Successes and failures in crime fiction reading in 2018

Although I exceeded my planned total of books for 2018 it was a year when some things just slipped off my radar, and other categories bloomed.

Early in the year my good friend and collaborator Bernadette on Fair Dinkum Crime passed away unexpectedly. Our little reading group has missed her acid wit and I have missed her inspiration.
I have kept Fair Dinkum Crime going but in reality she was the energy and guiding light behind it.
If you read Australian crime fiction and would like to contribute to Fair Dinkum Crime let me know. 

So here is what I managed this year - you can check the details here if you like.

• 2018 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I set my challenge at 110 and read 123
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2018: 4
• 2018 Global Reading Challenge currently 10
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 21/51, this year: 19
• 2018 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 25
• 2018 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 14
• British Books Challenge 2018 currently 67
• 2018 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 28
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently 49
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 9
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 2
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 0
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 5
• Snagged at the Library currently: 60
• Audio books: currently: 23
• 2018 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 16

The Global Reading Challenge failed to capture me and I won't run it again this year.
I am horrified that I only read 2 books for the Nordic challenge, and absolutely gutted that my total of New Zealand crime fiction reading is 0.
My e-book reading dropped off a little and the low number of translated novels is probably linked to that.

However - the up-side

• I rarely read outside the genre - only 9 non-crime fiction titles, 3 of those are in a series, and have a heavy "mystery" theme. But then reading friends will tell you that I can see mystery in almost every book.
• 1 book in 6 was set in America
• 1 book in 6 was an audio book
• 1 book in 5 is by an Australian author
• 40% of the authors that I read are "new-to-me". Doesn't mean they are new on the scene, just that I haven't reviewed one of their titles on this blog in 11 years.
• Over 50% of the crime fiction I read is British, and most of that is newly published.
• About 50% of the books I read are provided by my local library, 25% from Kindle, and 20% from Audible.