Jump to content

Athena's Reading List 2017


Athena

Recommended Posts

During the past while I re-read the 21 volumes in the Kare Kano manga series by Masami Tsuda (His & Her Circumstances). It was really nice to re-read these books again, I loved all of it. This manga series is about high school students in Japan. The main characters are Yukino Miyazawa and Soichiro Arima. The books are also about other characters. This is a romance manga, but it also involves deeper psychological themes throughout the series.

 

My boyfriend owns all the volumes in this series. He introduced me to it. We started to re-watch the TV series recently as he was re-reading the manga books himself. After we finished the TV series (which due to funding issues stopped after volume 7), I myself felt like re-reading the series (and I overtook him in re-reading it :P). Both the TV series and the books have a nostalgic spot in my heart as it was one of the first TV series and manga series we watched together and talked about together since we've been in love.

So because of that my review of this cannot be and should not be unbiased. It remains for me to say that I absolutely loved re-reading this series. I love the characters, the story, the plot twists, the illustration style. It's my favourite manga series to date (and it's also the first one I read, so).

 

I'm late in posting my November summary because I wanted to finish off the series first, before I'd do the statistics of all the volumes (of which I read 12 in November and 9 in December). I will post my November summary soon. When I finished doing the statistics of all the books, I looked and realised, I have now read more than 50,000 pages (50120 to be precise)! I was totally surprised as I didn't think I'd get there yet (obviously doing maths on top of my head was a fail lol).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 449
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

November 2017 Summary

Books read: 35
Pages read: 6769

Genres:
Fantasy: 6
Science-fiction: 1
Contemporary Fiction: 19
Rom-com: 0
Historical Fiction: 1
Literature: 1
Detective / Mystery: 0
Thriller: 1
Horror: 3
Paranormal: 0
Biography: 3
Information: 0
'Disney': 0

Age Ranges:
Infants: 0 book(s)
Children: 15 book(s)
Young-Adult: 18 book(s)
Adult: 2 book(s)

TBR vs. R:
Re-reads: 13 book(s)
New Reads: 22 book(s)
Combination: 0 book(s)

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic 3: A Conjuring of Light
John Green - Turtles All the Way Down
Noelle Stevenson - Nimona
Cece Bell (colouring David Lasky) - El Deafo
Debbie Tung - Quiet Girl in a Noisy World
Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia I: Fantasia (Nel Regno della Fantasia) (re-read)
Loes den Hollander - Broeinest
Vera Brosgol - Anya's Ghost
Shannon Hale, LeUYEN Pham and Jane Poole - Real Friends
Svetlana Chmakova - Awkward 1: Awkward
Svetlana Chmakova - Awkward 2: Brave
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Alle Dagen Hardstikke Druk
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 1: Volume 1 (incl. The Tiger and the Chameleon: A Promise for One Week)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 2: Volume 2 (incl. Under the Cherry Trees)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 3: Volume 3
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 4: Volume 4 (incl. Meet Me Again Tomorrow in the Forest)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 5: Volume 5
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 6: Volume 6
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 7: Volume 7
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 8: Volume 8 (incl. The Raging King)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 9: Volume 9
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 10: Volume 10
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 11: Volume 11
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 12: Volume 12
(Note: Rest of Kare Kano follows in December Summary)

Pretty enjoyable:
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Vigo Vampier 1: Een bloedlink partijtje
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Vigo Vampier 2: Een bloeddorstige meester
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Vigo Vampier 3: De bloedneusbende
Gene Luen Yang and Lark Pien - American Born Chinese
Carry Slee and Dagmar Stam - De Kinderen van de Grote Beer 3: Opgepast, ik lust een hele boekenkast!
Marianne Busser and Ron Schröder (ill. Dagmar Stam) - De Griezeltjes
Paul van Loon (ill. Juliette de Wit) - Lees!: Stuurloos tussen de sterren

Somewhat enjoyable:
Bryan Lee O'Malley - Lost at Sea
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Toontje Prins
Paul van Loon (ill. Camila Fialkowski) - Spetter: Pas op voor een pad!
Hans Petermeijer (ill. Mark Janssen) - Zoeklicht Geheim: Big vermist

Disappointments / Least favourites of the month:
See the category above.

Abandoned book:
None!

Shortest books read this month:
Paul van Loon (ill. Camila Fialkowski) - Spetter: Pas op voor een pad! (24 pages)
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Toontje Prins (48 pages)

Longest books read this month:
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic 3: A Conjuring of Light (667 pages)
Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia I: Fantasia (Nel Regno della Fantasia) (re-read) (384 pages)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

During the past while I've read several books.

