(Close to) End of Year stats

15 years ago

I know not everyone is interested in end-of-year stats for your reading life, but some are, so I thought that I would start this thread. I am hoping to finish up a couple more books (one fiction, one non-fiction), but basically, here are my stats:

* Total number of books read: 120 (2009:122)

* Total number of fiction: 77

* Total number of non-fiction: 43

* Number of foreign authors (not UK, US or Canadian): 6

* Number of books from library: 70

* Number of books from my own TBR: 50 (not bad but will try to reverse this number and the number from the library in 2011)

* Longest title: "Bluestockings: The Remarkable Story of the First Women to Fight for an Education" - Jane Robinson

* Shortest title: "Room" - Emma Donaghue

The best book (or top 5 might be easier) is still being mulled in my head...

And then next year, I am thinking about adding pages for each book read and completed...

How about you?

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Comments (11)

sheriz6
15 years ago
I enjoy doing a year end book wrap-up. Here are my stats:

Total number of books read: 46 (I've spent way too much time on the computer this year and not nearly enough with my nose in a book.)
* Total number of fiction: 39
* Total number of non-fiction: 7
* Number of foreign authors (not UK, US or Canadian): 0
* Number of books from library: 24
* Number of books from my own TBR (that have been sitting around for more than six months - my TBR pile is appalling): 3

* Longest title: The Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science - Richard Holmes
* Shortest title: Soulless - Gail Carriger

My top five books are (in no particular order):

1) One Day -- David Nichols
2) The Tender Bar -- J.R. Moehringer
3) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand -- Helen Simonson
4) Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal -- Christopher Moore
5) Miss Buncle's Book -- D.E. Stevenson
Kath
15 years ago
Total number of books read: 62
* Total number of fiction: 59
* Total number of non-fiction: 3
* Number of foreign authors (not UK, US, Canadian or Australian): 2 - Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Icelandic author recommended by Netla :-) and Emma Donoghue who is Irish
* Number of books from work (equivalent to the library): 43
* Number of books from my own TBR : 1 and that was one I brought home from work and had lying around for a few months

* Longest title: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
* Shortest title: Room - Emma Donoghue

I read a lot of books I rated at 8 this year (I have never given more than 8.5 or less than 6, so it's a silly scale really):
Mawer, Simon The Glass Room
MacLean, Shona The Redemption of Alexander Seaton
Ness, Patrick Monsters of Men
Franklin, Ariana The Assassin's Prayer
Gruen, Sara Ape House
Airth, Rennie The Dead of Winter
Donoghue, Emma Room
Fry, Stephen The Fry Chronicles
Craig, Amanda Hearts and Minds
Penny, Louise Bury Your Dead
Watson, Mark Eleven
Vertosick, Frank When The Air Hits Your Brain
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annpan
15 years ago
Going by the list held by my own library, I have borrowed around 80 fiction books and 3 non-fiction. Then there are books from other libraries which don't get included, so about 10 and say another 10 bought.
No idea of the nationality of the authors. Sometimes I only go by an interesting title!
The longest title I chose must be "I used to miss him but my aim is improving" and the shortest was "Builders". This turned out to be a short simple book for adult new readers.
(I wish I had the courage to give a copy to those people who tell me in a superior way that they never read books, saying with a gentle smile "Here is one to get you started if you are having problems with reading. But no, I couldn't!)
I have been introduced to a few new good authors this year by the SYKM newsletter, which is just as well, as I have picked up some duds while browsing!
Let us charge our glasses (with a beverage of choice) and drink to many happy hours of reading in the coming year.
phaedosia
15 years ago
I read 61 books which is a record for me. It helped that I was on maternity leave for part of the year and disability for a while, too. My rating system is on a 1-10 basis in the little book journal I keep. My goal for 2011 is to read more books by authors who are not American or Western European.

(10)
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred Year Odyssey of my Chinese-American Family by Lisa See
North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Wlater
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns
(9)
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Looking for Bapu by Anjali Banerjee
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Room by Emma Donaghue
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
(8)
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Nemesis by Philip Roth
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Captivity by Debbie Lee Wesselmann
Growing Up Local: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose from Hawaii ed. by Eric Chock
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Waterland by Graham Swift
Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Girls with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
(7)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
I Was a Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block
Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
Evensong by Gail Godwin
Hey, Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley
This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Tithe: A Fairy Tale by Holly Black
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
What's Bred in the Bone by Robertson Davies
The Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech
(6)
Enchanted Night by Steven Millhauser
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
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Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs
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Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
(1) As You Wish by Jackson Pearce
carolyn_ky
15 years ago
If I counted correctly last night when I was very sleepy, I read 117 books last year, which is down for me. My excuses are that we moved, I got hooked on the daily crossword puzzle in the paper, and I'm spending too much time on the computer. Must read more!
martin_z
15 years ago
Blimey - how organized.

No idea how many I've read, but no-where near that number. Probably fifty or sixty?
vickitg
15 years ago
I was doing a good job of tracking what I read and then for some reason, in August, I just quit. So, I'm not sure exactly how many books I read, but it was at least 36. Many were enjoyable, though somewhat forgettable. My favorite was probably Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

I'll try to be a more consistent recordkeeper this year.
J C
15 years ago
My total is around 120 and includes fiction and nonfiction, large and small, long and short, thick and thin. An excellent reading year, in spite of or perhaps because of moving to a new state and starting over. Although most of my books are in storage, I have managed to clutter up my new home with dozens of new ones, stacks all over the place!

And it is time for a new reading journal, perhaps a more organized one. I plan to stick with a handwritten model, having tried and failed with an online version. If I had more time, I would do both.
veer
15 years ago
I've probably read about 60 books this year and on checking through the list I find several titles so unmemorable that I can't think what they were about.

I don't give marks out of ten, but the ones that stood out as enjoyable reads were

The Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan, written as a novel about the Bronte family.
Saplings by Noel Staetfield. One of her early 'adult' books (she is better known as a children's writer. . . think 'Ballet Shoes' etc) Set during WWII with a strong plot charting the breakup of a family mainly due to the insensitivity and selfishness of adults. Leaves plenty to think about.
The Country of the Pointed Firs Sarah Orne Jewett . . . thanks to Siobhan for the recommendation.
Assassins Prayer the latest in the series by Ariana Franklin. Anyone interested in early Medieval history would enjoys these.
Kath has the next one come out?
Howard's End is on the Landing Susan Hill

I keep a vague record in an old English exercise book that belonged to youngest son, with 'interesting sounding titles' at the back. The front and the back now meet and most of the pages have worked loose, so I am moving on to a Chemistry exercise book 'acquired' by DH from his teaching days. Nothing wasted in this house. ;-)
carolyn_ky
15 years ago
Ha, Vee. That's why I write a short summary of the books I read, as well as the date of publication and the month and year I read them. I keep my list in 6x9" looseleaf notebooks, by author, because I read so many mystery series that I can never remember which ones I've read. That means I have to turn through the pages and count the yearly input. Like Siobhan, I would like to keep an online list by year, but it's just too much trouble.
annpan
15 years ago
I am lucky having the local library system keep track of books I have taken out. It is a wonderful one and I can find the books by A-Z, Z-A, most recently borrowed on top or bottom of their list!
The diary I have always bought for New Year's Day has changed format so this year I have purchased a different type which is a small fat business one. Now retired, I had to smile at the hourly appointment listings on the pages but I shall use the Staff Leave chart to note books from other sources to be more exact for this year's stats.

(Close to) End of Year stats

Comments (11)

sheriz6

Kath

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