My 2018 Reading in Statistics

I didn’t read as much in 2018 as I did in 2017 but I’m still happy with reading just over a book a week.

How Many Books Did I Read?

55! I’m happy with that. 18 non fiction and 37 fiction.

The Stats on these Books

I would be happier with more non fiction, but the balance is ok for this one.

For the second year in a row, I have read about 2/3 female authors to male. This pleases me, though I would be happy with it going nearer to 50/50.

This is pathetic from me. I need to consciously sort this out and read more diversely.

This is also not that great. Heavily weighted to US and British authors. I would like to read more stories from people around the world. I’l endeavour to do this.

Some surprises in here. One is that I barely read any science books this year. Historical fiction had a boost, as did plain normal fiction.

 

Top Ten Blog Posts of the Year

Ok, four of my top ten are posts I wrote in 2017! I’m just gonna go with it. The stats don’t lie! Click the blog post title to go to the post.

1. Review of Rebellion Punk Festival 2017. I know, I know, it’s nothing to do with books. I very occasionally write about music. This one just seemed to hit a nerve!

2. Reservoir 13 – Jon McGregor. Oh dear… the book I really didn’t like. I don’t really go in for scathing reviews, but this book didn’t just not interest me, it actively annoyed me. I didn’t hold back with this review because it’s a hugely popular author and the book was widely loved. I felt my little opinion could be honest for this one.

3. My Top Non-Fiction Reads of 2018. Ahh this is quite nice because I only wrote it the other day!

4. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman. No surprises with this one – it has been hugely popular this year.

5. The Power – Naomi Alderman. Another 2017 post. The Power is an excellent book and quite rightly it should be one of my most viewed posts!

6. 20 Books of Summer Challenge 2018. I didn’t do so well on this challenge in 2018. I only managed 13 books – though I did read 2/3 of The Iliad. I finished 1 book in the entire of August – oh dear.

7. Ad Astra: An Illustrated Guide to Leaving the Planet – Dallas Campbell. I only read this last December, so it’s not really surprising it’s made it onto this years top ten posts. It’s an excellent book about space!

8. Motherhood – Helen Simpson. A beautiful collection of 5 short stories on motherhood.

9. My Top Fiction Reads of 2018. Really happy this has made it into the top ten. My ten favourite fiction reads of the year.

10. Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach. Gosh you all love reading about when I don’t really like a book!

 

Finally, here’s all the books I read this year. Click the name of the book to go to my review:

• The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
• Slayers & Vampires: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorised Oral History of Buffy & Angel – Edward Gross, Mark A. Altman
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century – Timothy Snyder
• Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
• The Book of Joan – Lidia Yuknavitch
• Frankenstein in Baghdad – Ahmed Saadawi
• Women and Power – Mary Beard
• All the Beautiful Girls – Elizabeth J. Church
• Motherhood – Helen Simpson
• Serious Concerns – Wendy Cope
• The Circle – Dave Eggers
• The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas
• Fat Gay Vegan: Eat and Drink Like You Give a Shit – Sean O’Callaghan
• Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood – Hollie McNish
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull – Richard Bach
• In Watermelon Sugar – Richard Brautigan
• The Hidden Man – Robin Blake
• The Descent of Man – Grayson Perry
• Sight – Jessie Greengrass
• The Immortalists – Chloe Benjamin
• The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
• Our Endless Numbered Days – Claire Fuller
• This Must Be the Place – Maggie O’Farrell
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge
• After You – Jojo Moyes
• Everyday Sexism – Laura Bates
• A Room of One’s Own – Virginia Woolf
• Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
• Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women – Otegha Uwagba
• Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting – Robert McKee
• How to Stop Time – Matt Haig
• Wishful Drinking – Carrie Fisher
• Conclave – Robert Harris
• Still Me – Jojo Moyes
• The Pisces – Melissa Broder
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
• Crisis – Frank Gardner
• Out of the Blue – Sophie Cameron
• Crudo – Olivia Laing
• The Silence of the Girls – Pat Barker
• White Tears – Hari Kunzru
• Miss Nightingale’s Nurses – Kate Eastham
• Ponti – Sharlene Teo
• In Our Mad and Furious City – Guy Gunaratne
• The Mother of All Questions – Rebecca Solnit
• Heartburn – Nora Ephron
• I’m a Joke and So Are You: A Comedian’s Take on What Makes up Human – Robin Ince
• Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata
• Wake – Anna Hope
• The Outsider – Albert Camus
• Wild – Cheryl Strayed
• I Am, I Am, I Am – Maggie O’Farrell
• New Erotica for Feminists – Caitlin Kunkel, Brooke Preston, Fiona Taylor, and Carrie Wittmer