2021 Wrap-Up || Bookish Stats and Goals for 2022

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Yep, I’m really sticking to that Friday schedule, aren’t I? Don’t get used to it, though 😜 Next week, we’re back to normal; it’s just that I didn’t want to go on and on about 2021 until it’s almost time to wrap up 2022… Which is why, today, you’re getting the very last of my 2021 reminiscing!

Interestingly enough, I’ve never actually done this particular post myself. I always love looking at everyone else’s statistics – those beautiful graphs 😍 – and hearing about all of your inspiring reading goals, but until this year, I’ve always been too lazy to tell you about anything other than my favorite and least favorite books.

This year, though, that is going to change! So, without further ado, let’s look at a few numbers and some of the things I hope to accomplish in 2022!

puffin #rock #puffinrock #owls #pip #pop #excited #happy GIF by Puffin Rock

Overall, 2021 was a great reading year for me. Even though I cheated spectacularly on my Goodreads Reading Challenge by lowering my original goal of 100 books to 80 on the very last day of December, I actually read way more page-count-wise than I have in any of the previous four years, and I also came across so many new favorites that it’s absolutely insane!

(If any of you want to check out my full Year in Books, you can do that here.)

Furthermore, I also reread A TON in 2021. I don’t know exactly how much, since I have a whole list of really weird reasons for not keeping track of my rereads, but it was definitely more than in 2020 or the horribleness that was 2019. And it was wonderful!! There’s nothing as comforting as revisiting old favorites, especially when you’re trying to procrastinate working on your master’s thesis 🤣

For now, though, let’s ignore the rereads (and any thesis-related math textbooks) and take a closer look at the books I first discovered in 2021! Because what kind of math nerd would I be if I didn’t provide you with some statistics?

** 2021 Wrap-Up, Part One: Bookish stats that are most definitely extremely interesting and show-off the non-existent Excel skills of a blogger too dumb to successfully transition to StoryGraph and use their pre-made charts **

1. Genre

I’ve always said that I will read just about anything, but that my favorite genre is fantasy, right? Well – here’s the proof 😁

Overall, I’m very happy with this distribution, especially since the fantasy I read was also very multi-facetted in terms of sub-genres. I had everything – cute contemporary worlds with a dash of magical realism, mysteriously atmospheric historical settings, gritty post-apocalyptic futures, alien worlds with extremely complicated politics and magic systems – and it was great!

2. Age Range

Huh – I guess I really am reading a lot less YA than I used to 🤔 I must be getting old!

However, on the whole, I’m pretty happy with the trend this chart shows. A bit of variety always spices things up, but since I am technically an adult (albeit one who fails at the simplest adulting tasks, such as trying to sort out their health insurance plan), I guess it’s only natural that that is the age range I’d be reading the most books in.

3. Format

This one isn’t all that surprising. I love reading my books physically over anything else, but the library and my lovely book lending friends don’t have every book I want to read and I’m also too poor (and too low on shelf space 😅) to buy them myself. So despite me not particularly liking them, e-books are my savior! And yes, Scribd is a huge contributing factor 😁

As for audiobooks, you can really tell that they took a huge hit thanks to the pandemic. I’ve been stuck at home almost all year, so the commutes that I usually listen to them on were gone. Plus, after I moved to a place where the woods were crowded with particularly small-talk-friendly people, my listening-to-audiobooks-on-walks time also took a huge dent…

4. Rating

I said I had a great reading year, didn’t I? I do not give out five-star ratings easily, so the fact that I had 16 of them this year is absolutely mind-blowing 🤯 I’m normally lucky if I have more than five…

Also, although I did read some pretty awful books too, nothing was horrible enough to earn a one-star rating this year. And as much as I love ranting about a bad book every once in a while, my hatred of reading them still outweighs by love for complaining, so I am very happy with that!

If 2022 turns out to be even half as good as 2021 was reading-wise, I’m definitely not complaining.

5. Language

This one could admittedly have a bit less of a left-shift 😅

I mean, I am very happy that I read stuff in French and Russian at all, since my language skills are far from perfect, but for someone who keeps complaining that the German book industry has been taken over almost completely by translated literature and that creative writing isn’t valued enough in our school system, I am failing abysmally at supporting local authors. Especially when you consider that out of the eight books I read in German last year, five were translated from other languages 🙈

So yeah – those were some graphs that I thought were interesting 🤷‍♀️ If you’d like to see graphs relating to variables I didn’t include here next year, you’re more than welcome to make suggestions! Regardless of that, though, I’d love to know where our reading trends look similar and where they differ, so feel free to tell me in the comments!

