I saw this meme going around awhile ago where bloggers would list where their last 20 books came from. I just read my 20th book for the year, so I figured it was about time to check out those stats for 2010. After I ran the numbers, here’s what I found:
Borrowed includes both books from the library and books from friends. Thirty percent is actually a higher number of review copies than I expected. I think if I ran numbers for every book read since I started blogging, the percentages would skew a lot further towards owned books. Still, with my next 20 books, I’d like to see the owned section get to around 60 percent.
Another stat I was curious about what what the genre breakdown of the books I’ve read this year is. Here’s what I found:
I’m sort of weird about genres and levels of specificity, so I colored the graph to show fiction categories in green and nonfiction categories in blue. Generally, I read about 60 percent nonfiction categories and 40 percent fiction — a pretty good breakdown for me, I think.
If you’re curious to know more about these books, check out my Review Archive (which lists all my books from this year). I also have a Reviews by Author page where you can search for specific titles.
What kinds of stats do you keep on the books you read? Any idea how your books break down by genre, source, or other factors? Which genres do you think I should read more of?
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I keep track of the number read and publisher/year published. Haven’t done a break down of genre or source. I”m most interested in reading more. I have started to note whether they are audio books. That has been increasing.
Heather: Keeping track of the publisher is a good idea; I hadn’t thought of that. I listened to a lot of audio books last summer, but fewer since then.
I haven’t kept stats before, but I like the idea of doing so. I wonder if I’d surprise myself…I do know that most of my books come from the library, and usually note whether it was my home library, our regional library system, or an out of state ILL. Read more YA!!!
Becker: I only started doing it this year, and so far it’s pretty fun. I actually just requested a John Green book from the library, so tere will be more YA!
Love John Green! Will be interesting to see what you think! I just got to see him (& David Levithan) read, actually. Read my gushing & see pictures here: http://beckerdwellinginpossibility.blogspot.com/2010/04/author-event-david-levithan-john-green.html
Looking for Alaska just came to the library today, so I’ll be reading it soonish. I’m excited — I’ve heard so many good things about John Green.
I keep track of the #, title, author,publish date, where I got it and if it is fiction or nonfiction. Maybe it would be fun to start getting specific with the genres.
Gwen: I don’t do publish date — I like that idea too!
This is a pretty cool way to keep track of what you are reading!
Julie: Thanks! I have fun with the occasional pie chart.
I do note which genre my books are, but it’s been a while since I really looked at where my emphasis lies. I think I’ve been reading more non-fiction lately. It would be fun to crunch the numbers and see!
Jeane: It was fun to crunch — some of what I thought I read was very different than what it turns out I actually read.
Your pe charts are very interesting. I have no idea what percentage of my books are owned, but I would guess the majority. I would also be willing to say that almost all of my books are fiction.
Stephanie: I thought I’d read more owned too, but I guess I’ve been doing a lot more review books than I thought. It was fun to learn that.
These charts are very cool ! Thanks for sharing this information with us.
I guess if I did a pie chart of where my books came from it would look pretty boring. Since all the books I’ve read this year and all the ones I am currently reading all came from the library it would just be a solid pie !
Maphead: Thanks! Mircosoft Excel to the rescue 🙂
I’m curious what my pie charts would look like, but I’m too lazy to go and do the math!
softdrink: Ha ha. It wasn’t hard to do, actually, since I’ve been keeping track as I go along.
I track way too many stats! LOL Most of them, though, I total up at the end rather than keeping track as I read. Because inevitably I get forgetful. 😉
Eva: I’ve been trying to keep my spreadsheet updated as I go beaus otherwise I’d forget. I’ve been great some months, and not great others.
(I apologize in advance for my nerdiness)
I actually insert all my books into a database which allows for some rather robust stat generation. You can see my charts here.
I also created some others a few months ago that analyzed how I transition between genres, as well as the speed at which I read different genres. http://www.somesmart.com/category/charts/
Nerdy, but fun!
Scott: Wow, that is awesome! I am so jealous of your database and the charts you can make.
My books used to all be from the library-but that has been changing.
Esme: I used to have a lot more library books too, but I cut myself off a little while ago to try and get more of my own books read. Too bad I’ve been on a huge library books binge the last few weeks!