Only 116 books in 2009. In August and September only 3 books. Only 3 books in two months! I don't remember that ever happening before.
I intended to choose my favorites, but this year there were so many! There were a few duds, but there really were some outstanding reads in 2009. I'm pleased with the increase in nonfiction; it takes me longer to read nonfiction, but all of them were on topics that held my interest and made me curious, often sending me to other books on the subject.
Have to thank Lisa for sending me the ARC The Vigorous Mind by Ingrid E. Cummings because it provided such a wonderful beginning to my 2009 reading, broadening my horizons in several ways!
I don't often accept books for Book Tours because of required posting dates. I usually finish well before the date and don't like to wait. I will say, however, that the ones I've accepted have been worth it!
The Vigorous Mind resulted in so many personal benefits--from broadening my reading to my taking a 200 hour teacher training course at Yoga Yoga in Austin and becoming a certified yoga instructor with the Yoga Alliance. I'm number 75 of 122 in the search results of registered certified teachers in Louisiana. I'm proud of that and credit Ingrid E. Cummings with the inspiration to even consider that goal, and then with the determination to pursue it.
2009 Totals: 116
92 Fiction
24 Nonfiction
total pages: 38, 582 pages
working backward...
December
total books: 14
14 F
0 NF
total pages: 5,014
Princess Academy - F - Shannon Hale - 2007 - 336 pages
River Secrets - F - Shannon Hale - 2008 - 320
Enna Burning - F - Shannon Hale - 2006 - 336
The Goose Girl - F - Shannon Hale - 2005 - 400
Bitter Tide - F - Ann Stamos - 2009 - 409
Taos Chill - F - Linda Lea Castle - 2009 - 277
Coyote Horizon - F - Allen Steele - 2009 -368
The Joys of My Life - F - Alys Clare - 2009 - 224
Act of Will-F - A. J. Hartley - 2009 - 336
Dust - F- Martha Grimes - 2007- 432-
A False Mirror - F - Charles Todd - 2007 - 416
Slightly Abridged - F - Ellen Pall - 2003 - 288
Knock Out - Catherine Coulter - 2009 - 417
Out of Nowhere - F - Doris Mortman - 1998 - 455
November
Total Books: 17
17 F
0 NF
total pages: 6, 237
A Killing Kindness - F - Reginald Hill - 1980 - 277
Alexandria: A Marcus Didio Falco Novel - F - Lindsey Davis - 2009 - 338
The Alexandria Cipher - F - Will Adams - 2009 - 336
The Blue Last - F - Martha Grimes - 2001 - 415 pages
The Girl on Legare Street - F - Karen White - 2009 - 335
All the Colors of Darkness - F - Peter Robinson - 2009 - 356
The Price of Butcher's Meat - F - Reginald Hill - 2008 - 519
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - F - Winifred Watson - 1938 - 234
Now & Then - F - Jacqueline Sheehan - 2009 - 384
The Magician's Apprentice - F - Trudi Canavan - 2009 - 588
Midnight Fugue - F - Reginald Hill - 2009 - 361
By Heresies Distressed - F - David Weber - 2009 - 475
Dante's Numbers - F - David Hewson - 2009 - 386
How to Buy a Love of Reading - F - Tanya Egan Gibson - 2009 - 389
Haunting Bombay - F - Shilpa Agarwal - 2009 - 359
To Serve Them All My Days - F - R.F. Delderfield - 1972 - 594
The Baker Street Letters - F - Michael Roberston - 2009 - 277
October
Total books: 10
1 NF
9 F
Total pages: 3,412 pages
Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History- NF - Sam Canyon - 009 - 246 pages
The Little Stranger - F - Sarah Waters - 2009 - 463
Enclave - F - Kit Reed - 2009 - 366
God Is an Englishman - F - R.F. Delderfield - 1970 - 634
The Girl Who Played with Fire - F- Stieg Larsson - 2009 - 503
Bare Bones - F - Kathy Reichs - 2003 - 380
In the Shadow of Gotham - F - Stefanie Pintoff - 2009 - 381
Excess Baggage - F - Tracy Lea Carnes - 2008 - 185
Grave Goods - F - Ariana Franklin - 2009 - 331 pages
Hot House Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire - F - Margot Berwin - 2009 - 266
September
One book
Shadow Magic - F - John Lenahan - 2008 - 278
August
Total: Only 2 Books
2 F
631 pages
A Circle of Souls - F - Preetham Grandhi - 2009 - 339 pages
The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal - F - Sean Dixon - 2009 - 292
July
Total: 11 books
2 NF
9 F
total pages: 3457
The Book of Rapture - F - Nikki Gemmell - 2009 - 269
Find Me- F - Carol O'Connell - 2006 -352
