Wednesday, December 31, 2008

End-of-Year Stats

I've enjoyed reading the year-end roundups on several book blogs in the last few days but have held off on preparing my own because I had three books nearing completion just as the year was coming to a close. I wasn't sure which, if any, would be finished before 2009, so I held off on a list. As it turns out, I finished all three of them as of last night, so this is how 2008 officially went for me:
Number of Books Read = 143
Fiction = 104
Nonfiction = 39

Novels = 96
Short Story Collections = 8

Memoir = 18
Biography = 6
True Crime = 3
Essay Collections = 3
History = 2
Current Events = 4
Sociology = 3

Written by Men = 89
Written by Women = 52
Co-Authered = 2

Abandoned = 5
Review Copies = 59
Translations = 4
eBooks = 3
Audio Books = 13

Civil War Related = 4
Alternate History = 4
Young Adult Fiction = 4
Re-Reads = 3
Sports Related = 2


By Author Nationality:

British = 9
South African = 1
Australian = 1
Irish = 2
Japanese = 1
Canadian = 6
Algerian = 1
French = 2
American = 120
I need to start planning for next year now although I do have four good books started already that will be carried into 2009. I'm particularly excited about two of them, one already a bestseller and another that won't be published until the end of March 2009. I'm also a bit surprised that even though my total number of books read dropped by 16 when compared to 2007, my two-year total is 302. That is by far the most I've ever read in any two consecutive years and it probably happened because of the effort that I put into this blog. It's no coincidence that the Book Chase will be two years old three weeks from today.

Overall, this was a fun year and I find myself starting the new year with much more enthusiasm and energy than I had at the end of 2007. That's largely, I think, because I've enjoyed meeting so many interesting people (bloggers, authors and fellow readers, alike) and have really enjoyed all the input that I received this year. Thanks to all of you who make this so much fun.

Happy New Year to you all - stay safe tonight. I want to see you next year.

8 comments:

  1. Happy New Year!!

    I'm very impressed with your number of books read this year! You totally eclipsed my total of 72 books read in 08.

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  2. The Internet is a great thing for book lovers - reading is usually such a solitary activity and, depending on where you live, it can be hard to find other people who are as passionate about the things you read (or even about reading in general) as you are. Blogs are a nice way for book lovers to connect and maybe find more things to add to their TBR lists. Even though I usually have different reading tastes than you do, I like reading what you've got to say in your blog. Keep it coming. :)

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  3. I love the breakdown you did, Sam. I may have to do one too. I read far fewer books than you did...I read 67, I think, but abandoned 101. I have very little tolerance...if a book has not grabbed me by page 25 (50 at the most), it gets put aside. It's a good thing I get most of my books at the library, isn't it?

    Do you use the library at all? Since my library systems have gone online, I browse there all the time.

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  4. This is a pretty impressive list. I also like the way you have broken it down. Happy New Year!

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  5. Wow, I thought your nonfiction would be higher. Great list and I also love your breakdown categories.

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  6. Great breakdown. I see you dipped your toe into e-books, with 3 copies read. I was wondering if you read these on your computer or if you had an e-reader device?

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  7. Happy New Year! That is quite an impressive list of books read! And 39 of them were NF. I only read 6 last year! That's one of my goals--to read more NF this year. It looks like you read a nice variety of books--something I will work on this year.

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  8. Hope you have a happy new year and a great reading year in 2009!

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I always love hearing from you guys...that's what keeps me book-blogging. Thanks for stopping by.