2011: A Reading Year in Review

Overall Reading:
Total Books = 104
Total Pages = 29, 252

Total Audio Hours = 157
Avg Days Per Book = 0.29
Avg Books Per Day = 3.48
Avg Pages Per Day = 85

Longest Book = Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (835 pgs)
Shortest Book/Novella = Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare (112 pgs)

My best reading month was July with 16 books read and my worst was May where I only read 4 books (*sad face*).  Interestingly enough, my lowest page count came from October where I finished 6 books. The breakdown for books/pages read by month for the year looks like this:

Month...Books...Pages
JAN...... 09........ 2669
FEB.......10.........3543
MAR..... 07.........2221
APR.......09.........2140
MAY......04.........856
JUN.......06......... 2110
JUL........16..........5290
AUG......09..........2147
SEP........06..........2103
OCT.......06..........610
NOV.......13........ 3073
DEC........09........ 2499

AVG......8.67..... 2438

I also started to get back into audio books this year and had my biggest listening month in October with almost 31.5 hours. In 2012, I hope to have some audio hours each month to go along with my regular reading. And maybe next year I'll add in a graph for it...because you all know how much I love my graphs!

Speaking of graphs...how about we check in to see how 2011 compares to previous years?

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In terms of book ratings roughly 57% of the books read had a rating of 4 stars or above. Which is a pretty good reading year if you ask me. Although 25% of my reads were just 3 stars. With the rest 2 stars or less. I even had 2 DNFs....well I actually didn't finish more than 2 books but the 2 I called a DNF I read a significant portion of the book so felt I could count them in my tallies. And here are my rating from 2011 done visually because graphs are fun!  

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In order to determine the best book of the year I again maintained a Top 12 list in which each month I chose the best book that I read during that month.  Those books were:

JAN - Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
FEB - Hourglass by Myra McEntire 
MAR - Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon 
APR - Hounded by Kevin Hearne 
MAY - Ruby Red by Kirsten Gier 
JUN - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
JUL - The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan
AUG - Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
SEP - A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley
OCT - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
NOV - Blood Song by Rhiannan Hart
DEC - Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday

I read a lot of great books this year and as with every year previous I find it difficult to choose that one book that is the best of the best. Narrowing it down to 12 books makes it easier in some ways but also more difficult...because look at that list...there are some really amazing reads on it! Looking at that list, the books that stayed with me the longest after I finished reading them were Houglass, A Little Wanting Song and Blood Song. These were the books that I hated to end...but one of them had me sitting and staring at the blank pages for a long time after I finished the final page willing more words to appear. And that book was Hourglass So my Top 12 Book for 2011 is Hourglass by Myra McEntire. If you have not read this book yet then drop what you are doing and go read it now! Its filled with snark and adventure and has one of my favorite book couples of 2011 in it. Em is a such a strong and amazing character I dare you not to love her. There are also references to Doctor Who in this book....so seriously....what more could you ask for? Other than my review which I STILL haven't written...and I think that is in part because I REALLY don't have enough words to proclaim just how super duper amazingly wonderful this book is. 

Phew...that was hard...the rest can only get easier...yes?

In 2011, I took part in several challenges and the breakdown can be found on my 2011 Challenge Post (which is need of updating links and such...I will do that before the end of January, I promise!) I think I did pretty well with my challenges this year and only failed 2 of them - the Contemps Challenge (10/18) and my personal challenge of reading an author from every letter of the alphabet (22/26). In truth, I never "win" my alphabet challege and that is mainly because I am never really very proactive with it. I read 104 books I totally could have won this one...but I do like to see where my reading natually falls so it is what it is. For the curious among you, the letters I missed were I, U, X, and Z. The most common last name of all all the books I read started with M (18) with C (13) not far behind.

For 2011, I was pretty conservative in my challenges and only participated in 7....and I use the word participate loosely as I never seem to remember to head over to the hosts site and long in my entries after the initial signing up. Oops. I'll try and be better at this in 2012.