 

I re-read these two books:
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 1: Volume 1 (re-read)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 2: Volume 2 (re-read)


The series in total has 8 volumes, but after re-reading 2 volumes I felt more in the mood to read something non-manga (after re-reading the Kare Kano series before this), so I decided to put the rest of the series on hold for a while and focus on some books with more text (and less pictures).

 

I then read Alis Rowe - The Girl with the Curly Hair: Asperger's and Me. This is a memoir of a woman with Asperger's Syndrome. I really enjoyed reading this book! I recognised a lot of things from my own life, and in other cases, things didn't work the same way for me, but I could understand why Alis felt that way. The memoir made me feel less alone, knowing there are other people out there with whom I share some similaties, is really helpful. Overall I really enjoyed reading this memoir, I loved it. I can see it might not appeal as much to people who have little interest in autism, but I really liked this memoir, it really resonated with me.

 

Over the course of the year I've been reading Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project, reading a chapter per month (so the January chapter in January, and the February chapter in February, and so on). I have unfortunately forgot a lot of what I thought of earlier chapters, since I didn't think to make notes (I have however one post in which I posted what I thought of the book about half way through the year, so I'll be using that as a basis for some of my review).

 

I liked most of the chpaters. Some information was interesting, other things were not for me. It was interesting to read how things affected Gretchen. Sometimes it didn't seem fair to me, how much work she was putting in, compared with other people.

 

There was one chapter I really didn't like. It was the June chapter, about making friends. What irked me about the chapter was that the author wrote that it would be good for everyone to make more friends and connect with strangers in real life and such (not online). It's possible that the research said it would be good for most people, but for me with my autism spectrum disorder it doesn't work that way, and I do not agree with her that it's good for everyone to connect to lots of people. Some people are introverts, some are extroverts, and all that. If she had written "most people" instead of "everyone", I wouldn't consider it a problem at all, but as she wrote "everyone", I simply do not agree with her (since it doesn't help me, for instance) and I feel she doesn't take mental illness and my conditions (or conditions others may have) into account. I'm glad it worked for her, but that's just not how it works for me, and so that chapter really irked me.  

 

I believe everyone has need of a certain amount of contact with others, a certain level of contact at which they are most happy and most comfortable. For me, that level isn't as high as it would be for someone who is an extreme extrovert. I am happy with the friends I have (including BCF!) and the family I have, and I don't have the energy to connect much to strangers or new people in real life. It costs me a lot of effort to socially communicate, and it would, in most cases, cost me more energy than that I would get positive energy out of it. Communicating online is much easier for me than communicating in real life, too, since there is no body language and voice intonations etc., to take into account.

 

Communication is easier if there is, what I call, a certain protocol to be followed, ie. I buy something in a shop. There is then a set amount of things that the cashier might say to me, "it's 10€.", "please", "thank you for your purchase", "have a good day" etc. As soon as anything falls outside those boundaries I have taught myself, I get confused and it costs me much more energy (because I don't know what to expect the other person to say or how to respond to it). Communicating with someone when there is no set protocol, is extremely hard for me, and I don't like doing it and it costs me more energy than that it gives me energy (or happiness). I get tired just from going to the supermarket (and communicating with the cashier in the 'shopping' protocol), I get tired from spending half an hour or an hour with my family (I can predict the kind of things they might say), I would get extremely tired if I have to talk to a stranger in real life without any set rules in place. And it takes a special person to really understand me, to be honest, most people don't really understand me, at least not without a huge effort from me to tell them lots of things about myself. It costs me a lot of energy just to communicate with my family for a little while - I struggle with my energy levels as is. I would much rather have 5 close friends than 20 acquaintances. And I imagine I'm not the only one who would be feeling that way.

 

