Hello all! I did this last year and I had a lot of fun with it, so I figured, why not make it an annual tradition?
Also since I did it last year I figured I could draw plenty of comparisons!
What I find interesting looking at these stats is how some of my reading has changed in just a year. One of the best things is that while my number of books read has gone down (from 220), my average rating has gone up (from 3.5). I’m really excited to see this and my best guess for this improvement would be the way I choose books- aka I think I know my tastes better and reading so many reviews means I can vet books a lot better nowadays- so I owe the blogging community a vote of thanks for this one!
And cos I’m dorky and like statistics, I had a good time comparing 2018 to 2017 (link). For instance, the amount of YA I read was wayyy up- from 39% to 47%. Makes sense- I needed more time to relax. My reading of classics and literary fiction has remained largely static in terms of statistics- around 13%- although given how many books I read last year, this works out as significantly less. Fantasy reading is down from 43% to 34%, while contemporaries are up from 16% to 23%- not only is it interesting to note that I spent more time in the real world, but I can speculate that this more varied approach stopped some genre fatigue. Interesting stuff!
It’s sad that even though it was super short, it was still a complete waste of time.
It’s taken me years to finally brave this one- I count this as a total victory!
Normally I’m reluctant to use the term… buuut in this case I’ll make an exception.
Well, it is a little slice of genius
Just the one:
Ten! I did *a lot* of rereading this year and it was a great change! I used to reread way more when I was younger and it felt great to reconnect with that habit. I reckon it also had something to do with the fact that I got more enjoyment out of my books this year (just look at those ratings!)
HP x7 and Secret countess, wee free men, shiver (don’t remember reading it the first time)
Okay, duh.
Well then, this means you guys had better get on and read it 😉
It currently 4.65- possibly cos it’s a new release and only the most enthusiastic readers will have read it at this stage (in fact, when I started making this post it was 4.67, so there you go, it’s already going down).
At 3.26- makes sense- it’s a complete waste of time.
And that’s a wrap! Do you keep track of your stats? How have your ratings been this year? Let me know in the comments!
Great post. I love stats too. 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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I keep track of a very limited number of stats. I’ve got my Year in Review post all finished up and it is scheduled for Tuesday. A New Post for a New Year 🙂
I keep seeing all these year end posts with averages way over 3.5 and it makes me wonder just what I’m doing wrong. Then I just realize how much happier I am to live with my own stuff instead of trying to conform to somebody else’s expectations.
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Great! I’m looking forward to it- I really like looking at stats.
Well it’s been a good year for me- usually my average is around 3.5 or lower, so I’m pretty surprised by it. hehe amen to that!
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You read 165 books – holy cannoli, Ms. Librarian! That’s 3-4 years’ worth of reading for me. i just can’t read that fast though I wish I could.
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hehe thank you!
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I like stats but this is extra-stat-y! haha. It’s cool that you look at all this data and refine for the next year, though! It sounds pretty rewarding 🙂
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hehehe I’m a complete dork 😉 Thank you very much! It is 🙂
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Stats post, wooo! I do keep track of my stats. I have a spreadsheet where I track all types of things, some diversity stats, some random stats (like the month or season I read a book), etc. In fact, I spent the weekend updating my spreadsheet (I got so far behind) so that I could get my stats together for my annual post. I love these types of posts, especially once you have a year or two doing them then you can look back and see if there are any patterns and such. Fun!
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Ah that’s so cool!! I like exploring all of those sorts of things. I look forward to seeing your stats post 🙂 Yes- that’s the best bit about it! 🙂 (glad I’m not the only one that thinks this way 😉 )
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Hopefully I’ll have it up soon, maybe Wed or Thursday if I can’t get it out by the 1st. I was going through everything yesterday and too much spreadsheet-ing started to make my head spin lol.
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Awesome! hehe I totally understand that feeling! It took me ages to go through it all.
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Pie charts!! Impressed that you only DNF’d one book and still managed to read so much.
