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The Sunday Salon


For this week’s Sunday Salon, I’m following the herd and doing a round-up of what I read this year. This year I finished 138 books, with one still in progress. Here are some statistics, as well as a “best” list.

Number of books read: 138
Number of re-reads: 1
Number of distinct authors: 111
Most frequent author: Dorothy Sayers (3); Alison Weir (3)
New-to-me authors: 100
Longest book completed: The Far Pavilions (St. Martin’s Griffin, 955 pp.)
Shortest book completed: 84, Charing Cross Road (Penguin, 97 pp.)
Most productive months: June and July (15 books each)
Least productive month: February (4 books)
Reviews posted in 2008: 207

Genres (some may overlap):
Fiction:
113
Chick Lit: 10
Historical fiction: 63
Classics: 9
Mystery: 24
YA: 0
Other:
Nonfiction: 25
History: 17
Biography: 10
Memoir: 8
Women’s Studies: 5
Essays: 2
Other:

Books from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list: 16
Author nationalities: US, Great Britain, Australia, Pakistan, Japan
Settings (country): United States, Britain, Pakistan, Australia, Iraq, India, China, Turkey, Italy, France, Japan, Russia, Egypt, Belgium/ the Netherlands
Settings (US States): New York, South Carolina, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Dakota, New Mexico, Illinois, North Carolina

Best reads in 2008:
The Meaning of Night
The Sunne in Splendour
The House at Riverton
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Go-Between
The Forgotten Garden
The Sealed Letter
Company of Liars
The Glass of Time
Devil’s Brood
The Greatest Knight
Nefertiti


2009 goals:

Get the TBR list down to a more manageable size!

Comments

Andi said…
Great list! I can't wait to read Guernsey in particular.
I need to add Sunne in Splendour to my list of TBR books I want to try to read next year.
That is an impressive list! Guernsey & Devil's Brood are two of my favorites this year, too!

Carey
Literary Feline said…
That's an amazing amount of books, Katherine! And then to have most of them be new to you authors!

I enjoy seeing everyone's reading stats this time of year. It's interesting to see an overview of what everyone's read and what they consider their favorites.

I haven't yet read any of your favorites, but several are in my TBR collection.

Thanks for sharing! And may you have another wonderful reading year in 2009!
Bonnie said…
What awesome stats and a great list as well. I haven't kept stats like that so it's interesting to read! Guernsey is on my favorites list as well.
Dani In NC said…
My TBR list is pretty long, but I consider it a lifetime list so I'm not worried about how many books are on it.
Alyce said…
Congrats on reading 138 books! I agree about Nefertiti and the Guernsey book - they are good (and the only ones on your best list that I have read).
Ali said…
Wow, that's a lot of books read and a heck of a lot of reviews posted! Two of your favorites are on my list to read in 2009.
Kerrie said…
You've certainly done well Katherine!
Would you like to take part in my Best crime Fiction Reads for 2009 activity?
http://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/2008/12/your-best-crime-fiction-reads-in-2008.html
All the best for 2009.
S. Krishna said…
I really like this 2008 year in review format - I might borrow it for my blog!
Ted said…
Impressive year!
Anna Claire said…
138 books, amazing! I got The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher for Christmas (it was on my list thanks to your review) and am about halfway through--love it!

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