But first, let’s get into the second part of this post! Keep those statistics at the back of your mind, because now, I’m gonna tell you about some of the reading-related goals I have for 2022!

** 2021 Wrap-Up, Part Two: Ten bookish and bloggish goals for 2022 that Naemi is currently sure she will accomplish but will probably have failed at miserably when she checks in on them a year from now **

1. Read 100 books, maybe

Have I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge to 100 books again? Of course I have 😂

I usually read pretty close to a hundred books a year anyway, so setting it to that number will give me a good estimate of whether or not my reading is on track compared to previous years. I am a huge perfectionist and tend to let my free time slide in favor of work, so how much I’m reading tends to be a good indicator of how well I’ve got my workaholic tendencies in check… If it starts to look like reaching that 100 is far out of the realm of possibilities, it’s probably time for an intervention!

But am I going to force it if it looks like I’m not going to make this goal? Nope. I’ll just lower my Goodreads goal by however many books it takes again 😁

2. Read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Russian

I failed miserably at this last year; in fact, I didn’t even make it past the first chapter. But I’ve also improved my language skills significantly since then, so I am sure it’s doable!

But why this goal? Well, apart from the fact that I’m sure to come across countless translation gems, I really want to get to a C1 level in Russian eventually, and the only way to do that is to consume the language in as many forms as possible. Which includes books! And since I’ve read Harry Potter so many times that I practically know it by heart, it seems like a good place to continue 🥰

3. Read a Russian children’s book (In Russian, duh!)

Since I already know Harry Potter really well, reading it in Russian should be doable despite its length. However, since it’s a translated novel, it won’t give me the authentic Russian cultural experience, so I also want to read something in Russian that hasn’t been translated.

And because I’m too intimidated by anything that doesn’t have pictures and is really long, a children’s book it is! 🤣

4. Read at least three books in French

Moi: Tais-toi, voix!

I am a lot better at French than at Russian, but my language skills nonetheless have a long way to go. So three books it is! That’s how many I read in 2021, so this should definitely be doable.

5. Read at least ten German books (German books, Naemi, not books in German!)

Remember all that stuff I said about me wanting to support authors from my own country? Well, maybe it’s time I started acting like it.

I’d also like to pick up a few more German classics in 2022, since classics always give you such an interesting historical perspective on a country and its literature! Apart from the horrendous Schimmelreiter, though, I don’t think I’ve touched any since starting university, so that definitely needs to change.

6. Read books from at least ten different countries that do not include the US or the UK

You can bleat about reading diversely all you want, but if you only ever read books by American or British authors, I’m not going to think you’re that diverse of a reader – even if the books you read are filled to the brim with POC or LGBTQIA+ representation.

Feel free to come at me for this; I stand by my opinion!

However, I’m definitely guilty of reading very anglocentric books myself, so I’d like to branch out a little. This might be a bit of a morbid goal, but before I die, I’d like to have read at least one book from every country in the world. Since there are about 200 of those, I’d better get a move on… So if you live outside of the US and UK and have any recommendations from your country, let me know!

7. Purge those bookshelves!

This, my friends, is the current state of my bookshelves:

Even though I unhauled several stacks of books last year, the shelves are still filled to the bursting point, and quite honestly, it’s driving me nuts. Now that I’ve freed up enough space to give me an inkling of how nice it can be to not have double-stacked rows, where you can actually reach the books in the back without accidentally dropping everything in front of them, I kind of want to get rid of the double-stacked rows altogether.

Will I reach that goal? Probably not 😅 But in order to get closer, here are some steps I intend to follow:

  1. Take everything off the shelves that I have not reread within the last five years and that I do not see myself rereading in the next two years. The only exception – classics and textbooks that I might need for school.
  2. Stack the books on the floor, where their presence is sure to annoy me. Putting them back on the shelves is not allowed unless I reread them first. If they’re still on the floor by mid-2022, they have to go. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW ATTACHED YOU ARE TO THESE BOOKS, NAEMI, IF YOU’RE NOT READING THEM, THEY’RE OUT OF HERE! It’s not like you’d ever recommend them to anyone else, either, so quit holding on to them!
  3. Do not buy any books that I have not already read and loved. Exceptions may only be made for series continuations – if I have read and loved all of the other books in the series.
  4. Digitalize my university notes. Those binders take up a shit ton of space, so getting rid of them sometime in the future seems like a smart course of action. However, it’s okay if I hold on to the binders for a few more years, until I’ve made up my mind whether I want to return to university for a PhD or not.