Okay, that's enough about the June chapter. I really liked the rest of the chapters. The decluttering January chapter, for example, I thought that one was quite good. It's just that the June chapter grated on me. If she has written and said 'most people' instead of 'everyone', I probably would've enjoyed reading the chapter a lot more, now instead I felt left out and like the author didn't understand certain mental conditions. Overall I enjoyed reading this memoir / self-help book. I plan to read the next one (Happier at Home).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read The Students of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin, Luna Pérez Visairas - M is for Autism. This is a fictional story based on the true experiences of the students. I enjoyed reading this story. It's only 93 pages, I kind of wish it was longer, that it had gone on beyond the ending. I liked the illustrations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read Richard Denney - What Lies Beneath. I didn't like this book quite as much as the author's The Library of Souls, but it was still pretty good. I found it to be a fast read and it was creepy. There was one thing I found a bit odd (but spoilers). The ending surprised me, I quite liked the ending.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read E. Lockhart - Fly on the Wall. This is a contemporary story about a teenage girl named Gretchen in an art school. It sort of retells Kafka's Metamorphosis, as the girl turns into a fly on the wall. It even references Kafka's book as they discuss it with school. I haven't read Metamorphosis though I do know of its synopsis. I liked Fly on the Wall, but I could not always relate to the main character and I had a few issues with it. I found it a bit difficult to understand all the artsy stuff as that's not my sort of thing, though I did like to read about it. And I also found it difficult when Gretchen as a fly started 'ogling' the boys in the boys' locker room. It could not relate because of my personal beliefs and thoughts. I liked to read Gretchen's thoughts other than the times when they were a bit repetitive. Lastly it seemed odd to me how the parents of Gretchen were acting in certain situations (might be spoilers so I won't post about it here). I also felt the part where the turns into a fly, is quite a while into the book, it started later than I was expecting. But it also kind of made sense. I did like a specific part about the ending very much. It was a fast read, only 183 pages. Enjoyable, but probably not one I'll remember very much of in a few years' time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Lau_Lou said:

Fly On The Wall sounds very interesting.

 

I thought it was an interesting book too. Have you read Metamorphosis?

 

1 hour ago, Lau_Lou said:

I have to say I agree on what you said about “June” chapter from The Happiness Project. If I am honest I think most would. 

 

Thanks, that makes me feel better :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read Alex Bertie - Trans Mission. This is a non-fiction account of a transgender man and his journey. I've read a few fictional books in which the main character's biological sex is male and it does not match them being female (transgender women). I thought it would be interesting to read about a transgender man. I quite liked reading this book. It was a nice read and it had a lot of nice information. It was an interesting book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read Louise Gornall - Under Rose-Tainted Skies. This is a YA contemporary fiction book with main character Norah. Norah suffers from agoraphobia and OCD. A boy named Luke moves in next door with his family. This is an Own Voices book. I found the book an interesting read. It can also be triggering though, for some people. I liked the book though I thought the ending felt a bit rushed. Overall I enjoyed reading this book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I read Chrissie Manby - Proper Family 4.6: Top of the Naughty List. I found out about this novella yesterday and immediately wanted to read it, so I bought it (it's an e-book only novella as far as I know) and read it. It's part of the Proper Family series. It didn't take me too long to remember who was who. I really enjoyed reading this Christmassy novella. It's no great literature, but I found it enjoyable and it just fit my mood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

December 2017 Summary

Books read: 19
Pages read: 4421

Genres:
Fantasy: 0
Science-fiction: 0
Contemporary Fiction: 12
Rom-com: 1
Historical Fiction: 0
Literature: 0
Detective / Mystery: 0
Thriller: 0
Horror: 0
Paranormal: 0
Biography: 3
Information: 1
'Disney': 0

Age Ranges:
Infants: 0 book(s)
Children: 0 book(s)
Young-Adult: 10 book(s)
Adult: 6 book(s)

TBR vs. R:
Re-reads: 11 book(s)
New Reads: 5 book(s)
Combination: 0 book(s)

Most impressive / Favourite(s) of the month:
Alis Rowe - The Girl with the Curly Hair
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 13: Volume 13 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 14: Volume 14 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 15: Volume 15 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 16: Volume 16 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 17: Volume 17 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 18: Volume 18 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 19: Volume 19 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 20: Volume 20 (re-read)
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano 21: Volume 21 (re-read)
Louise Gornall - Under Rose-Tainted Skies
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 1: Volume 1 (re-read)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 2: Volume 2 (re-read)
Alex Bertie - Trans Mission
Chrissie Manby - Proper Family 4.6: Top of the Naughty List

Pretty enjoyable:
The Students of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin, Luna Pérez Visairas - M is for Autism
Richard Denney - What Lies Beneath
Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project
(Note: Read over the course of the year!)

 

Somewhat enjoyable:

None!


Disappointments / Least favourites of the month:

None!


Abandoned book:
None!

