Previous annual installments include: 2009, 2008, 2007. (Also, my 2007 Book Flow Chart.)

2010 Books and Reading Recap:

Total Books Read: 91

Fiction: 65
Non-Fiction: 26

By Genre (some books may be in more than one genre):

Contemporary Fiction: 21
Memoir: 11
Kid’s/YA Lit: 21
Fantasy: 14
Classics: 13
Graphic Novel: 9
Food Writing: 2
Short Story Collections: 2
Travel Writing: 4
Books about Books/Reading: 3
Poetry: 4
History: 2
Plays: 1
Collection of Letters: 1

Total Pages Read: (does not include unfinished books): 26,670
Average Number of Pages/Book: 293

Shortest Book Read: About Alice by Calvin Trillin (78 pages)
Longest Book Read: Skippy Dies (661 pages)

Books that were Re-reads: 18

Number of Books Read by Decade:

2010: 24
2000s: 40
1990s: 10
1980s: 1
1970s: 2
1960s: 2
1950s: 2
1940s: 5
<1900: 5

Total Number of Different Authors: 68

Multiple Books Read by One Author:

J. K. Rowling: 7
Hilary McKay: 4
Maud Hart Lovelace: 4
Bill Bryson: 3
Suzanne Collins: 3
Calvin Trillin: 3
Jasper Fforde: 2
Maira Kalman: 2
Daniel Clowes: 2

“New to Me” Authors: 41

Books by Male Authors: 44
Books by Female Authors: 47

Books by Dead Authors: 17
Books by Living Authors: 74

Books by Non-American Authors: 33
(21 English, 5 Irish, 2 Scottish, and 1 each: Chinese, Swiss, French, Canadian, Japanese)

Audio Books Listened To: 8
(audio books are counted in all categories above as well, as if they were paper books, with the exception of “Longest Book Read” where I decided to disqualify Harry Potter, 3 of which were longer than Skippy Dies)

Favorites of  2010 (Books that were re-reads are excluded):

Top Five Favorite Fiction Books:
1. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
2. Auntie Mame By Patrick Dennis
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
4. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
5. World War Z by Max Brooks
Other Favorites: One Day by David Nicholls, Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, Finny by Justin Kramon

Top Five Favorite Non-Fiction Books:
1. At Home by Bill Bryson
2. And the Pursuit of Happiness by Maira Kalman
3. The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
4. McCarthy’s Bar by Pete McCarthy
5. A Secret Map of Ireland by Rosita Boland
Other Favorites: American Fried by Calvin Trillin, Stitches by David Small, Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawk

Top Five Favorite YA/Kid’s Lit:
1. The 10 p.m. Question by Katie De Goldi
2. Indigo’s Star by Hilary McKay
3. The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
4. Clementine, Friend of the Week by Sara Pennypacker
5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Top Five Favorite Book Covers: (click on the title to view the cover)
1. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
2. Inklings by Jeffrey Koterba
3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
4. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
5. Great House by Nicole Krauss

Top Five Favorite Book Titles:
1. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
2. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
3. Alice, Let’s Eat by Calvin Trillin
4. Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawk
5. The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
Other Favorites: How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

Total Number of Books Purchased: 125

Number of Books Purchased from an Independent Bookstore: 70

Book/Author Events Attended:
Jasper Fforde 1.4.10, Barnes and Noble Lincoln Center
Yann Martel 4.16.10 Borders Park Ave
Bill Bryson 10.15.10 Barnes and Noble Union Square
Book Expo 5.27.10: R. L. Stine, Sara Gruen, Justin Cronin, Bernadette Peters

For a complete list of the books bought and read in 2010, click here.

To start, here are the 2008 reading goals I made last year and how I did with each:

• Read at least 71 books (one more than last year seems like a reasonable goal)
  • Complete (I finished 87)
• Read David Copperfield
  • Complete (However, I read the last 20 pages of it on Jan 1, 2009, so I can’t technically count it as a book read in 2008. I’m very happy I read it though, despite not finishing before the end of the year.)
• Read 3 Vonnegut books
  
  • Complete (I read four – Armageddon in Retrospect & Mother Night, and re-read Slaughterhouse Five and A Man Without a Country)
    
• Visit 10 bookstores in the city that I haven’t been to yet
  • Complete
• Attend at least 20 book events
  • Incomplete (I only went to 9, the list is below)

2008 Books and Reading Recap

Total Books Read – 2008

87 Books Read (for a complete list of books I read, click here to visit my Polysyllabic Spree list)
64 fiction
23 non-fiction

10  re-reads

34 by male authors
53 by female authors

63 books by authors who are still alive
24 books by authors who are now dead

62 different authors
42 new to me authors

16 library books
8 I borrowed, read, and bought after I read it
26,128 Pages Read (does not included unfinished books)
71.39 pages/day average

By Genre (some books may be in more than one category)
Essays – 5
Short Stories – 3
Kid’s Lit – 18
YA Lit – 9
Graphic Novels – 3
Memoir/Autobiography – 13
Books about Reading – 2
Classics – 20
Contemporary Fiction – 18

