This year has been a good reading year for me. Some reading stats for completed books:

• Total number of books read: 40.
• Fiction books: 33.
• Nonfiction: 7.
• Audio books: 4.
• Kindle books: 16.
• DailyLit books: 2.
• Books re-read: 5.

My favorite books of the year in no particular order were

• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?, James Shapiro
• A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, James Shapiro
• The Help, Kathryn Stockett
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
• A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
• Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier
• The Map of True Places, Brunonia Barry
• Emily’s Ghost, Denise Giardina

The books I liked least:

• Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Charity Girl, Georgette Heyer
• The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
• The Meaning of Night, Michael Cox
• The Ruby in the Smoke, Philip Pullman

I completed several reading challenges. For the Everything Austen Challenge, I read/viewed the following:

• The Three Weissmanns of Westport, Cathleen Schine
• Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
• Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
• Persuasion, Jane Austen
• The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, Syrie James
• Miss Austen Regrets (film)

Of these books, I enjoyed Persuasion the most, but truthfully, this challenge was one of the most enjoyable for me because I liked all of the books I read and the movie I watched.

I completed Carl’s R.I.P. Challenge for the first time. I read the following books:

• Dracula, My Love, Syrie James
• Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Heretic’s Daughter, Kathleen Kent
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

I always enjoy this challenge, and I enjoyed all the books I completed for this challenge, especially Dracula, My Love.

I also participated in Carl’s earlier Once Upon a Time Challenge with a read of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

I read a lot of fiction about the Brontës this year and completed the All About the Brontës Challenge:

• Charlotte and Emily, Jude Morgan
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë (audio)
• The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, Syrie James

The Bibliophilic Books Challenge was a fun way to read books about authors or reading. I read the following:

• Charlotte and Emily, Jude Morgan
• A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599, James Shapiro
• The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, Syrie James
• Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?, James Shapiro
• Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde
• Emily’s Ghost, Denise Giardina

The Typically British Challenge was a snap for me; as an anglophile, most of the books I read were British, but I counted the following for the challenge:

• The Meaning of Night, Michael Cox
• The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
• Charlotte and Emily, Jude Morgan
• Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
• Thursday Next: First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

Last year I read 29 books and didn’t finish any challenges. Look for my reading goals for 2011 in a post tomorrow.

photo credit: guldfisken