Wednesday, March 7, 2012


Analysis of the Books I Read in 2011


I found the source for this blog from Fizzy Thoughts and modified it a bit. (For a complete list of my books, go HERE.) Without further ado, here are the stats...

How many books did you read in total?

144: an average of one book every two-and-a-half days

How many works of fiction and how many non-fiction?

Nonfiction: 9, Fiction: 135 (wince), a ratio of 1:15. In 2010, the ratio was 1:57, so hopefully the upward trend will continue in 2012

Which percent of male versus female authors did you read?

Male: 7, Female: 137 (double wince), about 20% of the total. Of the seven books, four were nonfiction and three were fiction (two in the Ancient category). In 2010, the number was 3% of the total

What were the categories of the books?

Ancient, Medieval, Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, Western, Contemporary, Mystery & Historical Mystery, Young Adult, and Nonfiction

How much romance versus all other genres?

114 books, which is more than 79%. In 2010, I read more than 85% romance, so I branched out a bit in 2011. All the non-romance books were in the ancient, contemporary, historical mystery, and nonfiction categories

Which was your top favorite book?

The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne

Which were your surprise favorite books and why?

Norwegian Folktales by Peter Christian Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe (my first book of Nodic mythological tales)
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas (my first book about the immigrant experience of someone from the Middle East; previously I've read about the immigrant experience of people from China and India)
Welcome to My World by Johnny Weir (my first celebrity memoir)


Which were the oldest and newest books, by pub date?

Born of the Sun by Joan Wolf (1991)
The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne (Nov 2011)


Which were the longest and shortest book titles?

Arabella by Georgette Heyer and Flawless by Carrie Lofty were the shortest book titles
All You Need to Be Impossibly French by Helena Frith Powell, Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian by Firoozeh Dumas, and Scandal of the Year: Abandoned at the Altar by Laura Lee Guhrkee were the longest book titles


Which were the longest and shortest books?

Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen was the shortest book
Stonehenge by Bernard Cornwell was the longest book


Who were the most-read authors of the year?

Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series), Georgette Heyer, Laura Kinsale, Loretta Chase, Joan Wolf, and Elizabeth Hoyt

Which authors were new to you in 2011? Would you want to read their entire works now?

Joan Wolf and YES!!!

Any translated books?

Norwegian Folktales by Peter Christian Asbjørnsen & Jørgen Moe (my first book of Nodic mythological tales)

Any re-reads?

Books by Georgette Heyer, Jo Beverley, Laura Kinsale, Joanna Bourne, Loretta Chase, Mary Balogh, Connie Brockway, Eloisa James, and Elizabeth Hoyt among others

Which books you wouldn’t have read without someone’s specific recommendation?

His Lordship's Mistress by Joan Wolf recommended by Magdalen
Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips recommended by Janet
A Soldier's Heart by Kathleen Korbel recommended by Sunita


Which books are you annoyed you hadn't read before?

Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
A Soldier's Heart by Kathleen Korbel


Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?

Being Perfect by Anna Quindlen
A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen
Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach

4 comments:

Victoria Janssen said...

I found this breakdown fascinating! I've tracked my year's reading a few times but never analyzed it in this way.

Keira Soleore said...

Victoria, I did this in 2010 and found that it showed up glaring holes in my reading, which I then set out to try to change in 2011. I decided to continue the analysis in 2011 and the fix in 2012.

Anonymous said...

What a magnificent way of analyzing a year's worth of interesting ... and far off the beaten bath reading. So glad you enjoyed Susan Eliz Phillips. I see that you and I re-read many of the same authors: ain't it fun? Janet W

Keira Soleore said...

Hi Janet, great to see you here. It was so interesting to look at my reading and try to see patterns and trends. This year, I'm hoping to up the nonfiction and male authors numbers. I look forward to sharing more reading and re-reading books with you.