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As with previous years I've kept track of the genres that I read. I've used my gut reaction to chose one genre for each book. Although I am aware that sometimes it is possible for a book to be classified in more than one. There is a little overlap as I don't really consider YA or Middle Grade to be genres but I do like to see how those books trend from year to year. Based on what I read the genres fall out like this:

Chick Lit = 1
Children's = 1
Classic = 0 (again, I have joined a classics challenge for 2012 so this number will be changing!)
Contemporary = 31 (it was a great year for this genre for me)
Dual-Time Period = 2 (this includes time slip books as well)

Dystopian = 3
Fantasy = 29
Graphic Novel = 1
Historical = 6
Middle Grade = 2
Mystery = 2

Non-Fiction = 0

Paranormal = 16
Poetry = 2

Romance = 8
Satire = 0
Sci-Fi = 3
Utopian = 1
YA =84

How does this compare to previous years? Well I am glad you wondered that because I have a graph for that. I know...this shocks you tremendously!

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In 2011, I also attended some fabulous events  but for various reasons I really didn't recap them on my blog. I will do better in 2012, I promise. 


This year I also started to actively track the gender of the author I was reading. I was curious about this when I saw it mentioned on Presenting Lenore's Stats post last year. I also went back to previous years and added in a gender column so I am able to trend my reading. The results aren't pretty in some ways. In 2008, I read an almost even 50/50 split between male and female authors. Since then that number has dropped dramatically until I now seem to almost exclusively (85%) read woman writers. This is sad in some ways are there are so many great male authors out there but also good in others for YAY GIRL POWER! 

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Finally, I thought it might be interesting to start tracking how I acquired the books that I read during a calendar year. This data just encompasses the books that I read over the course of the year and doesn't include all the books that I have obtained. What this graph tells me is that I really need to get back to the library! I've been such a slacker the last couple of years.

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Normally this is where I would end my year in review post but not too long ago I saw this little survey thing posted on Trish Doller's Tumblr who picked it up from Carla of the Crooked Shelf and I thought that I would include it here as it looked fun. So hopefully you find it interesting as well


Best Book of 2011 - This one is easy (See above) but to recap my best book of 2011 is Hourglass by Myra McEntire.

Worst Book of 2011 - Oh dear this one is hard...and not counting my 2 DNF books there were 2 books that received a 1 star rating from me: Invisible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz and The Truth of the Matter by Andrew Klavan. Both were just such total rubbish for me and I am amazed that I read them both to the end. This one will end in a tie because I just don't have the energy to sort out which one I liked the leased. I didn't like them. Let's leave it at that and move on.

Most Disappointing Book of 2011 - I really can't pick just one book that was the most disappointing. But lets just say I read a lot of books that had a lot of hype behind them that just really fell flat for me.

Most Surprising Book of 2011 - A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. This was a book that had been on my shelf for years! Its one that I've heard so many people exclaim over. But it wasn't until the show started on HBO that it was brought to my attention once again. I started to watch the show and thought...hey, I kinda like this. After 3 episode I decided to put the show on hold so I could read the book. I was enthralled but the rich history of it. I wasn't sure if it was going to be a book I liked and so was really happy to discover how much I loved it.

Best Series Discovered in 2011 - The Demon's Lexicon series by Sarah Rees Brennan. Its a series I'd heard a lot about and was bullied to read by two really good friends of mine and I was so glad that I did. Loved the world and the characters and all the little twits and turns in this series. I'm sorry that I waited so long to start it but oh so very glad that I did.

I was also really happy to discover Rhiannon's Hart Lharmell Series as well. Blood Song was so rich and detailed and I just became so immersed in the world. I can not wait until 2012 when I can get my hands on book 2!! Although tragically I have to wait until September AND for it to be shipped from Australia...but it is going to be well worth the wait. I just know it!

