Here we are on the last day of 2013. It was a pretty good reading year I think. I took a year-long subscription to the New York Review of Books Classics and while I have not yet finished reading all the books I was sent, I really enjoyed all the ones I have read so far. It is always interesting to look back over the year and see where my reading took me. This year I revived my interest in gardening and my reading choices reflect that. I am not generally a short story reader but I usually manage one or two and this past year I read not a single short story collection. Ouch. And for my long list of reading goals, well, I didn’t do so very well on those either. But what does it matter as long as I enjoyed what I did read? And what was it I read? Here is the breakdown.
Books Read: 69 (last year I read 78, the most I have ever read and 69 is still really high when I consider that prior to last year I generally averaged 52-56 books for as long as I have been keeping track. I don’t know what has suddenly changed. Maybe it is having a Kindle and time to read on my daily work commute. Whatever it is, I will not complain!)
Books begun but abandoned: 1 for sure and I think maybe one more. I didn’t do very well at keeping track of this one this year.
Fiction: 34 (10 fewer than 2012)
Nonfiction: 30 (4 more than 2012)
Poetry: 4 (same as 2012)
Anthology: 1 (one more than 2012)
Break down from the above (there is overlap between genres so numbers won’t match up to number of books read).
Books of essays: 2
Fantasy/ SF: 7
Memoir/biography: 7
Books about books/reading/literature: 4
Books about science popular or otherwise: 3
Books about history: 1
Books about gardening/nature: 9
Children/juvenile/YA: 2
Collections of letters or books about letters: 9
Plays: 1
Horror/gothic: 4
Philosophy: 1
Books by women: 25
Books by men: 40
Multiple authors: 3
Rereads: 1 (Northanger Abbey)
In translation: 9 (German, French, Russian, Greek, Italian)
Pub dates.
2013: 15
2000-2012: 25
1950-1999: 11
1900-1949: 9
19th century: 5
18th century: 3
BCE: 1
Book source/format
ARCs: 6
Kindle: 13 (2 were ARCs the rest were public domain books)
Library: 26
Owned in print: 27
Favorite books, in no particular order:
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf
- MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
- Turtle Diary by Russell Hoban
- The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono
Honorable Mentions:
- Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
- Place and Placelessness by E.C. Relph
- An Armenian Sketchbook by Vasily Grossman
- Testing the Current by William McPherson
It is a testament to the quality of the New York Review of Books Classics I was sent that three of them ended up on my year-end list.
I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year! May 2014 be filled with good books and lots of time to read them!
Northanger Abbey is such a fun little book. I can still vividly remember where I was when I read it for the first time.
I was just mentioning elsewhere that Hilary Mantel is one of the authors I would like to try soon.
Hope your 2014 year is even better than this one was!
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Carl, NA is a fun little book and it got me to finally read Mysteries of Udolpho which was also a marvelous book that led to reading Edmund Burke. Books leading to more books! I hope you are able to get to Mantel this year, she really is a marvel I find! Happy New Year!
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Happy New Year, Stefanie! Here’s hoping for another good year of reading in 2014! The NYRB Classics line is so good – but they are discouragingly hard to find up here. There was a whole big table of them at the Harvard Book Store when I was in Boston in the summer – so tempting.
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They ARE really difficult to find up here! I tend to snatch them on sight just because there’s no telling when there’ll be another…
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Colleen, maybe if you and Rohan sent them an email they would consider making them more available in Canada? Worth a try!
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Rohan, thanks and same to you! NYRB Classics are wonderful. I didn’t manage to read all 12 of the books they sent so they will be carrying over into 2014. I didn’t renew the subscription because I am so behind, but I keep promising myself that when I catch up I can start getting them again. It’s too bad they are so hard to get in your area. An excuse maybe to visit Harvard Bookstore more often and stock up while you are there? 🙂
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Happy New Year Stefanie! Thank you for introducing me to so many great authors and giving me so much more to think! While I am not as yet going for NYRB Classics as yet, but me thinks its just a matter of time before I follow your lead as always! Best Wishes of 2014 to you and Bookman!
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cirtnecce, Happy New Year to you too! Thank you for the good wishes and kind words!
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Great job! I still feel bad about my “35 books by men, 4 books by women” tally this year — http://chimeraobscura.com/vm/another-year-in-the-books-2013 — but I’m glad to see that other devoted readers find it tough to balance author-genders.
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Gil, I was surprised by the gender imbalance this year, I’m usually pretty close to 50/50, I’m not sure what was so different this year.
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I like the categories you’ve used to analyze your reading — fun to see them broken out this way. I’ve only read one of your bests (Northanger Abbey) but have enjoyed your various reviews and have a couple more on my tbr now.
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Melwyk, thanks! It’s fun to break it all down and look for trends and patterns. I would have done page count too but I failed to consistently keep track of it this year. Northanger Abbey was fun. I enjoyed it so much more on the reread than when I first read it.
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It has been a long time since I’ve read Northanger Abbey. I think I will have to revisit it this year.
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Tracie, I’ve been rereading one Austen every year and now only have Emma left. It’s been great fun. NA was so much more fun on the reread than when I first read it many years ago so I can highly recommend a reread 🙂
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I love the idea of rereading one Austen a year. I think I will start with NA this year, and keep the tradition going.
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Can’t go too wrong with Austen 🙂
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Wishing you a Happy New Year! Several of your books are on my radar in particular the Margaret Atwood book but I still need to read Oryx & Crake first.
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Iliana, thank you and happy New Year to you too! Do read Oryx and Crake. The whole series is really good. One of those all too real and possible stories!