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Thank you so much 🙂
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I’m aiming at about 12 books for the year ahead and not sure how many I read this year. Your number of books read is amazing.
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Thank you very much!
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Harry Potter reread! I need to do this again, I started Philosophers Stone and then stopped!
I love stats, but I only have what Goodreads gave me this year…..as I’m lazy!!!
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It was one of the best things I did this year in terms of reading 🙂 I had so much fun!!
hehe I totally understand- I use goodreads as the basis 😉
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That’s it, I need to do it!!! I need to choose a month and go for it!
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Absolutely!!
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I’m impressed you made it through Gone with the Wind! I never have and last year decided I might as well donate my copy to the library.
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Thank you! I’m honestly surprised I made it through too!
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I like stats but am generally too lazy to keep track of my own reading in any detail. 😛
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hehee I totally understand- this is just evidence of me being super dorky 😉
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Great post! I love pie charts and yours had such a great variety. I’m so impressed on Gone with the Wind as well; I had no idea how huge that book was until I saw it on one of the library shelves at work lol. Hopefully this new year will bring you some new favorites 😀
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Thank you! That’s very kind of you! hahaha I totally understand that!! Thank you- you too! 😀
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Yes! Love to see some stats and pie charts. I also approve of your rereads, comforting old friends that had me feeling nostalgic just from the covers. Making it through all the Harry Potter books again is rather a feat – especially given that you read so much else. I think I’ve decided not to read them again, despite having enjoyed them as I grew up, and their major cultural influence on children’s lit in recent decades.
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Thank you! I completely agree- rereading more was one of the best things I did this year 🙂 Thank you!! I can understand that- I made that decision for a log time until I got the sudden urge to reread it all 😉
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I love the charts!
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Thank you!
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I always mean to keep track of everything but usually just do what you can monitor on Goodreads. I do know I read way, way more than usual this year. Fun to see your stats and wrap-up! Hope you have a great year ahead reading and otherwise 🙂
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I get that- I usually use GR for most of these things. That’s awesome! Thank you! You too 🙂
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LOL… i got a copy of the “worst book” not so long ago, cuz it was free and i saw some really raving posts about it, so i got curious. Now i need to see why it is so bad. Haha. 😀
Love your graphs and stats and all. I’m nowhere near that organized 😀
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hehehe I understand that- I did the same. hahahaha I literally picked it up to see why it was so bad too- good luck!
Thank you!! hehe I’m just really dorky sometimes 😉
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Do you keep track of the numbers yourself or is there a way to find all of these start on Goodreads? I know some of them are on Goodreads but like the genre breakdown I’ve never seen.
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Oh you can export the books from GR and then sort the excel spreadsheet based on the year and genre (which is what I do). Thanks!
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Oh ok! Hope you have a Happy New Year!!
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You too!
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Thank you!!
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This made me laugh! But what a great idea for a post! I’d steal it, except unless I’ve blogged about it there’s nooo way I’ll remember what I read…
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hehe I’m glad! haha I can understand that! And thanks!
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Well, The Master and Magarita does feature a talking devilish cat. How can this not be a winner?
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hehehe I know right 😉
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This such a fantastic idea!
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Thank you!
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Wow, great job with the number of books completed! I love stats posts like these, it’s so fun to see a whole year’s worth of reading laid out like that in these cool charts!
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Thank you! I’m really glad you liked it!
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As a huuuge stats nerd I loved reading this. Your adult/young adult ratio is so good!
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Thank you so much! I’m really glad you liked it! (of course I love stats too 😉 ) Thank you! It turned out quite balanced, which was nice 🙂
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Wow its cool to look at your stats! You definitely read lots of fantasy books this year xx
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Thank you so much! Absolutely 🙂 xx
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Love, love, love! I’m such a stats geek too! 😀
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Aww thank you!! 😀
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Ooooh, I love A Secret Countess and The Wee Free Men!! Such great books for rereading!!