Shortest books read this month:
Chrissie Manby - Proper Family 4.6: Top of the Naughty List (77 pages)
The Students of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin, Luna Pérez Visairas - M is for Autism (93 pages)
Richard Denney - What Lies Beneath (174 pages)

Longest books read this month:
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 2: Volume 2 (re-read) (527 pages)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 1: Volume 1 (re-read) (523 pages)

Other Notes:
I'll be writing a summary + statistics post of my reading in 2017.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Favourite books I read in 2017 (per genre):

Fantasy:
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic series
Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1: Poison Study (re-read)
Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 2: Study 2: Magic Study (re-read)
Blake Charlton - Spellwright 1: Spellwright (re-read)
Blake Charlton - Spellwright 2: Spellbound
Geronimo Stilton and Thea Stilton - De 13 Zwaarden 3: De Geheime Tunnel (Il Segreto della Tigre)
Geronimo Stilton - Fantasia I: Fantasia (Nel Regno della Fantasia) (re-read)

Science-fiction:
Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn 1: The Reality Dysfunction (re-read)
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 2: Gemina
Becky Chambers - Wayfarers 2: A Closed and Common Orbit

Contemporary Fiction:
Jen Wilde - Queens of Geek
Rachael Lucas - The State of Grace
Sara Barnard - A Quiet Kind of Thunder
John Green - Turtles All the Way Down
Louise Gornall - Under Rose-Tainted Skies
Mirjam Mous (ill. Marja Meijer) - Alle Dagen Hardstikke Druk
Diane Chamberlain - Keeper of the Light / Kiss River trilogy
Matthew Green - Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Emma Donoghue - Room
Diane Chamberlain - The Bay at Midnight
Nicola Yoon - The Sun Is Also A Star
A. S. King - Glory O'Brien's History of the Future
A. S. King - Still Life With Tornado
Anna Woltz - Alaska
Jeff Kinney - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (re-read)
Jeff Kinney - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules (re-read)
Jeff Kinney - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3: The Last Straw (re-read)
Jeff Kinney - Diary of a Wimpy Kid 4: Dog Days (re-read)
Rachel Renée Russell - Dork Diaries 1: Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (re-read)
Liz Pichon - Tom Gates 1: The Brilliant World of Tom Gates (re-read)
Jim Smith - Simon Sukkel 1: Ik Ben (G)Een Loser (Barry Loser 1: I am (Not) a Loser)(re-read)
Lincoln Peirce - Big Nate 1: The Bog with the Biggest Head in the World (re-read)
Stephan Pastis - Timmy Failure 1: Mistakes Were Made (re-read)
Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton - Treehouse 1: The 13-Storey Treehouse (re-read)
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 1: See You in Timboektoe
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 2: 100% Timboektoe
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 3: Timboektoe rules!
Carry Slee - Timboektoe 4: Timboektoe rocks!

Rom-com:
Vanessa Greene - The Beachside Guest House
Chrissie Manby - Proper Family 4.6: Top of the Naughty List

Stilton Retellings:
Geronimo Stilton - De Avonturen van Marco Polo (Le Avventure di Marco Polo)

Detective / Mystery:
Robert Thorogood - Death in Paradise 3: Death Knocks Twice
Simon de Waal - Bureau Raampoort 1: Bureau Raampoort

Literary Thrillers:
Loes den Hollander - Broeinest
Loes den Hollander - Schijnvertoon

Horror:
Richard Denney - Ghost Talker Files 1: The Library of Souls

Biography:
Alis Rowe - The Girl with the Curly Hair
Aad van Toor - Moe, ik kan een salto!
Allie Brosh - Hyperbole and a Half
Cynthia Kim - Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate
Bas van Toor - Allememaggies!
Alex Bertie - Trans Mission

Biography + Contemporary Fiction:
The Students of Limpsfield Grange School and Vicky Martin, Luna Pérez Visairas - M is for Autism

Information:
Ashley Mardell - The ABC's of LGBT+

Graphic Novels:
Noelle Stevenson - Nimona
Cece Bell (colouring David Lasky) - El Deafo
Debbie Tung - Quiet Girl in a Noisy World
Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang - In Real Life
Vera Brosgol - Anya's Ghost
Shannon Hale, LeUYEN Pham and Jane Poole - Real Friends
Svetlana Chmakova - Awkward 1: Awkward
Svetlana Chmakova - Awkward 2: Brave

Manga:
Masami Tsuda - Kare Kano series (re-read)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 1: Volume 1 (re-read)
Ichigo Takano - Orange 1 + 2

Book read over the course of the year:
Gretchen Rubin - The Happiness Project

Worst books I read in 2017:

