Yearly Wrap Up: 2021 Edition

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Hi everyone! I can’t believe it’s already time for my first yearly wrap up; it feels like only yesterday I was starting this blog, all the way back in May. I feel like I’ve commented on how quickly this year has went by a lot but it’s true nevertheless (honestly, part of me still feels like it’s 2020!) But, without further ado, let’s get into this year’s wrap up!

Reading Overview

In 2021, I read a grand total of 52 books, which averages out at around 1 book a week! I hadn’t actually set myself a reading goal for the year but I’m fairly happy with that, although this year I’d like to challenge myself and read more than this. I’ve set myself an initial goal of 60 books, although I’d like to think I can increase this.

A breakdown of my 2021 reads.

My most dominant genres were (by a long shot) mystery and contemporary, followed closely by fantasy. I’m really hoping to branch out this year and have a more even spread of the genres.

In reading order, here are the books I read this year. I’ve starred any that were sent to me in exchange for an honest review:

  1. Love A La Mode by Stephanie Kate Strohm (✯✯✯✯)
  2. Death In Ten Minutes by Fern Riddell (✯✯✯✯✯)
  3. Legend by Marie Lu (✯✯✯✯✯)
  4. Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp (✯✯)
  5. Prodigy by Marie Lu (✯✯✯✯✯)
  6. Champion by Marie Lu (✯✯✯✯✯)
  7. Rebel by Marie Lu (✯✯✯✯✯)
  8. The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell (✯✯✯✯)
  9. Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher (✯✯✯)
  10. Heartless by Marissa Meyer (✯✯✯✯✯)
  11. Sadie by Courtney Summers (✯✯✯✯✯)
  12. Girl Serpent Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (✯✯✯)
  13. Kill Joy by Holly Jackson (✯✯✯✯✯)
  14. The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa De La Cruz (✯✯)
  15. The Queen’s Secret by Melissa De La Cruz (✯✯)
  16. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon (✯✯✯✯✯)
  17. The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas (✯✯✯✯)
  18. Opposite Of Always by Justin A. Reynolds (✯✯✯✯✯)
  19. The Cousins by Karen McManus (✯✯✯✯)
  20. Instructions For Dancing for Nicola Yoon (✯✯✯✯✯)
  21. The Island by C. L. Taylor (✯✯✯✯✯)
  22. That Weekend by Kara Thomas (✯✯✯✯✯)
  23. Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (✯✯✯✯✯)
  24. Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney (✯✯✯✯✯)
  25. The Obsession by Jesse Q. Sutanto (✯✯✯✯)
  26. Off The Record by Camryn Garrett (✯✯✯✯)
  27. It’s Behind You by Kathryn Foxfield (✯✯✯✯)
  28. These Violent Nights* by Rebecca Crunden (✯✯✯✯)
  29. Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth (✯✯✯✯)
  30. Perfect On Paper by Sophie Gonzales (✯✯✯✯✯)
  31. As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (✯✯✯✯✯)
  32. The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe (✯✯✯✯✯)
  33. We Are 100* by Nathan Timmel (✯✯✯✯✯)
  34. The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab (✯✯✯✯✯)
  35. Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell (✯✯✯)
  36. Kolkata Noir* by Tom Vater (✯✯✯✯)
  37. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (✯✯✯✯)
  38. Anywhere Else* by Kayla Hicks (✯✯✯✯)
  39. Endgame by Malorie Blackman (✯✯✯✯✯)
  40. My Gypsy War Diary* by Shawn D. Brink (✯✯✯✯✯)
  41. The Abandoned House* by Karen Hollis (✯✯✯✯)
  42. Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon (✯✯✯✯✯)
  43. Little Monsters by Kara Thomas (✯✯✯✯)
  44. All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (✯✯✯✯✯)
  45. Shadow And Bone by Leigh Bardugo (✯✯✯✯✯)
  46. Siege And Storm by Leigh Bardugo (✯✯✯✯)
  47. More Than Mistletoe* by The Christmas Collective (✯✯✯✯✯)
  48. Ruin And Rising by Leigh Bardugo (✯✯✯✯)
  49. Hollow Men* by Todd Sullivan (✯✯✯✯✯)
  50. There Will Be One* by Todd Sullivan (✯✯✯✯)
  51. The Upside Of Falling by Alex Light (✯✯✯✯)
  52. You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen McManus (✯✯✯✯✯)

It was super tough to narrow them down into just five, but eventually I got there! My top five reads of 2021 would have to be:

  1. As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson – the perfect conclusion to the AGGGTM trilogy! (even if that cliffhanger is still occupying a piece of my brain…)
  2. The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – a beautifully written story about history, culture and love, with a really bold protagonist and unique concept.
  3. Sadie by Courtney Summers – a haunting thriller about a girl searching for her sister which will stay with you long after you finish it.
  4. Heartless by Marissa Meyer – a beautiful – but heartbreaking – retelling of Alice In Wonderland, exploring why the Queen of Hearts became who she did.
  5. Opposite Of Always by Justin A. Reynolds – a lovely story about a boy trying to save the girl he loves, set during different timelines and exploring the theme of second chances.

