Book purchases
So, with the year winding down I took a few minutes out this morning to count the number of books I've purchased this year:
Grand Total: 53
Breakdown:
For myself: 43
For others: 10
What's interesting is how spread out my purchases were in terms of different authors and different publishers. Out of the 43 books, 3 were for research (for my fantasy WIPs) and the remainder are all some form of Fantasy, except for a paperback that has the first two Vorkosigan stories combined and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is categorized as Literature and is found in the Fiction section in book stores. It was originally published in Spain and the English translation came out this year here in the US. I highly recommend it.
Not too bad a purchasing year. Far better than reading. My reading total for the year was abysmal. I think I've only read 5 complete books this year (about to be 6) and am mid-way through about 6 others, all of which will be finished early 2009. One of my goals for the new year is to read all of the books purchased in 2008, along with a few others. So my reading list for 2009 is already extensive.
But, reading is just as critical as writing for someone like me who wants to break into publishing. I'm not expecting to have a manuscript ready to shop around until the end of 2010. Based upon where I believe I am as a writer, combined with the amount of writing/worldbuilding I still need to accomplish before my WIP will be shop-able, the end of 2010 seems right.
Grand Total: 53
Breakdown:
For myself: 43
For others: 10
What's interesting is how spread out my purchases were in terms of different authors and different publishers. Out of the 43 books, 3 were for research (for my fantasy WIPs) and the remainder are all some form of Fantasy, except for a paperback that has the first two Vorkosigan stories combined and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which is categorized as Literature and is found in the Fiction section in book stores. It was originally published in Spain and the English translation came out this year here in the US. I highly recommend it.
Not too bad a purchasing year. Far better than reading. My reading total for the year was abysmal. I think I've only read 5 complete books this year (about to be 6) and am mid-way through about 6 others, all of which will be finished early 2009. One of my goals for the new year is to read all of the books purchased in 2008, along with a few others. So my reading list for 2009 is already extensive.
But, reading is just as critical as writing for someone like me who wants to break into publishing. I'm not expecting to have a manuscript ready to shop around until the end of 2010. Based upon where I believe I am as a writer, combined with the amount of writing/worldbuilding I still need to accomplish before my WIP will be shop-able, the end of 2010 seems right.