 200 books. But bifocals and internet distractions have slowed me down and kept me from hitting the books like I once did. I rarely make New Year's resolutions, but always jokingly say that my resolution is to "read more books" because it's one I'm sure I can keep. For 2020, that really is my resolution. I want to read more and do social media less. And maybe I'll be able to plant a flag on Mars after all. We'll see. Another change here on the Block was that I did not do a monthly wrap-up (the P.O.M. Awards--Pick of the Month) and didn't keep the statistics on reading that I had in the past. I'd like to get back to that as well as spend a little more time visiting my fellow bloggers. I will post below my overall reading stats for 2019 and we'll see if I can come up with my top ten reads for the year.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who keeps visiting my blog. My posts still register a fair amount of traffic--even if you don't always comment, I can tell that you've been here. I also appreciate all the folks that read along with me on the various challenges. It's nice to have book pals out there working on the same goals. And to all the blogging friends I've made over the years--I'm glad we've found each other through the wonderful world of books. Here's to another year of good reading!


Stats
Books Read: 139
Books Owned & Read: 100
Number of Rereads: 29%
Pages Read: 34,408
Percentage Mystery: 76%
Percentage Nonfiction: 5%
Percentage by Women: 50%
Percentage Written 2000+: 18%
Percentage Non-US/UK: 17%
Countries represented: Canada, Scotland, Ireland, France, India, New Zealand, Japan, Israel

Top Ten Mysteries of 2019 (no rereads)
Gallows Court by Martin Edwards (5 stars)
A Death in the Night by Guy Fraser-Sampson (4.5 stars)
A Whiff of Cyanide by Guy Fraser-Sampson (4.5 stars)
River of Darkness by Rennie Airth (4 stars)
Blueprint for Murder by Roger Bax (4 stars)
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (4 stars)
Murder in the Maze by J. J. Connington (4 stars)
Miss Agatha Doubles for Death by H. L. V. Fletcher (4 stars)
Tenant for the Tomb by Anthony Gilbert (4 stars)
Where the Snow Was Red by Hugh Pentecost (4 stars)

Top Non-Mystery Books of 2019 (no rereads)
The Pocket Detective by Kate Jackson (5 stars)
Code Talker: The First & Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez (with Judith Schiess Avila) (5 stars)
Becoming by Michelle Obama (5 stars)
When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Sandra Martz (ed) (4 stars)
The Two-Pound Tram by William Newton (4 stars)
Hitler's First Victims: The Quest for Justice by Timothy Ryback (4 stars)