My life in books

In the first four months of 2019, Morgan read 41 books or novellas, including seven Heinlein re-reads which she never got around to posting about here.

The breakdown for 2019 was: 19 novels or novellas, 4 non-fiction books, and 18 re-reads, all of them Heinlein novels.

I have no idea which new books she would have called out as particularly excellent, but I do know she enthused aloud to me about Alec Nevala-Lee's Astounding and Jill Lepore's The Secret History of Wonder Woman.

The following statistics may be flawed. I googled each author but did not delve too deeply beyond the topline search results. These stats exclude the re-reads. When in doubt, I classed authors by their country of origin rather than their current country of residence.

By Gender:
Works by women: 74%
Works by men: 22%
Works by non-binary authors: 4% (one book)

By nationality:

American: 46%
Canadian: 20%
UK: 4% (one author)
Other: 29%

"Other" included Japan, Indonesia, France, Taiwan, and Nigeria.

Works by writers of colour: 57%

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Postscript:

The finished but unreviewed Heinlein re-reads were:

Stranger in a Strange Land
Podkayne of Mars
Glory Road
Farnham's Freehold
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
I Will Fear No Evil
Time Enough For Love

Books she began but did not finish reading, in the order they appeared in the "recent" list of her ebook app (the first was a PDF and appeared in a different app. For the rest, the app gives a pie chart icon instead of a % completed number):

Patricia Kerslake: Science Fiction and Empire (7% read)
Farah Mendlesohn: The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein (1/3 read)
Robert Heinlein: The Number of the Beast (1/4 read)
N. K. Jemison: How Long 'Til Black Future Month? (1/3 read)
L. Timmel Duchamp: Chercher La Femme (1/3 read)
Emily X.R. Pan: The Astonishing Color of After (1/4 read)
Holly Black: Folk of the Air 1 - The Cruel Prince (1/8th read)
Kim Stanley Robinson: Red Moon (Barely started)
Sue Burke: Semiosis (Barely started)
George R. R. Martin: Fire and Blood (1/8th read)
Vandana Singh: Ambiguity Machines (1/10th read)
Stephanie Coontz: Marriage, A History (1/10th read)

And thus ends 2017.

Yet another year in which medical issues rendered me incapable of reading for large periods of time - being in pain, and being on serious pain medication that doesn’t fully counteract the pain but nonetheless makes one not quite fully present, is not good for my brain.

This was a year in which I did some concentrated reading on social justice issues, a project which I intend to carry forward into the coming year. I also started two other reading projects which are as yet incomplete - a reading of some of the more well-reviewed and regarded books about the AIDS epidemic, and a rereading of the works of Robert Heinlein, in preparation for the anticipated publication in late 2018 of Farah Mendlesohn’s critical study of Heinlein’s oeuvre. And there’s the yearly Hugo reading, which sometimes exposes me to works I would not have chosen to read otherwise - sometimes for the good, sometimes not so much.

I don’t think I’ll take on any additional intentional reading projects this year, at least not until I finish the AIDS and Heinlein readings, but one never knows.

I also continued my quest to read more short fiction. Not counting stories in published collections or anthologies, I read 76 short stories or novelettes, most of them from various online magazines.

I’m not sure what my reading will be like in the coming year - I’m still dealing with multiple medical issues that could affect my interest and ability to read, but I hope to manage at least as much in the coming year as I did in this one.

My list of the best books I read this year:

Keeanga-Yamahtta ​Taylor, From ​#BlackLivesMatter ​to ​Black ​Liberation
Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom
Ellen ​Klages, ​Passing ​Strange
N. K. Jemisin, The Obelisk Gate
Joy Kogawa, Obasan
Cassandra Khaw, A Song for Quiet
Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country
Eleanor Arnason, Hwarhath Stories: Transgressive Tales by Aliens



On to the statistics:

In 2016, I read 100 books or novellas - 67 fiction and 33 non-fiction; 7 of these were re-reads.

A total of 8 of these were anthologies or edited non-fiction collections, and so have been excluded from the demographic analysis of authorship, although I will note that among these works, 6 were edited or co-edited by women, and 6 were edited or co-edited by people of colour.

By gender:
Works written by women: 60 percent
Works written by men: 40 percent
(One work written by collaborators of different genders)

By author's nationality:
American: 78 percent
British: 10 percent
Canadian: 6 percent
Other: 6 percent

"Other" nationalities included: Chinese,South African, Indian and Ghanaian.

Works by writers of colour: 33 percent

And, somewhat belated, here is my 2015 year-end summary. This is the first year that my reading selections were influenced by the Hugo Awards, and the Sadly Rabid Puppies in particular, in that I read a number of works by people I would not ordinarily read, simply because they were nominated for the 2015 Hugos. The practical reflection of that is that i read more work from Americans, white people and men than I otherwise might have.

My favourite books of this year were:

Katha Pollitt, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
Yoon Ha Lee, Conservation of Shadows
Ann Leckie, The Imperial Radch Trilogy
Chesya Burke, Let's Play White
N. K. Jemisin, Fifth Season
Nnedi Okorafor, The Book of Phoenix
Zen Cho, Sorcerer to the Crown
Naomi Novik, Uprooted
Jo Walton, The Just City
Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings
Jo Walton, My Real Children
Samuel Delany, The Motion of Light in Water
Usman Malik, The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn
Ken Liu, The Grace of Kings



On to the statistics:

In 2015, I read 164 books or novellas - 141 fiction and 23 non-fiction; 37 of these were re-reads (I had a miserable year health-wise and needed much comfort reading). A total of 15 of these were anthologies or edited non-fiction works, and so have been excluded from the demographic analysis of authorship.

