2007 Wrap Up & Top 10 Books of 2007
Wow! What a year of reading I've had! I read more this year than I have in quite a while and I credit it to blogging. I'm so glad I started blogging my books this year. Now for some ramblings on what I've accomplished with my reading this year.
1) I've started reading short stories regularly and I feel confident that it is something I will keep up with. I've read short stories in the past but never really felt comfortable with reading a collection from start to finish. I'm really enjoying taking them in short but frequent visits.
2) I managed to finish some trilogies and series. Namely, the Arthur trilogy by Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Giver books by Lois Lowry, the Tempe Brennan books by Kathy Reichs and the Harry Potter books
3) I've discovered some fabulous new-to-me authors whom I plan to read everything they've written: Lois Duncan, Colleen Gleason, Carson McCullers, Christopher Moore, Toni Morrison, Peter Robinson, Karin Slaughter and Sara Waters
4) I finished reading all of Amy Tan's books.
5) I read a variety of genres this year. I've always gone through stages where I get hooked on a genre and read nothing but for a while then move onto another genre. However, for the last couple of years I pretty much read nothing but YA fantasy and started off this year forbidding myself to read any, then added them back in about mid-year. I find I get burnt out when I get stuck in a certain genre and I'm really pleased with the broad range of genres I ended up reading this year. Hopefully, I can keep it up.
6) I've been very lax about reading Canadian authors in the past and this year I set out to rectify that and have recently started to make sure I read Canadian regularly.
Statistics (this includes the book I'm currently reading)
My complete list of books read can be found here.
Total Books Read: 139
J or YA: 78 = 56%
Non-Fiction: 3 = 2%
Short Story Collections: 4
Canadian Authored: 12 = 8%
New-to-Me Authors: 45 = 32%
*Classics: 10 = 7%
Read-Alouds: 31
Re-Reads: 24 = 17%
Library books: 74 = 53%
* for the purpose of Classics I am only considering books written prior to the 1950s which are commonly considered The Greats.
I'm really pleased with theses statistics! I'd like to keep library/owned at about 50%. I only just started trying to read more Canadian a few months ago so 8% is good. I'm surprised J/YA is only 56%, sometimes it feels like that is all I ever read. The only shameful thing here is the non-fiction. I'm just not into it these days, but I am going to try to make an effort to read more non-fiction next year. Maybe get it up to 5%.
Now onto what we've all been waiting for! My list of the top 10 books (in order) of 2007. This has been really hard to put together as I read a lot of fabulous books this year.
My Top 10 Books of 2007
10. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
9. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence
7. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
6. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry
4. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
3. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
1. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Honourable Mentions to the books that didn't quite make it to the top 10 are:
Fluke by Christopher Moore
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Dust by Arthur Slade
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
1) I've started reading short stories regularly and I feel confident that it is something I will keep up with. I've read short stories in the past but never really felt comfortable with reading a collection from start to finish. I'm really enjoying taking them in short but frequent visits.
2) I managed to finish some trilogies and series. Namely, the Arthur trilogy by Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Giver books by Lois Lowry, the Tempe Brennan books by Kathy Reichs and the Harry Potter books
3) I've discovered some fabulous new-to-me authors whom I plan to read everything they've written: Lois Duncan, Colleen Gleason, Carson McCullers, Christopher Moore, Toni Morrison, Peter Robinson, Karin Slaughter and Sara Waters
4) I finished reading all of Amy Tan's books.
5) I read a variety of genres this year. I've always gone through stages where I get hooked on a genre and read nothing but for a while then move onto another genre. However, for the last couple of years I pretty much read nothing but YA fantasy and started off this year forbidding myself to read any, then added them back in about mid-year. I find I get burnt out when I get stuck in a certain genre and I'm really pleased with the broad range of genres I ended up reading this year. Hopefully, I can keep it up.
6) I've been very lax about reading Canadian authors in the past and this year I set out to rectify that and have recently started to make sure I read Canadian regularly.
Statistics (this includes the book I'm currently reading)
My complete list of books read can be found here.
Total Books Read: 139
J or YA: 78 = 56%
Non-Fiction: 3 = 2%
Short Story Collections: 4
Canadian Authored: 12 = 8%
New-to-Me Authors: 45 = 32%
*Classics: 10 = 7%
Read-Alouds: 31
Re-Reads: 24 = 17%
Library books: 74 = 53%
* for the purpose of Classics I am only considering books written prior to the 1950s which are commonly considered The Greats.
I'm really pleased with theses statistics! I'd like to keep library/owned at about 50%. I only just started trying to read more Canadian a few months ago so 8% is good. I'm surprised J/YA is only 56%, sometimes it feels like that is all I ever read. The only shameful thing here is the non-fiction. I'm just not into it these days, but I am going to try to make an effort to read more non-fiction next year. Maybe get it up to 5%.
Now onto what we've all been waiting for! My list of the top 10 books (in order) of 2007. This has been really hard to put together as I read a lot of fabulous books this year.
My Top 10 Books of 2007
10. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
9. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
8. Gemini Summer by Iain Lawrence
7. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
6. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry
4. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
3. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
1. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Honourable Mentions to the books that didn't quite make it to the top 10 are:
Fluke by Christopher Moore
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Dust by Arthur Slade
Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
I like how you organized your wrap up, Nicola. I wish I had thought of that.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to see The Blind Assassin on your list of favorites. I plan to read that one this year. There are a few others on your list I hope to read one day.
Have a Happy New Year!