Well, the TBR started the year as above and (sneak preview) finished it like this, so that’s some progress, right?
In 2016 I read 126 books in total (up from 115 in 2015): 77 of them were fiction (83 in 2015) and 49 non-fiction (32 in 2015) and I had 6 Did Not Finishes (3 in 2015). 84 of the books I read were by women and 42 by men (very tidy stats). As to diversity of location: not so much. 59 books where the location could be identified were set in England or the general UK, 24 in the US, 9 in Iceland, 4 in Switzerland, 3 in France, 2 each in India, Ireland and Scotland and one in Wales. Then there were 1 in Canada, Morocco, Japan, Spain and Europe in general. None in Eastern Europe, Russia or China? No South America or Africa as a whole? Hm. I re-read just five or six books, half for Woolfalong.
Top 10 books of 2016
So here are my top ten with links to their reviews.
Barbara Kingsolver – Flight Behaviour – community, nature, science, learning, wonderful novel.
George Eliot – The Mill on the Floss – just wonderful: these are classics for a reason, aren’t they!
Katharine d’Souza – No Place – set in a Birmingham that’s so recognisable and a fabulous story.
Lisa Jackson – Your Pace or Mine? – removed the last traces of shame at being a slow runner and the author even emailed me on marathon day.
David Kynaston – Modernity Britain – his volumes of social history always make my top ten.
Joan Russell Noble – Recollections of Virginia Woolf – such a special book of pieces by her contemporaries.
A.S. Byatt – Ragnarok – a good old-fashioned read and about the Norse mythology.
Simon Armitage – Walking Home – a bloomin good read about a long walk.
Bob Stanley – Yeah Yeah Yeah – the definitive history of pop and SO entertaining.
Virginia Woolf – To the Lighthouse – difficult to choose between this and some of her others.
Honourable mentions to:
The rest of Woolf
Margery Sharp – brilliant and just pipped to the post
Jo Pavey – This Mum Runs
I know you’ve all done your top 10s now but have you read any of these?
Challenges completed
I got on well with my own A Century of Reading and now have read or own 70 of the years.
I completed 20BooksofSummer this year!
I completed #Woolfalong, reading a book for every section and thoroughly enjoying the process.
I read all of Dorothy Richardson’s “Pilgrimage” series.
Happy reading for 2017!
Thanks to all my followers, readers and commenters; hope you have a great year of reading.
Coming up later: Christmas book pile (yay), state of the TBR and challenge plans for 2017 …
Tredynas Days
Jan 01, 2017 @ 09:03:40
I think I managed about 25! But I do have to read a lot of stuff for work (I’m a lecturer in English) so that’s my excuse. Hope my Pilgrimage venture gets started – some trepidation there. All the best for 2017, Liz
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Liz Dexter
Jan 01, 2017 @ 13:20:07
I’ll be interested to read your take on Pilgrimage for sure, and with your job, that’s a good total (I would have read more if I’d counted books I’ve edited!). Happy reading for 2017!
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heavenali
Jan 01, 2017 @ 10:08:55
I finished on 116 which continues the downward trajectory of the last few years. I’m glad you enjoyed #Woolfalong so much. I don’t let myself choose re-reads so To the Lighthouse wasn’t on my list – I chose 1 book to stand for all my Woolf reading.
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Liz Dexter
Jan 01, 2017 @ 13:21:07
I felt I hadn’t read much esp as I recall a huge comfort reading session in 2015 when I had the Proper Flu so was quite surprised. I do allow re-reads and really I’d read To the L so long ago it was a new read to a large extent.
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kaggsysbookishramblings
Jan 01, 2017 @ 14:42:47
Well done! I read 148 (if you could the odd short story I picked out of collections as a thing on their own) which is slightly less than 2015 but almost identical to 2014. And some lovely books in your Top 10 – agree with you about Recollections of VW – what a great and moving book.
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Liz Dexter
Jan 01, 2017 @ 17:05:22
Wow, very good going (yes, I’d say those count!). I am so glad you alerted me to Recollections, such a high point in the Woolfalong project. Happy reading for 2017.
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anewlookthrougholdeyes
Jan 01, 2017 @ 18:23:45
44 audio books, 32,787 minutes of listening according to Audible U.K. I’m not sure that’s accurate but I’m happy with it! I loved Flight and have downloaded George Eliot’s Felix Holt but after listening to the first few chapters on holiday haven’t caught up with it again and I’m not sure why. Love your idea of keeping a log of where the books you have read are set. Happy reading for 2017.
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Liz Dexter
Jan 01, 2017 @ 18:38:04
Wow – that’s a lot of audio books! Matthew read 13 this year, I think. I haven’t many Eliots to go now – thank you again for encouraging me to branch out with Daniel Deronda a few years ago now! I went through my reading diaries and noted the settings, quite interesting! Happy reading to you for 2017, too!
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Jane @ Beyond Eden Rock
Jan 01, 2017 @ 22:21:52
I gave up book counting a few years ago, but I have to say that your stats and the books you’ve pulled out as highlights look very impressive.
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Liz Dexter
Jan 02, 2017 @ 08:43:44
I do monthly totals and highlights as I go along, mainly to check that I’m reading enough, as that and running are what keep me balanced, so it’s a habit to count them up at the end of the year. I did read some good ones this year.
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Rebecca Foster
Jan 03, 2017 @ 11:12:19
I’ve read and enjoyed four of your top 10.
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Liz Dexter
Jan 03, 2017 @ 11:39:53
Hm, but which four? Flight Behaviour, Mill on the Floss, Walking Home and To the Lighthouse?
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Rebecca Foster
Jan 03, 2017 @ 11:50:52
Excellent guesses! The Eliot is one I’ve not read yet but want to. The fourth was Ragnarok. (I’ve read all of Byatt, I think, apart from her critical works on Murdoch and Wordsworth & Coleridge and the new William Morris book.)
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Liz Dexter
Jan 03, 2017 @ 11:55:11
Aha, I’m quite proud of myself now! And yes, me, too, although I’ve read her Murdoch one, too, unsurprisingly.
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FictionFan
Jan 03, 2017 @ 15:02:03
Well done! You’ve had an excellent reading year – here’s to more of the same in 2017! Happy New Year!
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Liz Dexter
Jan 03, 2017 @ 15:05:07
I DID have a good 2016 – it didn’t always feel like it, somehow, but there were some great reads in it. I have a good plan and a nice shelf of books to work through, all we can wish for, really. Hope you have a good one, too!
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Small business chat update – Liz Dexter | LibroEditing proofreading, editing, transcription, localisation
Jan 21, 2017 @ 09:00:59