2011 Reading goals and 2010 year end reading wrap up part 2, the stats (TSS)

Wow, long post title!

Let's take a look at my goals for 2010, shall we?

-52 books-  Didn't quite make it, tapping out at 48. Complete list here.


-Read the books published in 2010 IN 2010- I did a pretty good job of this, 18 of my 48 books were published in 2010. This is largely because I only had time to grab from the new release section of the library, but whatever works!

-Fit the TBR book into the TBR shelves without piling them on top. This can be because I read them or because I gave them away, but either way I want less clutter. - The move really helped with this one. They still don't completely fit, but they are close. Another crazy thing- I only unpacked one box of books in the new house! I'm not letting myself unpack any more until those are read.

-Bring myself current on a handful of series and try to stay that way. Failed.
--In Death series by J.D. Robb Did not read one.
--The Hollows series by Kim Harrison Did not read one.
--the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich Decided to give up on the series
--the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. did not read one
--the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher Did not read one
--the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaugh did not read one

This year's goals are similarly simple:
- Read 52 books.
- Reduce the TBR. (fiction, non-fiction)  This will be tricky, as I haven't even unpacked much of it, but one box at a time should do it.

Easy peasy, right?

And now the stats from 2009:

48 total books
30 new to me authors
19 romances
10 memoirs
7 non-fiction
8 young adult novels
2 paranormal
2 general fiction

18 published in 2010
13 published in 2009
3 in 2008, 4 in 2007, 2 in 2004, 3 in 2001, 2 in 1991, 1 in 1990, 1 in 1967

28 of them came from the library
9 came from my TBR shelves
3 came from the publisher or author or contest winnings
8 were re-reads that I already owned
I've read my list about a dozen times while writing this post, and while I enjoyed most of the books on it, not a one stands out at The Very Best. If forced to make a decision, I'd go with Morgan Matson's Amy & Roger's Epic Detour. I did enjoy that one very much, but it's not going to go down into my mental best ever list. I'm hoping for a couple of "OMG did you read this yet??" books in 2011. I contribute this largely to just reading whatever catches my eye at the library instead of putting any thought into it. If I'd read from the TBR or from my extensive list at Goodreads I think I might hit a few more winners.

What was the best book you read in 2011? (Yes, I can visit your blogs too, but I'm lazy.) Do you fall into the easy way of choosing books like I do? Maybe I should make an effort to read more deliberately like many of you? (/makes a note) What are your reading goals for 2011?



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1. The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs falls squarely into that category of memoirs/ non-fiction that I like best.  I've seen the term "stunt memoir" used to perfectly describe this type of book and would definitely apply it to this one. Jacobs has decided to follow ALL of the rules in the Bible as literally as possible (bet you couldn't figure that out from the title). He spends the first 9 months of his year with the Old Testament before finishing up in the New.

What did I think? Well, I enjoyed it and I went looking for Jacob's other books, but it took me a very long time to finish it up, I'm talking Months.  I'd put it down and walk away and there was nothing about it that compelled me to pick it back up.

Jacobs spends  a lot of time talking about how this experiment has changed his view of religion and I think that was the most interesting part, to me. He starts off the book as a non-believer of Jewish descent, but as the book goes on he has moments of pure belief. He is as startled by this as you would expect and I enjoyed his honestly.   In addition to deciphering the rules on his own, he consults with quite a few other religious scholars and the differing view on things is also quite interesting. Overall a good book, but not one of my favorites for the year.


How do you feel about "stunt memoirs"? Do you have a favorite? Do you prefer straight biographies? Do you think that writers can be completely honest when they know they are doing a trick for a book? Or do you think they probably fudge a bit to sound better? (Hello, James Frey.)

If you're interested in other books about personal religious experience, I also read and enjoyed:

Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture by Daniel Radosh (my review)
The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding by Idliby, Oliver and Warner (my review)
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert (pre-blog)

Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life by Lauren Winner (also pre-blog)


You can find AJ Jacobs online here, but it doesn't look like he updates very often.


The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs
Simon & Schuster
2008
416 pages

PS. I decided to number my 2010 reads in the subject line of the post. I like the idea that I'll be able to tell at a glance where I am. 



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.