Series That Went Off the Rails For You in 2011 - The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller. I loved the first book. I thought it was so unique and different. I loved that it was a standalone...but then when I learned it was a series I thought OK...there is much that can be worked with. But then I read All You Desire and thought this couldn't be the same characters that I fell in love with in the first book. Everything that I loved about Eternal Ones was destroyed in the sequel. And I hate how All You Desire was also your typical setup/transition for the big finale of the final book...and I really don't like how that big finale seems to be preventing the Apocalypse. At this time I don't know if I'll be reading the third book.

Favorite New Author You Discovered in 2011 - Cath Crowley. I am going to agree with Trish on this one. Cath Crowley was a great discovery this year and I was introuced to her books by Trish. Her books are just so raw and beautiful and I am a total fan girl for life! Seriously if you haven't read A Little Wanting Song or Graffiti Moon yet...then you are really missing out on some great stories.

Most Hilarious Read of 2011 - This one is a toss up between Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt and Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. Both had me laughing aloud and I enjoyed them both immensely. If I had to pick just one though I would go with Sean Griswold's Head as it was funny but had serious undertones...and any author that can make me cry and laugh in the same book is one that I bow down to.

Book That Made You Cry the Hardest in 2011 - I don't cry often with books but 2011 had a few that brought tears to my eyes. The above mentioned Sean Griswold's Head for one. But I also cried with Saving June by Hannah Harrington. So those would be my picks for this category.

Most Thrilling, Unputdownable Book in 2011 - Oh dear, I don't think that I could choose just one book for this one there were so many books that once I started to read I couldn't put down. Both of Cath Crowley's books are examples of that. There was also Blood Song by Rhiannon Hart, Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E Smith, Saving June by Hannah Harrington, Raw Blue by Kirsty Eager, Deadly Cool by Gemma Halliday, and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Claire....so yeah...you get the point. There were a lot. Those are just the ones I could remember off the top of my head. 2011 had some really amazing books for me.

Book You Most Anticipated in 2011 - Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. Clare's Mortal Instruments series were like book crack to me when I read them last year. But there was just something about Clockwork Angel that I loved more. I loved the added history and nuances that were in that story and Clockwork Prince was among the highlights of my reading year. I think think this is Clare's best book to date and now I am longing for Clockwork Princess.

Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2011 - There were many great covers in 2011 but I think my favorite goes to Hourglass by Myra McEntire. It was just so trippy and unique. Loved it.

Most Memorable Character in 2011 - There were a lot of great characters for me in 2011 and I'm not sure that I could pick just one. A few actually got stuck in my head and would leave after I finished the book. This happened with several different books in 2011 and I had a taste of what it means to be an author. But the ones who stayed the longest came from a friend's manuscript. Its a book that kept me up late into the night and one that I would often find myself spacing out on just thinking about the story. So yeah....that one. The character names...well I can't tell you that but I will say that their initials were a T and H. Do with that what you will.

Most Beautifully Written Book in 2011 - I think this one might have to go to Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. There were many well written books in 2011 that made it on my radar but this one sticks out the most. So well done.

Book That Had the Greatest Impact on You in 2011 - I'm not sure that I can name a book for this category and my brain is a bit fried from writing up this post so  I am going to leave it blank for now. If inspiration hits later I'll come back and fill it in. 

Book You Can’t Believe You Waited until 2011 to Read - The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. Wow. This book (and series) were just amazing. The only good think about waiting so long to read them is that I was able to bounce from book 1 to book 3 all in a matter of days. None of that horrible waiting a year or more to find out what happens next!

Book of 2011 You Wish You Had Written - I’m not a writer so there wasn't a book that I read that I wish I had written. I am just so very grateful to those who do write for putting out so many great stories for me to read. And thankful to the agents and publishers who gave them a chance.


Related Posts:
Year End Summary for 2008
Year End Summary for 2009
Year End Summary for 2010