Reading Year 2011 in Review

Totals for 2011: 159 (27 more than last year. Hooray!)
Fiction: 60
Non-fiction (including poetry): 99
That works out to 13.25 books per month or around 3.05 books per week.

Most books finished in: June (19)
Fewest books finished in: April (6)
Most non-fiction finished: this is a two way tie between January and October (11 each)
Most fiction finished: August (12)
Fewest number of non-fiction books finished: tie between April & August (4)
Fewest number of fiction books finished: four way tie because I only finished two in January, February, March and April.

Favorite mystery series: The Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy Sayers (my favorite might have been:The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, but really, they're all good)

Favorite trilogy:The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Favorite Trilogy Runner-Up: Matched by Ally Condie deserves a shout out here too. I've only read the first but I'm eagerly anticipating the next 2 books in the series)
Least favorite trilogy: The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Second least favorite trilogy:Chaos Walking: The Complete Trilogyby Patrick Ness. Both of these series had interesting premises but that's the only nice thing I can say about them.

Favorite novel: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Most Hyped (and therefore, most over-rated):Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
Most Austen-esque:Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal ("Austen meets Bewitched")
Also somewhat Austen-esque:Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

Best Book About Writing:If You Want to Writeby Brenda Ueland
Funniest: any of the books by Jean Kerr (such as: The Snake Has All the Lines)
Non-fiction Book that inspired more research:The Great Silence: Britain from the Shadow of the First World War to the Dawn of the Jazz Ageby Juliet Nicolson
Favorite Book / Movie Combo:Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre (movie:The Man Who Never Was) I think this was the only book / movie combo, to be honest.

Worst Memoir: The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairieby Wendy McClure. Almost sucked all the joy out of Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic books. Almost.
Best Memoir:A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matterby William Deresciwicz. Several disclaimers apply (language, intimacy) but this book manages to be self-aware without being ridiculously self-important.

Favorite Biography: tie between-
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slaveryby Eric Metaxas and
And God Came In: The Extraordinary Story of Joy Davidmanby Lyle Dorsett

Number of books sent to me for review purposes: 2 (Practical Geniusand The Immigrant Advantage). This was a first for me. Of the two, I only properly reviewed the first so perhaps I am not cut-out for this position.

Books with fewest degrees of separation between the author and myself:
Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hopeby Trevin Wax (we had the same piano teacher and performed in the same piano recitals. Also, our parents were friends.)
Loving the Everyday: Meditations for Momsby Elizabeth Barkley (the author was my sister's academic adviser)

Most Quotable: From the Library of C. S. Lewis: Selections from Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journeycompiled by James Stuart Bell. In other news, I just found out today that I'm getting a copy of this via Paperback Swap. I probably don't have to tell you but: free books = happy me.
Favorite re-read: The Blue Castleby L.M. Montgomery. And, as far as I can tell looking over my book posts, the only re-read of 2011.
Dickens finished in 2011: none! That challenge is over and I haven't gone back to re-read any yet.
Dickens-esque: none, really. But I did read several books about London / Great Britain. (And I've already finished a "Dickens-esque" book in 2012, so there you go)

I read several books I shouldn't have. I read a lot of series fiction. I didn't get as much research done as I planned. But, all in all, I'm fairly proud of this reading year. If you've got a post about your favorite books of 2011, please do share in the comments.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me. Opinions are my own.

Books of 2011 - December

I had ambitious plans for today but they (and I) have been laid low by a vicious stomach virus from, well, you can fill in the rest. Miss Lili and I both have it although the rest of our family has avoided it... so far. {ominous music}

So, instead of ambitious blogging, I'll just share my December reading list. I hope to have my "Books of the Year" wrap-up ready soon. Stay tuned...

1. The English Air. Fiction by D.E. Stevenson. A pre-WW2 story about an English family who has a young German relative come to visit. Which is an intriguing and somewhat unusually ambitious plot for Stevenson.

2.Definitely Not Mr. Darcy. Fiction by Karen Doornebos. One of the few "Austen related" books I checked out a month ago that I actually completed. Mostly. This didn't really hold my attention so well and I skimmed through parts. The heroine is a supposed Austen-ite American who competes on a British reality TV show. Hilarity ensues. Or not.

3.How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books Non-fiction by Joan Bodger. I loved this travel / book memoir very much. After finding out "the rest of the story" (thank you Google) when I finished the book, I am really happy that this family had this amazing experience in England. Divorce, death, and extreme mental illness destroyed this family in the years after their family vacation of a lifetime. Highly recommended for anyone who loves England or the Children's literature that has come out of England.

4.Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris Non-fiction by David King. "And now for something completely different!" This is a horrifying true story about Nazi occupied Paris. The crimes are horrific, never completely explained away, and a chilling reminder that the Nazis weren't the only evil ones around in 1943. This book is only for the strong of stomach.

5.From the Library of C. S. Lewis: Selections from Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journey. Non-fiction compiled by James Stuart Bell. Really,  really good. I copied large sections of this into my commonplace book and read even more of them aloud to Philip. Excellent resource!

6.The Immigrant Advantage: What We Can Learn from Newcomers to America about Health, Happiness and Hope. Non-fiction by Claudia Kolker. I was actually supposed to do a longer review of this book, which I was sent for review purposes. My main difficulty with this book is that correlation does not prove causation, a difficulty the author glosses over more than once. As to the actual practices of the immigrant groups she spent time with, I do see that there are advantages. I had a more specific review planned and then forgot about it and now my brain is fuzzy. I'll have to review this book again soon.

7.London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets. Non-fiction by Peter Ackroyd. As Spock would say: "Fascinating." Next time Philip and I go to London we're going to have to find a guided tour for some of these things.

8.Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. Non-fiction by David Bayles & Ted Orland. Another one that I copied extensively into my commonplace book. You will probably hear more about this one in the future from me. (She hints mysteriously)


9.Murder Must Advertise (A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery) Fiction by Dorothy Sayers. Series mystery and quite a nice one in the series, I think. Love the biting take on advertising and advertisers. Not much has changed.

10.Hangman's Holiday. Fiction by Dorothy Sayers. A collection of unrelated short stories, rather than one mystery.

11.Dancing with Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of the Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature. Non-fiction by Celia Blue Johnson. "Stories behind the stories". I enjoy these types of books. This one is short and easily read, although there were several authors and stories I could have willingly gone on knowing nothing about.

12.A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter Non-fiction by William Deresiewicz. This one intrigued me because very few men read Austen at all, much less all of her finished novels. There is some language in this book that I could have done without but that's my only complaint. It is, after all, more of a personal memoir than a book about Austen.

December totals:
Fiction: 4 (mostly mysteries and all set in England - I'm just that predictable)
Non-Fiction: 8

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Action taken with these links could result in compensation for me. Opinions are my own.