Least favourite books I read fully in 2017:
Graeme Simsion - The Best of Adam Sharp
Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones's Baby
Chérie Carter-Scott - If Life is a Game, These are the Rules
Karin Slaughter - Ongezien (The Unremarkable Heart)
Marc Boada (ill. Pere Mejan) - Max 1: Max en de Slinger van Foucault (Max Picard 1: Max Picard i el Maleït Pèndol de Foucault)
Marion Pauw - Grijs Gebied
Carry Slee - Bangkok Boy
Stephenie Meyer - Twilight: Life and Death
Dr. Matt - When It Comes To Relationships, You've Been An Idiot
Eric Maisel - Why Smart People Hurt: A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative

Books abandoned in 2017:
Blake Charlton - Spellwright 3: Spellbreaker (page 125 out of 476, 26%)
Krystal Sutherland - Our Chemical Hearts (page 104 out of 316, ~33%)
Suzanne Young - The Program 2: De Behandeling + Het Herstel (The Program 2: The Treatment + The Recovery)
(page 84 out of 396, 21%)
Ava Dellaira - Liefdesbrieven Aan De Sterren (Love Letters To The Dead) (page 34 out of 334, 10%)
Amanda Craig - The Other Side of You (page 12 out of 101, ~12%)

----


Shortest books (=< 25 pages):
Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1: Poison Study Chapter One Valek's POV (re-read) (~6 pages)
Guido van Genechten - Klein Wit Visje: Klein Wit Visje Telt Tot 11 (16 pages)
Guido van Genechten - Klein Wit Visje: Klein Wit Visje Wordt Groot (16 pages)
Max Velthuijs - Kikker: Kikker is Bang (23 pages)
Max Velthuijs - Kikker: Kikker in de Wind: Het Schetsboek van Max Velthuijs (24 pages)
Paul van Loon (ill. Camila Fialkowski) - Spetter: Pas op voor een pad! (24 pages)
Max Velthuijs - Kikker: Kikker in de Kou (25 pages)
Max Velthuijs - Kikker: Het ABC van Kikker (25 pages)
Max Velthuijs (& Others) - Kikker: Kikker en het Slaapfeest (25 pages)
Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas - Hennie De Heks 5: Hennie De Heks En De Computer (Winnie The Witch 5: Winnie's New Computer) (25 pages)

Longest books (500+ pages):
Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn 1: The Reality Dysfunction (1225 pages) (re-read)
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic 3: A Conjuring of Light (667 pages)
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 2: Gemina (661 pages)
Brian Selznick - De Wonderlingen (The Marvels) (647 pages)
Blake Charlton - Spellwright 2: Spellbound (564 pages)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 2: Volume 2 (re-read) (527 pages)
Keiko Tobe - With the Light 1: Volume 1 (re-read) (523 pages)
Diane Chamberlain - Keeper of the Light / Kiss River 1: Keeper of the Light (507 pages)
Stephenie Meyer - Twilight: Life and Death (508 pages)
Aad van Toor - Moe, ik kan een salto! (504 pages)
Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments 3: City of Glass (495 pages)
Jodi Picoult - Harvesting the Heart (473 pages)
Catherine Ryan Hyde - Second Hand Heart (461 pages)
Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments 2: City of Ashes (453 pages)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Statistics of January - December 2017 (for more details see post #16 of this thread)

Days: 365 (01-01 <-> 31-12)
Total books read this year: 236
Amount of pages read (averaged): 52853
Average amount of pages per book: 224
Days per book: 1.5 days/book
Book(s) per day: 0.64 book(s)/day
Pages per day: 145
Average amount of days it actually took to read a book (so, the minimum is 1, and it's 2 days if I start a book on Monday afternoon and finish it Tuesday morning, and so on): 3

Reads TBR / R (new books vs. re-reads): (191) (~81%) vs. (45) (~19%)
Male / Female authors: (84) (~36%) vs. (124) (~53%) (excluding (24) (~10%) multiple authors of different genders, with other (2) (~<1%))
Nationalities (from most to least): US (80) (~34%), UK (44) (~19%), Netherlands (51) (~22%), Japan (25) (~11%), Germany (8) (~3%), Belgium (7) (~3%), Italy (7) (~3%), Ireland (4) (~2%), Australia (3) (~1%), France (1) (~<1%), Canada (1) (~<1%), Spain (1) (~<1%), Russia (1) (~<1%), Unknown / Combination (1) (~1%)
Books from new authors vs. familiar authors: (78) (~33%) new vs. (154) (~65%), with (4) (~2%) a combination

Most read author:
Masami Tsuda (21)
Paul van Loon (11)
Geronimo Stilton (7)
Max Velthuijs (6)

