Reading Geek

This is the annual post that proves I am a geek about numbers as well as books. Top half of the post is books I read this year; bottom half is stats.

January (6F, 2NF)

• Labyrinth, by Bill Pronzini
• Probable Cause, by Theresa Schwegel
• Lost, by Michael Robotham (on CD)
• Lincoln's Dreams, by Connie Willis
• Where There's A Will, by Aaron Elkins
• American Band, by Kristen Laine
• Free for All, by Don Borchert
• The Undomestic Goddess, by Sophie Kinsella(on CD)

February (9F, 2NF)

• The Amorous Nightingale, by Edward Marston
• Prose Bowl, by Bill Pronzini and Barry M. Malzberg
• Baby Doctor, by Perri Klass
• Masques, by Bill Pronzini
• T is for Trespass, by Sue Grafton
• The Devil's Apprentice, by Edward Marston
• Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland
• Light Raid, by Connie Willis and Cynthia Felice
• The Elephants of Norwich, by Edward Marston
• Fire Watch, by Connie Willis
• Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature, by Michael Drout (on CD)

March (4F, 3NF)

• Hard Row, by Margaret Maron (on CD)
• The Skull Beneath the Skin, by P.D. James
• Dead Men Do Tell Tales, by William R. Maples and Michael Browning
• The Hidden Life of Art, by Clare Gibson
• Not Quite What I Was Planning (ed. Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith)
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer (on CD)
• The Best New British Mysteries (ed. by Maxim Jakubowki)

April (5F, 3NF)

• Dead Time, by Stephen White
• The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold (on CD)
• Banishing Verona, by Margot Livesey
• Killer Year (ed. Lee Child)
• Phaic Tan, by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, and Rob Sitch
• The Coldest Blood, by Jim Kelly
• Blue Pills, by Frederik Peeters
• Her Story, by Barbara J. MacHaffie

May (6F, 4NF)

• Just One Look, by Harlan Coben (on CD)
• In the Frame, by Helen Mirren
• Motorcycle Jackets, by Rin Tanaka
• Dakota, by Martha Grimes
• Ridiculous/Hilarious/Terrible/Cool, by Elisha Cooper
• John, by Niall Williams
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by David Selznick
• Laura Ingalls Wilder Country, by William Anderson
• The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart
• This Just In, by Bob Schieffer (on CD)

June (2F, 2NF)

• The Lives They Left Behind, by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny
• Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (on CD)
• Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Air Mail, by Terry Ravenscroft

July (3F, 3NF)

• Tweak, by Nic Sheff
• Sisters on the Case (ed. Sara Paretsky)
• Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Careless in Red, by Elizabeth George
• Grace (Eventually), by Anne Lamott (on CD)
• Maps and Legends, by Michael Chabon

August (5F, 1NF)

• New Orleans Beat, by Julie Smith
• Ruby's Imagine, by Kim Antieau
• The Judas Judge, by Michael McGarrity
• The Common Bond, by Donigan Merritt
• Up Till Now, by William Shatner
• Dying to Tell, by Robert Goddard (on CD)

September (7F)

• Simple Justice, by John M. Wilson
• Blanche on the Lam, by Barbara Neely
• Death in Bloodhound Red, by Virginia Lanier
• Codex 632, by José Rodrigues dos Santos (on CD)
• Bucket Nut, by Liza Cody
• On a Day Like This, by Peter Stamm
• The House of Power, by Patrick Carman

October (7F, 3NF)

• Everything is Miscellaneous, by David Weinberger
• Wolf, No Wolf, by Peter Bowen
• The Laughter of Dead Kings, by Elizabeth Peters
• Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (on CD)
• Winter and Night, by S.J. Rozan
• The Dollmaker's Daughters, by Abigail Padgett
• Demolition Angel, by Robert Crais (on CD)
• Damage Control, by J.A. Jance
• Traffic : Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us), by Tom Vanderbilt
• Hoodwink, by Bill Pronzini

November (6F, 1NF)

• A Cold Day in Paradise, by Steve Hamilton
• Blind Bloodhound Justice, by Virgnia Lanier
• The Watermelon King, by Daniel Wallace
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon (on CD)
• Reflecting the Sky, by S. J. Rozan
• Strangers in Death, by J.D. Robb
• Please Don't Remain Calm, by Michael Kinsley

December (5F, 4NF)

• Glut, by Alex Wright
• Gone, by Lisa Gardner (on CD)
• Breath and Bones, by Susann Cokal
• A Mouthful of Air, by Anthony Burgess
• By Jove! by Michael Macrone
• Unnatural Selection, by Aaron Elkins
• Scattershot, by Bill Pronzini
• The Fine Art of Murder (ed. Ed Gorman, Martin H. Greenberg, and Larry Segriff, with Jon L. Breen)
• Somewhere in the City, by Marcia Muller

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As in the past, I've compiled a list of titles to remember from this year:

Most Memorable {these not necessarily Literary, but they stuck in my head}

• The Undomestic Goddess, by Sophie Kinsella(on CD)
• Banishing Verona, by Margot Livesey
• Ridiculous/Hilarious/Terrible/Cool, by Elisha Cooper
• Ruby's Imagine, by Kim Antieau
• Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (on CD)

Best

• American Band, by Kristen Laine
• Into the Forest, by Jean Hegland
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer (on CD)
• Blue Pills, by Frederik Peeters
• Dakota, by Martha Grimes
• John, by Niall Williams
• Ruby's Imagine, by Kim Antieau
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon (on CD)

Least Memorable {books I remember NOTHING about, based on title alone}

• Probable Cause, by Theresa Schwegel
• Simple Justice, by John M. Wilson
• Not Quite What I Was Planning (ed. Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith)
• Wolf, No Wolf, by Peter Bowen

Yuck

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by David Selznick
• Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (on CD)
• Air Mail, by Terry Ravenscroft
• Tweak, by Nic Sheff

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Keeping in mind that, as usual, I did not cull the books I did not finish, here's the geeky number bit:

number of books read in 2008: 93
number of books read in 2007: 75
number of books read in 2006: 77
number of books read in 2005: 127
number of books read in 2004: 102
number of books read in 2003: 100
number of books read in 2002: 118
number of books read in 2001: 83
number of books read in 2000: 128
TOTAL over nine years : 903

average read per year, over nine years: 100.33
2008 average read per month: 7.75 (all nine years: 8.36)
2008 average read per week: 1.79 (all nine years: 1.93)

number read in worst month: 4--June

2007: 3--November
2006: 4--tied April, May, June and August
2005: 5--January and June
2004: 0--July

number read in best month: 11--February

2007: 9--March
2006: 11--January
2005: 21--February
2004: 12--June

number of fiction: 65

2007: 53
2006: 56
2005: 74
2004: 61

number of non-fiction: 28

2007: 22
2006: 21
2005: 53
2004: 41

number of books by female authors: 36 (2007: 24; 2006: 24)
number of books by male authors: 58 (2007: 40; 2006: 33)
[discrepancies in totals are due to individual books by multiple authors and edited books which are not counted]