How many books read in 2011?
75, 35 of which are reviewed here.
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio?
45 fiction, 30 non-fiction; I've read more non-fiction this year.
Male/Female authors?
14 male authors and therefore 61 female authors; about the same proportion as last year. The books by male authors were almost all non-fiction.
Favourite book read?
Books that have really resonated with me this year include Anna Richards' Little Gods, Olivia Laing's To The River, Rebecca Hunt's Mr Chartwell and E.H. Young's Miss Mole.
Least favourite?
Vita Sackville-West's The Dark Island, although its preposterousness was quite enjoyable in some ways.
Oldest book read?
F. Anstey's Vice Versa, a favourite of E.M. Delafield's, first published in 1882 and now available again from Victorian Secrets (disclaimer - my partner runs Victorian Secrets!)
Newest?
A tie between David Waller's The Perfect Man and Barbara Hardy's Dorothea's Daughter, both published by Victorian Secrets in December 2011.
Longest book title?
A tie between David Waller's The Perfect Man and Barbara Hardy's Dorothea's Daughter, both published by Victorian Secrets in December 2011.
Longest book title?
Not counting titles with post-colon suffixes, it is a tie: Diana Athill's Midsummer Night in the Workhouse, which I see I have failed to review but is excellent and highly enjoyable; and another Victorian Secrets title, Notable Women Authors of the Day by Helen C. Black.
Shortest title?
Taste by Kate Colquhoun, a history of British food.
How many re-reads?
10 re-reads among the 75.
Most books read by one author this year?
Oddly, it's Sue Limb, since I read all four books in her Bad Housekeeping series. Susan Hill comes next with three titles. But no single author has particularly dominated this year.
Any in translation?
None this year.
And how many of this year’s books were from the library?
About 20, which is fewer than last year. I have been better about relying on libraries for frivolous reading material, however - and have read and enjoyed a few books I'd probably never have bought.
