Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Quarterly Reading Update - 4th Quarter, 2009

In the last quarter of 2009, I read 27 books, for a total of 9,077 pages. That averages out to around a hundred pages a day. I read a lot more adult novels this time, only six YA/MG books, mostly due to the fact that I read a lot of books from thrift stores this quarter and there isn't often decent kids books there.

Here's the list for this quarter -

IGRAINE THE BRAVE by Cornelia Funke

DIE TRYING by Lee Child

JUDGE & JURY by James Patterson and Andrew Goss

THE MUMMY, THE WILL AND THE CRYPT by John Bellairs

THE JURY  by Steve Martini

CHASING DARKNESS by Robert Crais

TERMINAL FREEZE by Lincoln Child

HOLLYWOOD TOUGH by Stephen J. Cannell

NUCLEAR JELLYFISH by Tim Dorsey

BACKFLASH by Richard Stark

FALSE DAWN by Paul Levine

THE WRATH OF THE GRINNING GHOST by John Bellairs and Brad Strickland

GONE FISHIN' by Walter Mosley

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY by Trenton Lee Stewart

BLASPHEMY by Douglas Preston

KING CON by Stephen Cannell

THE LONGEST CHRISTMAS LIST EVER by Greg and Evan Spiridellis

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES by Jonny Porkpie

KILLER'S CHOICE by Ed McBain

SHOOT HIM IF HE RUNS by Stuart Woods

AT RISK by Patricia Cornwell

HONEYMOON by James Patterson & Howard Roughan

NIGHT THUNDER by Ruby Jean Jenson

THE SOMNAMBULIST by Jonathan Barnes

THE STRAIN by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

THE HUNTED by Wayne Barcomb




Favorite book this quarter - The Strain, almost definitely, though I really enjoyed Shiver and Chasing Darkness too.










READING TOTALS FOR 2009


1st quarter
20 books, 7772 pages

2nd quarter
37 books, 12202 pages

3rd quarter
35 books, 10941 pages

4th quarter
27 books, 9077 pages




That gives me a total of 119 books, 39,992 pages,
109.6 pages a day or roughly 1 book every three days


A lot of great stuff this year, I expanded my reading to include a lot of Mid-Grade, noir, legal thrillers and bestseller books that I've never really read before. Obviously, the Mid-Grade comes from wanting to read what I'm writing, but I'm not sure why the bestseller style of books have been so appealing to me lately. I think a good portion is that they're brainless fun, something I needed this year, some escapism.  My favorite book, without looking at my individual reviews was probably Flipping Out, by Marshall Karp, a hilarious and smart writer that more readers need to discover. I also really enjoyed The Strain, Cabinet Of Wonders, The Corpse Wore Pasties and Shiver, all for very different reasons.

Tomorrow, I will be announcing a dramatic and exciting change in our lives, and it could radically affect the books I read and how I read 'em, but I feel pretty confident in hoping to hit a hundred books again in 2010. This was the first time I've tracked that kind of thing, and it was great fun. I know I've read more books than this in years past, but 119 is still an incredibly respectable number.

Now it's time to dive into 2010!

4 comments:

Andrea Vlahakis said...

Wow, what a list. I'm so bad at not tracking my reading, or doing so haphazardly. I think you've inspired me to start the new year right and writing down what I read.

randymeiss said...

Very impressive. I don't keep track of my reading but if I did I know your page count would blow me out of the water.

I'm trying to picture you writing these blogs, not to mention all the other mundane tasks associated with life, left-handed. I can't imagine the frustration you must feel. Your tenacity is awe-inspiring, I think I would just refuse to turn the computer on until I was healed. Well done!

I eagerly await tomorrow's announcement.

Marshall Karp said...

Kris,

I think this could be the jump start my career has been waiting for. Guy in Pocatello thinks Flipping Out is better than 118 other books.

I'm not sure you're right, but the way you devour books, maybe I caught you on a day when your mind was numb and vulnerable.

CUT, PASTE, KILL will be released in June, but now that I see how gullible you are I'll send you an ARC.

Write on, dude.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Andrea! I was actually really happy that I kept the list, there were a lot of books, looking back over the list that I either want to re-read or buy and quite a few that I learned quite a bit from. My plan this next year is to pay more attention to the pure mechanics of the writing, the way the author uses the words to draw me into the story. I hope to use the next 120 books to improve my writing!

Randy, trust me, it is incredibly, ridiculously frustrating! I takes me something like three times as long to write anything and another chunk fixing the grammatical errors after that.(Or at least the ones that I ever fix..) I'm actually looking into a speech to text program for my apple that would make things a lot easier for the next 2 months while I'm in the sling...

The Always Stupendous Marshall Karp! You did see all of the Clive Cussler books I read before your book, right? My mind has become permanently numb and vulnerable! That said, I'll need a top book of 2010 and I would be honored to use your book to bend the minds of the dozen readers of my blog! Thanks.