8. Re-outline Ascent of Air and write at least 50k words of a first draft

For those of you who don’t know, Ascent of Air is the first book in a fantasy series that I started writing several years ago. I still love the general ideas behind the story, especially the world and the characters, but the original plot is so embarrassingly simplistic that I absolutely detest the version I currently have.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to rewrite this book for ages – in fact, I think I even mentioned on this blog that I was going to back in 2020 – but then university and blogging got in the way. This year, though, I finally want to prioritize personal writing projects again. If I post less because of it, so be it. It’s always been my dream to become an author, and I don’t want to lose sight of that just because I’m focusing on things that can be achieved more quickly!

9. Get to an A2 level in Swedish (and a one-year streak on Duolingo while you’re at it)

I suppose you could argue that this isn’t really a bookish goal, but since I plan on using the Swedish textbook my parents gave me for Christmas to achieve this, I’m counting it! Besides, I need someone to hold me accountable 😁

In pursual of my huge childhood dream of visiting Sweden someday, I’ve been dabbling in Swedish on Duolingo for a while now, but I didn’t want to start pursuing it seriously until I felt that my Russian was stable enough that it could survive with less attention.

This year, though, I think I’m finally at that point, and even though I can’t really say much beyond “Hej! Jag heter Naemi och jag kommer från Tyskland!”, I’ve been having so much fun! I’d almost forgotten how thrilling learning a new language can be at first, and Swedish is particularly fascinating because of how many similarities it has to German. I’m in nerd heaven, guys! 🥰

Anyway, I really want to make my way through the whole textbook this year, and I also want to keep getting a bit of additional input on Duolingo by trying to maintain a streak for as long as possible.

10. Figure out graphics and change this blog’s design to something I actually like

Let me tell you a secret – I actually detest my blog’s color scheme and its general air of graphic boringness 🙈 A Book Owl’s Corner’s current look was always meant to be temporary, until I figured out enough about graphic design to turn it into the version I actually wanted. Only, I never did.

So this year, I need to stop being so freaking lazy! I want a blue blog, with my own logo of an owl sitting on a pile of books. I want dividers and headers that are pretty and match my blog theme. I want a featured image template that everyone will immediately recognize and that will save me the trouble of designing something new for every single one of my posts.

This year, it’s got to happen. And if you have any good tips as to where I should start, please tell me!

And that was it for today! As always, I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to tell me all about your own statistics and bookish goals down below. How many books did you read in 2021? Did you like the majority of them? What format do you usually read your books in? Are you planning to read anything specific in 2022, or to hone any new skills? What is your biggest reading goal? I would love to know!

48 thoughts on “2021 Wrap-Up || Bookish Stats and Goals for 2022”

  1. Riddhi B. says:
    Reply

    Not going to lie, I love those graphs too, but I am also too lazy to actually make them! But I loved your graphs, they were pretty!
    And those bookshelves- so gorgeous!! And so many books!!!
    Also, one of my blogging goals is to change my blog graphics and design too! All my graphics are so overused now, I kinda hate them now!

    Loved reading about your past year and 2022 goals! Great post!

    P.S.- feel free to post as much as you want, whenever you want- don’t stick to just friday, we need more content!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      I’m glad the graphs are being appreciated 😂 Honestly, it didn’t even take close to as long to make them as I’d feared, so if you ever want to overcome your own laziness, maybe that fact could give you at least some motivation… Because I agree, graphs are pretty! And interesting! 😍

      And I know there are “so many books” on my shelves – that’s precisely the problem 😫 I don’t even know how I am ever gonna trim them down to a reasonable (okay, semi-reasonable 😁) amount 😅

      And, Riddhi, even if you think your graphics are overused, at least they’re pretty and iconic trademarks of your blog! And you already know how to make them! So you’re definitely at least ten steps ahead of me 😄

      And thank you! 💙

      P.S. Unfortunately, I also have a lot of other hobbies apart from blogging that require time, so sticking to Fridays it is, even if I very much appreciate you wanting more content 😜

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Rachel says:
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    love all the stats and graphs naemi! good luck with all those goals, you’ve got this!! (and i relate to that last one so much it’s painful, but hopefully we both can get our blogs to look better this year!)

