The year is winding down so I decided to check my reading stats for 2012…
I track my reading on Goodreads. My “bookshelf” of books read in 2012 is here. I’ve finished 30 books so far this year and abandoned 3 — impressive, considering how much else I’ve had going on… You can view my book stats on Goodreads to see how this compares to other years.
Details:
- Finished 17 fiction / 13 non-fiction (the 3 abandoned were all non-fiction)
- Read only 3 “young adult” fiction (Bitterblue, Divergent, Ender’s Game)
- Kindle FTW! 32 of the 33 were read on Kindle… (the only non-Kindle book was Fluke – fitting?)
- I still ❤ the library… 7 of those 33 were library books for Kindle. I have one more in-progress which I expect to add to my tally.
- I only gave 3 books 5-star reviews (The Night Circus, Quiet, The Getaway Car)
I am still reading 3 books which I hope to finish by the end of the year. I like to wrap up all reading loose ends before midnight on December 31st… However, one of the books I’m still reading is The Complete Sherlock Holmes… So, that loose end may not get tied this year. But the other two I’m sure I can finish (A Feast for Crows and Once You’re Lucky…). That will bring my total books finished in 2012 to 32.
Best books of 2012?
I’m no judge of “best”… I just know what I like. So, instead of “best,” I’ll tell you my favorites from 2012.
My favorite of all the fiction books I read this year was, hands down, The Night Circus. I loved it so much that I just spent $20 to buy a hardcover copy for my bookshelf. Since I got this from the library, now I have a copy of my own to re-read as many times as a like.
This was a good year for new authors in the fantasy genre. I stumbled on two new authors / series (Throne of Glass by Sarah Maas and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor) that I really enjoyed. I am eagerly awaiting the next books in these series. I was less than impressed with A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It was okay, but I’m not rushing out to read the next book in that series.
My favorite nonfiction book was definitely Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking. If you are an introvert or you know/love one, you should definitely read this book. If you think introvert = shy / antisocial and that introvert is a negative characteristic, then you should definitely read this book.
I also gave a 5-star review to The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life. This Kindle Single by Ann Patchett provided little nuggets of writing wisdom and insight that made me happy. Moments where I sat up and said “Yes! That’s it exactly!” happened on almost every page. I could have underlined the whole short thing.
I have to say, this was a good year for reading. And, I love my Kindle — possibly my best electronics purchase this year. I had the Kindle app on my iPad before ordering the Kindle Touch. The iPad app is okay… but I’m constantly distracted by all the other things I can do on the iPad. The Kindle is much more like reading a book. Since it’s just the books, I can get lost in it without thinking about checking my email or surfing the internet or shopping for shoes on Zappos.
Reading on the Kindle is still not the same as reading on paper. I’m one of those readers that remembers things visually – where a particular passage was positioned on the page and in what part of the book. I also like to flip back and forth in a book (yes, I sometimes flip ahead to the end for spoilers when things get tense so I can sit back and enjoy the reading without worrying that my fave character is going to die or something). These are things that are difficult to impossible to do on the Kindle. I worry that my reading retention is degrading — especially with non-fiction books — because of my inability to flip around the way I like to do when reading. But still… the portability factor outweighs these minor inconveniences.
Now I better go finish up my homework so I can get back to reading my book!
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