One of those end of the year lists...

Delightful Thomas at My Porch posted this, so I have promptly stolen it and altered to suit my needs (appropriation is one of the sincerest forms of flattery).

How many books read in 2010?
52, which considering I'm doing a Ph.D. that is not in literature or library science and requires my reading mostly journal articles isn't too shabby.

Fiction/Non-Fiction?
37/15

Male/Female authors?
39/13, which is not necessarily typical of me. In addition, I will add this breakdown:

7 were translated from languages other than English (a paltry sum, less than usual for me).

22 books by American authors
1 - Serbian/Canadian
1 - Chinese
11 - English
5 - Irish
1 - Chilean
1 - Dutch (German born)
3 - French
2 - by an English ex-pat now living in Italy
1 - Polish
1 - Australian

Favorite read?
I prefer to do this by category. Two categories down - Non-fiction and YA fiction. Adult fiction is still to come... stay tuned.

Least favorite read?
Like Thomas, I don't often finish books I don't care for. If I had to name the title of the book that I finished and most disliked this year, it would have to be Sarah's Key.

Most read author?
The wonderful Irish author, Deirdre Madden.

Author read this year I would most like to meet?
Given that I've read everything Deirdre Madden has written, I would love to meet her and have those kind of talks about creative process that I love to have. Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski lead a life so unlike my own that I would keep him at lunch as long as possible to learn about his experiences, but he's dead so that would be kind of difficult.

Favorite reading experience of the year
It surprised me, in reviewing this year's list, that that would be reading Lev Grossman's The Magicians, not because it wasn't a great book - it was, but because I read it at home last January and what made it so great was that the Ragazzo was finally over a terrible flu and I read it in bed, cozily under the covers, staying up very late to finish it because its world was so enveloping.

New books purchased in hardcover?
For better or for worse, I can't remember. There were too many.

Best blogging related experience?
I met a fellow book blogger in Indianapolis, which was great fun. I had plans to meet another blogger and author, which fell through twice - once when I was near her house in England, and once when she was due to come to the U.S. I hope we'll do better this year! I also really enjoyed virtually meeting author Charles Lambert on our blogs - a wonderful writer.

Author crush?
I have a bit of an author crush on Jonah Lehrer - he's a kindred spirit of the mind. For the cuteness factor I would echo Thomas, bring on Joshua Ferris.

Blog posts I am most likely to read?
Posts featuring rooms with books. Artists' workspaces are #1, they could be writers, painters, actors....anyone's reading or working space could do, or libraries, or bookstores.

I love reading about reading, reading about writing, reading about books, reading about creative process, about food, about neuroscience, about the intersection of science and culture, about parts of the world I'm crazy about (Paris, for example).

Good film reviews.

Good soup recipes.

Stuff about people's puppies - I have dog envy.

Blog posts I am least likely to read?
Anything on romance novels or "historical fiction."

Anything remotely related to self-help.

Anything sanctimonious.

Anything that says that everything is for the best or, even worse, that everything happens for a reason.

Anything that tells me I'm supposed to smile or be generally cheerier, just shut up - ok?

Biggest shortcomings as a book blogger?
My lack of cheeriness - ok?

My lack of posting this year.

I sometimes fear that I'm not enough of a joiner - but it's the story of my life.

One thing I wish every blog included?
I don't wish that every blog included anything. I like the fact that there is so enough variety in the blogosphere that there is probably something for everyone.

Things that puzzle me
The list is long, but is winter weather really news? It happens every year.