Total Books Read: 112
Total Pages Read: 29,186
Abandoned Books: 3
Fiction v. Non-fiction: 92:20
Male v. Female: 76:41
Dead v. Alive: 88:24
Challenge v. Non-Challenge: 59:53
Reviewed v. Non-Reviewed: 98:14
Literature v. Guilty Pleasures: 58:54
New v. Re-Reads: 100:12
Okay, I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to separating books out into Literature versus Guilty Pleasures. I just don't think Charlaine Harris belongs in the same category as Alexandra Dumas. I love them both but the effort required to read their novels and the cultural messages and insights inherent in each are different. J.K. Rowling rocks my world, but William Shakespeare changes it. I'm very proud that I have a 50-50 split this year. In the past two years it's been more like 80% guilty pleasures. Oh and some of my books had multiple authors, one male, one female, so there's a bit of overlap for that stat.
My Top 10 of 2009 in the order I read them:
The Know-it-All by A.J. Jacobs
Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
Watchmen by Allan Moore
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
2009 Challenges (links to challenge posts with completed lists)
100+ Reading Challenge: 112/100
Back to School Challenge: 4/4
A-Z Challenge: 26/26
R.I.P. IV: 4/4
Take a Chance: 10/10
What's in a Name: 6/6
Chunkster Challenge: 4/3
The Dream King Challenge: 12/12 books and 3/1 films
Big Reading Accomplishments of 2009
1. Read 100+ books
2. Decreased guilty pleasures and increased "worthy" books
3. Stumbled upon the book blogging community!!!!
4. Completed 7 challenges
5. Did I mention the part where I found the book blogging community?!?!
Now, on to 2010....
100+ Reading Challenge: 112/100
Back to School Challenge: 4/4
A-Z Challenge: 26/26
R.I.P. IV: 4/4
Take a Chance: 10/10
What's in a Name: 6/6
Chunkster Challenge: 4/3
The Dream King Challenge: 12/12 books and 3/1 films
Big Reading Accomplishments of 2009
1. Read 100+ books
2. Decreased guilty pleasures and increased "worthy" books
3. Stumbled upon the book blogging community!!!!
4. Completed 7 challenges
5. Did I mention the part where I found the book blogging community?!?!
Now, on to 2010....
I like that literature v guilty pleasures stat...you're the first person I've seen do that.
ReplyDeleteI like that, too. Interesting way to look at things, in "versus" format.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Ooh, I'm definitely going to read The Know It All soon... have heard great things about it!! I like your vs. thing too.
ReplyDeleteI loved Rebecca. I now have it on my top reads of all time. 112 books is a great number of books, and what is interesting is that I matched you almost exactly at 113 books. I agree with you that it is hard to compare a guilty pleasure book with classic literature, but you really need both to keep you sane!
ReplyDeleteI love the combination of the Pirandello (yes!) and Rebecca (!). Excellent. Happy reading in '10.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite some math you've done here! I do agree with you on guilty pleasures versus literature and I don't think it's snobbish at all.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
You had a great reading year. I like how you broke it down. Curious was on my fav list of 08.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! Sounds like you had a wonderfully productive reading year :)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Haven't read any of your top 10 (shock!), but I have a good mind to try at least half of them. =)
ReplyDeleteHere's wishing you a Happy New Year!
I loved your top 10 list! I also loved Rebecca, A Handmaid's Tale, and The Curious Incident.
ReplyDeleteAwesome wrap-up post!!! I love how you compared the guilty pleasures to the worthy books. I know just what you mean!!! I like that concept of trying to "improve" yourself but then just having fun. And you rocked on the challenges! Love your top 10 list -- great diversity. And I'm so glad you stumbled upon the book blogging community!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy 2010!
Great picks! I love The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Rebecca. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys and happy new year to you too! I'm glad everyone "gets" my lit v. guilty pleasures category. Good reading in the coming year!
ReplyDeleteFun stats! I stumbled on the book blogging community early in 2009 and my blogging world will never be the same :) Hope 2010 brings you happiness and lots of good books, guilty pleasures or no.
ReplyDeleteGreat year for you. I agree with Dumas not being a guilty pleasure. Although when you enjoy his work, it's still a pleasure :) Good luck in 2010
ReplyDeleteI love looking at how people separate their stats! So much fun. And I love the Dead v. Alive stat. Now that's fun too! I'm going to have a lot of dead authors on my year round up. Maybe I'll get to it during Bloggiesta...
ReplyDelete