By gender:
Works written by women: 76.5 percent
Works written by men: 23.5 percent

By author's nationality:
American: 73.2 percent
British: 10.7 percent
Canadian: 8.1 percent
Other: 8.1 percent

"Other" nationalities included: Iranian, Palestinian, German, French, Malaysian, Chinese, Peruvian, Nigerian, Pakistani, Icelander, Barbadian.

Works by writers of colour: 21.5 percent

Well, this is probably the latest i've been in finishing up the prior year's reading. i'll try to catch up faster this year.

In any event, hhere are my favourite reads of 2013, and the 2013 statistics.

Best Works I Read in 2013

Elizabeth Bear, In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns
Marie Brennan, A Natural History of Dragons
N. K. Jemisin, The Broken Kingdoms
N. K. Jemisin, Kingdom of the Gods
Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death
Jack Womack, Random Acts of Senseless Violence
Johanna Sinisalo, Birdbrain
Jo Baker, Longbourn
A. S. Byatt, Possession
Drew Hayden Taylor, Fearless Warriors
Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage



In 2013, I read 185 books or novellas 161 fiction and 14 non-fiction; 12 of these were re-reads. A total of eight of these were anthologies, and so have been excluded from the demographic analysis of authorship.

By gender:
Books written by women: 86.9%
Books written by men: 14.1%
One book was written by multiple authors, male and female.

By nationality:
American: 52.2%
British: 31.8%
Canadian: 10.2%
Other: 5.1%

Books by writers of colour: 12.9%

And at last, I am up to date. It's early January 2012 and I have at least mentioned all the books I read during my hiatus. So, here are my favourite reads of 2011, and the 2011 statistics, and then we are off to a new start (I hope) for 2012.

Best Books I Read in 2011

Jo Walton, Among Others
Ursula LeGuin, The Wild Girls
Eleanor Arnason, Mammoths of the Great Plains
Lyda Morehouse, Resurrection Code
Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Book Club
Margaret Atwood, Good Bones
Lee Maracle, I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism
Sarah Schulman, The Child


In 2011, I read 79 books, 70 fiction and nine non-fiction; 15 of these were re-reads (20%). A total of three of these were anthologies, and so have been excluded from the demographic analysis of authorship.

By gender:
Books written by women: 68.4%
Books written by men: 30.3%
One book was co-written by a man and a woman

By nationality:
American: 78.3%
British: 5.3%
Canadian: 11.8%
Other: 3.9%

Book by writers of colour: 5.3%

I have two goals for the coming year:

1. Eliminate a significant proportion of my TBR file, while, including e-books, stands at over 300 books

2. Focus more on diversity in reading, something that had quite gone by the wayside in the past two years, as I was reading a lot of comfort books, including re-reads - which, the older they are, the more likely they are to be written by white American men.

In 2009, I read 104 books, 93 fiction and 11 non-fiction; 12 of these were re-reads (11.5%). A total of seven of these were anthologies, and so have been excluded from the demographic analysis of authorship.

By gender:
Books written by women: 64.9%
Books written by men: 34.0%

By nationality:
American: 70.1%
British: 3.1%
Canadian: 17.5%
Other: 9.3%

Book by writers of colour: 26.8%

I am pleased to see that the percentage of books written by writers of colour and the percentage of books written by writers from countries other than the U.S./Britain & Ireland/Canada/Australia and New Zealand increased from 2008.

And now, for my list of the best books I read in 2009:

Green Grass, Running Water, Thomas King
The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill
Anil’s Ghost, Michael Ondaatje
Unquenchable Fire, Rachel Pollack
De Secretis Mulierum, L. Timmel Duchamp
Distances, Vandana Singh
Red Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson
The Gameplayers of Zan, M. A. Foster
How to Rent a Negro, damali ayo
The Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Unsecure America, Susan Faludi

Yes, this is very late. In fact, I haven't even finished writing comments for all the books I read in 2007 - life has this horrible habit of getting in the way of my blogging.

I'm not going to limit myself to 10, and I'm going to count series as one entry on my list. And I'm not going to count re-reads, because this year I re-read some of my favourite books of all time, such as The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin, The Maerlande Chronicles by Elisabeth Vonarburg, King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett, and Woman on the Edge of time by Marge Piercy, so that would just make the list very long indeed.

So here's my selection of the best books and series I read in 2007, in alphabetical order by author or editor:

Carnival, Elizabeth Bear

The Jenny Casey trilogy: Hammered, Scardown, Worldwired, Elizabeth Bear

The Marq'ssan Cycle: Alanya to Alanya, Renegade, Tsunami, L. Timmel Duchamp

Drag King Dreams, Leslie Feinberg

Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire that Never Was, Angélica Gorodischer, trans. Ursula K. LeGuin

So Long Been Dreaming: Post Colonial Science Fiction and Fantasy, (eds.) Nalo Hopkinson, Uppinder Mehan

The Isles of Glory trilogy: The Aware, Gilfeather, The Tainted, Glenda Larke

Warchild, Burndive, Cagebird, Karin Lowachee

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus, Charles Mann

Glorifying Terrorism, (ed.) Farah Mendlesohn

His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade, Black Powder War, Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik

James Tiptree Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, Julie Phillips

The Wess'har Wars series: Crossing the Line, City of Pearl, The World Before, Matriarch, Ally, Karen Traviss

The Orphan’s Tales: In The Night Garden, Catherynne M. Valente

Farthing, Jo Walton