December (and March) Books & Year End Wrap Up

~ Alison

Here are December’s reads:

And here are March’s, which I just noticed I never posted:

I read 55 books this year, missing my goal of 70. This is also 9 fewer books than last year. However, it’s more than one a week and I had a super fun year, so I hardly care. (I also felt like I spent a lot of time reading magazines this year.) Stats and my favorites are below if you are interested.

The amount read per month is an interesting breakdown:

  • 6 books: April, May, June
  • 5 books: January, November, December
  • 4 books: February, July, September, October
  • 3 books: March, August

In April, May and June I was traveling quite a bit – on the road for 23% of that three-month block, with 12 flights. I also traveled in January and December (November’s count includes two cookbooks). This certainly supports my own sense that these days, I read the most when I’m on the road.

I’ve continued to read primarily ebooks – 40 this year. Most of the rest I got as print books from the library, as for all of this year I lived within a lunch break walk of the Central Library, so I can easily pick up a hold. Two thirds of the books read in print were specifically for book clubs.

Of the ebooks, 11 were e-galleys (2 from Edelweiss and 9 from NetGalley) and 16 came from the Maryland Digital eLibrary Consortium. The rest I purchased, primarily through sales and other promotions that Barnes & Noble runs.

This was another good year for books I really liked, with 15 earning a 5-star review: The Cuckoo’s Calling; The President’s Hat; The Valley of Amazement; Consider the Fork; Black-Out; The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow; Life After Life; Relish; The Ocean at the End of the Lane; Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore; Beyond Snapshots; The Poisoner’s Handbook; All Clear; Behind the Beautiful Forevers; Quiet.

Additional breakdowns by type (there is overlap here):

  • 13 for bookclubs (same number as the last two years)
  • 35 works of fiction
  • 4 books of short stories
  • 17 works of nonfiction
  • 2 cookbooks (same as last year)