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Me too 🙂 Thank you!
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Aren’t stats amazing??
I enjoyed reading yours!! 🙂 I Like the tiny details that come out from it
Mine is here :: https://superfluousreading.wordpress.com/2018/12/31/2018-mega-stats//
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Absolutely! That’s really cool- thanks for sharing!
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I am still trying to finish a book started in September 2017 😦 😦 (says the person who had to buy a new copy of Gone with the Wind as a teen as I wore my first one out through over-use!) Not a great year for reading for me but congratulations to you!
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Oh that’s a pity. haha wow that’s impressive about your copy of gone with the wind! I hope your next reading year is better!
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Thanks, me too!
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You’re welcome!
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Great post! You reading stats looks amazing.
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Thank you!!
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This is such an interesting post, it’s posts like these that make me remember that stats can be fun and interesting instead of the complete bore of a lesson we had in school. But really, right here I have to applaud how you analysed the stats – once again, so interesting!
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Thank you 🙂 hehehe I’m glad 😉 Thanks so much- I’m really glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
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That’s what I call a good bookish year! 🙂
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hehehe absolutely 😉 Wish you a happy (bookish) new year! 😉 ❤
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Great job this year!
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Thank you!!
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Yes! to stats! 🙂 Love stats… well, looking at them anyway! I am currently halfway through updating my spreadsheet to get the stats as well because someone was a lazy cow and didn’t update the spreadsheet continuously… sigh XD
Is the Hugge books kind of like- yeah, we know that makes total sense to do that but ain’t nobody got time or money? 😀
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Ah I’m glad you liked it! hehehe I can relate there 😉 I had to do it all in one go.
hehehe yup 😉
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I’m so happy you had such a great reading year and loved so many of the books you read, that’s lovely ❤️ I reread a lot more this year too and it’s definitley a habit I want to continue in 2019!
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Thank you! ❤ That's great- I definitely agree with you there- it was one of the most enjoyable things I did with my reading this year 🙂
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Oh, the inner organiser in me squeals in joy reading your list. 😊👌
I’m happy to hear you had such enjoyable year, may 2019 bring you many more excellent reads. ❤️
Happy New Year 🥳 🎉🎉🎉
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Thank you so much!! hehe my inner organiser enjoyed doing this 😉
Thank you! You too! ❤
Happy New Year!! ❤
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I completely forgot to check my stats for last year. I already know that my stats have plummeted because I have been in a terrible slump this year. Re-reading has dominated my reading life and I’ve found that I’ve been gravitating towards fantasy more than contemporary.
I think my average rating is fairly high and that’s mainly because I know the books I’m likely to enjoy. I’m fairly picky when it comes to books but it pays off in terms of levels of enjoyment.
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Ah I can understand that- I had a slump for a few months this year, which really skewed things. That’s really cool!
That’s great! I definitely get what you mean about knowing what books you’ll enjoy- I’m finding that easier to determine more and more.
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So Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was my most popular book a few years back- I figure, whenever one rereads it that’s the most popular book one reads that year…. 🙂 so glad you love Master and Margherita as I do!
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hehe yeah it makes a lot of sense 😉 Ah I’m glad you love it too!!
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Cheers to all of your accomplishments moving forward.💕👍👍
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Aww thank you so much! You too! 💕💕
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I love tracking my stats, too! For 2018 I added author diversity statistics (race and country of origin) and for 2019 I’ll also be tracking award winners. I want to read more award-winning books (Hugo, Nebula, Newbery, etc) so keeping track of it should help me be more aware.
Oh – I also tracked the average publication year of the books I read, and in 2018 my average pub year was 1959. That one amuses me a lot.
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Glad you do too 🙂 That’s interesting! It’s cool to add different aspects.
Oh yeah I’ve considered doing that- but was too lazy 😉
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I just shove all the stats I’m interested in into Excel. It takes a few moments any time I finish a book, but it pays off at the end of the year.
