(no subject)

Under the cut are the 64 books I read in 2009 that I had not read before. I was quite strict with myself about not counting re-reads, which was a bit unfortunate when in the second half of the year I took a paper which involved reading two books a week, almost each and every one of which I had read before. However, it's been terrific to keep a record of my reading like this, because it means that whenever people ask me to recommend a book I can go and find something here! It's great.

( the books are under the cut, with a sentence or two about each of them as I was moved to it. )

So that was my Year In Fiction, plus three non-fiction books: Gladwell's Outliers, Julie Powell's Cleaving, and Linda Hirschman's Get to Work.) I do read non-fiction, but I tend not to read whole books because I find them tiresome. Here are some unfortunate statistics, though.

- I read, as far as I can tell, two books by people of colour: Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, and Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix. Even if I've missed someone, I don't feel comfortable with that total, since I consider myself a conscientious reader.
- Everything I read was Western (that is to say, written in the west: Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix is clearly set in a fictionalised Asian country, but Pon is working in the USA), and mostly written by white anglo-saxon Protestants or lapsed Protestants - that is to say, people with the same sociocultural background as myself.
- The only books I read in translation were The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its first sequel.
-I read five works by New Zealanders: Two by Maurice Gee that were required by class, plus Kate de Goldi's The 10PM Question and a play each by Bruce Mason and Jean Betts.

Best book of my year: Kate de Goldi's The 10PM Question, by a country mile. I am not sure if this has been published outside NZ, but if it has been I urge you all to read it.

I'm starting my 2010 list with: Stella Gibbons' Cold Comfort Farm, which I finished today.