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
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      Thanks, Rachel! 💙 (And ahhh, I know, the aesthetics of blogging are just so hard!! Why can’t these design choices – and all my thoughts, for that matter – automatically transfer from my brain to my blog?? 😫 Still, I think you’re quite a bit ahead of me – I particularly love your featured images; they’re so iconic!)

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Devangi says:
    Reply

    If you would like, I suggest “Malgudi Days” from an Indian author, since you said about diverse reading. Also that’s an amazing concept, I’d love to try it too. My most read genre is also fantasy. Others including classics and sci-fi.

    Liked by 2 people

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Thanks, Saima! Graphs are always so satisfying, aren’t they? 😊 And yes, 2021 was probably one of my best reading years ever! I’ll definitely keep my fingers crossed for 2022 to go at least as well for both of us 🤗

      Liked by 1 person

  5. jan @ thedoodlecrafter says:
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    I hope you achieve all your goals for 2022! I read around twenty something books for the whole year, but I’m satisfied cuz in 2020 I read around 5 and I’ve recovered from *that* slump lol. Tbh I’m thinking of redesigning my blog as well. I mostly use canva for just about everything in graphics, and you can get photos from sites like unsplash, pexels and pixabay!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Thank you, Jan, and the same to you! 💙 And congrats on defeating that fiendish 2020 reading slump!! 🥳

      Also, I love your current blog design – though of course, whatever changes you make are probably going to be gorgeous, too – so thanks for giving me all your pro tips!! I’ve been looking into the free version of canva a little bit, but I’m still kind of overwhelmed, so hopefully, I’ll find my feet this year 😂

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Line says:
    Reply

    Me reading about that goal of yours to read from ten different countries and wondering whether that means you’ll read more Shamer Chronicles this year 😉 I think it’s a great goal and I will stand right beside you in that circle of swords 😄

    And I don’t know why it surprised me that you only read 43% fantasy (yes, for me that is ‘only’). Maybe because we mainly talk about your fantasy reads so that made me think you’d read so much more.

    Also, I love your plan for getting rid of books! Putting them on the floor so they annoy you 😂 I mean that would work for me. They wouldn’t even last till mid-2022.

    Your Swedish is coming along too. It might be a simple sentence but I’m saying it’s a very good one for when you inevitably get lost in Sweden. Just say that and people will know where to send you back to 😆

    Finally, you want tips for where to start about changing your blog’s theme? I’m no expert but it really helped me to pick a color palette as the first thing. You say you want it to be blue but which blue and what other colors go along well with that kind of blue (I found a website that could help me with that). It made it so much easier for me to design all those things I needed.

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Well, let’s just say that Denmark was one of the countries I planned on sampling this year 😉 Now that I’ve (mostly) gotten over my anger at Germany for simply quitting their translation efforts midway, I’m actually quite excited to see how the English versions compare and where the series will take me! 🤗

      And it’s very interesting that you were surprised by “how little” fantasy I read – I was actually surprised how much it was 😂 I felt that, surely, about two thirds of what I read was something else, but apparently not… Not that I’m complaining, though 🥰

      Haha, I’m definitely hoping the putting the books on the floor thing will be the miracle cure that will solve my attachment issues once and for all 😄 I also think they’ll probably drive me nuts way before summer, but considering how long I’ve ignored my cluttered bookshelves, you never know 😅 Besides, I am definitely moving again this year, whenever the Ministry of Education sees fit to tell me where I will be teaching, and if I’m not here, I just know I’m going to be marvelous at ignoring my messy floor 😁

      And I hadn’t even thought of that, but you’re right. That sentence is essential 🤣

      Also, your color palette advice sounds so reasonable, at least in theory. I actually already have a main blue tone picked out, but the thing is, it clashes horribly with the background image I have on my homepage. The red tones in the stupid image are the whole reason why I have my current color scheme in the first place 😅 I’ve already tried altering the image to have blue tones instead, but that just makes things look a hundred times worse, so the only options I have are a) taking a new picture with the right blue tones in it or b) choosing a different blogging template and reformatting everything to fit with it – which sounds like a nightmare of work in both cases 🙈🙈🙈 Hence, I’ve been extremely lazy so far and have updated nothing 😁 But you’re right, I really need to get a move on with my colors, because everything else is connected!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Line says:
        Reply

        But 43% fantasy is very little to me who ends up around 75% most years (don’t know yet where I landed in 2021 but I feel it should be higher).

