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

Last week, J.K. Rowling had big news for Harry Potter fans—and the publishing world—with the launch of Pottermore. My favorite part of the announcement was this lovely paper animation put together by adam&eve and Andersen M Studios.

Harry Potter, paper cuts, and owls? Magic.

The first time I read Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, I was a freshman in university reading a paperback that was in fairly decent condition considering it had probably belonged to at least a dozen people before me. This time I read the Kindle version, and when I looked back at the passages I had highlighted, I was surprised to discover that this one appears twice in the text—and I had noted it both times.

The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude; to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation.

The first is when Mrs. Pontellier’s awakening begins and the quote continues thus:

The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.

The second time these lines appear is just before the end of the story. The words that follow speak of what is to come while also calling to mind the scene where Mademoiselle Reisz compares Edna’s shoulder blades to wings, checking to see if they are strong enough to “soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice”:

All along the white beach, up and down, there was no living thing in sight. A bird with a broken wing was beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down, down into the water.

I don’t like to physically mark up my books when reading (which led to me sorting through piles of cheap, used student editions to find one without commentary in its pages), so I have to wonder: would I have noticed the symmetry with which Chopin begins and ends Edna’s journey if I hadn’t been using an e-reader? Furthermore, what does that say about me as a reader? I know that I read quickly, which can be both a blessing and a curse. I often have to force myself to slow down or even re-read passages to fully take in the language and balance and subtext. I was clearly moved each time I read those lines, but seeing the two passages electronically highlighted makes me wonder what I’m missing in the absence of close reading—and if my Kindle is helping or hindering my desire to get more out of each read.

Has it really already been almost a year since I first read Moby-Dick? It seems like just a short time ago I was wrapped up in Melville’s language and subsequently discovering Matt Kish’s illustration project, One Drawing for Every Page of Moby-Dick. Matt finished his whale of a project in January, and his artwork is being published this fall to coincide with the 160th anniversary of the novel’s publication.

Completely self-taught and refusing to set any boundaries for the kinds of images he would make, Kish used a wide variety of materials, including found paper, ballpoint pens, markers, paint, crayons, ink, and watercolors to create art inspired by lines from every single page of the 552-page Signet Classics paperback edition of Moby-Dick. A hallmark of the project has been his use of pages torn from old, discarded books. Layering images on top of existing words and images, Kish has crafted a work that aptly echoes the layers of meaning in Melville’s narrative. His approach is deliberately low-tech, a sort of counter-response to the increasing popularity of born-digital art and literature. Kish started the project in August 2009 and spent nearly every day for eighteen months toiling away in a small closet converted into an art studio.

Simply amazing. Wishlisted.

When I added “track all the books I read” to my Year 28 list, I was most curious to see if the number of books I imagine myself reading lined up with number of books I actually read during a year. It turns out that the answer is no, not at all. I like to think of myself as a voracious reader, but adding up the books of 2010 made me realize that I don’t read nearly as much as I would like (and that a three-month moratorium on buying books does not help). I’m looking forward to this time next year, when I can compare reading amounts and add e-books to the list.

Total number of books: 35
Tracked on LinkedIn and then Goodreads

Books of 2010
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Paper Towns by John Green
The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History by Jonathan Franzen
The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller *
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (1-5) by Rick Riordan
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Tumble Home: A Novella and Short Stories by Amy Hempel
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman
ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
The Hunger Games series (1-3) by Suzanne Collins
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick *
The Forever War by Joe Halderman
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbach
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand *
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris

* = books on Random House’s Best Novels list, another Year 28 goal
Note: List does not include books started, but not yet finished

Literary culture isn’t a temple, it’s an ecosystem. Writers can be readers, readers can be critics, critics can be writers, audiences can have a voice.”

—Carolyn Kellogg, 12 reasons to ignore the naysayers: Do NaNoWriMo

As more people consume pages in pixels, we wondered why does society still adhere, quite literally, to the analog, page-turning model? What happens when the reading experience catches up with new technologies? What opportunities might arise for authors, publishers, and retailers with major structural changes in the industry?

Have ideas on the future of the book? Join IDEO’s open conversation on Facebook.

via @missjessrose

Remember back in April when I introduced you to a cute, book-haired decimal named Dewey? He’s back to help another library in need.

I dare you to say no to that cute face. Double-dog-dare you.

The Village Learning Place (VLP) is a dynamic 501(c)3 nonprofit library, learning center, and community garden in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore City. The VLP’s mission is to promote literacy, cultural awareness, and lifelong learning, offering free, high-quality educational, cultural, and outreach programs that are specifically designed to meet the diverse needs of neighborhood residents and to unite and strengthen the community.

So whether it’s because of Library Card Sign-up Month, Banned Books Week, International Literacy Day, or your love for your local library, head over to Dewey Donation System and give some bookworm love to the VLP.

I love bookshelves in all forms, even if the “shelves” are really just stacks of books next to my couch because there’s no actual shelf space left. I would much rather have a collection of books as the centerpiece of a room than a television. But given that the majority of my books are in boxes 3,000 miles away, I know just how much space plays a part in whether or not books are on display. When I stumbled across stacked paperback wallpaper earlier this week, I couldn’t help but daydream about how neat it would look in a small space. But the wallpaper lacks that handpicked quality that bookshelves have, and that is why I fell head over heels when I saw the Ideal Bookshelf paintings by artist Jane Mount.

I paint ‘ideal bookshelves’: people’s favorites of all time, within a genre or from a particular period in their lives.

As someone who does a lot of design work, I enjoy the process of turning graphics into ‘art’. And I love that a book is something created very personally and then mass-produced in order to affect many other people very personally. I group and paint them to turn them back into something very personal and intimate.”

Mount creates the paintings out of the reader’s choice of 10-20 books. It would be difficult to narrow down, but I know The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Bird by Bird, Interpreter of Maladies, and The Giving Tree would be a few of the ones on my list. What books would you choose?

“No corsets, no hatpins, and no crying.” Love it.

Jane Austen’s Fight Club via @sarahcjackson