2011 was good reading year. Still not quite up to 2007 standards, but I'm starting to view that as the year I just was so excellent and move on. (I follow someone on Twitter who posts triple my reading amounts, so I know these things are possible, but perhaps not for me. It's all good.) And, my current TBR pile, is still less than two years reading, no matter which year I use as reference, so there's that too. Still going to work on the TBR pile, because some of those things, especially a few I'm halfway through and just groan at the thought of finishing should just be finished or retired once and for all.
I did count novellas because my old rule was that anything that I could buy separately counts as a book (and therefore anthologies count as one book, although the number of those I read was pretty low this year) and while epublishing has made this less of a standard, I don't care, they all count.
So, grand total: 129
Number of those that were novellas - 16.
84 different authors* represented, which is strangely similar to previous years. December was my rocking month with 22 and February apparently ate my brain because I have 1 finish that month. Author I read the most was Jill Shalvis at 6. I also tried out 38 new to me authors. Series junkie status remains high with 71 of those books being part of a series. And most common type was romance again with 79, although YA is a strong second there with 30. And there were a banner (for me) 8 non-fictions in there this year, thanks to some really funny people writing memoirs or essay type things I wanted to read. And in sub-categories, contemporary reined supreme with 70, compared to 14 historical and 36 paranormal/futuristic/dystopian/steampunk. 71 of these books were published in 2011, so I am still a new release junkie also.
And I hate doing top ten lists because I invariably feel like so many things were good - I really do enjoy a lot of books. None of the things I didn't finish are on the above list. So instead of a top some random number, I shall use the somewhat random books I remember talking to people about (outside of book club, since, well, you know):
-The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis which I still maintain was secretly written for me even if that is a secret to the author herself.
-13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson managed to encapsulate so much of what backpacking through Europe was like I wondered if she had found my travel journal.
-Beauty Queens by Libba Bray is about a plane full of pageant contestants who crash onto a deserted island Lord of the Flies style. Honestly, that's all I had to know to click buy, so I have trouble properly explaining to to people because I just say that, and go, awesome, right? (And technically this was also a book club book, but trust me, I have talked about this to quite a few people.)
-Welcome to Last Chance by Hope Ramsay who is my lovely chapter mate, but, seriously her description of this had me checking her name tag so I could go get this on my wishlist.
-Wishes and Stitches by Rachael Herron - I've enjoyed this whole series but this one just grabbed me and made me write a fangirly email.
-When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James is another one I have trouble describing because I go it's a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" with Dr. House as the beast, and really, if Eloisa James hadn't already been on my auto-buy list, this would have been enough to have me snapping it up. (Actually, since she was, I didn't even know this since I don't read back cover copy, so I just gasped as I was reading.)
-In the Dark of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu is about a woman who finally meets (or re-meets) the merman she keeps dreaming about. It just gripped me, as has much of the series.
-Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison was just such an enjoyable read.
-Forget You by Jennifer Echols is another one I have trouble describing because I picked it out of the pile to read with dinner and next thing I knew it was ten p.m. so I kind of just think people should trust me, but it is about a girl who was in a car accident on her way home from a party and doesn't quite remember what happened at the party, but doesn't want anyone to know she doesn't remember, even though, clearly, things have changed.
(Hey look, that's seven. I didn't even plan that!)
*I counted authors rather than pen names.
Rants About New (and old) Things
