Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2009 Year in Review



Drum roll please......






I have read a total of 158 books this year. If you can believe it, that is only one book less than last year. That's totally crazy, I know! Let's get to the good stuff - the statistical breakdown.


My goal was to try and read at least half of the books published in 2009. I came close with 46% - 72 books, which was better than I did last year. You can click on the graph to get a bigger one. (I didn't realize it was so hard to see.)



Yes, most of the books I grade fall somewhere in the "B zone", which makes up over 50% of my grades. I would expect this because I try and only read books that have been recommended by other readers. I am pretty stingy with my A grades, but 17% isn't too shabby. Again, I believe this is due to following great recommendations! As for my lower grades, most of those were due to favorite authors who had let me down.



I have lumped paranormal, urban fantasy, fantasy and time-travel all together in one category - alternate reality, making it the most popular genre at 29%. I also lumped together medieval and westerns in the historical category. Sadly, I only managed to read one western. I did read 7 medieval books, though.

16 comments:

Nikki said...

Those are the coolest graphs! What program did you use? Is it just excel?

I'm impressed with how many books you read.

I love your blog!!

I'm a frequent lurker!

Leslie said...

You did pie charts! I'm so jealous! I wish I had thought of that. :)

You had a great reading year! Pretty good mix of genres. I'm surprised at the 7 medievals since there doesn't seem to be that many published.

Samantha said...

I really like the pie graphs - that is quite cool. Wow - I thought I was doing well at 68 books for 2009. I participated in my local library's 50 Book Challenge last year and more than met my goal. I recently found your site and enjoy reading your well-written reviews. We have similar tastes in many books.
Samantha

Jill D. said...

Nikki! I am so honored that you came out of lurking to say you enjoyed my pie charts! I did those in excel. Really, it wasn't that hard to do, but it did take some time.

Leslie - Well not all of the 7 medievals were published this year, only two and two were re-reads.

Samvach - 68 books is still amazing! Only like 5% of the population reads more than 50 books a year. Really it's nothing to snooze at. I am glad you like my site and I hope you keep visiting!

nath said...

Great post, Jill!! Love the pie charts haha, they're so cute and colorful :D

It's great that you were so consistent in the numbers :D I need to go see your post last year to see how the stats compared :D

I think most grades blogger give will be B like you. I know mine probably is.

Katie Mack said...

I'm passing the rock star badge to you for your awesome pie charts. And 7 medievals! I've yet to read one, ever, so my hat's off to you.

Kristie (J) said...

I'm suffering from serious pie envy right about now *g* I have tried to figure out how to do graphs on my excel spreadsheet but I've no idea how to do them without getting solid glumps of stuff. I have them, but someone else set them up. And I've no idea how to get 2010 stuff into them.
And being a visual kind of person myself, it's so much easier and more fun to make sense of statistics when they are in graph form.
And you put my poor little 90 (at last count) to shame!

Jill D. said...

Nath - Yeah, I should go back and look at last years stats. I did only for book total and I was so surprised it was almost the same amount. I wish it could have been more, but there is only so much time in the day, you know?

Katie - Oh wow, you have never read a medieval? That is one of my favorite genres. I just love books that highlight the everyday lifestyle of the people back then. One of my favorites is A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. But, I do want to warn you that if you read it, keep in mind it is "old school" if you know what I mean.

Kristie - I'll tell you the same thing I told Sam, 90 is nothing to sneeze at. Only about 5% of the population reads more than 50 books a year.

Bring your laptop to RT and I'll show you how to make a pie chart in excel!

SarahT said...

The mysterious case of the disappearing comment. I was so sure I'd already commented this morning, but perhaps I just thought I had! I don't function before coffee.

Great post and cute pie charts. I have a post scheduled today with pie charts but they aren't as professionally done as yours!

158 books! Well done! I was hoping to reach 150 in 2009 but I only read 132. Maybe this year...

Christine said...

Jill, your pie charts are cute. No ... I mean they're smart, and creative and really fun to read. And cute.

I'm impressed that you read 148 books!

I read TWO medieval books in 2009 and really enjoyed them. Can you recommend some of your favorites in that genre? I'd like to try some more.

Maija said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maija said...

Loving your stats! :)

Jill D. said...

Sarah - Uh oh, a gremlin took it :) For the last two years my goal was for 150 books, but I really wish I could read more. There just isn't enough time in the day. I hope you reach your goal for next year!

Christine - Hmmm... what were the two medievals you read? Did you read The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy? Most of the medievals I really love are from back in the day. I would recommend Earth Song by Catherine Coulter. It's one of my favorites. I also enjoyed Forbidden by Elizabeth Lowell. Also The Conqueror by Brenda Joyce is good. You could also try The Bride or The Wedding by Julia Garwood.

Maija - Thanks!

Joanne said...

Wonderful blog! I will definitely be visiting in 2010 to see your reviews!

Hilcia said...

Love your charts! You're so organized. I just write one big list every month and now I have to figure everything out -- it's taking too darn long to separate everything into categories. I'll be better prepared next year. ;)

Love, love medievals!

Jill D. said...

Joanne - Thank you for the kind words! I'd love for my site to become a place you frequent. Enjoy!

Hilcia - I keep a spreadsheet in google docs with a column for genre, grade, and year published. It's really not that hard to keep track of and then at the end of the year you can easily sort to get your statistics. It's a lot easier to keep track of this way.