Published in:
2008 – 17
2007 – 18
2006 – 5
2005 – 7
2004 – 2
2003 – 3
2002 – 1
2001 – 1
1990s – 4
1980s – 5
1970s – 1
1960s – 4
1950s – 5
1940s – 2
1930s – 1
1920s – 1
1910s – 1
1900s – 1
19th Century – 7

Multiple Books Read by an author:
Jane Austen: 6
P. G. Wodehouse: 5
Kurt Vonnegut: 4
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: 4
Stephenie Meyer: 4
L. M. Montgomery: 3
Libba Bray: 3
Lisa See: 2
J. D. Salinger: 2
Jeanne Birdsall: 2

Favorite Fiction Books Read in 2008

Top Five Favorite Fiction books*
1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
2. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
3. Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger
4. The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse
5. Persuasion by Jane Austen

Favorite Non-Fiction Books Read in 2008

Top Five Favorite Non-Fiction Books*
1. Nothing to be Frightened of by Julian Barnes
2. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
3. The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders
4. At Large and At Small by Anne Fadiman
5. Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama

*I did not include any books I re-read this year when considering my favorites books read this year, since I figured it’s pretty much a given that books I re-read are favorites.

Favorite Book Covers of 2008*

Favorite Book Covers (I selected these from the “books purchased” list too, not just “books read”)
I Capture the Castle
The Braindead Megaphone
I Was Told There’d Be Cake
State By State
My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead
Maps & Legends
Favorite Book Titles
I Capture the Castle
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Code of the Woosters
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
I Was Told There’d Be Cake

Books Purchased in 2008: 191 (oy – my goal was to buy less books. This is 41 more than 2007.)

Total Books Purchased – 2008

The Year in Book Events: 9 Events
1. Geraldine Brooks, 1.9.08, Barnes and Noble Union Square, People of the Book
2. Jeffery Eugenides & George Saunders, 1.10.08, Barnes and Noble Lincoln Center, My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead
3. Vendela Vida, 1.17.08, Barnes and Noble Chelsea, Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name
4. Lisa See, 3.3.08, Barnes and Noble Tribeca, Peony in Love
5. Ben Karlin, 3.28.08, Barnes and Noble Tribeca, Things I’ve Learned From Women Who’ve Dumped Me
6. Caldecott/Newbery Even at Books of Wonder, 4.13.08
-Peter Sis, The Wall
-Jacquelene Woodson, Feathers
-Mo Willems, Knuffle Bunny Too
-Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret
-Laura Vaccaro Seeger, First the Egg
7. Junot Diaz, 9.4.08, Barnes and Noble Union Square, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
8. Stephen Shore, 9.9.08, Strand, Uncommon Places
9. Sarah Vowell, 10.8.08, Barnes and Noble Union Square, The Wordy Shipmates

A complete list of the books I purchased in 2008, broken down by month, can be found on my Polysyllabic Spree log.
Up next: 2009 Books & Reading goals
(note: I cannot get the font sizes to be anything besides wonky in this post – apologies!)

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was working on a time-consuming year end books read project. Well, it took a lazy 3 day weekend of below-freezing temperatures to actually stay in, focus, and finish it. I’m very excited to have finished this before the year 2014, which was looking like a bleak reality.

At the end of last year I was trying to think of a way to creatively present my own “best books of 2007″ list. My list wasn’t limited to books published in 2007, just a list of books I loved in 2007. In fact, there aren’t many books published in 2007 on the list. A few of the books are books I re-read this year, rather than read for the first time.

While reading New York magazine I came up with the idea to make a flow chart. (They do a lot of very cool flow charts.) I went through my list of 70 books read in 2007 and highlighted the ones I loved. I then had a list of 33. (It would seem I either love a book too easily or am very good at selecting books I will love. I think it’s both.)

I’ve tried to structure the flow chart so a user can navigate through a few questions to determine which of my favorite books they might enjoy too. This is far from a perfect science, and isn’t trying to be. It’s just for fun. There’s no guarantee that you’ll like the book that you reach at the end of the flow chart, or that you haven’t already read it. You can always start over and pick a different path.

Some of the determining questions are lame and all are oversimplified. As I said, it’s just for fun. Also it’s much better for you than those medical flow charts that lead me and other anxiety-ridden hypochondriacs to think they’re going to die of an aneurysm.

That being said, I hope you find it enjoyable. If you decide to try it, I’d love it if you would drop me a comment and let me know what book the chart said you should read.

The best way to view the flow chart is to follow this link: (make sure you magnify it to the full size if your browser shrinks it to fit in the window)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/2211239856_903712e2ae_o.jpg

I’ve also posted it as a picture here, but it will be much too small to read unless you open it up full size.

2007 Book Flow Chart

5 comments

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)

]]> http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2008/01/21/2007-favorite-books-flow-chart/feed/ 1 http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2008/01/10/2007-books-and-reading-recap/ http://www.booksuniverseeverything.com/2008/01/10/2007-books-and-reading-recap/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:25:43 +0000 chowmeyow http://booksuniverseeverything.wordpress.com/?p=465 I feel a bit behind on my year end posting, especially since I’ve already read so many wonderful year in review posts by other Voxers and bloggers, including many fabulous reading recaps.

