I'm hosting this challenge, which encourages participants to read historical fiction written for children (including teens) by fulfilling 20 reading prompts.  You can get all the information on this challenge and sign up here.

2.  2021 Historical Fiction Challenge

I love historical fiction of all kinds, so I'm excited for this one.  I'm going to aim for the "Prehistoric" level by reading 50+ historical novels.  You can get all the information on this challenge and sign up here.

3.  2021 Booklist Queen Reading Challenge

I signed up for this 52-prompt challenge halfway through last year, so I didn't complete the 2020 version, although I did finish about 70% of the prompts.  I'm aiming for 100% this year.  You can get all the information on this challenge and sign up here.

4.  2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge

This annual challenge features 40 prompts, with an additional 10 for an "Advanced" experience.  Naturally, I plan to do all 50 like I did in 2020.  What can I say?  I'm a glutton for punishment!  You can get all the information on this challenge here.  No sign up is required. 

5.  2021 Literary Escapes Reading Challenge

Although I do this challenge every year, 2020 was the first year I actually completed it.  It's a fun one, so I'm doing it again in 2021.  The aim is to read one book set in every state, plus D.C.  You can get all the information on this challenge and sign up here.

6.  2021 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

If you enjoy mysteries, this is a morbid but fun challenge.  You read murder mysteries, keep track of the body count, and earn points for every corpse you add to the morgue.  You can get all the information on this challenge and sign up here.

7.  2021 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

We did it!  We made it to 2021!  Happy New Year, everyone!  

I know I'm a little bit late to the party, but things have been a little hectic around here.  My son and his beautiful bride were married on Saturday.  It was a lovely event in every way and even though it was stressful to hold a wedding during the holidays, it was a fun way to start the new year.

Now that my company has gone home, I can turn my attention to looking at my reading stats from 2020.  It's always interesting and fun for me to look back at what I read and how it compares/contrasts with other years' numbers.  So, without further ado, here we go:

Total Books Read:  191 - Although I did not meet my goal of reading 200 books, I got pretty darn close.  I blew past last year's total of 168 and even beat my all-time record of 186 (from 2011).  Not bad!

Number of fiction books read:  183 (96%)

Number of non-fiction books read:  8 (4%)

Number of adult books read:  119 (62%)

Number of YA books read:  23 (12%)

Number of MG books read:  49 (26%)

Number of books by female authors: 164 (86%)

Number of books by male authors: 22 (12%)

Number of books by multiple authors, male and female:  5 (2%)

Number of books read, personal collection:  37 (19%)

Number of books read, review copies:  53 (28%)

Number of books read, borrowed from library:  101 (53%)

Number of books read, paper:  126 (66%)

Number of books read, electronic: 60 (31%)  

Number of books read, audio:  6 (3%)

Number of reading challenges joined:  8

Number of reading challenges completed:  6

For the Literary Escapes Challenge, I kept track of the states and countries where the books I read took place.  The top three states I visited most were:  California, New York, and North Carolina (a three-way tie as I read 11 books set in each).  The top three countries besides the U.S. were:  England (13), France (3), and Russia (3).  

As is true every year, in 2020 I read mostly adult fiction set in the United States that was written by women.  Unlike other years, the majority of the books I read this year came from the library, which is interesting since my local libraries were not open for several months because of the pandemic.  In previous years, I've read mostly review books.  Another big change this year is that I completed almost all of the reading challenges I signed up for.  That has never happened before!  

Overall, I have to say that 2020 was a very good reading year for me.  I'm hoping 2021 will be even better.  How did your year in reading go?  

Just for my records, the following is a list of books I read this year: