Tuesday, January 05, 2010

It's That Time of the Year

The time when obsessive readers look back over their reading from the last year, and compile lists of favorites, and if they're really geeky, crunch a few numbers. Since I am both compulsive and geeky, I'll be getting around to both of those. How obsessive and geeky? Well, I just ran a list from GoodReads to see what I'd read in 2009, and I pretty much panicked.

124. No. Way.

I read aloud to the kids a lot. I read a lot of kids books and YA. I don't do anything but work and read (marry someone who likes to cook, is my advice; meal preparation really sucks time out of your life). So, really, no way. That'd be less than half my usual.

A little digging, and it looks like my reading from the first half of the year, logged at NotingBooks didn't make it into GoodReads. So, there's actual work to be done.

And, of pressing concern, Betsy Bird over at Fuse #8 is holding the The Top 100 Children's Fictional Chapter Books Poll. So, this is my promise: if I don't do anything else this year, I will at least manage to post these two lists. Meanwhile, hie thee to Ms. Bird's and vote for your favorite ten.

Oh, and thanks for dropping by. Sorry I haven't posted in eons. I was busy reading.

2 comments:

Jody said...

It's pretty cool that you can keep track. I never managed to do that.

Kaethe said...

How sweet you are. "Pretty cool" sounds so much better than any of the things that come to my mind. I've been keeping track off and on since '88 or so, when I started working in a bookstore, and where there were way more books I wanted to read than I could get to right away. Despite lost notebooks, and crashed computers, and incompatible software programs I've managed to hold on to something. To, in fact, the Thing Without Which I'm not sure I could live.

And this is really sad, but without a list of books to look for, I can wander around a library or bookstore for hours without locating something I'd like to read. I'll leave empty-handed because there I'll be, unable to remember a single title or author I've ever liked, and unwilling to pick out something new based on its cover.