There they are. This is the project I mentioned last week, the messy one my husband wished would disappear. Early in 2009 I started stacking up the books I'd read and before I knew it, I realized it might make a cool photo at the end of the year. So, here they are, minus library books, and a few that annoyed me enough that I've already gotten rid of them. If you click on the photo you can see what is there.
Here are my reading statistics of 2009 (as of right now, and I reserve the right to change these numbers before the end of the year). Here are last years statistics for comparison.
Total books read: 104
Female authors: 89
Male authors: 15
Fiction books: 79
Nonfiction books: 25
Memoirs: 19
Memoirs that are food related: 9
Nonfiction books that are not memoirs: 6 (sad)
Young adult books: 9 + 5 Harry Potter books
Mystery: 15
WW2/Holocaust: 9
ARCs: 29 (obnoxious)
Books that were re-reads: 7
Books published in:
2009: 42
2000-2008: 44
1990-1999: 9
1970-1989: 3
1940-1969: 6
1900-1939: 0
pre-1900: 0
Total pages read = 36,144 divided by 104 = 347.5 average pages per book
Ok, so lets assess all this. First off, it seems I have read way too many ARCs and not enough books of my own choosing. On the one hand I am torn on this subject; I have found some great authors/books that I might not have chosen on my own, on the other hand, I definitely had less 'wow' books than I've had before and more 'fine' books.
I should really read more male authors, and more general nonfiction. I've called this the year of the memoir and that was surely the truth.
I was happy when I totaled up my pages read for the year. I was a little bit afraid that I would find that I read more books, but less pages than last year! That was not the case, as I read nearly 30% more pages than last year - nice!
What about goals? I like to be non-goal oriented when it comes to my reading. It's the only way for me, I think. Having said that, there are a few things I'd like to do this year. I would really like to read more of my Persephone books and Viragos. Another thing I'd like to do is read more of my really thick books. I think I tended to avoid them last year thinking if I was reading 700-800 page books, I'd never have anything to post about. Now that I practice Blog Simplicity, I am not going to worry about that and just read whatever I want. Here are a few books I have in mind.
Coming up later this week, my favorite books of 2009!
In case you are wondering, I got to stay home for Christmas! It was totally blissful watching all that snow come down and know I had nowhere to go. I cooked a great meal and had friends over for Christmas dinner.
, I loved this author's book, Anya. Has anyone read this?
right now and it's quite good.
by Thea Holme. I'll be honest and tell you I didn't know a thing about author Thomas Carlyle before I began this book but that mattered not a whit. What I am interested in, and what this book provides, is a peek into everyday life in a Victorian home.
. For the surprising turns it takes and for the gorgeous cover you can gaze at on your nightstand.
by Cathy Marie Buchanan was I book I expected to love. I loved the cover, loved the topic of Niagra Falls in the early 20th century, and devoured the vintage photographs so wonderfully included. The story focuses on Bess, once well to do, her family is now down and out, clinging to their old life by a social thread. Bess falls in love with The Wrong Sort of Boy, Tom Cole, grandson of a heroic riverman and a bit of a hero himself. The story becomes partly one of war and how it changes everything, one of industry and debate as the power of the falls is utilized for electricity, and one of life and tragedy. Overall I liked this book, though I would say I loved the first half and found it to be a pageturner. As I continued reading, I found myself less interested in the characters and somewhat unsurprised by the twists and turns at the end.
. The Ice House began well, as a body is found in the ice house of a country manor, a place where a man, the husband of the current resident, disappeared. There has been a murder investigation here before - coincidence? This was sort of a quirky murder mystery. I mean, I don't' read many books when the police force comes across as incompetent and the suspects practically seem to be egging them on. Everyone is lying in one way or another. I liked this book right up until the end, when the tone changed from quiet and suspenseful to crowded and confusing with a lot of people showing up and shouting at one another. I read somewhere that Walters doesn't know who is responsible until she's written half of the book, and I'm not so sure I like this idea. Perhaps I prefer a more 'crafted' book in which hints are dropped and feelings are alluded to along the way. Not to say I won't try Walters again - I definitely will.
by Marcus Zusak which was my choice. I was really pleased with the response - several people 'loved' it, most liked it a lot, and only 1 person didn't like it - she's tired of holocaust books - understandable as we've read quite a few this year. 
by Andrew Davidson, the story of a severely burned man who is visited in the hospital by a woman, Marianne, who claims to have been his lover in medieval Germany and relates stories about their pasts. She is undeniably convincing. The book is extremely graphic, detailing the medical condition of the burn victim, so graphic that reading about his miserable childhood and sordid life were a 'break' from the burn unit. I found this to be an interesting and engaging read. A couple little issues I had: 1. I though it would have been interesting if the author decided that Marianne did not age (can you tell I bought into the story!) and 2. I didn't care for the drug-withdrawal apparently Dante-esque (I haven't read him) visions explored towards the end of the book. I actually skipped this part; I wanted to get back to the story and I found this tiresome. Everyone in our group enjoyed this book to one degree or another.
is the second in her series of an apocalyptic future in which the moon has been thrown off course. Everyhing is a mess, the weather in particular, which is making it difficult for life to continue. 
, and actually wasn't that interested in this installment until I heard there would be a third book involving the main character from the first book. Whew! So, this installment follows New Yorker Alex Morales as he deals with the fallout of this new existence and his new role of 'man around the house' for his two sisters. Alex's story was different in that he seemed to have more resources for food as well as relationships outside his family through school and church. Speaking of church, the Morales family are devout Catholics and their faith is referred to again and again. Readers with a low tolerance for religion may find this tiresome. While I did find this to be a quick read and a page turner, I never felt an emotional connection with Alex nor as drawn in to the story as I was with Pfeffer's other book. Despite this, I still plan to read the next book in the series to see what happens next. I'm fascinated by this future Pfeffer has imagined.
to arrive at the library last Friday. It did, and I finished it Sunday morning. What a ride! Fast paced and exciting, this book picked up where 
left off. Heroine Katniss is being targeted by The Capital as Someone Who Might Ignite a Rebellion and they decide to show her who's boss! Do they ever. Was anyone else a little surprised at the direction this book took? I was not expecting more of, you know. But it worked. And the ending was great - a cliffhanger, but what did you expect!? I'll be first in line (at the library) for the third installment.