        And changing the look of your blog IS a lot of work, no matter how you go about it. It’s just about making decisions early on about what you want and what you don’t want, and then you might as well make it right this time so you don’t have to do it again 😄

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Maria @ The Character Study says:
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    Absolutely loved this post. First of all, I’m a big fan of graphics, so I loved seeing all of yours! Also, as a fellow language lover, I’m always in awe of your determination to study so much and read in other languages as, for me, time to devote to languages is kinda the first to go when I’m busy. I don’t mean to do it, but being busy means my brain is in overdrive, so the last thing I want to do is study more. As of right now, I’m only consistent with Korean, and that’s only because I have weekly lessons! Also, a 1 year-strike sounds impressive and impossible (I’m actually scared to check the last time I used Memrise for this very reason…).

    I loved the points you made in goal #6. It’s kinda crazy how we talk about reading diversely when most of us almost exclusively read books from the US and UK. We share this goal, so hope we can keep each other accountable 😅 On that note, I have two recommendations from Spain. First, Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, or really, anything by him. The Shadow of the Wind got pretty popular worldwide. Secondly, I thought of A Thousand Morons by Quim Monzó. It’s a collection of really short stories which I read quite a few years ago but I quite enjoyed. Since reading more fiction written here is also one of my goals, I hope I’ll be able to add more to those recommendations!

    As for the design thing, I can only say that canva is your best friend. Honestly, I’m obviously not an expert. I just go there and play with the different features. Also, knowing your hex colours is useful to make the process easier to combine everything!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Thanks, Maria! I’m really glad you liked the post and found it relatable 😊

      Don’t be too awed by my language studying, though – I assure you, I can be really lazy about it, too 😂 The fact that I still had Russian lessons up until August last year was actually a huge factor in keeping my nose to the grindstone, too, and now that they’re gone, I’ve definitely noticed a dip in my investment 😅 That’s actually a big reason why I put those Russian goals down here – I need accountability! French is a bit easier, since I can get through children’s books pretty well without consulting a dictionary – I’m nowhere near that stage in Russian yet, and constantly looking up words = more frustration = less motivation to read 😂 Still, my laziness has also come in useful language-learning-wise, because I have absolutely forbidden myself to watch things on Netflix when I have lots of work to do. Unless the movies/shows are in a foreign language, because then it’s “studying”. And me exploiting this loophole has actually helped me improve a great deal! I highly recommend it 😁

      Also, yes to holding each other accountable to reading more from other countries! I actually have read The Shadow of the Wind already – it even made my favorite books of 2018 list – so I already know that I love Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s way with words and am definitely not opposed to trying Marina 😉 I’ve never even heard of A Thousand Morons, though – but I have to say, the fact that it has the word “Morons” in the title already has my very immature sense of humor extremely intrigued 😂 And if you want a German recommendation – one book that basically everyone here has read but almost no one outside of Germany seems to have heard of is Krabat by Otfried Preußler. It’s a children’s/YA novel based on a folktale about a young boy stumbling upon a mill in the forest, which turns out to be a school for satanic magic. It’s super dark, but I absolutely love it, so I’d highly recommend checking it out! There’s even a Spanish translation called Krabat y el molino del diablo, although I can’t vouch for whether it’s any good or not 😅

      And it looks like I’ll definitely have to experiment with canva a bit this year! Everyone seems to swear by it, but since I’ve only ever played around with the basics, I have a lot to learn!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Maria @ The Character Study says:
        Reply

        I’m gonna have to use that technique!! I did start some shows in Italian and Korean for that very same reason, but then I usually get sucked in and put on subtitles which means I’m no longer focusing on the language, oops.

        I’ll check out Krabat! I’m always down for dark stories and it sounds pretty interesting!

        Canva is definitely super useful, and I’d say the learning curve is fine. There are obviously many more features behind the paywall, but the free stuff has proved more than sufficient for me.

