2017 reading list and commentary

I started 106 books this year and finished 102. I seem to have some sort of aggressive attachment to reading serendipitously. Which means no matter what I set out to do, I read whatever the hell I want because I read for fun and can’t really queue up books I want to read. This means it’s hard for me to choose to read more diversely, or read more titles by women. I got some good suggestions from people last year and then watched myself basically ignore them this year. I need to work my actual reading habits in to my aspirational reading life. That said, here’s how the year shook out. It was a good year for reading, but that was also sort of because it wasn’t a great year for me. We muddle forward…

average read per month: 8.83
average read per week: 2.04
number read in worst month: 5 (Oct)
number read in best month: 11 (Sep)
number unfinished: 4
percentage by male authors: 55
percentage by female authors: 45
percentage of authors of color/non-Western: 18
fiction as percentage of total: 65
non-fiction as percentage of total: 35
percentage of total liked: 88
percentage of total ambivalent: 11
percentage of total disliked: 1

I only read one book that made it to my Best in Show list which was The Encyclopedia of Early Earth: A Novel. A great graphic novel with some awesome female characters and strong drawing and storytelling. Otherwise, finished up the Maisie Dobbs series and started reading Daniel Silva which is a weird fit for me (sort of violent thrillers) but I find I like reading my same old genre topics but with Jewish characters. I’ll probably branch out. More non-fiction this year, more female authors, and a lot more non-Western authors mainly because I have been seeking out sci fi from other countries and it’s been worth the effort. Notable books included one about historic theater scenery in New England and one about conscientious objectors who starved for science during WWII. Currently reading but have not yet finished a great book about eggs!

Previous librarian.net summaries: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004. My always-updated booklist lives at jessamyn.info/booklist and it has its own RSS feed.