Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Books: A year in review

Success!

After just missing my 40 book goal in 2009, I was hoping I'd be able to read enough pages and meet it 2010. And I did! In fact I beat the goal! OK. I barely beat the goal, but that still counts!

I managed to finish 41 books in 2010 for a total of 14,047 pages. In 2009 - when I barely missed the goal - I finished 39 books and 12,549 pages. Who knew adding an extra two books would tack on that many more pages?

Some stats about this year's reading list? With 14,047 pages read this year, each book averaged 343 pages. The longest book I read this year was The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald, which was 820 pages. But that was followed closely by the 759-page Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. The shortest book on the list was the 159-page Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. And honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what the point of those 159 pages was. There were a couple of authors that made it on my reading list multiple times: Stieg Larsson (2), Charlaine Harris (10), Ann-Marie MacDonald (2), Gail Carriger (2) and Marisa de los Santos (2). And other than the 11 books about vampires I also managed to read four running-related books this year.

Overall not a bad year. Take a look at what I spent my time reading in 2010:

1. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2. Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal by Lance Armstrong
3. Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
4. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
5. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
6. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
7. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
8. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
9. Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
10. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
11. Soulless by Gail Carriger
12. The Babysitters Club: The Summer Before by Ann M. Martin
13. Changeless by Gail Carriger
14. Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption by William Cope Moyers
15. Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes
16. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
17. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer
18. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
19. Get Lucky by Katherine Center
20. The Way the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
21. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
22. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
23. Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
24. Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandella and the Game that Made a Nation by John Carlin
25. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
26. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
27. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
28. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
29. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
30. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
31. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
32. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
33. The Long Run by Matt Long w/ Charles Butler
34. A Perfect Match by Shelley Bradley
35. Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook
36. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
37. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
38. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
39. Stay by Allie Larkin
40. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
41. Run to Overcome by Meb Keflezighi

Now. Any suggestions for what to read in 2011?

7 comments:

Paige @ The Gravy Boat said...

Hah, I love that Babysitter's Club book thrown in. Awesome.

Some suggestions for 2011:

She's Come Undone
Stargirl
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Eat Pray Love
Julie & Julia

Just a few ideas! Some of them got super popular recently, so you may have already read them... :)

Badgergirl said...

Thanks for the suggestions! I've read Eat Pray Love and She's Come Undone. But I'll look into the other ones you mentioned!

James said...

That's a lot of books! I average about 3-4 books a year. Congrats on meeting your goal.

Suzy said...

You did great this year reading! If you go to my blog, I have a tab of books that I've recently read. Some good, some ok, and only one that I didn't bother finishing (Half Broke Horses).

J said...

You did really great on this goal for the year! i am so impressed you read so much! I have been slacking a bit and I need to start reading more! I will have to keep your list handy so I can use it when I head to the library!

rueschmike said...

I would think that The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson would have to be on your list.

Badgergirl said...

@rueschmike: It is on my to read list. I'm just waiting for a copy to come into my local library.