2011 in Books

    For the last two years, I’ve been keeping track of the books I read in a spreadsheet. Also in the last two years, I’ve discovered that I adore spreadsheets. They bring a tiny bit of order to my chaotic life. Anyway, the books. Since it’s nearing the end of the year, I thought I should look at how many books and what type and my comments on them. I don’t plan on posting reviews, but I do take notes for myself in my spreadsheet.
     In 2011, I have read (or started) 47 books. Of these, eight were nonfiction. Six were audiobooks, 13 were paper books and 28 were on my Kindle.
     In 2010, the first year I started getting all statistical about my reading, I also listened to six audiobooks. Only four of the 49 books I read that year were actual paper books. Only four were nonfiction.     
    Here’s a few of the highpoints in my 2011 reading list:

• Favorite audiobook: A tie between The Informationist by Taylor Stevens and A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read. 
• Favorite nonfiction:  The Worst Date Ever, by Jane Bussmann.
• Favorite fiction:  The Restorer, by Amanda Stevens.

    Three of these — The Informationist, A Field of Darkness, and The Restorer were the first books in planned series. This is great news, because who doesn’t like to hear that there’s more good reading coming soon. But in the case of The Restorer, a little frustrating because it’s a trilogy and the book left a lot of questions unanswered and also because I didn’t realize until I was very near the end that the story couldn’t possibly be wrapped up in the next few pages. Still, it was good to find three more authors whose work I am now avidly following.     
    The other thing that jumps out at me as I look over the list is that I really need to stop saying that I don’t like first-person narration. This is clearly a lie, as three of my four favorites were first person, as were many of the books I read this year. I also read a whole lot of romance last year, and even most of the mysteries and suspense had romantic elements.
     One entry I haven't put on my spreadsheet is the price of the books I've read. I may start tracking that next year, though I wonder if I really want to know how much I spend on books in a year. I am rethinking my Audible subscription because I'm obviously not listening to 12 audiobooks a year. It might be time to take a break and listen to all the ones I've bought in the last two years.
     There are still a few dozen books on my to-be-read pile and I may add a few stats to this year's total before the end of the year. And I've already got several books queued up for next year that I'm dying to start (including Karen Moning's Darkfever, which has been recommended to me by so many people lately that I just had to buy it, despite my self-imposed book-buying ban).
     So that was my literary year. What was yours like?