How I Did

December 31, 2008 at 5:05 pm | Posted in Book Blather | 10 Comments

Okay, okay, I didn’t really read 400 books this year.

It was 409!  Actually it was more than that because I didn’t count at least half a dozen children’s books.  Plus I hope to finish Northanger Abbey tonight, unless Rocket Scientist puts his foot down.

I read a lot of different stuff, without much rhyme or reason, partly because when I started out in January I had zero exposure to the book blogging community.  I knew nothing about challenges other than the ones I set myself, and in years past I’d simply made a resolution to read what I called a Big Fat Book every year.  (War and Peace, Middlemarch…)

I did manage to read some memorable things, though, and even better, I discovered a number of lists I want to work my way through.  That’s my focus for next year – quality over quantity.  Anyway:

Pulitzer Prize: 2

Booker Prize: 1, 5 short list, 4 long list

National Book Award: 1, 1 short list

1001 Books to Read Before You Die: 7

New York Times Notable Books: 16

Amazon.com Significant Seven: 70

You can see by that last statistic where my focus was this year.  It’s strange that when I go into a bookstore and look at the tables of new books, I recognize so many from my own reading stack.  For the first time, I feel like I’m “current” (whatever that means) and that I’ve at least heard of the most promising recent books.  I think of it, though, as a sort of film of ice over a lake – looks solid, but nothing much underneath it!  That’s why I’m going to make an effort in 2009 to read more classics and award winners.  I think it’s more important to read the good stuff than the new stuff, fun as it is.

To support this, I’m making a list of books I hope to read in 2009, and then crossing them out as I complete them.  I’m only shooting for 150, though, so I can sneak in some nonfiction here and there.  My other goal is not to read more than 350 books!