Wednesday, February 01, 2012

January in Review

What I Learned

Well, there really are not enough hours in the day for everything that I would like to do each month. I didn't set formal goals, but I tried to read more poetry, essays, and short stories. I think that was a success and I hope to keep it up in February. One other goal that was in the back of my mind was to try and read more non-fiction. In January I read 4. That might be a bit depressing, but I suppose it is better than none. I have a couple on the go at the moment, so hopefully February will be a bit better. 

I decided this year to start tracking more things. I am using Fyrefly's spreadsheet and I have two from Marg that I plan to get organized this weekend. It's really not that much work. I just take the book and enter it on there right away after finishing it. From Fyrefly's spreadsheet I have actually found that in January I read more books by men than women. It works out to 14 men, 6 women, and 1 short story collection by various authors. There have been years where I have kept track of this statistic, but not the last couple. I will be curious to see how the year progresses. According to Goodreads, if I continue with my goal of 240 books for 2012, I am right on track. I got 239 last year and I only read like 6 books in November and December combined, so it should be doable. 

New to Me Authors

Rachel Bertshe (MWF Seeks BFF)
Lois McMaster Bujold (Falling Free)
Isaac Asimov (Foundation)
Caroline Preston (The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt)
Erin Blakemore (The Heroine's Bookshelf)
Rae Carson (The Girl of Fire and Thorns)
Ernest Cline (Ready Player One)
Joshua Foer (Moonwalking with Einstein)
David Sedaris (Naked)

Series Talk

Fables Series: 16/16 - CAUGHT UP!
Vorkosigan Series: 1/14
The Unwritten Series: 5/5 - CAUGHT UP!
Foundation Trilogy: 1/3 (Currently reading book 2)
The Girl of Fire and Thorns Series: 1/1 - CAUGHT UP!
Scott Pilgrim Series: 6/6 - FINISHED!
Mythos Academy Series: 2/2 - CAUGHT UP!

The Source

Christmas Gift Cards: 5
Gift: 4
Used Book Store: 1
Library: 7
Review Copy: 1
Free Download: 3

If anyone is curious this works out to only actually paying for one of them, the one from the Used Book Store, and that was probably with credit.

What I Read

1. MWF seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend by Rachel Bertsche (NF) (Completed January 2, 2012)
2. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (Completed January 3, 2012)
3. Fables - Volume 16: Super Team by Bill Willingham & Company (GN) (Completed January 3, 2012)
4. Falling Free (Vorkosigan Series) by Lois McMaster Bujold (SF) (Completed January 6, 2012)
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5. The Unwritten - Volume 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey & Company (GN) (Completed January 8, 2012)
6. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (SF) (Completed January 8, 2012)
7. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation Series, Book 1) (SF) (Completed January 12, 2012)
8. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston (HF) (Completed January 13, 2012)
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9. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (Play) (Completed January 16, 2012)
10. The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, From Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder by Erin Blakemore (NF) (Completed January 17, 2012)
11. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (Fire and Thorns Series, Book 1) (YA/F) (Completed January 21, 2012)
12. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (SF) (Completed January 21, 2012)
13. Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness (Volume 3) by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Manga) (Completed January 21, 2012)
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14. Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together (Volume 4) by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Manga) (Completed January 22, 2012)
15. Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer (NF) (Completed January 22, 2012)
16. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Volume 5) by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Manga) (Completed January 25, 2012)
17. Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (Volume 6) by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Volume 6) (Completed January 25, 2012)
18. Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things... by McSweeney's Press (SS) (Completed January 26, 2012)
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19. Kiss of Frost (Mythos Academy Series, Book 2) by Jennifer Estep (YA/F) (Completed January 30, 2012)
20. Naked by David Sedaris (Essays/NF) (Completed January 31, 2012)
21. The Unwritten - Volume 5: On to Genesis by Mike Carey & Company (GN) (Completed January 31, 2012)

Books Added to the TBR Pile

Bought:
Fables Volume 16: Super Team by Bill Willingham & Company (Gift Card)
The Fox Woman by Kiji Johnson (Gift Card)
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier (Gift Card)
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (Gift Card)
The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Carloine Preston (Gift Card)
The Shadow of Malabron by Thomas Wharton (Gift Card)
The Unwritten Volume 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey (Gift Card)
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson (Gift Card)
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick (Gift Card)

