January 2011 Reading Wrap-Up
I can’t believe January is over! The year has started out quite slow for me in terms of reading, but a ton going on in the personal life so I don’t feel too bad. The totals for the month stand at:
Books Read: 10
Pages Read: 1862
I realize that is still a lot of books compared to what a lot of people read, but it is a lot less than I had been reading. The good thing about those numbers is that I absolutely loved almost all of the books that I read. This month I finished:
- Celebrate People’s History: The Poster Book of Resistance and Revolution edited by Josh MacPhee
- How to Be A Nigerian by Peter Enahoro
- Algerian White by Assia Djebar, translated by David Kelley and Marjolijn de Jager
- A Human Being Died that Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
- The Trouble with Nigeria by Chinua Achebe
- Cinderella Ate my Daughter: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein
- Wars, Guns, and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places by Paul Collier
- Who’s Afraid of Solarin? by Femi Osofisan
- Rebel Women of the Gold Rush: Extraordinary Achievements and Daring Adventures by Rich Mole
- The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
What is interesting about the list is that eight of the ten books are non-fiction, and one of the two that isn’t (Who’s Afraid of Solarin?) is based on a real person and includes an essay / speech at the end. As you can tell I’ve really not been in the mood for stories lately but rather facts, facts, and more facts. I’ve also managed to hit seven countries so far this year. A few of those are common ones – USA, Canada, Nigeria, England – but I do still hope to keep up this momentum and hit more countries this year than I did last.
You will also note that three of the ten books are set in / by Nigerians. I’ve mentioned in passing that I may try to review Nigerian lit each Friday to work my way through a backlog of titles and so far have been successful in doing so. I will try to keep it up – at the moment I have enough titles to last me until about mid August if I can keep it up! Some of the books are much longer though, so we shall see if I can do it. I will create a page for this project in the near future where I will explain the project and the books that I have on my shelf still to read – I would certainly welcome suggestions for further reading once I run out in mid August 
As to the TBR Dare, eight of the ten books that I read were on my shelf as of January 1st, 2011. One of the books came in the mail via a Feminist Press subscription which I had ordered a few months ago, and the other was the book that I ordered for the GLBTQ read-a-longs that I am doing with Cass and which I exempted from the ban as I had pre-agreed to participate. No new purchases other than the first three for the GLBTQ read-a-longs as I mentioned. So far so good, here is hoping I can keep it up in February!
Not only did I stick to the dare… yesterday I met up with Carina of Reading Through Life and I made her come with me to a used bookstore, searching for some J. M. Coetzee for Geosi of Geosi Reads. Not only were there fantastic books to tempt us both… I saw TWO books by Chinua Achebe that I don’t own yet… and I passed them by. This dare is seriously difficult, but I am still holding strong. I will come back to this store in April though 
On the blogging front I’ve somehow managed to keep up with posting even with my lack of reading. I’ve posted a few more discussion / filler pieces (as well as starting the year with all of my best - and worst - of lists) with my favorite being the discussion of translations, language, and culture. I really loved reading what everyone had to say on the topic. As well, I posted about the Independent Literary Awards GLBTQ nominated and shortlisted books, and am anticipating choosing the winner in just a few short days. I also posted about how OCD I am in my stats tracking, which I’m sure made a few people shake their head and wonder why!
My plan for February is just more of the same - I will keep reading off of my shelves and maybe even try a few more fiction reads. If I am lucky, I may even read more than ten books
Wow…you read some heavy stuff in January. Great minth AMy.
Thanks Diane
meant GREAT MONTH Amy
lol Thank you Diane
Well done for the TBR dare Amy! I am doing the TBR annual challenge and I must say I gain more satisfaction reading them off my own shelf. I’m looking out for Geosi too, but all I had on my shelf of JM Coetzee is “Disgrace”. I’ll continue to keep a look out.
Yes it really is great isn’t it JoV – some really great books have been sitting on my shelf
Indeed I see that the dare looks tough. Also reading ten books for the month of January is not that bad. You’ve done well. Wish you well this month.
Thank you Geosi, still a good amount!
And thanks to you and JoV for your support. I appreciate it.
Hey you are very welcome Geosi!
It’s brilliant that you kept to the dare! I do my own dare and I also manage to work away a lot of books off the shelves (http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/reading-off-the-shelf-january-results/) but I wasn’t as lucky as you. There were no fantastic books but on average, they were still pretty good.
And how did you NOT buy books in the book shop? That is so self-restrained! Nice you went with Carina. I know her from ALittleBookish’ bookhobo event.
Congrats with your reading Leeswammes. And yes… it was way too hard but we did it!
It’s good to hear that you had such a nice ratio of good books to bad this month, and I am also impressed with how many you read! It may seem like this was a slow month for you, but you did a lot better than I did!
Yes, it was fantastic zibilee. Thank you.
Yay for resisting the temptation of a second-hand bookstore!
Thanks Colleen
And you would. You really are a voracious reader. But I cannot stand the temptation of not buying. I can stand it if I purchase it and do not read it until a certain time.
Ahhh I am like you as well Nana – I want to buy it even if I may not read it for some time. I don’t know if I can last so many more months
But we shall see…
Well done, Amy! And looks like you’ve got some amazing books on your tbr
Thanks Bina – a lot of great books it is true.
This may be the first time I’ve ever read more books in a month that you have. I will enjoy it while it lasts….okay, that’s over. Back to normal.
Congratulations Trisha
It may happen again, we shall see!
You are slacking with your reading, lady. Goal of 30 books this month for you! (hahahaha I AM KIDDING kind of.)
Ahhh I know right Cass! heh. You so mean
Great month, Amy. Cass is making me snicker, though.
I read a lot of nonfiction, too. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself, “Hey, you should read some fiction!” I just kind of slide into NF without realizing it.
Thank you Nancy, and yes, that darn Cass
She is just bragging because she read so much more than me after our unofficial competition in December when I beat her. hehe. And yes, I sometimes have to really remind myself to read more NF as well. I really enjoy my reading more when I read more NF it seems though.
still a busy month don’t know how you keep the pace up amy ,all the best stu
Thanks Stu, I’m not really sure either