Happy last days of 2017, friends! I cannot believe how fast this year has gone…it seems insane! It truly does feel like just a few weeks ago I was making this post for 2016 and looking forward to starting a new year! And now the year is over…what?!? I guess we have had a lot keeping us busy this year. Here are some highlights:
1. New developments with our jobs have kept us busy… Mr. Bingley has started some new projects, and my studio went through a remodel and a little bit of an expansion.
2. Mr. Bingley had surgery again… Poor Mr. Bingley had his gallbladder removed after we discovered it was “super inflamed” and “super irritated.”
3. Mr. Bingley bought a truck and he is now a “truck person”… It’s such a lifestyle thing! 😉 Definitely a new hobby for him!
4. We traveled to some new places like southern California, Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Boston, Massachusetts… And all three places are ones we’d happily visit again!
5. We traveled with friends and family to Disney World and Busch Gardens… Both are places we’ve been before, but it was extra special to travel with friends and family and further cement those special relationships!
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Now, on the blog front it has been quite a busy year…
Let’s see a summary, shall we?
Total Blog Posts for 2017 – 174 (2 more than last year!)
Total Reviews Posted in 2017 – 65 (3 more than last year!)
Total Author Visits to Austenesque Reviews in 2017 – 42 (8 more than last year!)
- Interviews – 7
- Guest Posts – 16
- Excerpts – 19
Reading Challenges – 2
~ The Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge ~
Goal: 65 books
Final Progress: 71 books! I think I’ll up my goal next year! 😉
~ The Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Challenge 2017 ~
Goal: 18 books
Final Progress: 18 books! (However, if you count Georgette Heyer and Regency Romances as Austenseque, then it was 21 books!) A special thanks to Sophia Rose for creating this group year after year. I’ve participated for 3 years so far and I’m so happy to have made some progress on my Austenesque TBR pile!
~ Overall Reading Breakdowns ~
I’m a little surprised by this one! I thought I read more non-Austenesque books this year. Last year 20% of my reads were non-Austenesque!
I’m pretty happy with this balance! My variation to sequel ratio is around 2:1. One sub-genre that grew more popular for me this year for me is short story anthologies!
Just like last year exactly 25 books got 5 stars from me. However, I did have a few more 3 and 3.5 stars than last year though.
This isn’t very surprising, and I don’t anticipate it changing much next year! 😉 P&P stories will ever-reign in the Austenesque genre. But at least I got some a few non-P&P stories in.
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In a few days I’ll be posting the Austenesque Reviews’ Favorites of 2017 and with that post I’ll share the Readers’ Choice Favorites too!! If you haven’t voted yet, you still have 2 days left to do so!
What about you?
What exciting events took place in your 2017?
What reading trends did you have?
I love reading your updates : ) You and Mr. Bingley do so many fun things! And I’m impressed at your rigorous reading and blogging!
Aww, thank you, Ginger! It definitely felt like such a busy year with blogging and reading! I’m doing all I can to try and keep up with all my favorite authors! 😉
Wow, what a year you’ve had! Your post left me with a smile, as usual. (And admiration for how much you do and still read so much!) Thank you, Meredith, and I look forward to reading your posts in 2018. May the new year bring you happiness, prosperity, and lots of good reads!
Thank you, Reina! I’m so happy this post made you smile! 😉 Wishing you lots of good health and happiness for 2018! I’m excited to see what the year has in store!
What a year of beautiful moments! Thank you for sharing those personal as well as professional milestones. And I am always impressed with your blogging and reading goals — but to have surpassed them…you are amazing! Best wishes to you and yours in 2018!
Thanks, Christina! You had so pretty amazing and special moments yourself! 😉 I liked setting goals and having things to work towards. 😉 Thanks so much for checking out my post. Wishing you all the best in 2018!
I love your recaps Meredith! Stats are always interesting and you always make your very appealing 🙂 Like you I’ve read mainly P&P but this year the mash ups may have increased a little. I didn’t read as much as you, it was a very, very hard year for me. Hopefully next year I’ll be closer to your number, even if I intend to read more Non-Austenesque books in 2018 🙂
Thanks, Rita! I appreciate it so much! I love looking at stats myself and they are fun to make. I hope you get to read more in 2018! I may try to read more non-Austenesque books too. Some that I’ve owned for 4-5 years make me feel so guilty that I haven’t read them yet.
