Thursday, January 10, 2013

Thursday Thirteen 270: A Year in Books



I am a bibliophage, a life-time reader who never seems to have enough books or shelves. I believe one can never read too much or have too many books. When not actually reading I can often be found on the boards at GoodReads talking about books, and have joined their year-long reading challenge the last few years. I also tend to read across several different genres, and have found that by doing so I never (or very rarely) become bored or burned out on reading. Here's a look at how 2012 shaped up.


1. Number of Books read: I had a goal of 100; I read 106. Books ranged in length from 55-page novellas to the 976 page Anna Karenina. Total number of pages read was 30,868.

2. Genres read: Classics, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Literary Fiction — many in the romance, mystery and YA genres also contained paranormal elements.

3. Number of Different Authors: About 60 (some books were multi-author anthologies)

4. New-to-me authors: I read 21 new-to-me authors in 2012 — Ellery Adams * Toni Anderson * Patricia Briggs * Anne Brontë * Michael Connelly * Jamie Ford * Kaui Hart Hemmings * Tami Hoag * Sue Ann Jaffarian * Linda O. Johnston * Julie Kenner * Aldo Leopold * Ridley Pearson * Nancy Pickard * Rick Riordan * Wendy Roberts * Nichole Robertson * Leo Tolstoy * Meredith Webber * H.G. Wells * Phyllis A. Whitney

5. Authors I read more than once: Ellery Adams * Louisa May Alcott * Madelyn Alt * Patricia Briggs * Kate Collins * EJ Copperman * Casey Daniels * Lori Foster * Jeaniene Frost * Tami Hoag * Lisa Kleypas * Johanna Lindsey * Elizabeth Lowell * Julie Miller * Ridley Pearson * Nancy Pickard * Rick Riordan * Wendy Roberts * Jill Shalvis * Amanda Stevens * Vicki Lewis Thompson * Heather Webber

6. Authors I plan to read again: As I already have books in Mount TBR by most of the authors read in 2012, I think it would be easier to say which author/s I am least likely to read again (at least in 2013). That would most likely be Lorna Barrett, Shirley Jackson, Dorothy L Sayers and HG Wells.

7. Best overall read of the year: This may shock some people but…Two of the books I enjoyed most were A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë.

8. Best overall romance I read this year: Holly Lane by Toni Blake.

9. Best overall mystery: Deeper Than the Dead by Tami Hoag — this was my introduction Hoag, who I will definitely be reading again this year

10. Most imaginative world: Rick Riordan’s modern day Mount Olympus, Ridley Pearson’s Disney After Dark series, JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth.

11. Weirdest read: The Time Machine by HG Wells.

12. I am tired of: I don’t think there are any subjects I am tired of. There was one author I determined NOT to read again—not because she isn’t a good writer, but because she has a habit of seizing on a motif in her books, and then beating it to death. Which made the books I read by her less enjoyable.

13. Reading goal for 2013: Once again I have joined the GoodReads Reading challenge with a goal of 100 books. Within that are mini-goals, such as reading at least 10 classics and catching up on some of the favorite authors/series in Mount TBR.


What about you? What was your year in books like? What was your favorite book read?

P.S. For a complete list of books read, check out the 2012 Books Page. You'll find links there for every book/author read, should you be interested in picking some up for yourself. Happy reading!








30 comments:

Shelley Munro said...

Fun statistics. My best discoveries this year were Jeaniene Frost's vampire series and Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster (a historical steam punk)

CountryDew said...

I read 47 books completely, three shy of my total goal of 50, but there were several books I didn't finish (and I'm also not sure I kept my list up all that well). I usually read one book a week. I would love to read more and used to but have discovered that my eyes aren't as good as they used to be. They tire more quickly and it does make a difference.

Good luck meeting your goal. I have no doubt you can do it!

Jennifer Leeland said...

I was introduced to a new author by my sister. Craig Johnson was a good mystery writer and I added a few more in the series to read this year. Another new author I read last year was Sydney Bristol. She is awesome.
I have more Allison Weir (history) in my TBR pile along.
Always love to see what you're reading.

Mia Celeste said...

