2009 Books

When I look back at my posting on this subject a year ago, I'm somewhat demoralized at the knowledge that last year at this time I'd read 44 books and had three in progress. It is helpful keeping a list and then compiling the following stats, even if the net result is that it showed me that I'm not doing nearly as well this year. You can find my reviews of many of the more memorable books I did read in 2009, under the "Books, Reading, Reviews" in my category list.

HOW MANY BOOKS READ IN 2009: 38

FICTION/NON-FICTION RATIO: 30/8 (6 were memoirs but I'm counting them as N-F)

MALE/FEMALE AUTHORS: 10/28 (What can I say?)

 

FAVORITE BOOK READ: Looking back, it's clear to me that summer was spent in a daze of entertaining novels and mysteries. My memorable reads happen early and late in the year when it's cold outside and the garden is asleep. Among the more interesting titles were "Finding Iris Chang," "Without a Map," and "Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie." 

If I have to pick just one favorite, then it would have to be "Finding Sand Creek: "History, Archeology, and the 1864 Massacre Site" by Gerome A.Greene and Douglas D. Scott. Not only did I devour the book, I read every footnote, appendix item, index listing, the works. Just writing that sentence reminds me of how enthralling I found this exploration of the intersection of history, myth and science. 

LEAST FAVORITE: Just like last year, this category includes anything and everything I picked up and put down. For a while I was actually keeping a list of titles and how many pages I read before I abandoned the book. Here's the top of the list: "The Music Room" by William Fiennes/65 pages and "The Solitary Vice: Against Reading" by Mikita Brottman/77 pages.

OLDEST BOOK READ: Persuasion by Jane Austen, 1818.

NEWEST: "The LIttle Stranger" by Sarah Waters, May 2009 publication date.

LONGEST BOOK TITLE: "The End of the World as We Know It" by Robert Goolrick beat "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" by one letter.

  

SHORTEST TITLE: Helen Humphreys' "Coventry" beat "Persuasion" by two letters.

HOW MANY RE-READS: 8 (Austen, Howard Bahr, John Galsworthy etc.).

MOST BOOKS READ BY ONE AUTHOR THIS YEAR: Two titles each by seven different authors: Howard Bahr, Robert Goolrick, Martha Grimes, Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Johan Theorin, and Minette Walters. 

ANY IN TRANSLATION: "Echoes From the Dead" by Johan Theorin, translated by Marlaine Delargy. This was a beautifully nuanced text and I would assume some of the credit for that must go to Delargy.

AND HOW MANY OF THIS YEAR'S BOOKS WERE FROM THE LIBRARY: 28. (Kudos — as always — to the South Central Library System for having such an array of titles that can be easily searched and ordered on-line). 

ETC.: When I was looking back over the year's titles, I noticed what might be a new category — MOST SIMILAR TITLES. My entries for this category would be "The Dark Room," a mystery by Minette Walters and "The Darkest Room," also a mystery, by Johan Theorin. Then there's Sarah Waters' "The Little Stranger," a mystery and Katharine Butler Hathaway's "The Little Locksmith," a memoir.

Comments

[Lisa at Greenbow]

I am always curious as to how people keep records of books read. I have good intentions of writing down what I read and then end up not keeping up. I find these lists done by others interesting. I don't read as much as you are Nan but I do read quite a bit...for me. I look forward to your reviews.

[Jean]

I love your idea of keeping a list for the year! And I also thank you for giving me some good titles to explore. I do wish I'd spend more time at our library but lately I've been reading a lot of pass-along books. So that counts, right?

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Lisa: I keep a running list in a folder on my computer otherwise I'd never remember.

Jean: Everything counts — even trashy novels!

[Erin]

You are truly the most organized person I've ever come across!

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Erin: I only seem organized because you haven't met my sisters-in-law. They are uber-organized and I am always following their lead.

[Altoon]

hmm, I wrote a comment that didn't appear:
I've been keeping a list of books read in a notebook since 1999, when I realized that I didn't remember what I'd read unless I wrote it down.So it's nice to know you keep track, Linda. And I was inspired by you to total some stats for 2009: 27 books read (2 of those unfinished), 4 non-fiction and 7 women authors. I'm impressed that you manage to get so much reading done!

[Nicola]

I'd like to read Finding Sand Creek. I've read accounts of the terrible massacre in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I believe the 70's film Soldier Blue was about Sand Creek, too.