Obligatory end-of-year book wrap-up, with graphs
Some books I liked, and some ideas about why I liked books less
Once upon a time, I used to produce nonsensical graphs about the books I read on my blog: if you would like to compare this year to previous years (made more difficult by me always changing the criteria) you can see those here.
This year I didn’t read as many books as usual (last year I finished 110). The unfinished books in this graph are books I made substantial progress on: there’s probably another 30 that I gave up on after a chapter or two. I cannot really explain this book malaise. I also listened to fewer audiobooks than I did last year, which is probably because the place where I work moved and now I can catch the bus rather than drive, which means I can read with my eyes while commuting.
More malaise! While Andrew Roff’s patented grading scheme still has the goods, the ‘not great’ percentage was way up on last year. Have books got worse? I doubt it. Have I got worse at choosing books I like? Possibly. Am I grumpier? This is the most likely explanation.
This one surprised me. Last year, of the books I read many more were borrowed from the library than bought, and I assumed that trajectory would continue. What was this outburst of consumerism? Side note: I participated in Macquarie University’s artist income survey this year, which involved detailing the money I made and spent as a writer and crikey, it was not good. I earned $994 in royalties and $1,262 thanks to library and educational lending. I spent $1,800 on books. So I guess the good news is my book writing covers my book spending. One day I’ll work out what percentage of books bought = books read, which should make for a startling graph.
This graph has stayed consistent throughout the years. I am unable to read old books, even though the percentage of ‘heaps great’ books is much higher for old books than for new books. In the next day or two I’ll do my list of books I most enjoyed reading this year, but so far it looks like the top contenders are from 1961, 1979, 1982 and 1998, as well as a handful from the last two years.
I reckon this might change next year though, because in October I stopped using Twitter and now I have no idea what hot new books other people are reading so I don’t know that I’m supposed to be reading them too. Getting off Twitter has had an odd effect on my reading. I have more reading time, but now that I have no one to talk to about what I’m reading, reading is less fun. This is disappointing and unexpected. I tried reddit’s r/books and it has its charms, but none of those charms include talking with other people about books. If you have any suggestions for good book-talking places (not Mastodon; I’m not ready for that) let me know.
Perhaps the other reason I’ve loved books less this year (and I have loved books less) is that my own book has been so little bought and read. I’ve had a pretty good run with my books up until this last one, so it was a bit shocking to have a book that was very well-reviewed but just didn’t sell. It might be because so many bookshops refused to stock it - it turns out that if your book isn’t in shops, and being supported by booksellers, people just don’t buy it. Consequently, thinking about contemporary novels and going into independent bookshops - both things I used to love - are now mildly painful for me. Hopefully this will pass. Either that, or next year you’ll see a big bump in books from the 1970s borrowed at libraries.
I can't imagine anyone who reads this far won't have read your books, but if perchance they haven't then
READ JANE'S BOOKS, THEY'RE WONDERFUL (DELIGHTFUL, THOUGHTFUL, ORIGINAL)
If I want an upcoming book, I'll order it and go into the shop to pick it up, and buy a few more. Or if I'm walking past a secondhand shop, mercifully not so often these days, I'll buy all the 'good' books I haven't read. From the library (and BorrowBox) I get time fillers, though sometimes I get lucky.