I feel a bit behind on my year end posting, especially since I’ve already read so many wonderful year in review posts by other Voxers and bloggers, including many fabulous reading recaps.
Here’s my attempt at a summary of all things literary in my life last year. I’m also still working on the big post (believe it or not, this isn’t it) in which I’m trying to creatively present my favorite books read last year. Other ideas for year end posts are churning in my head as well, so please bear with me.
So here it goes:
2007 Books and Reading Recap
70 books read
36 by male authors
34 by female authors
38 new to me authors
9 re-reads
3 audio books
Fiction: 50
Non-Fiction: 20
By Genre: (some books may be in more than one category)
Memoir/Auto-Biography: 11
Short Stories: 4
About Reading: 5
Essays: 6
Contemporary Fiction: 26
Kid’s or YA Lit: 20
Classics: 4
Pages read: 21,190 (does not include unfinished books)
Most books read by the same author:
JK Rowling: 7
Jasper Fforde: 4
Nick Hornby: 3
Kurt Vonnegut: 3
Frank McCourt: 2
Sara Pennypacker: 2
Jhumpa Lahiri: 2
Ian McEwan: 2
Augusten Burroughs: 2
Jeffrey Eugenides: 2
Marjane Satrapi: 2
Some of the books I started in 2007, haven’t finished yet, but intend to:
What is the What by Dave Eggers; I am America (and so can you!) by Stephen Colbert; Rosie Little’s Cautionary Tales for Girls by Danielle Wood; Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
Award Books Read in 2007 (not a complete list of the many different book awards out there, just the ones that regularly capture my attention and influence what I read)
Man Booker Prize (nominated or winner): 6
Atonement
The Blind Assassin
The God of Small Things
On Chesil Beach
Mister Pip
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Pulitzer Prize winners: 5
Interpreter of Maladies
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Angela’s Ashes
Middlesex
The Age of Innocence
Newbery: 1
The Higher Power of Lucky
Top 5 Favorite Fiction books read in 2007:
1- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2- The Namesake
3- Water For Elephants
4- The Reluctant Fundamentalist
5- Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Other books I wish would fit in the top five: Franny and Zooey, The Eyre Affair, Middlesex, Atonement, No One Belongs Here More Than You
Top 5 Favorite Non-Fiction books read in 2007:
1- Principles of Uncertainty
2- How Proust Can Change Your Life
3- Look Me in the Eye
4- Reading Like a Writer
5- The Polysyllabic Spree
Book I wish would fit into the top five: Ex Libris
Top 5 Favorite Covers of books read in 2007:
1- No One Belongs Here More Than You
2- The Mysterious Benedict Society
3- The Principles of Uncertainty
4- Look Me in the Eye
5- Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Books read that were made into movies in 2007: 6
Three that I’ve seen so far: The Namesake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Atonement; and two movies (from three books) that I haven’t seen yet: The Kite Runner, and Persepolis (combination of Persepolis 1 and Persepolis 2)
150 books purchased or acquired (does not include titles I bought that I already owned or kid’s picture books)
The Year in Book Events: 19 events
January 25 – Norman Mailer, The Castle in the Forest, Barnes and Noble Union Square
March 12 – Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira Nair, The Namesake, Barnes and Noble Union Square
March 21 – Jonathan Lethem, You Don’t Love Me Yet, Barnes and Noble Union Square
May 2 – Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Barnes and Noble Union Square
May 9 – Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
June 7 – Cynthia Kaplan, Leave the Building Quickly, Greenwich Village Barnes and Noble
June 16 – Chuck Palahniuk, Rant, Strand
September 15 – Mo Willems, Knuffle Bunny Too, Books of Wonder
September 18 – Garrison Keillor, Pontoon, Barnes and Noble Union Square
September 19 – Dave Barry, Dave Barry’s History of the Millenium, So Far, Barnes and Noble Union Square
September 25 – John Elder Robison & Augusten Burroughs, Look Me in the Eye, Barnes and Noble Union Square
October 4 – Haven Kimmel, The Used World, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
October 16 – Nick Hornby, Slam, Barnes and Noble Union Square
October 20 – Hilary Knight, The Circus is Coming, Lincoln Center Barnes and Noble
October 23 – Bill Bryson, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Columbus Circle Borders
November 1 – Yann Martel and Tomilsav Torjanac, The Illustrated Life of Pi, 82nd Street Barnes and Noble
November 7 – Maira Kalman, Principles of Uncertainty, Chelsea Barnes and Noble
November 12 – Frank McCourt, Angela and the Baby Jesus, Barnes and Noble Union Square
November 15 – Philip Gourevitch & Peter Carey, The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. II, Barnes and Noble Union Square
Favorite Book Sites:
Two books I read in 2007 had exceptionally great websites dedicated solely to the book:
No One Belongs Here More Than You
Special Topics in Calamity Physics
As always, the complete list of books I read and purchased can be found here.
My books and reading goals for 2008:
- Read at least 71 books (one more than last year seems like a reasonable goal)
- Read David Copperfield
- Read 3 Vonnegut books
- Visit 10 bookstores in the city that I haven’t been to yet
- Attend at least 20 book events
(This post was brought over from emilyw.vox.com. Click here for the original post and comments.)
