Lovely book animation by Type Books in Toronto.

2011 was a great year for reading. It was my second year of tracking what I read (grad school reading not included), and my first year with an e-reader. I’ve talked a bit about reading on the Kindle, but I haven’t talked much about how the device has affected my buying habits. It is a wondrous thing to be able to buy a book as soon as you think of it. My first purchases were large, heavy books, books that would be cumbersome in print. Then I bought whatever struck my fancy, as long as it was available in my region and didn’t cost more than the print version. But there are books that I want to hold, feel, smell, interact with — books that are beautifully designed, both hardcover and paperback, that just beg to be bought. For the most part, I’m content to wait to read them, which brings me to portability.

To me, portability is the greatest strength of the Kindle. We bought it in January after moving boxes upon boxes of books from one storage spot to another, and I only wish we had bought one earlier so I didn’t have to give away nearly all of the books we accumulated while in Japan. It’s hard to give up bookshelves, but I know it’s impractical for the expat/nomadic life. The Kindle fits nicely into that life (and my travel bag). It was one of the few things I packed when we left Fukushima for a bit after the earthquake, and it really helped to be able to escape from reality through the travels of Tolkien’s company of nine. While there are several issues with e-books (editing standards, price points, DRM, etc.), I still find it worthwhile to have a dedicated e-reader.

Now for the numbers. I read 67 books, which is nearly double the number I read in 2010. Of those, 37 (or 55%) were read on my Kindle. I accomplished my reading goals — 50 books, including The Lord of the Rings and the Foundation series — and tracked everything on Goodreads. Here’s the breakdown by month, according to the date finished:

January: 10
February: 6
March: 7
April: 4
May: 6
June: 4
July: 5
August: 5
September: 9
October: 5
November: 0 (Hello, NaNoWriMo!)
December: 6

And here is what I read (note: covers are shown in reverse chronological order, whereas titles are in chronological order):

Books of 2011
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 8, Vol. 1-4) by Joss Whedon
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Persuasion by Jane Austen*
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen*
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Look at the Birdie by Kurt Vonnegut
Emma by Jane Austen
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman*
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells*
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
The Awakening by Kate Chopin*
Kraken by China Mielville*
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht*
Confessions of a Yakuza by Junichi Saga
2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake by The quakebook community*
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
Batman: Year One by Frank Miller
Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Foundation by Isaac Asimov*
Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov*
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov*
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov*
Foundation’s Edge by Isaac Asimov
Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov*
The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson*
Write for Tohoku by Write for Tohoku Project*
Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times edited by Kevin Smokler
The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane*
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender*
The Magicians by Lev Grossman*
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith*
Summer by Edith Wharton
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto by David Shields*
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi*
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern*
Room by Emma Donaghue*
The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming by Elliot Perlman
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris*
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi*
The Last Colony by John Scalzi*
The Magician King by Lev Grossman*
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin*
A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2) by George R.R. Martin*
A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3) by George R.R. Martin*
A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, #4) by George R.R. Martin*
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5) by George R.R. Martin*
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami*
Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1) by Laini Taylor*
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides*
The Art of the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

* = e-books
Note: List does not include books started, but not yet finished

Potential goals for 2012:
- read x books by Australian authors
- read x nonfiction books
- take notes on each book I read