We’ve wrapped up yet another year of the Cannonball Read! Everyone give yourself a pat on the back for all that you’ve reviewed, and remember to give yourself a pass for the things that you didn’t review. There’s no pressure, here.
I want to make this more aesthetically digestible, but it’s late and I’m tired. So I’ll just cut the introduction short.
There were 5,394 reviews written for CBR13. That’s a record!
Of those reviews, there are 3,097 unique books/stories.
Our top 10 (14) most reviewed books last year were:
1. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (11 reviews, 4.30 stars)
2. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (10 reviews, 3.90 stars)
t-3. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (9 reviews, 4.10 stars)
t-3. Battle Royal by Lucy Parker (9 reviews, 4.40 stars)
t-3. Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (9 reviews, 4.00 stars)
6. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (8 reviews, 3.90 stars)
t-7. The Searcher by Tana French (7 reviews, 4.30 stars)
t-7. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (7 reviews, 4.10 stars)
t-7. Later by Stephen King (7 reviews, 2.70 stars)
t-7. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (7 reviews, 4.70 stars)
t-7. The Guest List by Lucy Foley (7 reviews, 3.50 stars)
t-7. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (7 reviews, 4.40 stars)
t-7. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (7 reviews, 4.30 stars)
t-7. All Systems Red by Martha Wells (7 reviews, 4.0 stars)
Our top most reviewed authors last year were:
1. Martha Wells (34 reviews, 9 books, 4.10 stars)
2. Stephen King (30 reviews, 18 books, 3.40 stars)
3. Julia Quinn (28 reviews, 11 books, 3.70 stars)
4. Brandon Sanderson (23 reviews, 14 books, 4.40 stars)
5. Agatha Christie (22 reviews, 18 books, 3.70 stars)
6. Lois McMaster Bujold (20 reviews, 17 books, 4.50 stars)
7. P. Djeli Clark (19 reviews, 5 books, 4.40 stars)
8. Rainbow Rowell (18 reviews, 6 books, 3.80 stars)
9. Tamora Pierce (17 reviews, 14 books, 4.10 stars)
10. Jim Butcher (16 reviews, 14 books, 4.00 stars)
t-10. Molly Harper (16 reviews, 7 books, 3.10 stars)
t-10. Sylvia Moreno-Garcia (16 reviews, 4.00 stars)
Most popular genres:
Fiction (3,148 reviews)
Nonfiction (780)
Fantasy (878)
Romance (622)
Children’s (466)
Mystery (465)
History (413)
Science Fiction (355)
Biography/Memoir (312)
Graphic Novel (283)
Young Adult (282)
Horror (199)
Reviews by month:
Top ten reviewers of 2021 (these numbers may be different than the official tally):
1. vel veeter (556)
2. BlackRaven (429)
3. narfna (212)
4. wicherwill (205)
5. Jake (200)
6. llamareadsbooks (120)
7. Emmalita (119)
8. CoffeeShopReader (111)
9. andtheIToldYouSos (79)
t-10. faintingviolet (77)
t-10. Mobius_Walker (77)
CBR Database:
42,913+ reviews (CBR3-13)
23,814+ individual books reviewed
Annual participant totals:
2010. 95 (15 cannonballs)
2011. 95 (22)
2012. 141 (33)
2013. 148 (31)
2014. 136 (34)
2015. 109 (50)
2016. 122 (41)
2017. 141 (43)
2018. 125 (54)
2019. 135 (72)
2020. 108 (46)
2021. 130 (56)
Top 20 Reviewers of All Time: (total reviews; ranking last year)
1. vel veeter (2,961; 1st)
2. BlackRaven (1,868; 2nd)
3. narfna (1,527; 4th)
4. Malin (1,414; 3rd)
5. badkittyuno (1,267; 5th)
6. Jen K (830; 6th)
7. bonnie (804; 7th)
8. Sophia (662; 8th)
9. faintingviolet (660; 10th)
10. Emmalita (648; 11th)
11. Caitlin_D (638; 9th)
12. Jake (593; 19th)
13. AskReviews (576; 16th)
14. ElCicco (552; 15th)
15. scootsa1000 (551; 12th)
16. alwaysanswerb (539; 14th)
17. CoffeeshopReader (479; 21st)
18. prisco (478; 13th)
19. Classic (421; 18th)
20. ingres77 (405; 24th)
Top 10 books of all time:
1. Station Eleven (63 reviews, 4.6 average)
2. Ready Player One (54, 4.3)
3. Gone Girl (51, 3.9)
t-4. The Hunger Games (50, 4.3)
t-4. The Night Circus (50, 4.3)
6. Mockingjay (48, 3.5)
7. The Fault in Our Stars (45, 4.1)
8. Catching Fire (44, 3.9)
t-9. Attachments (43, 4.3)
t-9. Eleanor & Park (43, 4.5)
The biggest notable mover is All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It jumped to 51st place with seven reviews this year (for a total of 23 reviews). For the most part, the top 50 doesn’t change too much – but this book may climb a little higher this year.
Top 10 authors of all time:
1. Stephen King (462 reviews; 3.7 average)
2. Neil Gaiman (311 reviews; 4.0 average)
3. Robert Galbraith (262 reviews; 4.3 average)
4. Rainbow Rowell (242 reviews; 4.3 average)
5. J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts (213 reviews; 3.1 average)
6. Agatha Christie (196 reviews; 3.6 average)
7. Terry Pratchett (191 reviews; 3.8 average)
8. George RR Martin (177 reviews; 3.9 average)
t-9. Margaret Atwood (164 reviews; 4.0 average)
t-9. Brandon Sanderson (164 reviews; 4.1 average)
11. Jim Butcher (165 reviews; 4.0 average)
12. Suzanne Collins (157 reviews; 3.9 average)
13. Courtney Milan (153 reviews; 4.0 average)
14. Ilona Andrews (150 reviews; 4.0 average)
15. Brian K. Vaughan (141 reviews; 4.2 average)
16. Tana French (130 reviews; 4.1 average)
17. Seanan McGuire (126 reviews; 3.8 average)
18. Liane Moriarty (114 reviews; 3.8 average)
19. Lisa Kleypas (110 reviews; 3.5 average)
20. John Scalzi (107 reviews; 4.0 average)