        Liked by 1 person

        • abookowlscorner says:
          Reply

          Good luck with it!! And, honestly, watching foreign shows with subtitles is still more language practice than not watching them at all, so don’t be to hard on yourself 😉

          I’ve also started playing around with canva a little today and it does look very promising! Not like a master designer did it or anything, but definitely loads better than what I have now 🤣 So thanks for the tip!

          And I hope you like Krabat if you end up picking it up!

          Liked by 1 person

  9. Simran says:
    Reply

    Ok ngl I checked out the storygraph the second I finished reading the post cuz I am too lazy to make them but I need me some stats
    Also your goals are AMAZING mine are just to make sure I don’t cheat and rush to finish my goodreads goal at the last moment

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      The StoryGraph does look so cool! I really need to figure out why it has been refusing to let me import my Goodreads data for months now because I, too, want access to pretty graphs that I can have while still being lazy 😇

      And yours is a pretty good reading goal, too! I’m never in danger of doing that – I get way too distracted by books I like to rush through them and just don’t finish my reading challenge instead – but I can see why you would be tempted 😂 So good luck reaching your goal!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Nehal Jain says:
    Reply

    Your bookshelves are too good, they hurt my eyes oof.
    Also wow, your reading year was great!
    Also, if u wanna read a book by an Afghanistan authr, try the kite runner if u havent already, that book rocks!!
    I would have loved to recommend an indian author book but I myself have not read many hehe.

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      They hurt my eyes, too, but that’s because they’re so overflowing with stuff… 🙈😅

      And I have read The Kite Runner! It is even on those shelves that you admire so much – second shelf, second to last row, pretty far on the right 😉 And I can safely tell you that I probably won’t be unhauling it 🥰 So I guess you’ll just have to read some good Indian books to recommend to me instead 😜

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Anoushka says:
    Reply

    HOW DARE YOU JUST POST A PICTURE OF YOUR BOOKSHELF LIKE THAT AND NOT EXPECT ME TO COME STEAL THEM HMMM??? all. those. books. aaahh, i just died a little for a second over there BECAUSE SO MANY, I’M JEALOUS.
    ALSO, ALL OF THOSE STATS, THEY LOOK GORGEOUS!!!!! and ahh, you’re saying lowering your goal by 20 books is cheating spectacularly?? What would you say if i told you my original goal was of 150 books and AFTER lowering it by 50, I STILL MANAGED TO FAIL?

    Also, your novel sounds amazing, I CANNOT WAIT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT! Good luck on all of your goals, AND PLEASE KEEP THE BOOKSHELVES AND ALL THE BOOKS ON IT OKAY.

    Here’s to an amazing 2022!!
    (oh and also, i don’t know if you’ve read it already but i definitely recommend the henna wars, IT’S SO GOOD! it features bangladeshi representation, and its. so. good) Loved reading this post so, so much Naemi!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Well, as long as you take the books I don’t like, you’re more than welcome to steal some 🤣 After all, I’m trying to cut down!! Do NOT convince me that I need them, it is already difficult enough!

      And lololol, I suppose we can be partners in crime in failing to reach our goodreads goals, then 😜 I think it’s admirable that you thought you would make it to 150 in the first place – after all, it’s good to dream big, right? 😉

      And I actually have not read The Henna Wars! I’ve seen it around everywhere, though, so that’s probably a very good sign. Thanks for the recommendation, Anoushka, and thanks for stopping by when you are already being bombarded by so many other wrap-ups 😄

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Nefeli says:
    Reply

    Congrats on a great reading year, Naemi! May 2022 be equally good and even better and may you achieve all your goals!

    These graphs are so satisfying to look at. 80 books? Wow, I’m always amazed at such big numbers because the most I’ve managed to read in a good year is around 40 books. I don’t know how you do it, but I am in awe! 🤩

    The part where you talked about wanting to support local authors, but not really doing it- I felt that. I keep saying that I want to read more Greek authors, but I fail horribly. I guess the main reason this happens is because we’re bombarded with American and British works and even bookstores- at least here- promote popular foreign and translated books more than local ones. Let’s hope we both manage to do better since we want to. I totally agree with your point on diverse reading. We can’t really say we read diversely if we don’t read foreign books. As for recommendations, I’ll keep this wish of yours as motivation to actually finish my Greek recommendations series (and give you a full list when I do so).