The History of History by Ida Hattemer-Higgins
Little, Big by John Crowley
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

At Large and at Small: Confessions of a Hedonist by Anne Fadiman
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (gift card)
The Unwritten - Volume 5: On to Genesis by Mike Carey and Peter Gross (gift card)
Den of Thieves by David Chandler (99 cents e-book)
Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris (99 cents e-book)
Maidens' Trip by Emma Smith



Received:
The One Dish Collection by the Canadian Living Test Kitchen (Random House)
The Golden Hour by Margaret Wurtele (Penguin)
Paris My Sweet by Amy Thomas (Sourcebooks)


Used Credit to Acquire:
Killbox by Ann Aguirre
Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
White Tiger by Kylie Chan
The Pretty Details of So-and-so's Life by Camilla Gibb
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic
Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
The Collected Stories by Carol Shields

Civil Campaign: A Vorkosigan Adventure by Lois McMaster Bujold
Cordelia's Honor: A Vorkgosigan Adventure by Lois McMaster Bujold
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
The Sons of Heaven: A Company Novel by Kage Baker
Diplomatic Immunity: A Vorkogsigan Adventure by Lois McMaster Bujold
Barrayer by Lois McMaster Bujold
Fate's Edge: A Novel of the Edge by Ilona Andrews
In the Garden of Iden: A Company Novel by Kage Baker
MemoryA Vorkosigan Novel by Lois McMaster Bujold
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin

That is a lot of books... And, I didn't actually pay for any of them between gift cards, Christmas money, and credit at the Used Book Store. I love January! I still didn't need quite so many, but in any case...

Thoughts for February

I would like to finish up some of the books that are left over from January. I would like to continue to read more non-fiction, essays, poetry, and short stories. I would also like to work on some challenges. There are books I am currently reading that will count for a few.


14 comments:

  1. January is always a great month for book acquisitions for me too. I got a lot of books for Christmas and my birthday, which is a good thing since they have to last me a long while :P And yay, you got Baba Yaga Laid an Egg! I really liked that one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, me too. I always say I won't buy again until my birthday but that never works out very well.

      I was so happy to find Baba Yaga!

      Delete
  2. I've seen quite a few books added in January as well. I don't think that is a consistent trend for me, but certainly this year it has proved true.

    Uh, not to indicate that my acquisitions are anywhere near as plentiful as yours! You've added a lot more to your TBR pile than I have!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha, yeah, probably a bit too many... It's fun, though!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous3:02 PM

    Wow! That's quite the rundown!
    and you read so much in the month, I'm impressed.

    I agree that there never seem to be enough hours in the day :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks!

      And, nope, I need many many more...

      Delete
  4. You're doing much better than me with nonfiction. I only read one in January, though I hope to do a little bit better in February. I'd like to finish twelve total this year, which seems doable.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am aiming for 12, too, but I would like to read a few more than that. I own many...

      Delete
  5. I like and loathe that little progress tracker on GR, but right now I'm pleased to be a couple books ahead because I really want to work some chunksters into this reading year and somehow that idea of "being ahead" works to counteract that sense I sometimes get of "taking too long" to read a book, not because I'm not enjoying it, but because I'm hyper-aware of the stacks surrounding me, the stacks that don't fit on the shelves, those stacks.

    Sounds like you have had a great reading month; I'm especially impressed by the number of series with which you've caught up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I know exactly what you mean! I am always aware of my stacks. I really want to get the size down...

      I am also always impressed when I catch-up with a series. :)

      Delete
  6. Wow! You had a great January. Looks like you were able to read a lot of books this month, and you seem to have acquired a lot of books too. I hope you enjoy the mistborn trilogy. I've only read the first book, but it was really well done. Hope you have a great February.

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    Replies
    1. I am looking forward to the Mistborn trilogy!

      Delete
  7. Fabulous Jan reading!!! I love all those science fiction books you picked up too. Read In the Garden of Iden, I am curious of you will like it or not (I love it). I have to say I am jealous that you get that much credit at the used book store. I need something like that too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am looking forward to the Garden of Iden. :) I have been looking for it for a while.

      Delete

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