Adam did it first, then Amanda decided to have a go as well. My reading schedule has been shot to merry hell (what with one thing and another) so I thought that now would be a great time to have a look at how things have been going review wise over the last five months. Hopefully things will get back to normal reading wise over the next few days...!
Since January, I’ve racked up 69 reviews on the blog, I’m not sure what my numbers were for last year but I’ve got a sneaking feeling that I’m not matching what I managed to achieve over the course of 2009. Having said that though, a lot of the comic book reviews are incorporating more than one comic book so the numbers are a little bit better than I thought J The aim is to try and double this number by the end of the year, we’ll see how that one goes...
I don’t have the time to go into great analytical detail over the stats but here are some general impressions that I got from looking back over the list of reviews...
- There are a lot more comic books being featured on the blog this year, I’m cool with that :o)
- I’m reading predominantly fantasy and sci-fi at the moment, it’s new stuff that I haven’t read before but there’s a real need for comfort reading at the moment (if not comfort reading then a genre that I feel more comfortable in). Urban Fantasy of a particular kind just isn’t working for me anymore.
- Gay vampire fiction may be for you but it isn’t for me...
- I’ve read more books by male authors than female but the gap is definitely shrinking here.
- Due to the lack of reading time, most of the books on the list (so far) come in at somewhere between 300-450 pages (approx)
- The majority of the books I’ve read have been recent releases but there are a couple of older works (and collections) to be found in the list. I’m hoping to cover a few more...
What about you folks though? How many books have you read? Have you stuck to one genre or switched and swapped between a number? Do you have a number of books that you would have liked to have read by the end of the year... or are you just reading for the pleasure of it and are not worried about numbers at all?
Comments please! ;o)
To me it sounds like you've read a HELL of a lot of books already this year, Graham. But then I'm constantly stunned and impressed at the volume of books book-bloggers go through.
ReplyDeleteI'm always impressed with the detailed and balanced nature of your reviews. It feels like you've really read the material and then given it a good deal of thought before you set down your review, and, unlike other reviewers, you don't seem to let personal taste or prejudiced solely dictate your reactions to things.
Since you asked, I read for pleasure and with no heed to numbers ( I read very very little fiction when I'm writing - and I'm writing most all the time these days)I don't read any particular genre but I have a fondness of things of a supernatural bent and a huge love of historical biography.
I've been getting through books at a much faster rate than I have traditionally, focussing on catching up with classics I've not read (which covers a *lot*), and Black Library stuff.
ReplyDeleteSame as you though: I've been sticking to books of ~300 pages. The first two books of Wheel of Time, however, are taunting me from my shelf.
Once I've got through the classics, I hope to actually act on your and other recommendations more often.
Yeah, my consumption rate is definitely faster when I'm comfort-reading more heavily plot-driven stuff like Black Library books. I generally throw them in for relief between more 'literary' books which definitely take a bit more chewing over.
ReplyDeleteOne question though Graeme - and this is something I've wondered ever since I started followiing your blog - how on earth do you get through all these books at such a rate?? Do you scan-read some or give all of them a proper going-over?
This year I want to read six books per month. That means 72 books in 2010. I failed several months. By end of May 2010 I will have read 25 books - means five books behind my plan. But that will change during my holiday in summer.
ReplyDeleteThis year I read more science fiction and historical thrillers.
So far I have read 36 books this year. Mostly Warhammer/Forgotten Realms books.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many pages you guys read per day? (Usually?) I'm trying for 100 pages per day. but my average is 70/80 pages per day.