1) What was the best book recommended to you this year? There were so many good ones! My husband recommended the fiction of Sherman Alexie and Cormac McCarthy, and the plays of Martin McDonagh and David Mamet. He also suggested my favourite non-fiction read of the year. cat63 told me that I wouldn't like Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong series because it was teen angsty, unwittingly setting this lover of teen angst novels off on a trail of fantasy in which to revel. trishtrash suggested I read Hey Nostradamus! which was one of my favourite books of the year. 2) What was the best book you found by yourself this year? I literally found a Graham Greene novel on my bookshelf with the rest of my Graham Greene novels - one that I always thought that I'd read, but really, I hadn't. Surprised beyond belief, as I've owned that book for over a decade, I read The Human Factor, was unutterably moved, and it was one of the best books of the year. 3) Who was the best new author you discovered? Terry Pratchett. No doubt about that! 4) Did you make any other interesting reading discoveries this year? I started using the used bookstore in town regularly and have gotten to know its owner quite well. She's a great source for recommendations [favourite recommendation from her this year is Lori Lansens' The Girls]; she loans me books from her private collection, lets me return books for full price if I don't enjoy them, and is a source of terrific book chat. 5) Do you have a count of how many books your read? I read 113 books and 36,043 pages. [I really wanted to share my page count!] 6) What was the good/okay/awful ratio? There were a lot of good books this year. There were more than usual excellent books this year. Maybe one-third okays and a dozen or so awfuls. 7) Was there a particular theme to your reading? Did you begin the year knowing this would emerge? I wanted there to be a particular theme. My plan was to read more classic novels in general, and more French classic novels [in English] in specific. My classic novel count was pretty low, and I managed perhaps two or three French novels - I got stuck on The Hunchback of Notre Dame and never moved on. 8) What - if anything - will you change about your reading habits next year? I have tons of unread books on my shelves. I'm going to read them. Forget about buying more books, I'm going to read the ones I have.
There were so many good ones! My husband recommended the fiction of Sherman Alexie and Cormac McCarthy, and the plays of Martin McDonagh and David Mamet. He also suggested my favourite non-fiction read of the year. cat63 told me that I wouldn't like Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong series because it was teen angsty, unwittingly setting this lover of teen angst novels off on a trail of fantasy in which to revel. trishtrash suggested I read Hey Nostradamus! which was one of my favourite books of the year.
2) What was the best book you found by yourself this year? I literally found a Graham Greene novel on my bookshelf with the rest of my Graham Greene novels - one that I always thought that I'd read, but really, I hadn't. Surprised beyond belief, as I've owned that book for over a decade, I read The Human Factor, was unutterably moved, and it was one of the best books of the year.
3) Who was the best new author you discovered? Terry Pratchett. No doubt about that!
4) Did you make any other interesting reading discoveries this year? I started using the used bookstore in town regularly and have gotten to know its owner quite well. She's a great source for recommendations [favourite recommendation from her this year is Lori Lansens' The Girls]; she loans me books from her private collection, lets me return books for full price if I don't enjoy them, and is a source of terrific book chat.
5) Do you have a count of how many books your read? I read 113 books and 36,043 pages. [I really wanted to share my page count!]
6) What was the good/okay/awful ratio? There were a lot of good books this year. There were more than usual excellent books this year. Maybe one-third okays and a dozen or so awfuls.
7) Was there a particular theme to your reading? Did you begin the year knowing this would emerge? I wanted there to be a particular theme. My plan was to read more classic novels in general, and more French classic novels [in English] in specific. My classic novel count was pretty low, and I managed perhaps two or three French novels - I got stuck on The Hunchback of Notre Dame and never moved on.
8) What - if anything - will you change about your reading habits next year? I have tons of unread books on my shelves. I'm going to read them. Forget about buying more books, I'm going to read the ones I have.
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