Che-Michelle Tales

 Goodreads vs Kindle App- A Breakdown of 2023 Reading Insights

 I want to say that this year I read! I read a lot across all my reading platforms, Physical (Hard Books) and Digital (Kindle, Google Books, Audible, and Spotify) I have read! Reading replaced me listening to podcasts this year. I was shocked, but I also had podcast burnout. A few shows I loved stopped producing content; others turned into another territory that did not resonate with me. So, I decided to read more; it is good for your brain and helps with stress.

 I needed help getting a firm handle on how many books I read this year. Why? I have two Goodreads accounts, so one account keeps track of Kindle, and the other does not track anything. I must manually input the information. I also read books on Google Books and listen to books on Audible and Spotify. The books I listened to from Spotify were not counted in this year’s total since I still need to finish the book. I also used an app called Story Graph, which I got from a friend’s recommendation. Nadia Odunayo created Story Graph. In 2024, I will invest $50 and use the premium plan. Story Graph has several cool features that make reading more fun and interactive by analyzing books’ mood, genre, and length.

*Che from the Future: I am trying to get my finances in order so that I will use the free version of Story Graph. But if anyone who reads this can splurge and pay $50 a year, please do! I promise it is worth it for book lovers, and it is not an Amazon-based company. 😊

There is a potential that I have read over fifty books in 2023, but only two-thirds of those books have been accounted for on Goodreads’s account. I am not going to lie; this was a total bummer. I like meaningless awards for doing something I must do to keep my brain strong. My goal is to determine how many books I read in 2023. Well, my goal for Goodreads was fifty-two books, and my goal on Kindle was forty books. As I update this post, I hit forty-five books… so can I squeak at least seven more books by December 31, 2023… I could if I read a bunch of Amazon Original Short stories. I want to read An Axe for a Hammer by Antione Bandele before the 31^st of December. Now the question is, how many books did I read, and what genres did they fall into? Analyzing and breaking down the number of books I read this past year would be another reason I need Story Graph because it breaks down the genres and offers suggestions based on your mood and reading trends.

Speaking of Meaningless awards, I want to drop some Kindle Stats:

• I have read 56 Weeks in a row… Which means I have read at least once a week since December 2022.
• I have read 118 Days since writing this essay/Blog/ ramble.
• For 2023, I have completed at least one total Kindle Challenge with all achievements presented during the period 16 /16 achievements unlocked.

How many books did I read in 2023… approximately fifty. I did not finish at least five. Let us break down the numbers. I know Goodreads is an Amazon account, but this year is the first time my Goodreads has not kept a decent track of what I have read over the year. I have two Goodreads accounts; I could not tell you how this miscalculation occurred. But one of my Goodreads accounts is the Beta app, and the other is connected to Facebook. The Good Reads Beta app only has 34 of 52 books read this year, which is semi-accurate. I have read more books than that. My Amazon Kindle app has me forty-four books for 2023, which sounds more precise; I almost read a book weekly. Goodreads is ten books off from my Amazon app. I did not read a lot of Kindle shorts this year due to the Google interface and having to go to my computer to buy or take the Kindle book out. My other Goodreads app, linked to my Facebook account, says I only read eight books this year; two are repeats on the other Goodreads app. I cannot figure out when I read said books on Google Books because it just says read, which is not applicable, Google! But it looks like I read eight books on Google Books; two made it to my Goodreads account linked to my Facebook account. So, let us do the quick math, taking out duplicates and using the Amazon Kindle count; I have read fifty books in 2023. I can squeeze in at least another two books by December 31, 2023.

Update: Nope, I could not squeeze in another two books. I am happy at a 96% completion rate.

As of December 27, 2023… I have read Drumroll, please.

52 Books Plus or minus 1 or 2.

Here is the genre breakdown of the books below:

You may ask why to separate Erotica from Romance; not all Erotic Novels are Romance and vice versa. I decided that if sex occurred and described in detail in two-thirds of the book, it would be classifying the book as Erotica on my list. As for Speculative Fiction and Science Fiction, speculative fiction typically includes Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and Alternative History fiction. Speculative Fiction is a broad umbrella, but I only include two books that truly fit under the hypothetical because the novel departed from reality and had several supernatural and very imaginative moments. Looking back over the year, I had a very balanced book reading year for 2023.

I am okay with that; reading is not my life; it is my pastime, and it helps relieve stress and inspires me to author my story (stories). I can say that in 2023, I also suffered writer’s block. I could not start or finish a story to save my life. It was so frustrating, but I hope that in 2024, I can get back into writing short stories and story prompts. Maybe start attending writing workshops again. I saw on Threads (P.S. I have a Threads account and am creating a Pinterest account) that most authors do not break out until ten years after they publish their first book. No, I have started my publishing journey this year, so I can have a vast collection of books for fifty, let us say, 45 LOL.

Anyway, I did an excellent job reading this year. I achieved my reading goal by 96.15% (100% in my head)! I can tell my readers to try different reading apps. Refrain from depending on Goodreads; they may only catch some of your books if you read them on the go. Try Story Graph; I am big on supporting small businesses. If nothing else, keep reading; real life is bananas, and reading can help you escape the reality that the world is in shambles.

Before I left, I just got my stats from WordPress!!!

• 251 Page Views
• Twenty-four posts and counting… by December 31, 2023, I should have twenty-six posts. That is technically a post every two weeks.
• Forty-two likes total… so I need to have more engaging content.
• September 2023 had the most interaction with readers.
• I am super popular in the US, Canada, and UK….
• My Blog has stayed live the entire year!

Looking at these stats, I do this book blog for personal enjoyment. I created this blog to improve my writing skills and discuss books I love. I also made this blog to help me be a better writer and to publish my short stories, poems, and essays. I still need a creative writing post, but I would like to change that in 2024. WordPress confirms that this is a valuable endeavor. I will keep at it for my fulfillment.

Until Next Year,

Che Michelle