Saturday, December 31, 2022

2022 Statistical Wrap Up

It was a slow year in reading for me. There were a lot of times when I was tired, or distracted, or had something going on and didn't get to my books. I also read several chunksters- like Catherine the Great, and the Covenant of Water, and Cult X, that just took a long time and kept my totals low. And the sad truth is I wasn't crazy about a lot of books I read. There were a few standouts- Birthday, Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be (definitely the best title), The Transit of Venus, Summer Half- but a lot of just-ok reads. And I wasn't in the right headspace for reading lots of times. Oh well! Onwards. 2023 will be better.

How many books read in 2022? 

54. This is a low number. I blame the chunksters. 


How many fiction and non fiction? 

38 fiction versus 16 nonfiction. The low nonfiction number is also the fault of chunksters and the fact that I only really got through one audiobook this year, Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris. I did finish the Samantha Irby, finally, but I only had a couple of hours to go.


Male/Female author ratio?

Ugh, 33 male authors versus 20 female. That's not great. Ideally I'd read more women or at least get to 50/50. (I read one male author, Fuminori Nakamura, twice.)


Diversity?

6 books were written by people of color. Five books by people I know are LGBTQ+. There may be others I don't know about. 


Favorite book of 2022? The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese.


Oldest book read? The Good Soldier, by Ford Madox Ford, originally published in 1915.


Newest? The Covenant of Water, coming out in May, 2023.


Longest and shortest book titles?

Shortest title: Cult X, by Fuminori Nakamura

Longest title: Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be, by Nichole Perkins


Longest and shortest books?

Longest: The Covenant of Water, at 736 pages

Shortest: A Woman's Story, by Annie Ernaux, at 96 pages


How many books from the library? 

None! For the seventh year in a row I did not read a library book.


Any translated books?

I read books or stories translated from French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Spanish.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?I went to France, Italy, Russia, Japan, Israel, Congo, the Basque region of Spain, Poland, Argentina, England, Sudan, Cambodia, Mexico, Egypt and the imaginary Discworld.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?

Two by Fuminori Nakamura- Cult X and Last Winter We Parted.

Any re-reads?  Yes, a few.  I re-read The Good Soldier, The Pisces, When I Was Otherwise and The Wedding of Zein. It was at least partially a year of comfort reads.

Favorite character of the year? 

Catherine the Great, from Robert K. Massie's biography.


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

The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett. My husband recommended it. Also Letters to Wendy's, by Joe Wenderoth, recommended by my buddy Daniel.


Which author was new to you in 2022 that you now want to read the entire works of? 

Robert K. Massie, author of Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman.


Which books are you annoyed you didn't read? 

Bring up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel


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

After All, by Edward St. Aubyn and The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers.


Bookish Events in Marie's Life: 

I stopped working at Greenlight Bookstore midyear and I (re-) started volunteering at the local used charity bookshop which has been good. I also started volunteering at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research for additional funsies. I started learning Yiddish in case life was ever not exciting enough for me. Actually this was kind of a highlight because I made some neat friends by so doing.


Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2023:

  • The Promise by Damon Galgut
  • The Ferryman, by Justin Cronin, coming in May,
  • Tenderness, by Alison MacLeod, and
  • Nazi Literature in the Americas, by Roberto BolaƱo.

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