Blog Overview

I actually only started this blog in May 2021, so it’s crazy how much growth I’ve already had! My stats for the year are as follows:

  • Views – 7,095
  • Visitors – 2,280
  • Likes – 813
  • Comments – 2,396
  • Followers – 112

I’m definitely really proud of this, and I’ve set myself the following goals for this year:

  1. Hit 20,000 views
  2. Hit 5,000 visitors
  3. Hit 2,000 likes
  4. Hit 5,000 comments
  5. Hit 250 followers

I think hitting these goals definitely won’t be easy, but if I put in the work I can make it happen!

I also wanted to share my top five posts (in terms of performance) of the year, as well as comparing them to my favourite five posts to write:

Performance Wise:

  1. These Violent Nights Review
  2. As Good As Dead Review
  3. We Are 100 Review
  4. It’s Behind You Review
  5. Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag

Favourite To Write (in no particular order):

  • Rebecca Crunden Interview – this was my first ever interview on my blog, and I really enjoyed getting to know more about Rebecca and gaining insight into her book, These Violent Nights.
  • Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag – this was my first ever tag! I really enjoyed reflecting on my read’s of the year up until that point and I was really grateful to Hannah for tagging me.
  • As Good As Dead Review – of course the review for my favourite read of the year had to be up there! I loved talking about it and rambling about how much I loved it.
  • Heartless Review – this was my first ever blog post, and I had so much fun writing it! It’s crazy to see how far my blog has come since hitting publish on that first review.
  • Nathan Timmel Interview – Nathan was so lovely and I loved interviewing him about his book, We Are 100, as well as hearing about his writing advice.

Overall I’m really happy with how the year went, and can’t wait to challenge myself to meet my new goals in 2022!

How many books did you read in 2021? What were your top reads of 2021? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed this wrap up!

Ceri

40 thoughts on “Yearly Wrap Up: 2021 Edition”

  1. Well that’s a long list of books you’ve read!! There are loads which look interesting and intriguing! I believe that you can reach those goals you set yourself this year and hopefully you will!!! Thank you for sharing!!!

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  2. Fantastic yearly wrap up Ceri. I will look forward to reading your reviews. Keep up the good work and you will achieve your goals by the end of 2022! Don’t forget how proud I am of you. Xx

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  7. Wow, that was a great 2021 for you! With awesome blog stats for a beginning blogger and a lot of books! I didn’t read as much as I wanted in 2021, but for 2022 I set the goal on 15 books to start with. 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much, I was definitely pleasantly surprised! Good luck with reaching your goal, I hope you can get a bit more into reading this year if that’s what you want. Thank you so much for reading and commenting 🙂

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  8. What a great year you had Ceri! Congratulations! I love the visual of the pie chart to illustrate the genres read. Have a wonderful 2022 and Happy Reading.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. Wow, so many books!! I’m definitely not answering the question as to how many books I read in 2021 haha. Congratulations on your blog stats, you’ve done so well in 2021 and no doubt will do great in 2022 too!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I was definitely surprised, to say the least! Thank you so much, I’m definitely proud of what I’ve achieved so far. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I can’t wait to see where your blog goes this year too!

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  10. It makes my heart so happy to see several of my favorites in your top picks list! Especially Opposite of Always, since Justin is such a majorly underrated author and his books are absolutely phenomenal. He’s become a great friend over the past couple of years and it brings me such joy to see you enjoyed his book. I hope you give Early Departures a read too 🙂 And YAYYY for Addie LaRue, which is one of my forever favorites.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Ah I’m so glad to hear that! Yes Opposite Of Always is so good, I absolutely loved it (I’m so jealous that you’re friends with him!). Early Departures is currently on my (ever growing, lol) tbr; I’m really hoping to get to it this year. Addie LaRue is so beautiful, isn’t it?! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave such a lovely comment 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much, that means a lot to me as I love your blog so I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying my content! Thank you so much for reading and commenting and being such a lovely supporter of my blog so far!

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  12. I love the little graph you included. I mostly read poetry and self help and I was looking to expand into mystery because I think reading mysteries sharpens your problem solving skills. Thanks for the list!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thank you so much! Ooh I don’t read much of either of those, but I’d love to expand into those genres too. I definitely agree with mysteries helping with problem solving! Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I hope you can get more into mysteries this year!

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  16. Wow what an amazing year you’ve had with your blog – truly is deserved, I love your blog & your reviews. You’ve shared some amazing books with us this year and it’s much appreciated. Xo

    Elle – ellegracedeveson.com

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