Book Challenge 2009 Wrap-Up
Being a compulsive data compiler, I couldn't resist analyzing last year's book project.

Hardcover: 39
Paperback: 62

This is a bit of a surprise because I rarely buy new hardcover editions, but many of them were clearance items at Half Price Books that only cost me $1-2.

Books finished by month, based on the month reviewed (usually but not always the same as month read):

Jan: 10
Feb: 8
Mar: 6
Apr: 11
May: 9
Jun: 9
Jul: 8
Aug: 5
Sep: 9
Oct: 7
Nov: 8
Dec: 11 (including one book reviewed 01/01/2010)

Months don't really illustrate the distribution very well. Reviewing a bunch of books at the end of one month can make the next look bad, or reviewing several books at the beginning of a month can make the previous look bad. I should have recorded the day I finished each book, but it's not a big deal. From the above data, I also calculated that I finished 53 books in the first half of the year and 48 in the second half.

Books by subject/genre. I categorized each book myself, and many books are in multiple categories. For example, Harry Caray's book counts as a sports book and as a memoir.

Memoir: 22
Humor: 20
Music: 14
History: 9
Sports (football, pro cycling, baseball): 9
Political Science: 8
Current Events: 6
Trivia/Q&A: 6
Travel: 5
Science: 5
Weight Training: 5
Essays: 4
Writing: 4
Energy, Water, Chicago, Crime, Journalism, Pop Culture Criticism: 3 each
Movies, TV, Psychology, Language, Biography, Advertising, Transportation, Drugs: 2 each

I didn't realize I read so many memoirs. I got on a rock & roll kick for a while and read more about music than I would have predicted. I would have expected more history and less sports, too.

And finally, here are my ten favorite books read in 2009 (no particular order):

• Collapse by Jared Diamond
• In Life, First You Kick Ass by Mike Ditka
• Return to Thunder Road by Alex Gabbard
• Alice Cooper, Golf Monster by Alice Cooper with Keith and Kent Zimmerman
• The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner
• Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik
• The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
• When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce
• I Bought It At Polk Bros. by Ann Paden
• It Ain't Pretty But It's Real by John Drummond
• Runners-up: Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert, The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's by Steven Lee Beeber, Them by Jon Ronson, The Last Days of Dead Celebrities by Mitchell Fink, Travels With My Donkey by Tim Moore, Who Hates Whom by Bob Harris, News Junkie by Jason Leopold, Chuck Klosterman IV by Chuck Klosterman

What about 2010? That's a question for another blog entry...

Labels: Book Challenge 2009

- posted by David Johnsen @ 3:42 PM