Who Won? 2014 Edition: Audiobooks vs. eBooks vs. “Real” Books

As I do every year around this time (reflect back to 2013 stats and 2012 stats, respectively, if you so chose) I examine not just what I read, but how I read it.

In 2012, of the 64 books I had read in the calendar year, 28 were physical books, 22 were eBooks, and 14 were audiobooks. Rounding up those percentages, that’s 44% physical paper books, 34% eBooks, and 22% audiobooks.

In 2013, I read significantly more, clocking in at 98 total books read. Of these, 46 were audiobooks, 29 were eBooks, and 23 were physical books. That’s 47% audiobooks, 30% eBooks, and 23% physical books.

This year, in 2014, I read 73 books total for pleasure (I’m not counting manuscripts that I copyedited). Of that, 42 were audiobooks, 19 were physical books, and 12 were eBooks. That’s 51% audiobooks, 23% physical books, and 14% eBooks.

I’m a little surprised, honestly. Not that I read a greater percentage of audiobooks this year than anything else (I noticed that throughout the year), but the sheer number of audiobooks. Forty-two!! At each clocking in at, let’s say, an average of 10 hours each, that’s at least 420 hours spent LISTENING to audiobooks this year! That’s a solid 17.5 days of my life–this year alone–spent simply listening to audiobooks (to be fair, I usually listen to audiobooks while doing other things; folding laundry, walking the dog, driving somewhere). Admittedly, I listened to more audiobooks the year before, but I guess I had never done the math before.

Otherwise, the physical book spike, in percentages at least, makes sense to me. Once I started at HarperCollins this year, I started having access to a ton of great print books to read, more access than I’ve had in previous years.

I’m pretty happy with the amount of reading I did this year. I read a lot of interesting books I really enjoyed. I read a lot more middle grade than I’ve read in recent years, which helped keep me in the mood for my WIP. In 2015, I want to keep up about the same pace, perhaps increasing the number of under-reviewed books I choose to read, the smaller, less-well-heard-of books. Mostly, this year, though, I want to enjoy reading but also put down the books long enough to have enough time to write my own books and finally get them onto somebody else’s to-read list.