My blog buddy Alexia, over at Dreaming Of Open Seas, did a post with a fabulous chart on her own reading for last year. I have no freakin' clue how to make such a spiffy visual aide, but her post did inspire me to tally up what I read by genre. So, here we go with the break down of what I read last year.
YA books by genre:
Fantasy 19, Horror 8, Action/Adventure 4, Sci-Fi 5, Steampunk 4, Mystery 9, Paranormal 16, Historical 2, Dystopia 12, Realistic 7.
Non-YA fiction by genre:
Fantasy 2, Horror 0, Action/Adventure 0, Sci-Fi 0, Steampunk 2, Mystery 17, Paranormal 1, Historical 0, Dystopia 0, Realistic 1, Drama 2.
Non-fiction by genre:
Crafts: 6, Biography 2, History 5, Science 3, Culture 4.
Note: these totals do not include my own writings.
It's no surprise, of course, that I read more YA than "grown up" books, considering both my job and my hobby, but I am surprised by two things: I only read 3 works of "classic" literature the whole year, and I had no idea I read so many mysteries. Seriously, 26 mysteries?? That was my winning genre this year. Huh. And if I'd been asked before I totaled these up, I would've said that fantasy or paranormal would've been my most-read. Steampunk is one of my favorite genres, but I don't seem to have read too much of it, do I? How odd.
Goals for this year: read more classics again, find more steampunk. :)
I am impressed by your breakdown and the volume of your list! I am inspired.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. I, of course, don't have an active pre-schooler to chase around, though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking time to visit my blog!
Isn't it interesting to do this? I was surprised to find out that my biggest group was fantasy books - I had thought I read more wide-rangingly (is there such a word?) than that.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised that I hadn't read as many books as I had thought. I guess all those nights of meetings/grading papers etc gobble up reading time!
By the way my chart was just one of the ones provided by Excel - no talent involved :)
I still have no idea how to make a chart like that, though, so let me remain impressed.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteI don't worry too much about the classics (something which I define as 'very old') as they can be hard work. I tried to read Dracula (inspired by your YA book) but found it such hard going that I gave up. I've started on Hunchback of Notre Dame instead.
Wait. You ARE using the sarcasm font, aren't you? You found Dracula harder than Hunchback? I mean, in Hunchback it takes 300 pages before Hugo introduces the actual plot and conflict! Granted, Dracula has a slow start, but not THAT slow.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not joking, perhaps you might try a little Sherlock Holmes to ease you back into classics. They move a little faster.
I would never advise someone to begin with Hugo.... Oh my.
What a neat idea! I think I will have to tally up my books for genre too.
ReplyDelete