Analysis of 2010

Analyzing results has always been interesting to me.  Whether looking at a marketing campaign for work or, in this case, my reading for the previous year, forming some conclusions, or realizing a pattern, is fascinating.


Here are the stats for my reading of 2010.

Total Books Read:  132 or an average of 11 books per month.  This is down from 142 books read in 2009.  I know this was due to (1) an obsession with the World Cup, (2) a re-emergence of my love for crochet, but most of all (3) difficulty in focusing on reading due to worrying about being unemployed.

 Author Gender:  Someone is always suggesting that readers focus mainly on authors of the same gender as they.  I am proof this is not always true.  Last year, I read
     Male Authors:        68 (52%)
     Female Authors:    62 (47%)
That's pretty close to a 50/50 split and indicates I select books by story rather than author gender.

Book Rating:  Anyone who follows my reviews knows I have a fairly detailed rating system which has developed over time. Reading for 2010 resulted in:
      13 (10%) - Excellent (A top read of the year)
      23 (17%) - VG+ (Close to excellent with only small quibbles)
      36 (27%) - VG (Enthused about it - Very well done for it's genre)
      30 (23%) - Good+ (Enjoyed it very much)
      11 (  8%) - Good (An enjoyable read)
        9 (  7%) - Okay (Enjoyed with significant reservations - only okay)
        5 (  4%) - Poor (Wasn't awful; wasn't good.  Finished with difficulty)
        1 (  1%) - NR (Finished it; would not recommend it - Didn't work for me)
        5 (  4%) - DNF (Did not finish; truly awful or did not suit my taste at all)
The breakdown of this year's results indicates I've become better about selecting the books I read.  Those that fell below a rating of Good--only 16%--were, for the most part, books chosen to read by The East Bay Mystery Readers' Group or books sent to me for review.

Book Setting:  This is a statistic I found particularly fascinating.
       Non-US:  91 (69%)
       US:           41 (31%)
I know I have a strong Anglophile tendency, but there is also a fair representation of Canada, France, Italy, Australia and Africa among the books I read last year.   It does indicate the appeal to me of the British "voice," interest in learning more about foreign settings and love of historical mysteries, the vast majority of which are set outside the US.

New-to-me Authors:  18 (14%)
It is always wonderful to discover an author you've not read previously but now add to your must-read list.  Unfortunately, the analysis I've not done is to cross reference these authors with the rating I've given their books.  That would tell me the success of my hunt for new authors to read.

Story Time Frame:
      Cont:      86 (65%)
      Hist:        43 (33%)
      Future:      3 ( 2%)
This was a bit surprising.  I would have thought the numbers between Contemporary and Historical would have been closer.  Shows what I know.  Those set in the future can be attributed to J.D. Robb, Jim Butcher and Simon R. Green.

There you have it.  More analysis can always be done but one also, I believe, has to be careful not to become so immersed in the numbers, analysis is being performed for analysis sake alone.  Still, it is fun to see.  By the way, the photo was taken in 2004 and only shows a very small portion of the books I own.

And now you, my dear friends.  How was your reading last year?  Did you keep statistics?  Did you learn anything about your reading habits?  I'd love to know.

Reading to World Cup to Crochet

My normal average monthly reading ranges from 10-20 books per month. But then came the World Cup. Normally, I don't follow any sports, but World Cup always makes me a fan. That doesn't mean I know the rules, except vaguely, but I love the idea of it being a game at anyone--not me--could play, from the sandlot to the stadium, and that it truly is "the world's game." Even though the US is out of the competition--don't get me started on the referee's calls--I still follow it and choose my favorite teams game-by-game.

The downside of all this four-year fandom is that my reading has taken a serious hit. I've read fewer books than normal this month--okay, so many I did get ten books read--and nothing really made me think "Wow, what a great book." I haven't even written up my normal reviews yet.

The upside is that because I was influences by Grandmothers who believed that "idle hands and an idle mind are the Devil's playground," I have rediscovered crochet. Crochet was my craft of choice from the time I was 16 until I discovered needlepoint when I was in my early 30s. Due to neck/back and eye issues, I've not been able to do needlepoint for awhile now. But I've not pickup up my crochet hooks, bought some yarn and have gone to town.

I started easy with double-thickness potholders and made two pair for myself, am nearly finished with two pair for one friend and than will do two pair each for another friend and the mother of her boyfriend. Because joy of craft sometimes overtake rational budgetary concerns, I'm also making an 8' vertically-stripped scarf from baby alpaca yarn.

Once World Cup is over, I hope my reading will return to more normal levels, but I think crochet may fight for it's place as well.