A Darker Domain - F - Val Mc Dermid - 2009 - 355
The Winter House - F -Carol O'Connell - 2004 - 306
The September Society - F - 2008 - 310
The Anatomy of Deception - F - Lawrence Goldstone - 2008 - 340
Yoga for Body, Breath and Mind - NF - A. G. Mohan - 1993 - 211 pages
Lamentation - Ken Scholes - F - 2009 - 361 pages
Cemetery Dance - Doulas Preston/Lincoln Childs - F - 2009 - 435
Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship - Donna Farhi - NF - 166
The Private Patient - P.D. James - F - 2008 - 352
June
June Totals:
7 books
2 NF
5 F
2, 224 pages
For Glory - Elizabeth Lee - F - 2006 - 333 pages
Cecilian Vespers - F - Anne Emery - F - 2009 300 pages
A Stopover in Venice - F - Kathryn Walker - 2008 - 306 pages
World Made by Hand - James Kunstler - F - 2008 - 317 pages
The Angels Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - F - 2009 - 370 pages
Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit - Donna Farhi - NF - 2000 - 270 pages
Yoga for Wellness - Gary Kraftsow - NF - 1999 -328 pages
May
May Totals:
8 books
2 NF
6 F
2,893 pages
Hmmm, this was a slow month. Too much to do outside in the garden...?
Yoga Anatomy - Leslie Kaminoff - NF - 2007 - 217 pages
The Heart of Yoga - T.K.V. Desikachar - NF -1995 - 242 pages
The Language of Bees - Laurie R. King - 2009 - 433 pages
Atlas of Unknowns - Tania James - 2009 - 319 pages
Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs - 2007 - 388 pages
Silent on the Moor - Deanna Raybourn - 2009 465 pages
The Four Corners of the Sky - Michael Malone - 2009 - 544 pages
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford -2009 - 285 pages
April
April Totals:
11 books
2 NF
9 F - (lots of fantasy for Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge)
3,804 pages
Fault Line - Barry Eisler - 2009 - 302 pages
Genesis - Bernard Beckett - 2006 - 150 pages
Dark Moon Defender - Sharon Shinn - 2007 - 466 pages
Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor - Brad Gooch - NF - 2009 385 pages
The Lost Hours - Karen White - 2009 - 368 pages
The Thirteenth House - Sharon Shinn - 2006 -484 pages
The Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold - 2006 - 372 pages
The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner - 2006 - 400 pages
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner - 2000 - 360 pages
The Three-Pound Enigma - Shannon Moffett - NF - 2006 -237 pages
The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner - 1996 - 280 pages
March
March Totals:
11 books
2 NF, 9 F
3,286 pages
The Beach Street Knitting and Yarn Club - Gil McNeil - 2009 - 404 pages
The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng - 2007 - 444 pages
The Risk of Darkness - Susan Hill - 2009 - 374 pages
Hungry Ghosts - Susan Dunlap - 2008 - 264 pages
The Mao Case - Qui Xialong - 2009 - 289 pages
Exploring Other Worlds - David Chapin - 2004 -220 pages
The Brain that Changes Itself - Norman Doidge, M.D. - NF - 2007 - 408 pages
Saffron Dreams - Shaila Abdullah - 2009 - 232 pages
Jane Austen: A Life - Claire Tomalin - NF- 1998 -228 pages
Among the Mad - Jacqueline Winspear - 2009 - 303 pages
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett - 2007 - 120 pages
February 2009
Not a bad month. Fewer books this month and fewer NF, but I've some good NF in progress right now.
Feb. totals:
10 books
3 NF, 7 F
3, 216 pages
An Inconvenient Wife - Megan Chance - F - 2004 - 404 pages
Fatal Legacy - Elizabeth Corley - F - 308 pages
The Hellfire Conspiracy - Will Thomas - F - 311 pages
A Rule Against Murder - Louise Penny - F - 322 pages
The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp - NF - 243 pages
Where Memories Lie -Deborah Crombie - F- 295 pages
Hatha Yoga Illustrated - Kirk Martin, et al. - NF - 232 pages
Bone by Bone - Carol O'Connell - F - 340 pages
Talking to the Dead - Barbara Weisberg - NF - 273 pages
Gauntlet - Richard Aaron - F- 488 pages
January 2009
January has been an unusually good reading month! Only two books that I did not care for and 12 books that were very good experiences. I did much better than I expected at increasing my nonfiction and biographical selections, largely because each book was as entertaining as it was informative.
