I'm cutting this a bit close with only three days left in the year, but I thought I would take a look back at my reading year finally. I am cheating a bit as I am going to count Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, though I still have a bit left to finish. I could easily finish today, but I hate to rush it as I am enjoying it so much. As a comparison here's what I wrote last year.
- Books completed: 88 - I think this is the most I have ever read in one year (due to blogging I'm sure)
- Fiction (not counting mysteries or YA): 56
- Nonfiction: 7
- Classics: 17
- Books from the Modern Library List: 1
- Mysteries: 9
- Young Adult novels: 9
- Books written by women: 64
- Books written by men: 23
- Books written by multiple authors: 1
- Fiction/mysteries by American authors: 15
- Fiction/mysteries by British authors: 43
- Books in translation: 10
- Short Story Collections: 4
- Individual short stories: 24 (approximately--I didn't actually keep track, but I'd like to keep up reading a short story a week)
- Plays: 2
- Virago editions or Persephone Press books read: 9
- Books read that were checked out from the library: 22
- Rereads: 2
- Different books by the same author: 2 (Deanna Raybourn), 2 (Daphne du Maurier), 2 (Joanne Harris), 2 (Elizabeth Taylor), 2 (Shakespeare), 2 (J.K. Rowling), 2 (Lynn Brittney), 2 (P.D. James)
I read more classics last year (I admit I cushioned things a bit this time around by counting two short story collections and the two Shakespeare plays, though they are all considered classics) than this year, which I find a little disappointing. I'm glad that I finally have read some short story collections and plays, and I think I've done better at reading books in translation, but ten out of 88 is not very much really. I had a feeling that I read far more British authors than American, and I didn't even count in Irish, Australian and Canadian authors! And truth be told even some of the American authors I read set their books/mysteries in Britain. I really do need to read more American authors. Unsurprisingly I've read more women authors than men authors. I don't set out to do this on purpose, but it always seems to work out that way. I don't generally read so many YA novels, but I've read quite a few this past year. And as usual I'd like to fit in more mysteries and read more fromthe ML list. Of course there's only so much you can fit in in one year! You can see a complete list of the books I read on the sidebar on the right.