In January, there were 57 books on the list - of those books, there are now only 10 on the list, which means I've read or tried to read almost 50 of the books I started with. That's pretty good, I reckon.
Of course, I've added more books as well - and read some of them already, and some not yet.
Because I like the whole numbers thing, here are some possibly interesting figures:
Number of books read in 2015: 116
Number of books on my TBR list at the start of 2015: 57
Number of books on my TBR list now: 55
Number of books on my TBR list which were on it at the start of 2015: 10
Number of books bought (for myself) in 2015: 66 (new: 30, used: 36)
Number of books acquired as gifts or for free otherwise: 7
Number of library books read: at least 20
Number of books re-read (which I own already): about 25
Number of books read which other people in my house already owned: 6
Number of books tried and abandoned: 8
I know there are people out there who get a book, read it, then go get another one, but I've never been like that - I always have to have at least a few at hand to suit whatever mood I might be in when I go to pick up a new book. Do I want something challenging? Something comforting? Something happy? Something with beautiful but possibly more difficult prose? A mystery? A fantasy story? Something with romance? Something which I know I am almost certain to like (series, favourite author, recommendation from a friend with very similar taste)? Something I know I ought to have read years ago but never have? What book to read is so dependent on what mood you are in; I can't imagine not having a good selection to choose from!
I've enjoyed tracking this year of reading, so yes, I'm going to carry it on next year as well - and it will help me keep track of my book buying next year, too... Ideally, I'd like to get that TBR shelf down to about two dozen books, so another year or two (or three) of moderation should do the trick! I think I'll go back to something I tried the year before, which was a 2:1 purchase ratio - in order to buy one new (to me) book, I have to read or otherwise get rid of 2 books from my TBR list. The problem, of course, is being strict about it!
So, what did I read in 2015? What were my favourites? Here's my reading list from 2015, in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Books with an underline were ones I thought particularly good; those highlighted were my very favourite ones. Normally I wouldn't count any re-reads in my favourites list, though - after all, that's frequently why we re-read things - but I'm making an exception this year for a book I haven't read in probably 30 years, maybe longer, but which really deserves to be on the list. If you've been on the planet this year and ever read books, you can probably guess which one as it was very widely in the news...
My favourites include books by authors I've read before, and those which were new to me. They include classics and modern novels; historical and contemporary fictions; adult and young adult books. No non-fiction in my favourites list this year (not surprising as I read very little of it) but certainly a broad range of subjects & characters, including hermaphrodites, displaced Jews, Stalin, George III, a comic romp and a missing diamond bigger than you've ever seen. My runners up list includes freaks, Alzheimers, Indian brides, gods, monsters, a giant squid, a somewhat creepy doll house, teenagers, blues musicians and even a collection of short stories, which is not at all like me!
Bones of the Lost, Kathy Reichs
Bones are Forever, Kathy Reichs
The Nature of the Beast, Louise Penny
The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
Longbourn, Jo Baker
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
Bones, Jan Burke (re-read)
Flash and Bones, Kathy Reichs
Liar, Jan Burke (re-read)
The Song Collector, Natasha Solomons
Ranger's Apprentice, John
One Night in Winter, Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Museum of Extraordinary Things, Alice Hoffman
Reading Lolita in Tehran, Azar Nafisi
Hocus, Jan Burke (re-read)
The Crane Wife, Patrick Ness
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Hanging by a Thread, Monica Ferris
A Cold Day for Murder (re-read), Dana Stabenow
The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey
Vendetta, Michael Dibdin
One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus
Virals, Kathy Reichs
The Resurrectionists, Michael Collins
The Valley of Amazement, Amy Tan
Don't Hex with Texas, Shanna Swendson
Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee
Amy Snow, Tracy Rees
Remember Me, Irene, Jan Burke (re-read)
The Silver Chair, CS Lewis
Dreams of Gods and Monsters, Laini Taylor
Ratking, Michael Dibdin
Dear Irene, Jan Burke (re-read)
We are all Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler
Tree Surgery for Beginners, Patrick Gale
Sweet Dreams, Irene, Jan Burke (re-read)
Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, Fannie Flagg
Harvest, Jim Crace
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (re-read)
The Heroine's Sister, Frances Murray (re-read)
Watcher in the Shadows, Carlos Ruiz Zafon (YA)
By its Cover, Donna Leon
Glass Houses, Jane Haddam
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka
City of the Beasts, Isabel Allende (YA)
The Miniaturist, Jesse Burton
Clariel, Garth Nix
The Visible World, Mark Slouka
Goodnight, Irene, Jan Burke (re-read)
The Magician, W Somerset Maugham
Days of Blood and Starlight, Laini Taylor
The Surgeon of Crowthorne, Simon Winchester
Spider Bones, Kathy Reichs
Kingfishers Catch Fire, Rumer Godden
The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
Damsel Under Stress, Shanna Swendson
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor (re-read)
The Twin, Gerbrand Bakker
Bloody Bones, Laurell K Hamilton
The Whole Day Through, Patrick Gale
The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith
Dark Aemilia, Sally O'Reilly (50pp)
Not the End of the World, Kate Atkinson
The Highest Tide, Jim Lynch
The House of Sight and Shadow, Nicholas Griffin
Love and Treasure, Ayelet Waldman
All Bones and Lies, Anne Fine
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels
There, Catheryne Valente (re-read, aloud)
Music and Silence, Rose Tremain
This Rough Magic, Mary Stewart (re-read)
The Rake, Mary Jo Putney (re-read)
The Diabolical Baron, Mary Jo Putney (re-read)
Once Upon Stilettos, Shanna Swendson
Dead Ever After, Charlaine Harris
Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo, Julia Stewart
(50 pp)
Straight Man, Richard Russo
Deadlocked, Charlaine Harris
The Ivy Tree, Mary Stewart (re-read)
Memento Mori, Muriel Spark
Lila, Marilynne Robinson
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Cbosky
A Humble Companion, Laurie Graham
Rough Music, Patrick Gale
Thornyhold, Mary Stewart (re-read)
Enchanted, Inc (Shanna Swendson)
My Brother Michael, Mary Stewart (re-read)
The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje
The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro
Climbing the Mango Trees, Madhur Jaffrey
Half Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan
The Book of Madness and Cures, Regina O'Melveny
Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C S Lewis (re-read, aloud)
The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy, James Anderson
The Cukoo's Calling, Robert Galbraith
To Be Sung Underwater, Tom McNeal
Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
The Maze Runner Trilogy, James Dashner (YA)
Island of Wings, Karin Altinburg
Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
The Girl Who Cicumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own
Making, (re-read, JF)
Foolish Mortals, Jennifer Johnston
Losing Nelson, Barry Unsworth
Let it Snow, various (re-read, YA)
The Distant Hours, Kate Morton
A Gate at the Stairs, Lorrie Moore
PopCo, Scarlett Thomas
The Night Falling, Katherine Webb
A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness/Siobhan Dowd
Dead Reckoning, Charlaine Harris
Frankie and Stankie, Barbara Trapido
The Long Way Home, Louise Penny
The Seas, Samantha Hunt
Foxglove Summer, Ben Aaronovitch
Arabella, Georgette Heyer (re-read)
Watership Down (re-read) (aloud)
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