14 books
10 NF, 4 F
4,040 pages
- The Mighty Queens of Freeville - Amy Dickinson - NF - 225 pages
- Frozen in Time - Owen Beattie & John Geiger - NF - 168 pp
- The Seance - John Harwood - F - 328 pp
- Blink - Malcolm Gladwell - NF - 254 pp
- The Immortal Prince - Jennifer Fallon - F - 512 pp
- The Great Mortality - John Kelly - NF - 303 pp
- Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel - NF - 368 pp
- The Vigorous Mind - Ingrid Cummings - NF - 316 pp
- The Polysyllabic Spree - Nick Hornby - NF - 140 pp
- Surely, You're Joking Mr. Feynman - Richard Feynman & Ralph Leighton - NF- 346 pp
- Mind the Gap - Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon -F- 368 pp
- Away - Amy Bloom - F - 235 pp
- Resolute - Martin Sandler - NF - 249 pp
- Chakra Yoga - Alan Finger - NF - 138 pp
Yeah, you read a lot of good books in January! I added several of them to my wish list. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, that's pretty impressive! I think I managed six books this month.
ReplyDeleteI'm struggling with up-ing my non-fic, even though it is one of my goals. Your list is very impressive. How do you decide which non fiction books to read?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the good reading month! That is indeed a lot of non-fiction! My goal for last year was 2 a month and I achieved it, so I'd love to increase it this year.
ReplyDeleteKailana - I rarely have such good luck!
ReplyDeleteLisa - Sewing has taken a back seat this month and so has television. One of those recurring cycles...
chris - I began reading about the Franklin Expedition after reading Dan Simmon's The Terror. His novel was based on historic events, and I've been following from one book to another.
A week or so ago, I joined Reading Trails which helps me keep track of what I've read and where I'm going.
Nymeth - All of the nonfiction I've read has been remarkably interesting, which has made it easier. However, I've a long list of fiction titles (many from your blog) that are also begging to be read!
Those are great stats! I'm impressed with all the nonfiction... I think I read that many books in a year! :)
ReplyDeleteHope February's got lots of good books in store for you.
iliana - I only read a total of 14 nonfiction books last year; this year I've already read 10. And good ones! I've got quite a few nonfiction titles on my TBR list, too.
ReplyDeleteYou read some great stuff in January! I think most of mine was non-fic, too, although I'm trying to lower my intake and read more fiction.
ReplyDeletebookfool - I'm having a great time with the nonfiction, but I've got several mysteries in the stacks that are calling to me. Have to admit that lately, the nonfiction is beating the fiction for interest!
ReplyDeleteThose are some great looking stats! You're off to a nice start.
ReplyDeleteBybee - I've been lucky so far about finding some great reading material!
ReplyDeleteYou are my book-reading hero!
ReplyDeleteI always hesitate to do a monthly or yearly stat for fear I'll become discouraged that I didn't read more. I glad others don't have that problem because I love looking over others' lists.
ReplyDeleteThat Yoga Anatomy book looks fabulous.
Kim - :) Thanks!
ReplyDeletebooklogged - I just edit the previous post, adding the recent month's reading and change the date. It helps me to see if I'm meeting my goals and where I might need to make some adjustments. Seems I might need to be picking up in the biography section...
Wow! It took some time to update this list again!
ReplyDelete"Only" 116...you crack me up. I cannot believe you read so many books especially given the fact that August and September were slow reading months for you.
ReplyDeleteCarl - It was really a great reading year. A year that saw both some great fiction and great nonfiction!
ReplyDeleteLike Carl I was cracking up at your "only" as well! I've never read that many books in a year so it seems rather impressive to me!
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased and proud that one of the books you toured for us made such an amazing impact on your life!! CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a yoga instructor! That is so amazing!
ReplyDeleteStefanie - I'm retired and read almost every night!
ReplyDeleteLisaMM - Many of the books I read were connected to resolutions made as a result of that one book.
Thanks for sending A Vigorous Mind; it really has made an impact on my life!
Wow, your list is soo impressive!! I just started to get in to reading and am only averaging like a book a month!
ReplyDeleteSandy - I don't think I can spend a day without some reading...and since we have a wonderful local library, I rarely have to!
ReplyDelete