Statistical Roundup 2024

How many books read in 2024?
58 books, exactly the same as in 2023.

How many fiction and non fiction?
36 fiction to 22 nonfiction. This surprises me because I almost always had a writing book going but I guess I read them slowly.

Male/Female author ratio?
20 men and 31 women, and 1 nonbinary. The numbers don't add up to 58 because I had 6 books by one author and 2 by another.

Diversity?
Bad this year. Only 6 people of color and 8 Jewish books.

Favorite book of 2024?
Essays in Idleness and Hojoki by Kenko and Chomei. This was published as one volume so I counted it as one title and author even though it is two works by two different authors.

Oldest book read?
Essays in Idleness and Hojoki, written in the 13th century.

Newest? Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney, which I bought and read as soon as it came out this past October.

Longest and shortest book titles?
Shortest title: Whatever is Contained, Must Be Released
Longest title: Hao

Longest and shortest books?
Longest: Lord of Chaos, by Robert Jordan
Shortest: The Divorce, by Cesar Aira

How many books from the library?
None! I'm a buyer, not a borrower.

Any translated books?
Not as many as I thought, but I read books translated from French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.

Which countries did you go to through the page in your year of reading?
France, ancient Greece, Ireland, Russia, England, Argentina, Singapore, Japan, Canada, China, Mexico, the Balkans and Vietnam. Plus the fictional worlds of The Wheel of Time series and Howls Moving Castle.

Most read author of the year, and how many books by that author?
Robert Jordan, with six books, followed by Cesar Aira, with two.

Any re-reads?
The Dead are Gods, by Eirinie Carson, The Lover by Marguerite Duras and Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones.

Favorite character of the year?
Egwene from the Wheel of Time series; the narrator of Cesar Aira's The Divorce.

Which book wouldn’t you have read without someone’s specific recommendation?
All of the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books- The Fires of Heaven, Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, New Spring, The Path of Daggers and Winter's Heart, recommended by my husband, a true Wheel of Time warrior.

The Situation and the Story was recommended by several writing teachers.

Opacities was recommended by rockstar author and bookseller Josh Cook.

Which author was new to you in 2023 that you now want to read the entire works of?
Sofia Samatar

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read?
Everything in my TBR I didn't get to.

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?
When my husband and I rearranged our bookshelves this spring, I sorted out all of the short story collections and vowed to start reading them. I read six and DNF'd a couple too, opening up significant space on the shelf and shifting out some things that had been there for far too long.

How's Wheel of Time going?

I finished book nine, Winter's Heart, just after Christmas, and have started book ten, Crossroads of Twilight. That makes four more to go after Crossroads. I can do it! After I finish I'm going to finally read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet.

Bookish Events in Marie's Life
Got a bunch of essays and poems and flash pieces published.

Took a lot of writing classes and workshops.

Visited a bunch of awesome bookstores in Paris and San Francisco.

Started a new haiku-only Substack. 

Next year I'll add in some new stats like how many books I bought and how many I weeded. And we'll see what else. So exciting!!! Stay tuned!!!