Did I read the books I hauled in 2021? 📚 Place your bets now

Hello fellow bookworms 📚 Today I’m reflecting back on what books I hauled in 2021! I don’t usually do book hauls (except for some sneak peaks in my wrapups) but this year I wanted to figure out how many of the books I hauled, I actually ended up reading! I tracked this in my Notion throughout the year, so I used this overview for the post! Slight Spoiler, but I wasn’t that happy with my hauled to read ratio. I wish I had read more of the books I bought, which prompted me to make it a priority in 2022 to read more from my owned TBR. Especially for physical books that take up space on my shelves, I’ll only buy them if I intend to read them in the next 3 months. My problem is that I have books from 4+ years ago on my shelves that I have slowly lost some interest/motivation in and I don’t want this to happen! I no longer want to buy books that ‘I’ll know I’ll read someday’ as this hasn’t proven to be a good strategy in the past.

As for my book buying in general. I got a Kindle in 2020 and buy mostly e-books when they are on sale (under 3-4 Euros) as this is much cheaper than buying physical books. I only buy books on my TBR/that I intend to read and try to resist buying books just because they are on sale. I don’t have a strict rule here, as it doesn’t bother me that I have some more books on my Kindle, since they don’t take up space on my shelves. I also buy physical books, but not that much, due to the price and me being an unemployed Master’s student (though I have to say that I’ve got some financial privilege and supportive parents).

💫 Index 💫

• 📱 = E-book (Kindle)
• 📚 = Physical Book
• 🎁 = Gifted to Me
• 🔁 = Books I already read, but wanted a copy of

1. ❌ We Hunt the Flame (Hafsah Faizal) 📱
2. ✅ Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston) 📱🔁
3. ❌ Heartless (Marissa Meyer) 📱
4. ❌ The Darkest Minds (Alexandra Bracken) 📱
5. ✅ Concrete Rose (Angie Thomas) 📚
6. ❌ Nightblood (Elly Blake) 📚
7. ❌ The Enigma Game (Elizabeth Wein) 📚
8. ❌ A List of Cages (Hafsah Faizal) 📚

➽ These books have been on my owned TBR for the longest ... so I feel the most guilty about them. 2 books out of 8 read isn’t that great of a success rate tbh, especially as one was a book I already read but wanted to have on my Kindle 😅 I feel like my mistake (especially with the physical books I bought as an exam treat) was that I picked up books that I thought were interesting without thinking about when I would get around to reading them.

1. ✅ Take a Hint, Dani Brown (Talia Hibbert) 📱
2. ✅ Shipped (Angie Hockman) 📱

➽ I only hauled 2 e-books in February but at least I read both of them!! I didn’t theme it, but those are both Adult Romance that I saw a lot of hype for 👀 I liked both of them fine, but Dani Brown was definitely the book I loved a lot more. I just read the latter last month 💕

1. ❌ There Will Come a Darkness (Katy Rose Pool) 📱
2. ❌ A Deal with the Elf King (Elise Kova) 📱
3. ❌ A Winter’s Promise (Christelle Dabos) 📱
4. ✅ Spoiler Alert (Olivia Dade) 📱

➽ The problem with having books too long on your TBR is that your initial ‘I bought this book’ excitement fades away 😅 I heard many mixed things about the Winter’s Promise series, so I have been putting off starting this book, especially as it’s supposed to be full of angst 🥺 I’m still excited for the first two books in my haul, but somehow I have never been in the right mood to read them.

1. ✅ Igniting Darkness (Robin LaFevers) 📱
2. ✅ Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend) 📱
3. ✅ The KC Warlock Weekly (M.N. Jolley) 📱
4. ✅ The Desolations of Devil’s Acre (Ransom Riggs) 📚🎁
5. ✅ Recommended For You (Laura Silverman) 📚🎁

➽ I READ ALL THE BOOKS I HAULED WOOO!! 🥳 That’s a pretty unexpected phenomenon, so I’m pretty proud of myself! April is my birthday month and I got two books from authors I enjoy very much – I also liked the books I got gifted 🥰 I also got the e-book of Nevermoor, unaware that it would become one of my new favorite Fantasy series! I reread this book in December and got a physical copy in January because I loved it so much 🥺 The big disappointment of April’s haul was Igniting Darkness, I buddy read it with Veronika and sadly we were both disappointed!

1. ❌ Make Up, Break Up (Lily Menon) 📱
2. ✅ The Downstairs Girl (Stacey Lee) 📱
3. ❌ The Ex Talk (Rachel Lynn Solomon) 📱
4. ✅ You Will Get Through This Night (Daniel Howell) 📱

➽ I read 50% of the books I hauled, so that’s okay for me! I want to read Make Up Break Up AND The Ex Talk this month for Lovely February (#DevourYourTBR theme: books about any kind of love) as I’m hoping to challenge myself to read some Adult Romance and venture outside of my comfort zone 💕

1. ✅ Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry (Joya Goffney) 📱
2. ✅ Heartstopper Vol 4. (Alice Oseman) 📱
3. ✅ Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour (Morgan Matson) 📱
4. ❌ Witchshadow (Susan Dennard) 📚
5. ✅ The Naturals (Jennifer Lynn Barnes) 📱
6. ❌ Boyfriend Material (Alexis Hall) 📱

➽ I read most books I hauled, yet I’m still unhappy. That’s mostly because I preordered Witchshadow and didn’t end up reading it. I waited 2 years for this book 😭 I think I already said this before, but I wanted to read it after my exams were done but saw some negative/critical reviews by some fellow fans. The author wanted 2 books but then had to combine it into this one, which is what I think didn’t work for some people. I have put off reading this book ever since, as I have a deep fear of disappointment 🥺