    It’s so satisfying when you manage to read a book in a language you’re in the process of mastering! I hope you succeed in your efforts to read more in Russian and French. And good luck with Swedish, too! Duolingo is such a fun tool! I’ve been using it to learn Italian (though I fell behind when I accidentally lost my 100-days streak one thrilling Champions League night) and it’s always exciting to find similarities with the mother tongue.

    Good luck purging those pretty bookshelves and have great fun working on your writing projects!
    As for the looks of your blog, I can’t really give any advice since my own is pretty basic, but canva is my best friend in that department. I think you’ll find what works best for you through trial and error. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Thank you, Nefeli, and an awesome 2022 to you as well!

      Trust me, I sometimes don’t know where all those read books come from, either 😄 It helps that I read pretty quickly and don’t mind sacrificing sleep every now and then, I suppose… I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the latter, but, hey, it works for me! 😂

      Oh, and things definitely don’t look all that different in German bookstores. They do promote our classics a lot, but as far as newer authors are concerned, hardly any German ones get much spotlight. And when they do, they often write thrillers or romance novels, and I just don’t reach for those genres that often 😅 But hopefully, we can both do better with this goal in 2022 and get at least a few non-anglophone works in! I did (finally) get around to borrowing Antigone from my mom, so maybe I can even make a start on your Greek recommendations 😉 Though I’m definitely very interested in newer Greek literature, too, so I’m very much looking forward to you continuing your series!

      I also wish you the best of luck with Italian! I totally feel you on falling behind when losing your streak – I was at 248 days in 2019 and then spent a weekend in the mountains with two friends whom I was studying for an exam with. There was no WiFi or phone service, so inevitably, my beautiful streak was gone, which made me so mad that I didn’t touch Duolingo again for months 🤣 But I’m taking it all in good fun this year and am mostly focusing on my textbook and reading anyway 😄

      Everyone seems to swear by canva, so I’m definitely going to look into it more! For the record, though, I love the simplistic look of your blog 😊 You still have a very coherent color scheme and your own personal touch to the designs, which is definitely more than you could say about me!

      Like

  14. Anonymous says:
    Reply

    Love your book stats, especially the pie charts.
    Your book goals are great, too. Loved the first one with the option about adjusting the Goodreads goal. Kind of the opposite of mine. I set a really low one that I’m guaranteed to meet 😉
    Reading books in Russian and French and learning Swedish — wow!!! I used to be able to read simple books in French, but I haven’t done it since high school and I think my French has dwindled away most terribly. And reading books from different countries is a great goal, too. I didn’t give myself a specific goal about that but I hope to keep it in mind anyway.
    Love your shelves. I managed to get rid of a good few books that I stacked up against the low wall of my bedroom after my last move in 2018, but then I got the idea to put up a shelf that juts out into the room so that I could put books on it from both sides (my shelves don’t have backs). Instand doubled space on one whole shelf. So that allowed me to keep more books and made a nice reading nook as well. But I do want to get rid of some more of my books. I should Marie Kondo them 😉
    Theoretically, I should read more German, but practically I don’t. My excuse is that I need to keep up my English and I read a magazines and newspapers in German 🙂
    Love the idea of an Owl logo!
    Good luck with all your goals!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • abookowlscorner says:
      Reply

      Setting a low Goodreads goal is a great option, too 😂 At this point, I think part of the reason I set mine to 100 is just because I like the way the number looks – powers of ten are so cool! But as long as we’re not putting pressure on ourselves to read just for the sake of that goal, I’d say both of us are fine 😉

      I’ve definitely also noticed my French dwindling since leaving school. That’s pretty much the only place I had actual conversations in the language, so part of the reason I’ve been trying to read more in the language is to counteract that forgetting process… 😅 Although it’s actually been quite surprising how much I still remember!

      Those double-rowed shelves of yours sound like a great option to me 😁 My shelves do have backs, though, so the double-stacking is a lot more annoying. However, I did take my words to heart and did some serious purging this weekend! My floor is now a complete disaster, but at least there is only one double-stacked shelf left 🤣

      Oooh, and I love your excuse for not reading more German books! I hadn’t thought of it that way, but if you count the number of words I rack up reading Die Zeit and Die Süddeutsche, as well as our albeit extremely mediocre local paper, I suppose I read quite a bit of German as well 🤣

      Like

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