As the table below shows, it's obvious I read primarily romance and nearly always historical romance at that. Generally I read very little contemporary set fiction. Mostly that's because I tend to 'drop out of' a narrative if something bothers me and subsequently I pick them apart. Since I'm not an historian, anything set prior to my lifetime is less likely to trip me up- although I often take notes in the margins or look up facts if something intrigues me or piques my interest.
Unlike other book bloggers I don't keep very detailed stats: no total page count, no tally by publisher, no Exel spreadsheet, etc. I try to break the books down by subgenre as much as I can, but this year I just can't be bothered. The paranormals will be vampires, fairies (fae), mythological creatures, etc. I don't read wereanimals of any kind. In truth, I'm very likely to dump the majority of my paranormal TBR in the next few weeks because I'm done with the romance paranormal glut. More classic SFF urban fantasy, ala Charles deLint and the like, I'll continue to read.
While looking over past years' annual stats, accessible by clicking the 'annual statisics' link in the signature line below this post, I realized that much of my annual count came from reading what were known as traditional Regencies in the romance community. These are no longer being published (other than ebooks), and so my annual count numbers have dropped dramatically- other factors being equal, which they've not been at all. LOL :) For example, in 2006 I read 104 books total, 28of which were TRs. Now there have been intervening factors, but that was 25% of 2006's total book count.
I've struggled with reading burn for the majority of the last two years. I stare at my TBR stuff and the books I borrow from the library and I often just can't be bothered. Library books get returned after sitting here for weeks only partially read. I've learned not to force myself to finish. It only ends badly. My books are my treasure and it pains me to leave them there unloved, but what can I do? So in many ways I'm lucky to have reached 88 books read this year, truth be told.
In another day or two I'll write up which books were my favorites this year, which ones didn't fare so well after further mellowing, and which books I'm dearly looking forward to in 2009.
2005~ 102 2006~ 104 2007~ 64
Total Books Read 2008~ 88
General Fiction
Chick Lit- 0
Christian Inspirational- 2
Diet & Health-2
Fantasies-10
Historical Fiction- 1
Historical Mysteries- 1
History, American-1
Horror-0
Humor-0
Literature- 6
Mystery-2
Science Fiction-3
Thrillers- 1
Travelogue/ex-pat adventure- 1
Erotica- 1
Romances
Contemporary Suspense-2
Medieval-3
Mythology- 1
Fairytale- 0
Fantasy Anthology- 1
Time Travel- 2
Traditional Regencies- 1
Historical (Incl. long format Regencies)- 21
Paranormal- 14
YA Paranormal/fantasy-0
YA romance- 0
YA Chicklet-1
DNF~ 7