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Great post! I read 128 books and my average rating is 3.7 stars.
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Thank you! That’s fantastic! 😀
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I don’t purposely keep track of a lot of stats, but I do love seeing what it gives. Goodreads is usually my main source for stats, especially that yearly wrap-up they do for you. I like how it’s almost 50/50 between YA/adult books. Also nice how you get to compare from a year to another. I remember you doing these graphics last year too. Thanks for sharing! 😀
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hehe fair enough- I feel a little dorky going all out like this 😉 Oh I like those as well 😀 And yeah- comparing it year on year is now one of my favourite parts about this post (cos I’m realllly dorky, I’m looking forward to being able to getting some interesting analysis when I’ve done it enough… oops- sorry I let out my inner nerd there 😉 ) Thanks for reading! 😀
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Oooh I love stats and these make for some interesting comparisons. I guess the number of books that you read is lower this year because you went on your travels? That’s not a bad thing 🙂. That’s a lot of YA though!
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Ah a woman after my own heart 😉 It does! And yeah that’s the main reason why- so it makes sense. hehe and it’s also probably the reason for the spike in YA 😉
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Ha, I’m definitely not surprised Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was your most popular read of this year. I’d actually have been surprised if it was anything but that. 🙂 I’m kind of glad to see Kingdom of Ash was the highest rated, I know it’s only a new release and chances are it’ll go down, like you said, but I still have it on my TBR list so seeing it so high is encouraging.
Also I thought 165 was a lot of books, knowing you read up to 220 in the years before is just insane! How did you do it?!
Great post, and I hope you have a brilliant 2019 with plenty more amazing books to discover. 🙂 ❤
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hehe I know right 😉 Yeah for sure! Cool I hope you end up liking it- though not my favourite, I really did enjoy it 😀 hehehe I have no idea lol! 😉
Thank you!! You too!! 🙂 ❤
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Well I haven’t heard much about it so far, which is good because it means I go in with my own opinions and hopefully enjoy it more that way.
That’s all right, and thanks. 🙂 ❤
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Wow
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Thanks!
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I was doing so well with my stats up until about April when I stopped updating my spreadsheet! Lol. I’m so jealous of your stats keeping right now! 😂
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hehehe thanks!
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I’ve never broken down my reading into graphs to see which genres or age breakdowns I’m reading…. I did start using a spreadsheet to track info like this in the middle of 2018, which I will continue with in 2019. I will be able to see all kinds of fun info at the end of this year 🙂
I also used to re-read books when I was younger, but don’t really re-read much anymore. I think this has to do with the fact that there are so many new releases and backlist books to get to, I don’t prioritize re-reads. If I do re-read, it is usually in a different format. For example I’ll listen to the audiobook the second time around, or I re-read the first 3 HP books last Christmas via the illustrated editions.
I started reading the Tiffany Aching series this year for the first time! I wanted to jump into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, but I’d never read any of his books before. Someone suggested starting with The Wee Free Men, and I’m so happy I did 🙂
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Ah I love spreadsheets! I’ve been using them to make these- I think it’s so much fun to compare info at the end of the year (hehe I know I sound like a bit of a dork… cos I am one 😉 )
And yeah I used to reread all the time when I was younger. I’ve been trying to go back to it because I just find the occasional reread makes my reading more pleasurable. That’s fair!
Awesome!! That’s so cool!! I love that one 😀
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I love seeing these stats- especially from you as your tastes are so fun and varied! Glad to hear your average ratings went up though, I think it is such a good development when bloggers start reading more books they think they like, rather than only reading things due to hype (and therefore might not be what they want). I wish I had the patience to do all these stats- great job! 🙂
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Aw thank you!! Yeah I keep trying to do that more and more (and I think it’s working out 😉 ) hehe thanks!
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Great post, I’ve really gotten in to reading over the last year, may even attempt some stats for 2019!
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Thank you! Awesome 🙂
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