01 January 2010

December/Year Wrap-Up and Top 2009 Reads


Total Books for 2009

I read 101 books 2009 and reviewed 100 of those. I left 5 books unfinished. I have 1 review to write. I read 11 books in December, which is great, considering the holidays and other year-end projects.

What Did I Read and Review in December?

Here's what I reviewed in December. Click on the link to see my review; the letter in parentheses is my rating

Full Reviews

Short Reviews (Read before I Started Blogging)
I am thrilled with this month's reading. I had only one C book, and I think my rating was influenced by the poor audiobook production and because I had two A books just before it. I am so happy to have ended the year with some of my favorite books.

Literary Road Trip, Author Interviews, Guest Posts
Did I Complete Any Challenges? Join Any New Ones?

Are you kidding?

I completed: YA Dystopian Challange, Library Thing's 999 Challenge, the 100+ Challenge (didn't blog about finishing)

I joined: Historical Fiction Challenge, Debutante Ball Challenge, South Asian Author Challenge, 451 Challenge, eBook Challenge, Audiobook Challenge, Graphic Novel Challenge, Buy One and Read Challenge, Beth Kephart Challenge, and Tournament of Reading Challenge.

Phew! I'm exhausted just typing this.

Other Activities

What's New and What's Coming for January and 2010?

You'll have to wait for Sunday, January 3 for that. I'm still working on my goals and changes. I'm currently focusing on my blog roll, reviews, and managing my plugged-in time. My Sunday post will also discuss my 2010 challenges.

Challenges from 2009
  • I finished 20 challenges in 2009.
  • I officially abandoned 3 challenges (Civil War, U.S. Presidents, Blog Improvement Project)
  • I failed to complete 5 challenges (9 Books in 2009, A-Z Authors, A-Z Titles, Scott Westerfeld, and Art History).
I was within inches of finishing the two A-Z challenges and the Scott Westerfeld. My failures were absolutely related to bad planning. I liked the idea of the other two challenges and stubbornly refused to admit defeat, so no honorable abandonment for them.

Fun Stats from 2009

First Review of the Year: Dead of the Night by John Marsden
Last Review of the Year: Death of Charming Man by M. C. Beaton
Male Authors: 50
Female Authors: 51
Most-read genre: fantasy
Least-read genre: short stories / early reader
New to me genre: graphic novels--I read 18

Top Reads from 2009 (alphabetical order)

Audiobooks (based on book and production)
Fiction
Graphic Novel
Honorable Mentions
  • French Milk by Lucy Knisley (graphic memoir)
  • Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt (middle reader historical fiction)
Have you read any of my top reads? Do you agree or disagree that they belong on a top-read list?

Have a happy, healthy, and safe 2010!

37 comments:

Robin M 1/1/10, 11:35 AM  

Happy New Year! I haven't read any of your top 2009 reads, yet, so don't know. Congratulations on reading 101 books. You are in several challenges that I'm not, so it will be interesting to hear about the books you read. More for my wish list!

Melissa 1/1/10, 12:21 PM  

Great wrap up post! Nothing But Ghosts is among my top 2009 reads, too. And 20 challenges completed ... that is awesome!

Here's to a great reading year (and a great year overall) in 2010!

Unknown 1/1/10, 12:45 PM  

I'm surprised that I haven't read any of your 2009 favourites, but I have a few on my wishlist. Hopefully I'll get to them in 2010.

I'm impressed by the equal divide of the sex of authors you've read. I couldn't manage such equality if I tried!

Have a great 2010!

kay - Infinite Shelf 1/1/10, 1:17 PM  

Looks like you had a busy year! I have Wintergirls on my list of "best", too, and should probably have picked "The Forest of Hands and Teeth" too since I liked it so much!
Happy New Year to you too!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea 1/1/10, 1:24 PM  

Beth...you had a great year (20) challenges is great. I LOVED Skeletons at the Feast as well. Hope 2010 is a great year for you.

Sandy Nawrot 1/1/10, 1:58 PM  

My life is not going to be totally fulfilled until I read Nothing But Ghosts. I can't stand it! It is on everyone's top lists. Strangely, I've not read any on your list, but it doesn't mean I didn't write them down. Too bad I can't read like Swapna, then maybe I would get to everything I wanted to!

Michelle 1/1/10, 2:13 PM  

I love the equality of the sexes in your reading. Congrats on a good year. Looking forward to reading your thoughts in 2010.

Rachel Keener,  1/1/10, 2:16 PM  

I'm so glad you enjoyed Killing Tree. I hope 2010 is a fabulous year of reading for you.

Molly 1/1/10, 2:59 PM  

I think it is somewhat interesting that you began the year with a "death" book -- and ended the year the same way :)

Such a GREAT literary year for you! I look forward to reading all your posts in 2010!

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) 1/1/10, 3:14 PM  

Happy New Year Challenge Queen! Your male to female ratio is so close. I think I skew to female authors. I was surprised to not be split more evenly. Looking forward to see what's up for BFR in 2010!

Literary Feline 1/1/10, 3:16 PM  

What a great post, Beth! It sounds like you had a good reading year other all. Congratulations on the challenges you completed!

Sweeping Up Glass my list of favorites too.

I hope you have a wonderful New Year.