Lovely year of travels, friends, family, work, and reading for you. Yay! Glad you conquered both your challenges and very happy to have you sharing the TBR challenge. We’ll get those stacks under control someday. LOL
Now you have me curious after looking over your stats to see how mine went. I already know that my non-Austenesque is reversed from yours, but I”ll need to figure out the other breakdowns.
Can’t wait to see your best of list and how we all voted.
Have a Happy New Year, Meredith!
Thank you, Sophia! I’m so appreciative of the Austenesque TBR challenge, it is a great motivator! If you do make up some of your stats, let me know! I’d love to see them and see what trends may be similar or different!.
What a fabulous year Meredith. Poor Mr. Bingley… I do hope he is feeling much better now. Love the truck and your vacation pictures. I don’t know who created them… but I do love a good pie-chart and graphics. Yep… that just sings to my soul. Crunch those numbers!! Happy New Year to you and Mr. Bingley and your family.
Thank you, Jeanne! Yes, Mr. Bingley is back to being his sunny self and able to eat pretty much anything he wants again. 😉 I made the charts through Piktochart, it is fun and easy to use and I love making charts and lists. Wishing you a happy and healthy start to 2018!
I love stats. Wish I was that organised .
What a lovely year you have had, except for the gallbladder thing which I know from experience is very good to get rid of when it’s infected (extremely painful).
I wonder… do you never rate any book less than 3 stars? Too me, a 3 star is a book I am happy to read once but will not reread. I have, but rarely, read books I regret reading and a few that was so tedious I could not finish them… Does that never happen to you?
Happy New year!
Me too, Elin! It was scary to have it removed, but it is much better now!
I do rate lower than 3 stars, however I’ve not come across any books that I’d give lower than 2 stars too. Since I have so many books I want to read and I don’t have as much reading time as I’d wish, I am selective about what I read and sometimes will read samples before buying or agreeing to read a book. I think my selectiveness on what I read has prevented me from having more 2 and 3 star rated books. I have so far finished every book I’ve read. But that is mostly because I write reviews. If I am not enjoying a story, I still want to finish it so I can write an accurate review.
Thanks so much for your question!! I’m glad to hear that you most enjoy all the books you read!
I’m glad your year was so rich in experiences, and that Mr. Bingley came through his trials successfully. Happy new year!
Thank you, Abigail! We are hoping that no one needs surgery in 2018! 😉 Hope you have a wonderful and special 2018!!
With all you do for all the writers and readers who follow your blog, in addition to making a living, visiting family and friends and seeing new places, how do you ever manage to read so much? You amaze me!
You are sweet, Brenda! I wish I could do more to keep up with reading and all you lovely authors! But I’m pretty happy with the balance I struck – Mr. Bingley likes to occupy a lot of my time, and I’m very happy to comply. 😉 Thank you for all your lovely words.
My goodness. What a year you have given us! The breakdown is fascinating, nearly equal numbers of non-P&P. Your graphics are just better than ever. Meredith, you are Super Woman!
I truly enjoy all your fun photos. Although we have never met, the pics you’ve posted of your life with Mr. Bingley and your family at large, and let’s not forget Netherfield, have made me feel like I’ve come to know you–like a dear friend. And you are dear to all of us.
Thank you, Michelle! You are so sweet! It is interesting how that balance turned out like that. LOL! Thanks, I like making the graphics colorful – more fun to look at!
You are so sweet! Thank you so much for all the kinds words. I feel like we are dear friends too, Michelle, and I’m so grateful that Jane Austen brought us together! Wishing you the happiness and good health for 2018!
Meredith! Wow, have you and you & Mr. Bingley been busy. Love the charts and all of the events of the past years blog posts. Thanks so much for your contribution to the JAFF community. I’ve discovered so many fine reads and amazing authors through your efforts. Best Wishes for the New Year! Jen
Thank you for checking out my post and for all your lovely visits to my blog this year! I’m so happy to share my posts and I love hearing what books you have read and fond of. I hope to hear that one day you are publishing your writing!! 😉
Thank you again and again for all you do for us – the happiest of New Year wishes to you and Mr. Bingley (a.k.a Truck Man)!