Here’s my attempt at a summary of all things literary in my life last year. I’m also still working on the big post (believe it or not, this isn’t it) in which I’m trying to creatively present my favorite books read last year. Other ideas for year end posts are churning in my head as well, so please bear with me.

So here it goes:

2007 Books and Reading Recap

70 books read
36 by male authors
34 by female authors
38 new to me authors
9  re-reads
3 audio books

Fiction: 50
Non-Fiction: 20

By Genre: (some books may be in more than one category)
Memoir/Auto-Biography: 11
Short Stories: 4
About Reading: 5
Essays: 6
Contemporary Fiction: 26
Kid’s or YA Lit: 20
Classics: 4

Pages read: 21,190 (does not include unfinished books)

Most books read by the same author:
JK Rowling: 7
Jasper Fforde: 4
Nick Hornby: 3
Kurt Vonnegut: 3
Frank McCourt: 2
Sara Pennypacker: 2
Jhumpa Lahiri: 2
Ian McEwan: 2
Augusten Burroughs: 2
Jeffrey Eugenides: 2
Marjane Satrapi: 2

Some of the books I started in 2007, haven’t finished yet, but intend to:
What is the What by Dave Eggers; I am America (and so can you!) by Stephen Colbert; Rosie Little’s Cautionary Tales for Girls by Danielle Wood;  Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust

Award Books Read in 2007 (not a complete list of the many different book awards out there, just the ones that regularly capture my attention and influence what I read)
Man Booker Prize (nominated or winner): 6
Atonement
The Blind Assassin
The God of Small Things
On Chesil Beach
Mister Pip
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Pulitzer Prize winners: 5
Interpreter of Maladies
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Angela’s Ashes
Middlesex
The Age of Innocence
Newbery: 1
The Higher Power of Lucky

Top 5 Favorite Fiction books read in 2007:
1- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2- The Namesake
3- Water For Elephants
4- The Reluctant Fundamentalist
5- Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Other books I wish would fit in the top five: Franny and Zooey, The Eyre Affair, Middlesex, Atonement, No One Belongs Here More Than You

Top 5 Favorite Non-Fiction books read in 2007:
1- Principles of Uncertainty
2- How Proust Can Change Your Life
3- Look Me in the Eye
4- Reading Like a Writer
5- The Polysyllabic Spree
Book I wish would fit into the top five: Ex Libris

Top 5 Favorite Covers of books read in 2007:
1- No One Belongs Here More Than You
2- The Mysterious Benedict Society
3- The Principles of Uncertainty
4- Look Me in the Eye
5- Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Books read that were made into movies in 2007: 6
Three that I’ve seen so far: The Namesake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Atonement; and two movies (from three books) that I haven’t seen yet: The Kite Runner, and Persepolis (combination of Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2)

150 books purchased or acquired (does not include titles I bought that I already owned or kid’s picture books)

The Year in Book Events: 19 events
January 25 – Norman Mailer, The Castle in the Forest, Barnes and Noble Union Square
March 12 – Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira Nair, The Namesake, Barnes and Noble Union Square
March 21 – Jonathan Lethem, You Don’t Love Me Yet, Barnes and Noble Union Square
May 2 – Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Barnes and Noble Union Square
May 9 – Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
June 7 – Cynthia Kaplan, Leave the Building Quickly, Greenwich Village Barnes and Noble
June 16 – Chuck Palahniuk, Rant, Strand
September 15 – Mo Willems, Knuffle Bunny Too, Books of Wonder
September 18 – Garrison Keillor, Pontoon, Barnes and Noble Union Square
September 19 – Dave Barry, Dave Barry’s History of the Millenium, So Far, Barnes and Noble Union Square
September 25 – John Elder Robison & Augusten Burroughs, Look Me in the Eye, Barnes and Noble Union Square
October 4 – Haven Kimmel, The Used World, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
October 16 – Nick Hornby, Slam, Barnes and Noble Union Square
October 20 – Hilary Knight, The Circus is Coming, Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble
October  23 – Bill Bryson, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Columbus Circle Borders
November 1 – Yann Martel and Tomilsav Torjanac, The Illustrated Life of Pi, 82nd Street Barnes and Noble
November 7 – Maira Kalman, Principles of Uncertainty, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
November 12 – Frank McCourt, Angela and the Baby Jesus, Barnes and Noble Union Square
November 15 – Philip Gourevitch & Peter Carey, The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. II, Barnes and Noble Union Square

Favorite Book Sites:
Two books I read in 2007 had exceptionally great websites dedicated solely to the book:
No One Belongs Here More Than You
Special Topics in Calamity Physics

As always, the complete list of books I read and purchased can be found here.
My books and reading goals for 2008:

• Read at least 71 books (one more than last year seems like a reasonable goal)
• Read David Copperfield
• Read 3 Vonnegut books
• Visit 10 bookstores in the city that I haven’t been to yet
• Attend at least 20 book events

(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)