Alexia561 1/1/10, 3:35 PM  

This has got to be the best end of year wrap-up I've ever seen! Great job!

Congrats on finishing 20 challenges! That is amazing, as I could only finish one. *L*

Happy New Year!

bermudaonion 1/1/10, 4:48 PM  

I've only read four of your books, but I have a few others in my TBR pile. I was going to get Sweeping Up Glass from the library after your review, and our library doesn't have it.

Do you have the sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth yet? I think the book launch will be here!

Happy New Year to you and Mr. BFR!

Cath 1/1/10, 5:06 PM  

I'm sorry to say I haven't read any of the books on your top list--but glad to tell you I just added them to my Kindle queue. Thanks!

And happy new year!

Anonymous,  1/1/10, 5:06 PM  

What a fantastic year! Here's to another one. :)

Michelle 1/1/10, 6:37 PM  

December was a busy month!

Congratulations on a wonderful year filled with excellence. I'm excited to see that your top audio books were in the YA genre :)

Looking forward to your year end post.

Stephanie 1/1/10, 7:02 PM  

I loved Skeletons at the Feast, too. Happy New Year!

JoAnn 1/1/10, 7:09 PM  

What a great year of reading and blogging! I'll look forward to seeing what you have in store...
Happy 2010!

Margot 1/1/10, 7:15 PM  

A wonderful wrap-up post. You have had a super year in both reading and blogging. I'm happy to have shared the year with you. Best of everything to you in 2010.

Lisa (Southern Girl Reads) 1/1/10, 7:54 PM  

What a fantastic reading year you have had! Great job! I hope 2010 brings you even more wonderful new books! Happy New Year!

Toni 1/1/10, 8:18 PM  

Wow...what a great year you had! Most excellent for sure. 101 books is fantastic. Good luck in 2010 and Happy New Year.

Nise' 1/1/10, 9:00 PM  

You had a great reading year! I read two of your favorties and have two of them on my must be read list in 2010!

Happy New Year.

Serena 1/1/10, 9:45 PM  

Looks like you had a great year. Happy New Year!

Anonymous,  1/1/10, 11:01 PM  

You had a great reading year! Hope 2010 is as good to you :)

Rebecca Johnson 1/2/10, 3:03 AM  

Wow you did so well this year! Here's hoping you have just as much reading fun in 2010!

Alice 1/2/10, 6:01 AM  

Happy New Year, Beth! You've had a good year of reading in 2009. I hope 2010 would be even better for you!

Melody 1/2/10, 7:52 AM  

Happy New Year, Beth! Looks like you had a great reading year! Here's hoping that 2010 will be even better for all of us! :)

Louise 1/2/10, 10:18 AM  

Happy New Year Beth and thank you for your kind comment on my most recent post. In fact, I wanted to thank you for all comments left in 2009. I look forward to 2010 with much reading and blogging and commenting. Blogging is not half the fun without comments and commenting!

Lenore Appelhans 1/2/10, 10:45 AM  

I'm impressed that you completed so many challenges!

Have a great 2010 :)

Amy 1/2/10, 11:02 AM  

Great list Candace! I hope your reading in 2010 brings you a lot of joy.

Care 1/2/10, 2:51 PM  

I do love these wrap up posts. Maybe because I appreciate how fun and time consuming all the tracking can get to be! I admire your challenge attempts, really. wow.

Care 1/2/10, 2:51 PM  

I do love these wrap up posts. Maybe because I appreciate how fun and time consuming all the tracking can get to be! I admire your challenge attempts, really. wow.

Dorte H 1/2/10, 3:34 PM  

How thorough you have been!

I am afraid I am too lazy to write such an exhaustive end-of-the-year post, but I enjoy seeing how much other bloggers have accomplished in 2009.

Jenners 1/2/10, 10:32 PM  

I can't believe you finished so many challenges! Well done! And I love that your male/female ratio is about even!

Anonymous,  1/3/10, 2:17 AM  

I'm so impressed that you reviewed 100 of your 101 reads this year. I find it so hard to be motivated to do them all! Happy New Year!

Natasha @ Maw Books 1/3/10, 2:23 AM  

What a great recap and a great year for you!!! Here's to a great 2010!

Melody 1/3/10, 8:35 PM  

Great post, Beth! You had an amazing reading year! Let's hope 2010 will be an even better reading year for us all!

Thanks for stopping by. I read all comments and may respond here, via e-mail, or on your blog. I visit everyone who comments, but not necessarily right away.

I cannot turn off word verification, but if you are logged into Blogger you can ignore the captcha. I have set posts older than 14 days to be on moderation. I can no longer accept anonymous comments. I'm so sorry if this means you have to register or if you have trouble commenting.

Copyright

All content and photos (except where noted) copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads 2008-2020. All rights reserved.

Quantcast

Thanks!

To The Blogger Guide, Blogger Buster, Tips Blogger, Our Blogger Templates, BlogU, and Exploding Boy for the code for customizing my blog. To Old Book Illustrations for my ID photo. To SEO for meta-tag analysis. To Blogger Widgets for the avatars in my comments and sidebar gadgets. To Review of the Web for more gadgets. To SuziQ from Whimpulsive for help with my comments section. To Cool Tricks N Tips for my Google +1 button.

Quick Linker

Services

SEO

  © Blogger template Coozie by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP