I've had a very good reading year. I did goof around and waste a lot of time that could have been spent reading, but I should have 74 books completed by New Year's Eve, and that's a respectable amount. I can remember being at a Christmas party a year or two after my daughter was born, complaining to my husband's cousin's ex-boyfriend that I'd managed to read only 20 books that year, and how shocked he was that anyone would think that 20 books wasn't a tremendous number of books to have been gotten through. There are people in this world who brag about not having read a book since 1973; this post is not for them.
Here's how the year breaks down statistically:
Nonfiction: 14
Novels: 50
Plays: 5
Works of poetry: 3
Short stories: 32 stories total, one story collection pending (Deborah Eisenberg's Twilight of the Superheroes should be finished by Sunday at the latest)
Picture book for adults: 1
Books bought and read: 24
Books bought and stockpiled: 75+
Library books: 31
Books "just published" in the last year or so: 33
Works I consider classics: 23
Books written prior to the 20th century: 11
Re-reads: 7
Books started that remain unfinished (not counting those currently in progress): 4
Books written by women: 28
5 out of 21 books from my priority list completed; three others started
I should have my list of favorites and biggest disappointments posted in a day or so.
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Wow! 74 is impressive. I've never read that much in one year. The most ever was 62 or something like that. Usually I land somewhere in the mid 50s. Looking forward to you rlist of favorites.
ReplyDeleteA great reading year for you by the looks of things!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of pages turned!
ReplyDeleteMy landlord once said that since high school he's read *one* book. It was all about Rottweilers. :D
Fun stats! I look forward to your post of favorites and biggest disappointments. I'll be back. :)
ReplyDeleteMore than a book a week. I wonder if there is anyone out there who beats you. Not me.
ReplyDeleteSadly I do know people that would probably be proud of saying they haven't read a book all year. Sigh. Anyway great reading stats and can't wait to hear about your favorites :)
ReplyDeleteI always thought I was a freak when it came to books and reading, until I discovered book bloggers. Now I can freely confess I have over 100 books on loan from the library and have 3-4 books on the go at the same time! Looking forward to reading your favourites.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my sisters and mom over lunch the other day how many books I read they were sort of stunned. I always assumed that they read a lot too (granted not a ton, but more than say ten a year), but I guess that is not exactly the case. I guess if the average person has read 12 books in a year that is actually really good considering that most people haven't ready any at all this year! I don't think I honestly know how many books I have bought this year (and how many have actually been read!)--it is too scary for me to keep that sort of count. I'm looking forward to seeing your list of favorites!
ReplyDelete74 is a good number! And what do people do who don't read? Aren't they bored out of their minds?
ReplyDeleteI read 72 this year. My goal for 2007 is that every third book I read must be a book I OWN rather than a library book. Those darn due dates always put library books at the head of the pile.
ReplyDeleteI recently checked my list and noted that I read 70. That's about the same as last year, give or take a few. I counted the number of female authors I had read too and cringed because the men had trumped them by an embarrassingly significant percentage. Hopefully I can be a bit better about that next year.
ReplyDeleteYou've read a lot of new releases. I'm impressed!
Impressive number of books finished! I am afraid to go and count how many books I started this year and didn't finish! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love your stats! Seeing things broken down into so many categories is fascinating. I didn't do this, but think I might try keeping track as I go along this coming year. It was a bother just going back reviewing each month's list. Easier to keep track as you go, I think. My favorite one of yours is "books bought and stockpiled!" :)
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely a respectable amount! I love seeing lists of books. :) It took me a while, but I just finished putting together a list of all the books I read in 2006: all 110 of them! This is more than double what I read in 2005, due to various factors (explained in more detail in the post). They're broken down into categories, and I denoted the ones that I liked the best.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zandria.us/archives/000925.html
I didn't break down my list either, but I'm thinking I will do that next year, as it's been interesting to read everyone's lists in that regard.
ReplyDeleteI never understand those people who brag about not reading!
I'm inspired by your passion for reading. My goal for 2006 was to read 52 books; I fell far short at 37. However, it was probably the most reading I've done since I was little.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm a new mom, but my goal of 52 remains the same. We'll see how everything plays out with a newborn in the house! At this stage, our little boy seems fascinated to hear me read Francine Prose out loud, but I'm not sure how long that'll last. :)