Thursday, December 31, 2009

Wrapping Up and Looking Forward

We had a great 2009 here at WeBeReading!

K got through 147 books for a total of just over 46,000 pages. That's an average of about 125 pages a day which for me is about two hours of reading.

Only six of the books were non-fiction and I hope to improve upon that next year. I have 17 unread non-fiction titles on my shelves and 28 on my library list so I should be able to find at least a dozen interesting ones!

I marked nineteen books as "would not read again" which seems high but as a percentage of what I read for the year, it's not bad! In contrast, I had 79 books that I would definitely consider reading again.

I read 79 authors that were new to me this year. Many of these were review copies and challenge books and that is one of the main benefits of these activities. This also doesn't count all of the many fantastic picture book authors that we discovered this year!

I strangely had only one re-read this year -- The Shadow of the Wind. I definitely liked it as much the second time as the first.

And my final fun statistic is the number of books over 600 pages that I read this year -- seven! Bleak House (914), Drood (773), Stone's Fall (800), Inkspell (635), Inkdeath (663), God is An Englishman (634) and East Lynne (624).

Z added dozens of books to his home shelves and borrowed stacks of books from the library. Next year I hope to work him into basic chapter books. He's at the right reading level for them but his attention span isn't quite long enough!

This year we also hosted Poe Fridays which will end next month around Poe's birthday. We finished the Take a Chance Challenge and the 1% Well-Read Challenge. We also went a little bit berzerk on the R.I.P. IV Challenge. We started a new feature -- Starred Saturdays. And most of all, we had fun reading and sharing with all of you!

Have a very happy New Year!
K and Z

13 comments:

  1. Nineteen books you wouldn't read again sounds a little ominous. Weere there any that you didnt finish or did I miss that bit?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven got to read Shadow of the Wind. So many people tell me I would love it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your blog has been a delightful part of my reading this year, and getting to meet you and visit in person was great! Have a very Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy New Year Kristen and Z!

    Very impressive stats to the both of you. (:

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't read as much NF as I would have liked to either! Two hours a day reading is great. My time tends to be split up--I read when I can. Wouldn't it be nice if Everyone read for at least an hour a day? Happy reading in 2010!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for posting. It has been fun to read about what you read this year. I think I've only read about 30 books this year, but considering that I have four kids and work part-time, I don't consider that too bad! J.D. got some chapter books for Christmas and has really enjoyed starting to read them. He only reads a couple of chapters at a time, but his attention span has improved greatly in the past year, so I'm sure Z's will too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It sounds like you and K had an awesome reading your.

    I still haven't read The Shadow of the Wind, but hope to one day. I'm glad it's good for at least two rounds!

    I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! I'm so impressed!!!!! You are superreader and a chunkster reader and RIP IV crazy woman! Here's hoping 2010 has more 5 star reads and no "won't read again" reads.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Simon - There was one that I didn't finish but the others were just ones that wouldn't be exciting on a second read or I just didn't connect with (like the second two Inkheart books).

    Nanscorner - It's really quite a unique and special book. Not everyone will love it but most book lovers will!

    Robin - Thanks so much! I hope we can get together this year too!

    Lena - Thanks! We love having books be such a big part of our lives.

    Danielle - I think I get at least an hour in a day but I'm guessing some of that time comes from late night book finishing when I read for 4 or 5 hours in a row!

    Corbetts - I'm so glad that we've been able to know each other again through our blogs! And yes, I'm surprised that you have any time to read at all. You're amazing!

    Feline - Thanks! I hope that you give Shadow of the Wind a try!

    Jenners - I AM a superreader. ;) And I am really hoping for more five star reads too. Maybe I will cheat with more re-reads!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, 145 books...that is fantastic, Kristen. I'd like to see my reading increase in 2010...but I don't think I'd ever manage more than 100 or so. Love that you experienced so many new authors in 2009 - new authors make up the majority of my reading these days and I love finding new favorites. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks, Wendy! I'm guessing my numbers will go down next year again ... last year I only read about 85 books. I love finding good new authors too and just need to find the time to read more of their works too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Greatly impressive stats for you and Z!!! I love, love, love Shadow of the Wind. Maybe I need to add that to my re-read pile again this year?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Tif - It really held up to a re-read so if you have the time, go for it! :)

    ReplyDelete