Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 reading stats and favorites


This was the year I finally read Ulysses, which was enough of an accomplishment to mark this year down as an extraordinary one for reading no matter what else I encountered. And I encountered a lot of good ones.

Maybe one of these years I'll get better about blogging about them!

I completed 101 books this year, same as I did in 2009. In case you read offblog and never see my sidebar, you can find a list of all the books I've read here. And I read a total of 113 short stories, which you'll find listed here. I'd hoped to read 210, but failed to keep up the necessary pace to do so.

What I'm doing differently this year with my stats is providing, when available, stats for the last five or six years. I'm not trying to make any sense out of the stats yet (I'm still too feverish for that), but at least they're all nice and handy for me if I want to attempt an analysis later.
Books Total    101  /  101  /  78  /  81  /  74  /  77
Nonfiction        16  /   15  /  13  /    8  /  14  /  13
Novels              78  /   79  /  62  /  62  /  50  /  47 
Short Story Collections  7  /  7  /  3  /4  / 1  /  8
Library Books     26  /  48  /  27  /  14  / 31
Newly Acquired/Read  23  /  32  /32  /  31  /  24
Newly Acquired/Stockpiled  113  /  140  /  88  /141+  /  75+
E-texts Read  17  /  10  /  12
Free E-texts Read  9  /  5  /  7
Just-published books  36  /  55 /  41  /34  /  33
Classics              21  /  10  /  8  /  23  /  12
Pre-20th Century  9  /  7  /  4  /  12  /  11
Written by women  46  /  55  /  42  /  33  /  28

Authors with multiple books read: George Gissing (3), Anthony Trollope (3), Scarlett Thomas (2), Doris Lessing (2), Jonathan Franzen (2), Laura Lippman (2)

Rereads: Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle; James Thurber's My Life and Hard Times; Clyde Edgerton's Raney; Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree; Anne Tyler's Ladder of Years; and Charles Portis's True Grit.

My favorites this year, in the order that I read them:











Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope











The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Rebecca Skloot












Cassandra at the Wedding. Dorothy Baker













In the Year of Jubilee. George Gissing
 










The Sweetest Dream. Doris Lessing











Ulysses. James Joyce












Our Tragic Universe. Scarlett Thomas










Miracle Boy and Other Stories. Pinckney Benedict










Composed. Rosanne Cash











Freedom. Jonathan Franzen











To the End of the Land. David Grossman











The Invisible Bridge. Julie Orringer









In Utopia. J. C. Hallman

7 comments:

  1. I'm so glad Ulysses made it to your best of list since I'm going to undertake it in 2011. Love that you included stats from years past. I also think it is very brave of you to keep track of how many books you've stockpiled!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm trying so hard to guilt myself into another book buying moratorium!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really do need to read Anthony Trollope--I have a feeling he's someone I would love. And I want to read that Cassandra Baker book, too. I have the same edition--thanks for the reminder. Someday I'm going to hit 100 books. It may be when I'm retired, but some day. And hopefully next year I'll read more classics, too. Have a great 2011!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I refuse to read Ulysses, but I do like Trollope. I plan to read The Way We Live Now sometime in the next month or two.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm glad to see Cassandra at the Wedding on your list. I read it a few years ago, found it on the remainder table somewhere, and enjoyed it. I always felt it deserved a much wider audience.

    Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very impressive stats, you are a voracious reader.
    I try to spend nearly all of my free time reading, and still I have only read half as many books as you have this past year.
    Your list of favorites looks so tantalizing -- even though I haven't read any of these I have been very interested in the Grossman book and also the new Franzen. Your endorsement of them may send me to the cash register soon, with these under my arm.
    Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great picks!

    I read 95 books, not bad, considering I was in a reading slump for more than four months.

    Happy New Year to you and your family. Have a great reading year in 2011!!!

    Here are my Best Reads of 2010.

    ReplyDelete

A bang, not a whimper

  Two months into L.'s retirement, and I'm finished with the stockpiling of books. No more book purchases! Or at least, no purcha...