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Happy New Year Stefanie! I’m next on the hold list for The Man Who Planted Trees, so I’m happy to hear it was one of your best reads! Best wishes always.
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Grad, happy New Year! I do hope you enjoy The Man Who Planted Trees. Well, there is no hope, I know you will. I hope you get the one with the beautiful woodcut illustrations in it!
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Great round-up Stephanie. I’m glad you loved Mantel, and of course you couldn’t fail to not love a reread of Northanger Abbey. Of the other books you mention the post of yours that made the greatest impression on me, though of course I’ve enjoyed all your posts, is Place and placelessness. That was a great post, and I’d love to manage to read that one day!
All the best for 2014 – reading and otherwise. (And no, I don’t think it matters whether you kept to your reading plan or not as long as you enjoyed what you read.)
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whisperinggums, thanks! I hope you are able to read Place and Placelessness sometime. I think you will like it very much especially with all the landscape reading and lectures you went to in 2013. All the best to you in 2014 as well!
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Best wishes for a happy, healthy New Year, Stephanie.
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Joan, thank you! All the best to you as well!
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Happy New Year Stefanie. The New York Review of Books sounds as though it has been a really good service. I shall have to have a look and see if they do an overseas subscription, although the postage might make the cost prohibitive.
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Alex, happy New Year! The NYRB is a great subscription service. Sadly you are probably right about overseas postage likely making it prohibitive. But you have a book concierge who has so far done right by you!
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Happy New Year! Will you be continuing your NYRB subscription this year? I’ve thought about doing it myself but because I’m utterly lacking in reading discipline, they’d probably just pile up and make me feel guiltier than I already do.
I’m glad Wolf Hall made your top 5! It really is a remarkable novel. Apparently there will be a stage version of it in London…that would be amazing, I think.
Anyway, I look forward to reading your blog more in the coming year! And, of course, photos of your enviously fantastic garden.
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Colleen, happy New Year to you too! I didn’t manage to finish reading al 12 of the books the NYRB sent me in 2013 so I did not renew. I am telling myself that when I catch up I can re-subscribe 🙂 A stage version of Wolf Hall? That would be interesting! I started Bring Up the Bodies the other day and, so good!
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Happy New Year! It looks like a great reading year and those NYRBs really have been wonderful. I read fewer last year than previous years, too, but that’s okay–lots of great reads along the way in any case. I’ve enjoyed your gardening posts and hope you keep them up this year. They have inspired me to do a little ‘gardening’ reading, too. Hope 2014 is filled with lots of great reading!
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Danielle, happy New Year! The NYRBs were great and I hope when I catch up with them to subscribe again. And the gardening posts will keep coming! I look forward to finding out what gardening reading you are doing!
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My husband and I each tried Wolf Hall, and neither one of us wanted to keep going; not sure why; it certainly has enough accolades!
Happy New Year to you all!
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rhapsody, the narrative style takes a bit of getting used to I think, but I found it to be worth the effort. Hopefully your try again sometime and like it! Happy New Year to you too!
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happy new year to you! I loved reading your stats, and fully agreed with your choice of Wolf Hall. I am curious about Vassily Grossman.
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Smithereens, happy New Year to you too! Glad you enjoyed the stats, they are fun to keep track of and play with. Yay for Wold Hall! I just started Bring Up the Bodies and it is just a good! Grossman was really interesting and writes beautiful descriptions.
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These are impressive stats, Stefanie. I wish you a great year of reading, ahead.
I really wrestled with listing Wolf Hall in my own top five books read in 2013. I guess in the end I just had to choose five, and hers got edged out. I really enjoyed it as I went along in the book to the end [and look forward to reading the sequel] but the first half of the thing was throwing me for a loop a bit. I had to really…. acclimatize to it.
All the best to you and Bookman.
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Cipriano, thanks! I understand about Wolf Hall. It does take a bit to get oriented in it. I just started reading Bring Up the Bodies and it is really good too. And all the best to you and Kennedy!
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As always, you impress me. It might not be the quantity, but the quality…oh, Stefanie, you outshine most of us. Thanks for giving us all something to which we can aspire.
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Happy New Year, Stefanie! Thanks for another excellent year of blogging about the joys and frustrations of having too many books in the world to read. Those NYRB books were excellent choices. The one reading resolution I will make is to read that Paul Hazard book, so fascinating did it sound. Must have had it hanging around for at least 15 years!
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Ian, happy New Year! Thanks for your kind words and for leaving so many wonderful comments during the year! I hope you get to the Paul Hazard book. If you do, be sure to let me know what you think!
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Bryan, thanks! You are very kind. I hope you have a fantastic 2014!
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It sounds like a good year! Any year when Jane Austen, Laurence Sterne, and Virginia Woolf appear on your favorites list is a good year, right? 🙂 Happy New Year!
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Rebecca, LOL, you’re right, a year that includes Austen, Sterne and Woolf is a pretty good year 🙂
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Happy New Year dear Stefanie! How I long for an NYRB subscription, but the cost to posting to the UK makes it all a bit prohibitive. Never mind, what with you and Danielle reading them, I’ll be able to hoover up cheap online copies of the ones you loved best. On that note, William McPherson is someone I will have to track down! Here’s hoping that 2014 is a wonderful year for you, in reading and all other ways! Sending big new year hugs.
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Litlove, happy New Year to you too! Yes, international postage costs have gotten very expensive, haven’t they? It really is crazy. I’m glad you can find cheap online copies though, that’s something! Yes, McPherson made on Danielle’s list too. I think you would like the book quite a lot. Big hugs to you too! I hope 2014 is a great year for you!
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