Standalones vs. series books: (102) (~43%) vs. (109) (~46%), combination (25) (~11%)
Genres (most to least) (note: some books have multiple genres): Contemporary Fiction (117) (~50%), Fantasy (34) (~14%), Biography (20) (~8%), Science-fiction (14) (~6%), Horror (14) (~6%), Information (13) (~6%), Detective (9) (~4%), Paranormal (8) (~3%), Rom-com (7) (~3%), Literature (6) (~3%), Historical Fiction (5) (~2%), Thriller (4) (~2%).
Type: Textbooks (including books with a few small illustrations, ie. at chapter headings) (107) (~45%), Illustrated (65) (~28%), Graphic Novels (16) (7%), Comics (0) (~0%), Manga (25) (~11%), Picture Books (23) (~10%)
Format: Paperback (131) (~56%), Hardback (no flappy bits) (95) (~40%), Hardcover (1) (<1%), Kindle (7)(~3%), Author's Website (2)(<1%) Ageranges: Infants (23) (~10%), Children's (76) (~32%), Young-Adult (77) (~33%), Adult (60) (~25%).
Fiction vs. Nonfiction: Fiction (206) (~87%) vs. Non-fiction (25) (~11%), Combination (0) (0%).
Languages: English (133) (~56%), Dutch (103) (~44%), Combination (0) (0%).
Original languages: English (133) (~57%), Dutch (61) (~26%), Japanese (25) (~11%), German (8) (~3%), Italian (5) (~2%), French (1) (<1%), Spanish (1) (<1%). Original language vs. translated book: Original (167) (~71%) vs. Translated (69) (~29%), Combination (0) (0%).
Publication Years: 1950-1959 (0) (0%), 1960-1969 (0) (0%), 1970-1979 (0) (0%), 1980-1989 (1) (<1%), 1990-1999 (9) (~4%), 2000-2009 (55) (~23%), 2010-2017 (169) (~72%), Unknown (2) (<1%).
Original publication years: Pre-1930 (0) (0%), 1930-1939 (0) (0%), 1940-1949 (0) (0%), 1950-1959 (0) (0%), 1960-1969 (0) (0%), 1970-1979 (0) (0%), 1980-1989 (3) (~1%), 1990-1999 (24) (~10%), 2000-2009 (77) (~33%), 2010-2017 (130) (~55%), Unknown (2) (<1%).
Male protagonist(s) vs. female protagonist(s): Male (95) (~40%), Female (62) (~26%), Multiple authors with different genders (71) (~30%), Other (2) (<1%), N/A (no main characters) (5) (~2%).
Cover Colour: White (22) (~9%), Black (20) (~8%), Red (14) (~6%), Orange (4) (~2%), Yellow (21) (~9%), Green (18) (~8%), Blue (61) (~26%), Purple (7) (~3%), Pink (15) (~6%), Brown (4) (~2%), Grey (6) (~3%), Multi (42) (~18%), N/A (2) (<1%).
Spine Colour: White (23) (~10%), Black (30) (~13%), Red (15) (~6%), Orange (5) (~2%), Yellow (23) (~10%), Green (15) (~6%), Blue (64) (~27%), Purple (7) (~3%), Pink (30) (~13%), Brown (1) (<1%), Grey (6) (~3%), Multi (8) (~3%), N/A (9) (~4%).
Perspective: 1rst Person (79) (~33%), 3rd Person (101) (~43%), Combination (56) (~24%).
Tense: Past Tense (107) (~45%), Present Tense (38) (~16%), Combination (91) (~39%).
Types of books: Novels (165) (~70%), Short Story / Short Story Collections (7) (~3%), Omnibusses (3) (~1%), Novellas (8) (~3%), Information (8) (~3%), Biographies (18) (~8%), Picture Book (23) (~10%), Play (1) (<1%), Combination (3) (~1%).
Debut vs. Non-Debut: (53) (~22%) vs. (178) (~75%) with (5) (~2%) unknown.
Themed books (some books have multiple seasons described in them): Spring (0) (0%), Summer (10), Autumn (17), Winter (5), None (205).
Page numbers x per book: x < 250 pages (158) (~67%), 250 < x 500 pages (67) (~28%), x > 500 pages (11) (~5%).
Page numbers x per book: x < 100 pages (50) (~21%), 100 < x < 199 (69) (~29%), 200 < x < 299 pages (58) (~25%), 300 < x < 399 pages (33) (~14%), 400 < x < 499 pages (15) (~6%), 500 < x < 599 pages (7) (~3%), 600 < x < 699 pages (3) (~1%), 700 < x < 799 pages (0) (0%), 800 < x < 899 pages (0) (0%), 900 < x < 999 pages (0) (0%), x > 1000 pages (1) (<1%).
Shortest Book:
Maria V. Snyder - Chronicles of Ixia 1: Study 1.1: Poison Study Chapter One Valek's POV (6 pages)
Guido van Genechten - Klein Wit Visje: Klein Wit Visje Telt Tot 11 (16 pages)
Guido van Genechten - Klein Wit Visje: Klein Wit Visje Wordt Groot (16 pages)
Longest Book:
Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn 1: The Reality Dysfunction (1225 pages)
V. E. Schwab - Shades of Magic 3: A Conjuring of Light (667 pages)
Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - The Illuminae Files 2: Gemina (659 pages)
Brian Selznick - De Wonderlingen (The Marvels) (647 pages)

