Well another year is over… and, if I’m honest, it’s been a mixed bag in terms of life aside from books. This year saw another family member continue to battle with that dreaded C-word, another family member sadly passed away, uncomfortable truths about a loved one have started to become apparent, and another is beginning to lose her memory so… all in all, I can say without hesitation that, frankly, 2016 can do one. Add onto that the rate at which beloved celebrities seem to be dropping like flies and we seem to have lost a lot of people, in one way or another, far too soon. And the summer of 2016 was shitty of the highest order because of said family bereavements coupled with the self-confidence obliterating task of job hunting.
But I don’t want to focus on the bad, let’s look at the good things in 2016, shall we? I managed to find a job and move out by the time I was 24, just like I’d wanted to, even if I was beginning to despair that it would never happen. This move did wonders for my self-confidence, and continues to make me feel a lot more positive about the future ahead. I feel like maybe I will have the courage to do some of the things I want to now, now that I’ve made this first step moving away from home properly. Other good things? Well, I visited a friend in Oxford and attended YALC with her and her sister and had a whale of a time on the entire trip – definitely a highlight of the year, and very cultured and bookish a trip it was at that!
Oh and I also read some really good books which, believe me, help. A lot. I’d like to take the time to look back over this bookish year and remember some of those really great reads that were always there, even if real life was a bit shitty.
If you’ve been around for a little while, you may remember that I really enjoyed doing a sort of Year In Review for 2015 in order to round off and wrap up the books I read that year. Well, it’s back again for this year! For those who don’t know, this In Review post is mainly stats-based and pictorial; I’ll keep my further opinions to reviews and such, but I have done a Best Books of 2016 list so please do pop over and take a look, if you fancy. If you’re just interested in the stats breakdown, then look no further:
January
A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1) – Claudia Gray (4/5)
The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3) – Brandon Sanderson (4/5)
Very Good Lives – J.K. Rowling (5/5, review)
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir – Jenny Lawson (5/5)
Batman: The Killing Joke – Alan Moore and Brian Bolland (3/5, review)
Burial Rites – Hannah Kent (5/5, review)
The Alloy of Law (Mistborn #4) – Brandon Sanderson (3/5, review)
Read: 7 books | 2234 pages
Fav: Burial Rites
February
Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) – Robert Galbraith (4.5/5)
Bossypants – Tina Fey (4/5)
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things – Jenny Lawson (5/5)
The Night Manager – John le Carré (4/5)
Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) – Cassandra Clare (3.5/5)
Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) – Sarah J. Maas (3/5)
Read: 6 books | 2580 pages
Fav: Furiously Happy
March
Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) – Sarah J. Maas (4/5)
Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories #1) – Mary Robinette Kowal (4/5, review)
Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) – Cassandra Clare (4/5)
The Miniaturist – Jessie Burton (4/5)
Read: 4 books | 1613 pages
Fav: Clockwork Prince
April
Clockwork Princess (The Infernal Devices #3) – Cassandra Clare (4/5)
Saga Volume 1 – Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (4/5)
The Butcher’s Hook – Janet Ellis (3.5/5, review)
Saga Volume 2 – Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (4.5/5)
The Aeronaut’s Windlass (The Cinder Spires #1) – Jim Butcher (4.5/5)
The Winner’s Curse (The Winner’s Trilogy #1) – Marie Rutkoski (3.75/5)
Fates and Furies – Lauren Groff (4.5/5)
The Wicked + The Divine Volume 1 – Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (3/5)
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) – Cassandra Clare (2/5)
Read: 9 books | 3286 pages
Fav: The Aeronaut’s Windlass
May
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) – Maggie Stiefvater (4.5/5)
The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) – Maggie Stiefvater (4.5/5)
Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5) – Brandon Sanderson (3.25/5)
Nimona – Noelle Stevenson (5/5)
It’s Not Me, It’s You – Mhairi McFarlane (4/5)
The Improbability of Love – Hannah Rothschild (4.5/5, review)
Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged – Ayisha Malik (3.75/5, review)
Read: 7 books | 3043 pages
Fav: Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged
June
Assassin’s Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy #1) – Robin Hobb (3/5, review)
Not That Kind of Girl – Lena Dunham (3/5)
Treats – Lara Williams (3.5/5, review)
A Game of Thrones (ASOIAF #1) – George R.R. Martin (4/5)
When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi (5/5)
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) – V.E. Schwab (4/5)
Girl Up – Laura Bates (4/5)
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic #2) – V.E. Schwab (5/5)
Read: 8 books | 3077 pages
Fav: A Gathering of Shadows
July
This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) – V.E. Schwab (3.5/5)
A Clash of Kings (ASOIAF #2) – George R.R. Martin (4.5/5)
The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1) – Samantha Shannon (4/5)
A Thousand Nights – E.K. Johnston (3/5, review)
Read: 4 books | 2071 pages
Fav: A Clash of Kings
August
The Mime Order (The Bone Season #2) – Samantha Shannon (5/5)
My Life Next Door – Huntley Fitzpatrick (4.5/5, review)
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow (ASOIAF #3, Part 1) – George R.R. Martin (3.5/5, review)
The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen #1) – Alison Goodman (5/5, review)
A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold (ASOIAF #3, Part 2) – George R.R. Martin (4.5/5, review)
Read: 5 books | 2530 pages
Fav: The Dark Days Club
September
Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) – Leigh Bardugo (5/5)
Here I Stand – Various, ed. by Amnesty International (3.5/5, review)
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen (3.5/5)
Read: 3 books | 1099 pages
Fav: Six of Crows
October
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) – Maggie Stiefvater (4.5/5)
The Secret History – Donna Tartt (4/5)
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) – Leigh Bardugo (5/5, review)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) – J.K. Rowling (4/5)
Read: 4 books | 1777 pages
Fav: Crooked Kingdom
November
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter #2) – J.K. Rowling (4/5)
The Humans – Matt Haig (5/5)
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) – Becky Chambers (5/5)
Carry On – Rainbow Rowell (3.5/5, review)
Read: 4 books | 1499 pages
Fav: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet
December
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter #3) – J.K. Rowling (5/5)
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr (4.5/5)
The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library #1) – Genevieve Cogman (3.75/5)
Read: 3 books | 1188 pages
Fav: All The Light We Cannot See
2016 Overall
64 books (77 in 2015) | 26086 pages (27347 in 2015)
Shortest: Batman: The Killing Joke – 64 pages
Longest: A Clash of Kings – 873 pages
Gender: 47 by women | 13 by men
Genre: 57 fiction | 7 non-fiction
Format: 17 hardbacks | 40 paperbacks | 3 ebooks | 4 audiobooks
15 re-reads
Reviews: 18 out of 64 / 28% (60% in 2015)
How was your reading year in 2016, and your year in general?
Did it bring you all you hoped it would or has it been a disappointment?
If so, there’s nothing like an arbitrary passing of time from one year to the next to kick you into new habits and new resolutions – I know it does for me…
at least for the first few weeks!
Most importantly… let’s look forward now: Happy New Year one and all and I hope 2017 brings all that you wish for!
The Terror of Knowing 
One response to “2016 | A Bookish Year In Review”
[…] (If you’re looking for my more stats-based wrap up of 2016 then please do pop over to my 2016: A Bookish Year In Review post!) […]
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