1. ❌ The Golden Lily (Richelle Mead) 📚
2. ✅ Here the Whole Time (Vitor Martins) 📱
3. ❌ Raybearer (Jordan Ifueko) 📱
4. ❌ The Library of the Unwritten (A.J. Hackwith) 📱
5. ❌ Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger) 📱
6. ❌ Tarnished Are the Stars (Rosiee Thor) 📱
7. ❌ All the Feels (Olivia Dade) 📱
8. ✅ Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake) 📱🔁
9. ✅ Girl of Nightmares (Kendare Blake) 📚 {Bought Used}
10. ❌ The Pearl Thief (Elizabeth Wein) 📚 {Bought Used}

➽ Another month where I hauled a lot, but didn’t read as many books as I would have liked! (combined these as I only hauled 1 book in July) I bought The Golden Lily for a Readalong but then I wasn’t in the mood for it at all & also dropped the Readalong entirely 🥺 Once again, I hauled a lot of Fantasy, but I’m excited to read some of these books this year 💕 I got The Pearl Thief as I needed to reach free shipping, but I’m glad I did because it’s a prequel to my favorite historical fiction series!

1. ✅ A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness) 📚🔁 {Bought Used}
2. ✅ Small Spaces (Katherine Arden) 📚🔁
3. ✅ Thirteens (Kate Alice Marshall) 📚
4. ❌ The Boy Who Steals Houses (C.G. Drews) 📱
5. ✅ The Darkness Outside Us (Eliot Schrefer) 📱
6. ✅ Warren the 13th & the All-Seeing Eye (Tania Del Rio) 📱
7. ❌ The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman) 📱

➽ I’d say that I read a good amount of books I hauled in September! I got lots of books I wanted to read for my spooky themed reading in October. That made me realize that I read more of my hauled books when I plan to read them soonish and inspired my reading goal for 2022 to only haul a book if I’ll read it within 3 months of the purchase! 📖

1. ❌ Act Your Age, Eve Brown (Talia Hibbert) 📱
2. ❌ The Sun Down Motel (Simone St. James) 📱
3. ❌ There’s Someone Inside Your House (Stephanie Perkins) 📱

➽ I only hauled 3 books in October and I don’t mind that I haven’t read them, because I know that I’ll definitely read them this year! I’m very excited to read some Adult books, so I’m keen for Eve Brown and The Sun Down Motel, both in completely different genres 😄 I also hope to read There’s Someone Inside Your House in fall, especially as I’ve now seen the movie adaptation and wanted to check out the source material!

1. ❌ Give the Dark My Love (Beth Revis) 📱
2. ✅ A Holiday by Gaslight (Mimi Matthews) 📱
3. ❌ Realm Breaker (Victoria Aveyard) 📱
4. ✅ The Girl Who Saved Christmas (Matt Haig) 📚
5. ✅ Wundersmith (Jessica Townsend) 📚

➽ I’d say November was another success ratio-wise! 🥳 I only had 2 books I didn’t read, two Fantasy books I was excited for but knew I wouldn’t read right away. I’m especially curious about Realm Breaker 👀 I loved Aveyard’s Red Queen series, it holds such nostalgic value and is what brought me back to reading! Now it’ll be interesting to see if I like her newest book as well!

1. ❌ The Holiday Swap (Maggie Knox) 📱
2. ❌ Mr. Dickens & His Carol (Samantha Silver) 📱
3. ✅ The Bronzed Beasts (Roshani Chokshi) 📱
4. ❌ The Holiday Switch (Tif Marcelo) 📱
5. ❌ New Year’s Kiss (Lee Matthews) 📱
6. ❌ All I Want for Christmas (Wendy Loggia) 📱
7. ✅ The Afterlife of Holly Chase (Cynthia Hand) 📚🔁
8. ✅ Cat’s Café (Matt Tarpley) 📚🎁🔁
9. ❌ Thirteen Storeys (Jonathan Sims) 📱📚🎁
10. ✅ Daughter of the Deep (Rick Riordan) 📚🎁
11. ✅ The House in the Cerulean Sea (T.J. Klune) 📚🎁🔁
12. ✅ It Sounded Better In My Head (Nina Kenwood) 📚🎁🔁
13. ✅ Good Omens (TV Tie-In) (Pratchett & Gaiman) 📚🎁🔁

➽ I hauled the most books in December, but probably because this included my Christmas haul!! I asked for 4 books that I already had read and wanted a physical copy of because they were favorites so that was an easy win 😂 The only book in my Christmas haul I haven’t read yet is Thirteen Storeys but I’m saving that for October! The other books I hauled were wintery/festive books I got because they were on sale. I didn’t manage to read them in December, but as they are all on my Kindle I don’t mind saving them for next Christmas!

In Conclusion

… I hauled 67 books & I read 50.7% of them 📖

➽ What types of books did I buy most? I bought 43 e-books and 24 physical books

➽ Most Books Bought in a Month: December (13 Books). This is not surprising, since this included the (6) books I was gifted for Christmas 🎄

➽ Did I Preorder any books? I have to admit that though I wish I could, I don’t preorder many books, especially as due to shortages, they usually aren’t as readily available anymore. I did preorder Witchshadow, You Will Get Through This Night and All the Feels though!

Have you read all of the books you hauled in 2021? Any books you definitely want to get to this year? Which of these books should I read first? 📚