Books read per month: January (11) (~5%), February (15) (~6%), March (28) (~12%), April (29) (~12%), May (28) (~12%), June (11) (~5%), July (10) (~4%), August (21) (~9%), September (14) (~6%), October (15) (~6%), November (35) (~15%), December (19) (~8%).

Pages read per month: January (4462) (~8%), February (4159) (~8%), March (4544) (~9%), April (4768) (~%), May (6375) (~12%), June (3664) (~7%), July (2047) (~4%), August (4685) (~9%), September (3581) (~7%), October (3378) (~6%), November (6769) (~13%), December (4421) (~8%).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Summary 2017

 

2017 is over! I read 236 books and 52853 pages in 2017. That's less than how much I read in the past 3 years (2014-2016) (but more than in 2013 or 2012). Part of that is that I wanted to read more books I felt like reading rather than going for specific totals. Another part is that I had several reading slumps throughout the year. I had a big slump that started at the end of May. I read less for a couple of months, after that my slump seemed to be over. I didn't read any book during the last 10 days of December, and am now (as I'm writing this) in sort of a new reading slump. But the January read-a-thon is coming up this weekend, so let's see how it goes. Anyway, the third reason is that this past year I've also been busy doing some other things.

 

2017_01_BooksReadYears.png2017_02_PagesReadYears.png

 

In 2017 I read a variety of genres, though I read way more contemporary fiction than anything else. Of course, in some cases I class children's books as contemporary fiction as I don't consider "children's" to be a genre but an age range. But still, even if I take that into account, I read a lot of contemporary fiction. I started several fantasy and one science-fiction series in the first half of 2017, but then later in 2017 didn't feel like continuing those series right then (even if I had been enjoying them). And I often didn't feel like starting a whole new series yet again or reading too many series at once. I guess that's why I read not so much fantasy and science-fiction. And I didn't seem to be as much in the mood for rom-com and other genres, at least according to what I've read.

 

2017_14_Genres.png2017_15_PagesperGenre.png

 

My reading is pretty evenly split up between standalones and series books, but I think that most of the series books are actually books that are part of series but of which each book can sort of be read on its own, and I think they're mostly books for children.

 

2017_11_StandaloneorSeries.png

 

Age range wise I'm happy with the balance. I read some picture books for infants, some children's books and middle grade (I don't make this distinction but some people do, so), some young-adult and some books for adults.

 

2017_17_AgeRanges.png

 

This year I re-read quite a few books, compared with earlier years. About 20% of my reading were re-reads, while it's usually more like 10%. This year I also went to the library less often, only a couple of times in fact. About a quarter of my read books in 2017 were borrowed from the library. I also read some books belonging to my boyfriend. Most of the books I read were books I own. And almost all of the books I read were physical copies, only a few were digital. I have a strong preference for physical books, so this makes a lot of sense to me, I tend to only read e-books of which I can't get a physical copy.

 

2017_03_TBRvsR.png2017_04_BookSource.png2017_05_PhysDigi.png

 

I read more female authors than male, but I also read some books written by multiple authors of different genres. Interestingly though I read more books with a male protagonist than with a female one. I also read quite a few books with multiple protagonists of different genders.

 

2017_07_GenderAuthor.png2017_37_2_GenderProtagonist.png

 

About a third of my reading were new authors, and two thirds were familiar authors. I read both English and Dutch books, with just a bit more English books than Dutch books.

I read more blue books than books of any other colour and I've been reading more shorter books and less longer ones.

