All together I read 261 books in 2007, 53.889 pages with an average page count of 206/book. Over 40 % I read were published in the reading year itself, followed by another 40% of releases between 2000 and 2006.
My best reading month was in November, with an inexplicable number of 42 books. To my defense *g*, eight books I read for work, and seven books I didn’t finish because of either writing style, plot or simple boring mediocrity.
Out of 261 books, I gave 29 books keeper status, whereof seven were re-reads (in the following abbreviated as rr). All together I only re-read 13 books in 2007, whereas Dark Lover from JR Ward got the “worst” grade with a B.
5 A+ (Lauren Willig – The Secret History of the Pink Carnation; Linda Howard – Mr Perfect rr; Linda Howard – Now You See Her; Loretta Chase – Not Quite a Lady; Karen Marie Moning – The Dark Highlander rr)
8 A (Karen Rose – Have You Seen Her; Claire Thompson – Island of Temptation; Michèle de Lully – La Bonne; Jennifer Donnelly – The Tea Rose; Karen Rose – Die For Me; Julie Garwood – Ransom rr; Linda Howard – Heart of Fire rr; Jane Feather – Love’s Charade rr)
16 A- (Linda Howard – White Lies rr; Elizabeth Hoyt – The Raven Prince; Deanna Lee – The Penetration Diaries; Karen Rose – You Can’t Hide; Tielle St. Clare – Dragon’s Prey; Gail Faulkner – Into His Keeping; Jeanie LeGendre – The Gift (from Anthology Secrets, Vol. 1); Liz Carlyle – Never Lie To a Lady; Kimberly Dean – Highschool Reunion; Tami Hoag – Lucky’s Lady rr; Lisa Kleypas – Sugar Daddy; Tracy Grant – Daughter of the Game; Emma Holly – Fairyville; Sasha White – Wicked; Lauren Bach – Lone Rider)
Because of two community libraries at my disposal, I had an unusual high amount of “new to me authors”, namely 115. 21 one ended up on my DNF pile, and 40 I graded a C+ or below.
My best new discoveries this year were: CL Wilson, Stef Ann Holm, Kelly Hunter, Sharon Sala, Hope Tarr, Jenna Kernan; Cheryl St. John, Charlene Teglia, Dorothy L Sayers, Elizabeth Hoyt, Tracy Grant, Lauren Bach and Jennifer Donnelly.
The big winner among the publishers is Harlequin with 29%, however most of the books I read from this publisher are work related, and weren’t personal choices. On the second place are e-publishers such as Ellora’s Cave, Loose-Id and Samhain with 17% (all of them are review books). On third place, no surprise here, my personal favorite publisher Penguin and Harper Collins with 11%. Various Brit publishers (8%), Randomhouse (7%), Grand Central Publishing (6%), Kensington, Simon & Schuster and Others (4%), Audiobooks publishers (3%) and Dorchester Publishing and Macmillan finish (1%) share the rest.
And to finish off, the results of settings and types. All together I distinguish between 20 different settings, with no reads this year in Dark Ages, Colonial US and Civil War. The big winner are Contemporary with 67,4%. Sharply, *cough*, followed by 8,8% Regency and 3,8% Historical Western. Other settings are Medieval, Renaissance, European Historical, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, Turn of Century, 1920s-1930s, WW2, American Historical, Americana and Sci-Fi/Futuristic which share a measly percentage between 3,1 and 0,4%.
Where types are concerned I separate between 22 different possibilities. 31,8% apply to Straight Romance, followed by 16,1% Series Romance, 8,8% Romantic Suspense. The big rest, namely Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, Mystery, Chick Lit, Erotica, Paranormal Romance, Vikings, Time Travel, Vamps/Shifters, Magic, Mythology, Erotic Chick Lit, Erotic Straight Romance, Erotic Paranormal Romance, Erotic Romantic Suspense, Gay, D/s, Lesbian and Ménage have between 8% and 0,4%.
I love that it is so easy to do this type of analysis using the spreadsheet!!
Oh aye, don’t get me started. Rosario is a queen! Do you have a spreadsheet like this one yourself?