Shiver me Timbers! An Anniversary!

Ahoy there me mateys!  Guess what day it be?

So to celebrate me 6 year (b)log anniversary, I break it down . . .

2021 Books By the Numbers:
Number of Posts: 116
Books Read: 115
Books Reviewed: 119 (4 by the First Mate)
Number of Pages Read: 34,965 (average 304; median 304)
Books that Walked the Plank: 5
Books that Forced an Abandoned Ship: 8
Books Off the Charts: 14
Books with Second Reflections: 12
Authors Profiled in Broadsides: 0
Parley with an Author: 1
Most Books Read by a Single Author: 4 (Dianne Freeman & William Ritter)

Books by Gender (to the best of me knowledge): F (74 / 64.35%) M (38 / 33.04%)  Non-Binary (2 / 1.74%) Multiple Authors (1 / 0.87%)

Books by Genre: Fantasy (41 / 35.65%), Sci-Fi (29 / 25.22%), YA-Fantasy (20 / 17.39%), YA-Sci-Fi (5 / 4.35%), YA-Contemporary (1 / 0.87%),  Horror (3 / 2.61%), Thriller (2 / 1.74%), Historical (8 / 6.96%), Classic (1 / 0.87%), Romance (0 / 0%), Literary (0 / 0%), Non-Fiction (4 / 3.48%), Mystery (0 / 0%), Comic-Graphic Novels (1 / 0.87%), Western (0 / 0%)

ARCS (thank ye kindly NetGalley, Edelweiss, Authors, & Publishers!!) (51 / 44.35%)

Novellas (21 / 18.26%)
Audiobooks (9 / 7.83%)

Books Read by Country (to the best of me knowledge): Australia – 3, Canada – 11, China – 0, Cyprus – 0, England – 12, Finland – 0, Germany – 1, Ireland – 0, Japan – 1, Malaysia – 2,  Mexico – 0, Multiple – 1, Netherlands – 0, Nigeria – 0, Scotland – 0, South Africa – 0, South Korea – 0, Switzerland – 0, Taiwan – 0, New Zealand – 0, US – 82

Top Five Books Read in 2021 (excluding re-reads):

with some cheatin’ because I’m a pirate!  Arrrrr!

I started with a list of 19 amazing new 5 star reads.  Books 2 to 5 can interchange depending on me mood.  Book 1 has maintained its position all year!  All of them made the list due to the likelihood of rereads.

5. the orphans of raspay  & the physicians of vilnoc (Lois McMaster Bujold) – Cheating to have two novellas in the same slot but I can’t chose between them.  I love this series!

4. fugitive telemetry (Martha Wells) – I LOVE MURDERBOT!!!.  Arrrrr!

3. a psalm for the wild-built (Becky Chambers) – I adored this one and need a tea monk in me life.  I be looking forward to the next in the series.

2. the galaxy, and the ground within (Becky Chambers) – This was the final book in the Wayfarers series and I am sad there are no more planned.  I will reread this series for sure.

1. barsk (Lawrence M. Schoen) – This was one of the earliest books read in the year and the best by far.  It made me cry.  It is an odd but exquisite book that needs all the love in the world.

Top Five Popular Reviews of 2021:

Weird but all of these reviews were not written in 2021!

Second Reflections of a Banned Book – the witch of blackbird pond (Elizabeth George Speare)

The Captain’s Log – the wall (John Lanchester)

The Captain’s Log – the night circus (Erin Morgenstern) – a 19 in 2019 book!

The Captain’s Log – the burning white (Brent Weeks) – the series comes to an end after 9 years

The Captain’s Log – the incorrigible children of ashton place (Maryrose Wood) – a review of one of the best series I have ever read

Top Five Popular Non-Reviews of 2021:

Shiver me Timbers! An Anniversary!

Shiver me Timbers! The 2021 Hugo Finalists – Part One

Shiver me Timbers! It be 2021!

Walk the Plank – Dry (Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman) – a rant with spoilers!

Shiver me Timbers! The 2020 Nebula Finalists – Part Two – Best Short Story

Series Shakedown 2021:

I continue to track the progress on me series.  Ye can click on the links for more specifics:

Series Completed in 2021: 3 (though now two cause there is a new Goblin Emperor book announced!)

Fully Written Series – Must Finish: 26 Series with 65 Books Including Re-Reads

Series Waiting on the Author: 26 Series with So Many Books (well I need to catch up on a couple and then wait for the next!)

Unfinished Series but Must Catch Up!: 5 Series with 8 Books Out

Series Officially Tossed Overboard: 250 (+14 from last year)

Fully Written Series I Haven’t Started: 61 (-7 from last year)

Unfinished Series I Haven’t Started: 22 (-7 from last year)

So the total ACTIVE series on me list: 57 (-5 from last year).  I am still trying to limit the number of new series that I begin until I finish some.  Well, hopefully.

Wayfare Wednesdays

This be a series of posts that shares some of the places I have traveled to.  In 2021 there weren’t many and those I did do were not really documented.  Hell and highwater, mateys!

Shiver Me Timbers! NetGalley Rejections!

I added 13 rejections in 2021 to bring the total to 133.  I love doing posts about all of the rejections I get from NetGalley and updates on a) if I ever read them; b) if I am still gonna read them; and c) links to me reviews if I have.  I did 5 of these posts in 2018, 5 in 2019, 4 in 2020, and 2 in 2021.  I have looked at the first 80 rejections so far.  I have a page discussing all 80 with thoughts on each.  The stats on these 80:

21 ports visited and loved
12 ports visited and unloved
15 ports to still plunder
32 ports quarantined never to be visited

There will definitely be more of these posts in 2022!

Hugo Awards 2021

I had so much fun doing this series of posts this year. On to 2022!!

The 2021 Hugo Finalists – Part One
The 2021 Hugo Finalists – Part Two – Novelettes
The 2021 Hugo Finalists – Part Three – Novellas
The 2021 Hugo Finalists – Part Four – Best Short Story
The 2021 Hugo Winners – The Conclusion!

Other Random Blog Stats:

First Book Review of 2021: the orphans of raspay (Lois McMaster Bujold) – another novella in the World of the Five Gods!

Last Book Review of 2021: the thirteenth cat (Mary Downing Hahn)

Comments in 2021: 674

Likes in 2021: 2,796 total

Top 3 Commenters:
Mateys Nicole @ bookwrymknits, Sarah @ brainfluff, and Lisa @ waytoofantasy

Books on me Ports for Plunder List (i.e. TBR to ye Landlubbers):
448 fiction / 116 non-fiction and counting

Current Blog Crew Members (i.e. Followers to ye Landlubbers):
1,228 and counting

Current Goodreads Crew Members (i.e. Followers to ye Landlubbers):
777 friends and 297 followers and counting

So welcome to me crew ye scalawags, seadogs, and fellow explorers!  Let’s drink some grog to another year of sailing, plunderin’, and adventurin’ on the high seas!

Always remember:

Q: Why did the pirates join a gym?

A:  To improve their booty!

Hardy har har!

x The Captain