Books in 2016

[luzula]

Total number of books read: 96
Up from 90 last year. Besides this, I also read fic and subscribe to various magazines (such as the magazine of the Friends of the Mosses society of Sweden. No, I am not kidding.)

New-to-me authors: 48
Authors I'd read before: 48 (oh hey, an even split)

Book authors by gender (judged by name, so I guess people could've been misgendered)
Female authors: 66 (67 last year)
Male authors: 26 (31 last year)
(Plus one genderqueer that I know of. For anthologies I didn't count.)

By language read in:
English: 62 (76 last year)
Swedish: 34 (14 last year)

By original language:
English: 56 (71 last year)
Swedish: 26 (12 last year)
Finnish: 4
Russian: 2
French: 2
Icelandic: 1
Old Norse: 1
Spanish: 1
Polish: 1

By author's country of origin:
USA: 31 (45 last year)
Sweden: 25 (7 last year)
UK: 22 (17 last year)
Finland: 5 (4 last year)
Canada: 2 (3.5 last year)
Belarus: 2
Iceland: 2
France: 2.5
Poland: 1
Malaysia: 1
Vietnam: 0.5

Genre (roughly; some were hard to categorize):
non-fiction: 21
fantasy: 21
SF: 19.5
historical: 17.5
YA: 9
romance: 1

Ten eleven favorite new-to-me books or authors, in no particular order:
Deerskin by Robin McKinley (YA fantasy with wonderful dogs)
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson (thoughtful, realistic SF)
The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson (delightful DWJ-esque YA fantasy)
Hwarhath Stories by Eleanor Arnason (SF of manners among aliens)
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (inventive YA fantasy)
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (about a 19th century female naturalist)
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (historical fantasy among New York immigrants)
Blood of the Martyrs by Naomi Mitchison (a moving political novel about early Christians in Rome)
Three Times Table by Sara Maitland (ambiguous present-day fantasy with three generations of women)
Anaché by Maria Turtchaninoff (Swedish genderqueer YA fantasy)
Sara Lidman's works in general; I've read five of her books this year (about life as it used to be in northern Sweden).
Svetlana Alexievich's works in general; I've read two of them this year (about life in the USSR).

Huh, YA fantasy seems overrepresented in that list compared to the amount I read? Anyway. I am pleased to reach my goal this year of reading fewer American books and more Swedish ones. \o/ I suspected that reading less American books might just spill over into reading more British ones, thus keeping the amount of Anglophone books constant, but that didn't actually happen much. I also read twice as much non-fiction, but it was a fairly low level to start with.

I notice that I did not actually reread a single book this year, despite enjoying rereading a lot. I think I somehow feel that I "should" read and discover new books? To counter that, I think I'll make rereading a goal for next year.

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

I love your variety.

Have you read early Eleanor Arnason works? In particular, A Woman of the Iron People or The Ring of Swords? They're superb!

[luzula]

Yes, I have! I really liked Ring of Swords. The other one not as much, but it was also good.

[mific]

Can't go wrong with Peter Dickinson - I love his books. Did you ever read Tulku? Sadly out of print but a library might have it. It has an Edwardian-era plant collecting character in it! I must try the Ropemaker.

[luzula]

No, I haven't! But I'm pretty sure it's been translated to Swedish--I think I've seen it in the library. And of course the plant-collecting character sounds like something that would appeal to me. Thanks for the rec!

[calvinahobbes]

So many books! You're up from last year - is that a general trend, or does it fluctuate more?

I want to read The Golem and the Jinni! It's been on my list for ages.

[luzula]

I haven't actually kept track that long? So I don't know.

Do read it! Everyone in my book club enjoyed it.

[akamine_chan]

(such as the magazine of the Friends of the Mosses society of Sweden. No, I am not kidding.)

I love you so much, Luz. You are perfect.

[luzula]

Um, well. Thank you! And same. ♥

[garonne.livejournal.com]

When you made a similar post last year, I resolved to do the same thing (both to read more and to keep track of it) but I forgot... This year I will :) Good luck with your own reading this year!

[luzula]

Well, I am just a person who enjoys making lists, I think, so keeping the spreadsheet was no extra effort. : ) Good luck with your reading, too!