Thank you, Jean! I appreciate it so much! Wishing you a happy and healthy 2018!
Thank you for your entertaining posts. I was disappointed that there weren’t more Persuasion stories this year. Wasn’t it published Dec. of 1817? The two hundred year anniversary. Hope your 2018 is a good one!
Very true! You’d think there would be a little increase in Persuasion books (fiction and nonfiction) because of that. I know I’d love to see some more Persuasion reads! Thank you so much, wishing you the same!
Hi Meredith,
Your year has been a busy one! I’m happy Mr Bingley recovered so well.
My year has been busy too but I don’t have quibbles! Well…only one…I haven’t had enough time to read all what I wanted! LOL
Congrats on your reading goals! They are amazing!
My 2017 ends with golden touches and do you know why? Because Santa has gifted me with 3 lovely austenesque books: “Chaos comes to Loungbourn ” by Victoria Kincaid, “Pirates and Prejudice ” by Kara Louise and “Pemberly : Mr Darcy’s dragon ” by Maria Grace, this last one is about dragons in regency era, it sounds thrilling!
Thanks for your helpful recommendations, I appreciated them a lot!
Have a beautiful end of the year and a blessed 2018 full of joy! 🙂
Hi Teresa! It has – it sure has flown by! I hear you! I am always wishing for more hours in the day or another day of the week! I’m glad your year has gone well! And yay for such a lovely ending to your year!! Great choices, I am especially fond of Pirates and Prejudice! But the dragon one sounds fun too! Hope you have a great 2018 with lots of wonderful reads and happiness!
Thank you Meredith for a host of wonderful recommendations this year! I love your reviews, which haven’t steered me wrong yet- although they have steered me to Amazon on countless occasions I’m in awe of the amount of reading you get through and have loved keeping up with you and Mr Bingley over the year and I’m glad he’s feeling better. Can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store and what your recommendations are – after I get through the lovely stack of books I got for Christmas ☺
I’m so glad I haven’t steered you wrong!! 😉 LOL! I’ve been in trouble with readers before for making them buy more books! 😉 I wish I could read more, or faster, or review faster (sometimes that part takes awhile). Thanks for following my posts and ramblings about Mr. Bingley! He is definitely feeling better and we joke that there will be “no surgeries is 2018” fingers crossed! Hope you are having a lovely start to your year!
What a year you have had! I do so love your charts and would have to say the majority of my reading is P&P as well. I do try to mix it up with other genres but the lure of P&P keeps calling. Thank you for such a wonderful year of reviews, authors and insight! Happy New Year!
Thanks, Carole! It sure went fast! Like you, I love to mix it up, and sometimes when I do I find myself missing Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth. Which is nice to see, even after all these years I still can’t get enough of them!
Wishing you and everyone many great reads in 2018. I do hope that there are more Persuasion inspired stories to celebrate its 200 anniversary. I can see from the comments that I am not the only one that is requesting more Persuasion. Preferably equal amounts of contemporary and historical fiction versions. See you all next year!
Thank you, Arelys! I hope we you have many great reads in 2018 too! It would be fantastic to see some more Persuasion inspired stories!! Yes, both contemporary and Regency period!
Happy New Year!
denise
Wishing you a very happy 2018, Denise!
What a great year, Meredith! Always love seeing your end of the year summary and I can’t wait to see your favourite books of the year!
Thanks, Maria! I love reflecting on the past year and always look forward to sharing both posts! Thank you so much for your encouraging words! Hope you have a wonderful 2018, my friend!
I am always amazed at how you find time to organize your lists, and charts much less find time to read, work, interview, etc. Great Job. Happy New Year. Love all the photos.
It’s fun to make charts and lists, so I am happy to do it even if it does take a few hours! 😉 Thanks for all your kind words! Hoping you have great health, happiness, and an abundance of wonderful reads in 2018!
Your posts are always such fun, Meredith!!!! Just catching up with all of them (I was away and missed them all when they were hot hot hot) but what a wonderful treat to come back to! I’m so glad you and Mr Bingley did so many wonderful things together, that he’s much better after his op and that he has such a shiny new hobby, lovely to hear about your studio and all the gorgeous places you visited, and OMG your great and colourful graphs!!!
Hope 2018 takes you to lots more wonderful places, and that it makes your dreams come true <3 xx