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About the author and blogger ...

Anne Goodwin writes entertaining fiction about identity, mental health and social justice. She has published three novels and a short story collection with Inspired Quill. Her debut, Sugar and Snails, was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. Her new novel, Matilda Windsor Is Coming Home, is rooted in her work as a clinical psychologist in a long-stay psychiatric hospital.

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93% novels and 71% independents: My first 100 reads of 2017

30/9/2017

4 Comments

 
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Earlier this month, I met my “challenge” of reading 100 books this year. You can see them pictured above, beginning with my most recent read. Why not join me in reviewing the balance (or otherwise) of fiction versus non-fiction, type of publisher and percentage of translations versus English-language originals?
Although warned by the novel Broadcast to be wary of oversharing, I find it hard to resist the opportunity to play with data:

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It’s no surprise to find that 93% of the books I read were novels, but slightly disappointing that only thirteen of those were books in translation. Although I do read diversely, perhaps I’m limiting my horizons by focusing so much on novels written originally in English?


I don’t use a star rating for reviews on Annecdotal, but I usually join in with the system on Goodreads. Although I don’t claim to be totally consistent in my ratings (I’m sure it depends as much on my mood as the quality of the book), the distribution is interesting. While reluctant to assign one-star reviews, I generally consider myself less generous than other reviewers, so I was encouraged to find I’d rated almost half (45%) four or five.
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Examining these favourite reads more closely yields a couple of surprises. Although there is a need for caution in extrapolating from small numbers, it looks as if I enjoy non-fiction more than I think I do (unless my guilt inflates those ratings), with 80% making the category, and translated fiction less than I think I should, only 20% of those thirteen novels and two short story collections receiving this accolade.

Looking back on my reading from 2016, I resolved to monitor my support of independent publishers. I’m not sure about my rough-and-ready classification into big, medium and small, but I’m impressed that almost 3/4 of my reads came from independent publishers, with medium and small presses well represented.
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Things get more interesting when we examine the books I really liked, with the bigger independents punching slightly above their weight and the small ones slightly under (but still performing pretty well in terms of my personal satisfaction given that these publishers probably have a smaller pool of quality books to select from).

Hopefully I’ll have more to say on this when I review the year’s overall favourites in December. Until then, I’m interested to know what you think of the first 100.





Meanwhile, check out my reviews of the 13 novels and one memoir reviewed this month by clicking on the image.


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Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
4 Comments
Norah Colvin link
1/10/2017 01:09:35 pm

Interesting data and statistics there, Anne. Congratulations on completing your target three months early. You are going to read a lot of books this year. I was going to say that it's a pity you can't read some for me, as I never have/make the time to read as much as I would like. But in fact, you do that with your reviews. Thank you for keeping me abreast of what's available.
I did get a little confused when you got to your figures about non-fiction. It gets such a small piece of pie. I have probably read less than half the number of books you have, including picture books. So disappointing. I do most of my reading now in small bursts online. I admire your time and tenacity.

Reply
Annecdotist
1/10/2017 06:34:54 pm

Thanks, Norah, but it doesn’t seem an effort to me. As I said before, it’s much easier for me reading in print than online.
I’m wondering what was confusion about the non-fiction, whether it was that the numbers were just so small or I’ve muddled them somehow?

Reply
Charli Mills
1/10/2017 03:55:17 pm

Like Norah, I admire your tenacity to get through books. I open too many at once, several for research, one for interest, one for the community, one that I think I should read, and another on Audible. It makes for inefficient reading. I'm trying to recall how I managed it in college, all those books. I suppose I'm much slower now. I also need a place to read, which I do have now. And my boss are moved from the trailer and I finally relocated my Kindle cord. As to your insights, I find also find it admirable, your commitment to reading various sized publishers. Although you may think your numbers low on reading non English books, they are probably higher than the average reader. Of not for those books, I probably wouldn't have added non English books to my own list of reading. I enjoy books from diverse authors, and the Renaissance of literature out of India, but you've greatly expanded me knowledge of books from other places in the world. C congratulations on meeting your goals and delving into your own statistics!

Reply
Annecdotist
1/10/2017 06:40:52 pm

Thanks, Charli, I’m sure bolstered by your appreciation of my reviews. I know a few people like to have several books on the go at the same time – and it can work quite well if they’re very different – but I usually have just one, or two at the most, which does help in getting them finished. However, my shelf of books to read and review currently stands at almost 40 – and then I keep finding more I want to read. (Better get to it then.)

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