2012 by the numbers

Now it’s time for the year end accountability post. I started this last year when I borrowed an approach that Jessamyn West at Librarian.net has used for years to summarize her year in reading. My annual goal is to read 50 books, and I read 49. It’s 50 if I count Beck’s Song Reader, but that book has only song lyrics and sheet music. I’ll call that goal close enough. Here’s how this year stacked up against past years of reading.

number of books read in 2012: 49
number of books read in 2011: 48
number of books read in 2010: 43
number of books read in 2009: 50
number of books read in 2008: 68
number of books read in 2007: 50
number of books read in 2006: 40
number of books read in 2005: 47

And here are some of the stats that I wanted to keep an eye on in 2012:

percentage by male authors: 67
percentage by female authors: 33
fiction as percentage of total: 78
non-fiction as percentage of total: 22

My personal reading resolutions for 2012 were to read: “…more books by female authors, more non-fiction, more books by foreign authors and/or translated works, more graphic novels, more classics, more books from small presses and “indie” authors, and more books that challenge and broaden my comfort zone.” Let’s break it down to see how I did:

More books by female authors: 33% by female authors is the most be female authors since I started tracking in 2005. I’m calling that one a success. I hope to build on that in 2013.

More non-fiction: I always read more fiction than fiction, but this was a big jump in that category, too. I’m calling that a success with room to improve in 2013.

More foreign authors/works in translation: Thanks goodness for Nordic crime novels. I read four of those and HHhH by Lauren Binet, which was one of my favorite novels of 2012, for a total of 5. Room for improvement.

More graphic novels: Four graphic novels. That’s about typical for me. Room for improvement.

More classics: Um, The Hobbit was the only book that I read this year that was not written in this century. Fail.

More books by indie presses and authors: This one I’m not even going to break down. Most of the books that I read, excepting comic books and books by authors that I know, were big press books. Room for improvement.

More books that challenge and broaden my comfort zone: Given the improvements in the areas of female authors and non-fiction, I’m going to call this one a qualified success.

In the end, it was a good year of reading. I enjoyed almost all of the books that I read, which is the point of all of this. My 2013 resolutions? I think I can stick with the 2012 goals and try a little harder. What are your reading resolutions for 2012?

Books | Tim | January 3, 2013 12:07 pm

1 Comment

By April, January 13, 2013 @ 9:05 pm

I love the idea of keeping track of everything you read. This looks like a great way to break down what you read and set goals to read more diverse things.