Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Book Addict: Final Total for 2009 and some favorites

Well, the final total number of books I read in 2009 is (drumroll, please) . . . .

93!
That's a lot of books, if I do say so myself.
Here are some of the useless statistics:
The month I read the most: June (with 13!)
The month I read the least: March (only 4)
For 7 months out of the year, I read between 4-7 books, and the other 5 I read between 9-13 books.
# of non-fiction books: 21
# books dealing with special needs issues: 6
# of "classics": 8
# of children and/or YA fiction: 33
YA fantasy series I read: Harry Potter, Fablehaven, Inkheart, The Anybodies, and Into the Wild. I think I'm doing pretty well in keeping up with the books my kids want to read. :) This year it looks like we'll all be moving through The Lightning Thief books.
Here are some of my overall favorites from last year:
1. Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris
2. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
3. Healing ADD - Daniel Amen
4. The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life - Steve Leveen
5. Camilla - Madeleine L'Engle
6. all the Harry Potter books lumped together - JK Rowling
7. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski
8. The Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Emmuska Orczy
9. The Year My Son and I Were Born - Kathryn Soper
10. Into the Wild and Out of the Wild - Sarah Beth Durst
11. The Disapparation of James - Anne Ursu
12. Speak - Louise Halse Anderson
Obviously, I read more books that I enjoyed than just these, but I have to limit the list somehow, so these are the ones that stood out to me as I looked over the list.
I am hoping to get back into the routine of doing monthly book reviews of the books I've read. It's kind of hard to keep up on it, but it sure is fun. :)
Any thoughts on these books I picked? Any other thoughts on books for today? Any bets on whether or not I'll reach 100 books read this year? (hehehe)
Some of my sorta long term reading goals are to read all of Madeleine L'Engle's books, try to read at least one "classic" (or book from the '1001 books you must read before you die' list) a month, read at least one Shakespeare play a year, keep up on the bookclub books (that's a relatively easy one!), read all of the Jane Austen and Bronte sister books . . . and I think those are the only ones I've actually articulated in my little brain - to work on over my lifetime, you see. I'm in no rush.
Anyway - I've also been working a bit on that personal poetry compilation project of mine I mentioned awhile back here and here (which you will most likely never see - hehe). I've got 165 poems posted so far, and ohhh sooo far to go. It is sort of overwhelming - but still fun. I am sorely tempted to leave some out, but I promised myself I wouldn't - so even though it is almost painful, I am forging ahead completely uncensored. Making slow erratic progress in spurts and stops - but maybe sometime before I die it will be completed. That's my only hope anyway.
And that's my news in the reading/writing realm. :)
Thanks for supporting my addiction and happy reading . . . .

11 comments:

Amy said...

What did you think about the end to Edgar Sawtelle? Without giving it away to those who haven't read it, it was a bit upsetting to me. I wanted more for him.

Kristen said...

Amy - I hate to admit this - but one of the disadvantages of reading so much is that I can't keep it all straight in my head! I can't remember the ending - and I am embarassed to say so. But I remember liking the book overall a lot! I'd have to go back and refresh my memory . . . (this brain of mine is like a sieve, unfortunately). :(

Jennifer Pelo Rawlings said...

That is a lot of books. I love Goodreads because it helps us keep some memory of the books we read. Go for 100!

Kerri said...

I love A Tree Grows In Brooklyn. I read it a few years ago and still remember thinking the whole time, this is a great book! =)

Mr. Sessions said...

Kristen,


I found the book for you. It is a librarian from Seattle named Nancy Peal. She reads like you read and she has a book where she reviews the best of the best. The name of her book? Booklust and Bookcrush for teens and those addicted to reading. I bought it so I could keep up for my classroom.

Good job with all that reading

Laird

Kristen said...

Laird,
I browsed through Booklust when I was preparing a talk on reading for enrichment last year. Loved it!! I didn't read it front to back but what I read described my feelings about reading exactly. :)
I'll have to take a look at Bookcrush now. Thanks for the recommendation!!

Davis and Carter's Mommy said...

I just wanted to say with all you have going on it is seriously impressive that you read so much. Good for you!

Wink said...

Clearly I need to discover Goodreads! I found your blog via Girlysmack, and I've been enjoying your archives....Wonderful writing. By the way, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is one of the more astonishing books I've read in a while.......Loved it.

Anonymous said...

that is AMAZING!! i'm ashamed to say, i think i finished maybe two books last year? honestly i'm not quite sure lol..

how do you find so much time to read??

~m

Cluttered Brain said...

Wow! I too need to get reading. I've got books to review even.

Here's to reading more this NEXT week!

* said...

I, too, love Madeline L'Engle. Just check out "A wrinkle in time" yesterday, I want to introduce my young children to her.

Great list, that's a lot of books. I have never thought of counting all the books I've read in any given year. Great idea, and all the more possible with tools like Goodreads.

Read on!!

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