 

2017_10_NeworFamiliarAuthor.png2017_19_LanguageofBooks.png

 

2017_39_Cover&SpineColours.png

 

2017_44_PageLengthGraph.png

 

This year I read a couple of books that I think will really stay with me for a longer time. They were books featuring people / characters with autism, ADD, anxiety, mental illnesses, disabilities. This year's favourites is a combination of familiar authors but also of some new-to-me authors.

 

Book buying wise.. well, the less said about it the better :lol:. I really didn't do well with trying to 'not buy so many books'. In the summer of 2017 I got some new bookcases and I reorganised all my books, which was so much fun :D.

 

I didn't participate in many read-a-thons in 2017 and think I'm ready to try to participate in them again in 2018 (albeit without forcing myself to read the same kind of books every time during a read-a-thon).

 

Below are some more graphs and pie charts for good measure, because I love those kinds of things :P.

 

2017_08_NationalityofAuthor.png2017_16_FormatofBook.png

 

2017_40_WritingStyle1.png2017_41_WritingStyle2.png

 

 

2017_42_DebutvsNonDebut.png

2017_50_BooksperMonthGraph.png2017_51_PagesperMonthGraph.png

 

2017_48_BooksPerMonth.png

 

2017_49_PagesperMonth.png

 

2017_22_GenrevsAgeRanges.png

 

2017_46_WordsinTitleGraph.png

 

2017_68_BooksPerGenrePerMonth.png

 

See you all in 2018 :D!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

This is me green with envy .

 

I covet your collection; but what I need are some of those bookshelves.  Good bookshelves cost a lot and you have so many! Color me impressed. I think I'd build a bathroom adjacent to that library,  get some 55 gallon drums of water, 100 lbs. of trail mix, and just stay there. Why would I want leave? I'd be perfectly happy there day and night until I ran out of something life sustaining.

 

I do have a lot of sci-fi and fantasy because those are the books I started out reading.  Back then I had to buy the mass market paperbacks. But since I discovered library book sales, I've replaced almost everything with hardcover editions. I've picked up many non-fiction, art, and history books since 2011. I have a book on logic (It's called "Logic") that's one of my favorites. I learned so much from that book and had fun doing it.

 

In closing I'd like to say, "Holy papyrus and ink, Batman, that's a lot of books!"

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Litwitlou said:

This is me green with envy .

 

I covet your collection; but what I need are some of those bookshelves.  Good bookshelves cost a lot and you have so many! Color me impressed. I think I'd build a bathroom adjacent to that library,  get some 55 gallon drums of water, 100 lbs. of trail mix, and just stay there. Why would I want leave? I'd be perfectly happy there day and night until I ran out of something life sustaining.

 

I do have a lot of sci-fi and fantasy because those are the books I started out reading.  Back then I had to buy the mass market paperbacks. But since I discovered library book sales, I've replaced almost everything with hardcover editions. I've picked up many non-fiction, art, and history books since 2011. I have a book on logic (It's called "Logic") that's one of my favorites. I learned so much from that book and had fun doing it.

 

In closing I'd like to say, "Holy papyrus and ink, Batman, that's a lot of books!"

 

Thank you! Most of the bookshelves came from Ikea, though there are a couple of Lundia ones in there too. Some of my book cases were gifts (ie. from my parents), others I have bought myself. I've acquired them throughout my whole life :).

 

Here libraries have books that are made into a hardback but without a flappy bit / dust jacket. The source can be either paperback or hardcover (with or without a flappy bit / dust jacket), then the library plastifies the cover, so it becomes a lot more sturdy. You can recognise the library books in my collection, because most have a little black and white icon on their spine (sometimes just a letter of the alphabet, sometimes an icon).

 

I buy books from library sales, charity shops, book fairs, book shops and I also order a lot of them online. Since my library mostly sells Dutch books at library sales, I find the sales great for picking up older Dutch books (ie. children's books, YA, adult books). But if I want something in English that was not translated, or if I prefer the English version, then I usually order it online (sometimes I come across it in a charity shop, book fair or book shop). I have a preference for paperbacks, though library hardbacks are good too. But I don't like hardcovers with dust jackets / flappy bits (they are fine if they don't have a dust jacket but have the cover printed on the cover of the book, if that makes sense). I do own a few hardcovers with dust jackets, but they are not my favourite format at all. To each their own! I loved looking at your collection and seeing for example those Wheel of Time hardcovers :D.

 

The book called 'Logic' sounds nice. Could you tell me the author? It seems there exist several books that are titled 'Logic'.

 

Thank you! It's true, I do own a lot of books. Reading and books are my number one hobby :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...