Books Read in 2009: Summary and Top Ten
Total books read: 228
Fiction: 173 (158 novels, 7 short-ish children's books, 8 collections of short stories)
Poetry collections: 5
Non-Fiction: 50 (Probably my highest proportion for many years - and it doesn't count textbooks, even those I've read cover to cover)
Audiobooks listened to: 5 (all fiction)
The Top Ten
This is difficult because this year I've enjoyed discovering Stephanie Plum, re-read some greats and had plenty of fun reading chick lit - even if some of it is disguised as historical fiction, biography or journalism. Lots of those got rated 8 (very good: would like to read again one day), but I think I've been a bit more critical with my 9s (great: just one thing makes it not a 10) and 10s (excellent: will stay with me for a long time) this year. Even so, they still make up over 10% of the total, so culling this list to 10 has been tricky and I'd probably make different decisions this evening (hence the mood - there being no 'indecisive' on the list).
Anyway, in no order:
Fiction: 173 (158 novels, 7 short-ish children's books, 8 collections of short stories)
Poetry collections: 5
Non-Fiction: 50 (Probably my highest proportion for many years - and it doesn't count textbooks, even those I've read cover to cover)
Audiobooks listened to: 5 (all fiction)
The Top Ten
This is difficult because this year I've enjoyed discovering Stephanie Plum, re-read some greats and had plenty of fun reading chick lit - even if some of it is disguised as historical fiction, biography or journalism. Lots of those got rated 8 (very good: would like to read again one day), but I think I've been a bit more critical with my 9s (great: just one thing makes it not a 10) and 10s (excellent: will stay with me for a long time) this year. Even so, they still make up over 10% of the total, so culling this list to 10 has been tricky and I'd probably make different decisions this evening (hence the mood - there being no 'indecisive' on the list).
Anyway, in no order:
- Comme un Roman - Daniel Pennac
- The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
- Buddha Da - Anne Donovan
- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami
- Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
- Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
- Silk - Alessandro Baricco
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Burrows
- Jane Austen - Claire Tomalin
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid