I did this last year – it satisfies my enjoyment of making lists. I’ve also always kept track of the books I’ve read (I do wish I still have the notebooks from when I was 12, though – I don’t).
Books I read in 2006
The numbers:
Number of books read in 2006: 64
New reads in 2006: 56
Number of books read in 2005: 56
Average read per month: 5.3
Average read per week: 1.2
Number read in worst month: 2 (May)
Number read in best month: 11 (March)
Male authors: 25
Female authors: 22
Fiction: 60
non-fiction: 4
Scifi/fantasy: 24
Mystery: 15
Literature/fiction: 14
Graphic novels: 2
YA: 7
Audiobooks: 0
The list itself:
January
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, JK Rowling
Hot Sky at Midnight, Robert Silverberg
The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri
The Charmed Sphere, Catherine Asaro
February
A Clash of Kings, George R R Martin
Praise, Andrew McGahan
A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow, George R R Martin
A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold, George R R Martin
The Man who Smiled, Henning Mankell
March
Dawn: Xenogenesis, Octavia E Butler
The Chinese Maze Murders, Robert Van Gulik
S is for Silence, Sue Grafton
Earth Abides, George R Stewart
Thorns, Robert Silverberg
Bridget Jones’ Diary, Helen Fielding
Hills End, Ivan Southall
Ash Road, Ivan Southall
Police at the Funeral, Margery Allingham
My Family and Other Animals, Gerald Durrell
Shanghai Baby, Wei Hui
April
Unreliable Memoirs, Clive James
The Mennyms, Sylvia Waugh
A Feast for Crows, George R R Martin
The Armourer’s House, Rosemary Sutcliff
Hominids, Robert J Sawyer
Adulthood Rites, Octavia E Butler
May
The Man Who Loved Children, Christina Stead
The Bone People , Keri Hulme
June
Eucalyptus, Murray Bail
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
Bad Bebts, Peter Temple
Black Tide, Peter Temple
The Sinner, Tess Gerritsen
Dead Point, Peter Temple
Perdido St Station, China Miéville
July
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
Superluminal, Vonda McIntyre
Earthfasts, William Mayne
White Dog, Peter Temple
August
The Scar, China Mieville
An Iron Rose, Peter Temple
In the Evil Day, Peter Temple
Iron Council, China Mieville
The Good Women of China, Xinran
September
Tom O’Bedlam, Robert Silverberg
Downward to the Earth, Robert Silverberg
The Lighthouse Spark, Heather Grace
October
The Vivisector, Patrick White
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
Footfall, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
November
An Unkindness of Ravens, Ruth Rendell
The Web, Jonathan Kellerman
The Risen Empire, Scott Westerfeld
Misteri Gadis Tak Bernama, S Mara Gd
The Harmony Silk Factory, Tash Aw
December
Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
Sisters of the Road, Barbara Wilson
Pastures of the Blue Crane, H.F. Brinsmead
The Howling Stones, Alan Dean Foster
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History, Art Spiegelman
The Circus is Coming, Noel Streatfeild
Accelerando, Charles Stross (yes, Charles, I bought a copy after skimming the first chapter online. Thanks for making the book available online!)
Dawnthief, James Barclay
Noonshade, James Barclay
Favourites:
Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ diary (a surprise, I’m not a chick lit reader)
Charles Stross’s Accelerando. So many amazing ideas! (Some didn’t like it, though.)
China Miéville’s Perdido St Station.
All the Peter Temple books. Find of the year.
Least enjoyed:
Footfall, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. I only persisted with this one because I kept hoping it would get better. And then I passed the point of no return and finished it for the sake of finishing it. All the characters were caricatures, especially the aliens.
For 2007:
I want to read more non-fiction. I seem to have a bad habit with non-fiction, that is, I read bits of books, never finishing them. Just looking at some my current loans from work (I tend to borrow mostly non-fiction), if I read all these books from cover to cover – wow!
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom [online version], Yochai Benkler.
The Confucian-Daoist Millenium?, Reg Little.
Contesting Malayness: Malay Identity Across Boundaries, Timothy P. Barnard (ed).
Agamemnon’s Kiss: Selected Essays, Inga Clendinnen.
The Harmless People, Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.
The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, John DeFrancis.
Uses of Blogs, Axel Bruns and Joanne Jacobs (eds).
Remembering Aboriginal Heroes, John Ramsland and Christopher Mooney.
Designing Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning, Sasha A. Barab, Rob Kling and James H. Gray (eds).
It would be great if I could find a copy of Shooting Star by Peter Temple. It seems to be out of print. And I think we are overdue a new Culture novel by Iain M Banks.
Update 3:34pm: Jessamyn’s posted her list (her list inspired me to do it last year). So has Tom (your 100 books is impressive, Tom!). And Jenica.
12 Comments
Dear Ruminator: For your diligence in 2007, you deserve a copy of Shooting Star. Send me your postal address via Text Publishing and I’ll see that you get a copy. (By the way, why no The Broken Shore?) Best, Peter
OOOOOOO! Thank you Peter 🙂 Will do!
As for why no The Broken Shore I read it in 2005 – it was my introduction to Peter Temple and possibly my favourite (I also really enjoyed In the Evil Day).
You know about Banks’ The Algebraist, right? It only came out 18 months ago.
You’ve inspired me to read Accelerando – I read Stross’ Glasshouse this year and enjoyed that.
And I started reading Footfall a while back and only got 20 pages in. I’m relieved to hear that it wasn’t worth persevering.
Hey CW, What a great idea, thank you. You have insired me to make a list for 2007.
oops, inspired! indeed!
Yes I read The Algebraist, Simon. It’s not set in the Culture universe, though, which is what I’m missing. Maybe I should just reread those books 🙂 I’d be interested to hear what you think of Accelerando once you’ve read it. And Footfall – bah!
Cool, looking forward to seeing your list, tb 🙂
CW,
You need a kid. You clearly have too much time on your hands. I can do you a good deal on a nine month old Eurasian kid. Only one previous owner =).
If only i’d kept a record of what i read and when last year. I’m starting 2007 with this list in mind for next year!
skribe, Tom’s read 100 books (more than me!) and he has a young daughter 😉
jl, I’d love to see your list for 2007! 🙂
Is Eucalyptus any good?
Tom, I found it disappointing. I LOVED the descriptions of all the eucalypt species, but I felt quite detached from the love story aspect of it.
Oh, oops, I thought it was set in the Culture. I didn’t think that much of it, so I guess it didn’t stick in memory.
(In response to your other post – I think you’ll like Riddley Walker, too).