I love that you read so much. I'm a big fan of fiction too. You always give me good ideas about what I should put on my to-read list. Thanks.

http://otherworlddiner.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-day-for-oddballs-fruit-loops-and.html

Kimberly Menozzi said...

This year I might start keeping track of what I read and what I think about it as I go. Not reviews, exactly, but just a few comments to myself to encourage/discourage me in seeking out more by those writers.

Best of luck to you in reaching this year's goal!

Happy TT!

Ron. said...

What!? No poetry?! Shame! Shame, I say!

colleen said...

Good to know which ones you liked best. I never would have guessed.

Heather said...

Thanks, Shelley. Jeaniene Frost was a fun discovery from the year before. I've been reluctant to try steam punk, but maybe I'll try something this year. Maybe. ;-)

Heather said...

Anita: A book a week is an admirable goal. I used to be able to read a 200-300 page book in a day, but those days are long gone. Now I average about two a week, and rarely do I not finish a book once started.

Heather said...

Jennifer: Thanks! I have not heard of any of the authors you have mentioned. Will have to check them out!

Heather said...

Thanks, Mia Celeste. I'm happy to be an "anabler" trhough my book posts. There are times I wish I could read more. Too many authors and series I want to keep -- or catch up -- on!

Heather said...

Kimberly: I've kept track of what I've read since high school and often wish I'd started sooner. I also wish I were better at writing reviews.

Heather said...

Ron: HEY! I subscribe to the Writer's Almanac, so receive a poem a day in my inbox. That's 365 poems a year, but doesn't exactly count as a book. :-P~~

Heather said...

Colleen: There were a lot of other books I enjoyed throughout the year -- including the complete Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs -- but for absolute best books I had to go with the classics. NOT that being a classic necessarily means I liked it. While the writing was good, I did not much care for The Haunting of Hill House.

Paige Tyler said...

That's a lot of reading!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

I am Harriet said...

Gosh- very impressive!

Have a great rest of your day!

Heather said...

Paige: Indeed! And I often wish I could read twice that in a year. *g*

Heather said...

Harriet: Thank you - I hope you had a great day, too!

Unknown said...

LOL ... it was a week for "harvesting the pages of 2012" wasn't it. I also wrote about 13 books I read last year. I read more but these were the last 13 I read ... but ... I didn't even come close to the number read by you. Very admirable.

Alice Audrey said...

I feel the urge to count the number of pages I've read. I keep track of how many I write, but not how many I read.

Heather said...

Hi Kay! Thank you! I did the last thirteen read in 2012 last week, lol.

Heather said...

Alice: Hehe... Sorry about that. Keeping track of pages read is relatively new--I didn't used to do that. *g*

kandyblossom said...

Nice list. I love to read, unfortunately I don't get to do nearly as much as I would like.

Tami Hoag is a favorite of mine.

I think my favorite reads this year were "Divergent" and "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth.

Heather said...

Kandyblossom: I read whenever I can find time -- on the bus, before work or bed...even standing in long lines. I really liked the books read by Hoag so far, and hope to read more of her in the future. Have heard lots of talk about Divergent -- I am definitely going to have to check that one out!

Anonymous said...

WOW! What an impressive accomplishment, Heather! I shamefully admit I can count on one hand how many books I read last year. *sigh* Hopefully this year I will be able to do a little less writing and more reading. I've never read A Tale Of Two Cities, but I've always wanted to.

Heather said...

Hi Stephanie! A Tale of Two Cities is one of those books I always wished I had read, so was glad it was chosen as one of the first group reads of 2012. This month's classic group read is Mrs. Dalloway and I look forward to diving into that one, too.

Jana said...

I'm so jealous. I miss the days of 100+ books read a year. I'm going to HAVE to learn how to not let all the stress in my life block my reading mojo! haha

Heather said...

Jana: Reading is one of those ways I ignore all the stress and other garbage in life. ;-)

Alice Audrey said...

Actually, with ereaders and all we might have to switch to word count.

Heather said...

I hope not. A friend has loaned me her Nook a time or two, and we both agree that we much prefer those ebooks that have actual page numbers rather than percentage read.