Thursday, December 29, 2016

2016 By the Books

I read 66 books in 2016 (67 if I finish The Help before Sunday (doubtful)). Here's a breakdown of what I read (using my Goodreads Account as my source) :
Total Number of Books Read: 66
Total Pages Read: 21,151
Shortest Book: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery  (83 pages)
Longest Book: The Crimson Petal and the White by Michal Faber (835 pages)
Average Rating: 3.5 stars
Highest Rated (by Goodreads): The Martian by Andy Weir (4.37 stars)
Highest Rated (by me): 6-way tie between Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, and The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman
Re-reads: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (also read in 2008 & 2011) and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (also read in 2011) [It was a good year for women who wrote year-long memoirs with lists as their titles.]
Women Authors: 28 (42% --> gonna do better than that next year)
Authors of Color: 9 (14% --> also working to improve that)
Non-Americans: 18 (27%--> I'm pretty okay with that)
Translations: 4
Books written by Neil Gaiman: 6 (that probably won't happen ever again)
Books with Movie or TV Adaptations: 26
Definitely Better Than The Movie: The Princess Bride by William Goldman was delightful!
Fantasy: 11
Horror: 10
Comedy: 10
Non-fiction: 23
Biggest Surprise: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Biggest Letdown: Paper Towns by John Green was the worst - do not waste your time on that garbage!
Still Thinking About: The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman (review coming on Saturday!)

Something I Learned (about reading): Reading has seasons, and books either fit or don't fit those seasons. Reading scary stories not in the fall feels out of place. Reading dense writing in the spring feels laborious. Some books had better "flow" than others based on the season and mood - and I plan on taking better advantage of that next year, instead of forging ahead with something just because "it's on the list".

Goal For 2017: More women, minorities, and translations. Less white dudes.

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