Part of why I started this blog is because I was curious about my own reading habits. I’ve never kept track of what I read — I just inhaled books, some of them, over and over again. Being in a new place, I think I’m reading a little bit more than average, but other than that, my reading over the last three months seems pretty typical of my overall reading patterns.

In the first quarter of 2005, I read 27 books, or an average of 9 per month, including re-reads. Counting only new material, I read 18 books, or an average of 6 per month.

The gender split including re-reads was equal, since there was 1 book by a mixed group of authors, but new material included 10 books by men, 7 by women, and the same 1 group of authors. (In case anyone is wondering, I’ve counted She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, by Jennifer Boylan, as being written by a woman.)

Over the last few weeks, I noticed that most of the books have been by men, and I thought that the skew was going to be wider. But my January reading was almost entirely women, which brought the quarter into balance.

As far as I know, all of the authors are white. I thought my reading habits were more diverse than that, but it looks like I’m wrong.

By genre, 15 books were fiction; 6 biography (5 autobiographical or memoirs); and 6 "other" non-fiction. Within the fiction, 7 books were Young Adult books, and 8 were "regular" adult books. Also, 6 were science fiction/fantasy, 6 were historical fiction, and 3 were "general" fiction. Two of the biographies were of people in the science fiction world, Neil Gaiman (comic/sf/horror author) and Wil Wheaton (who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation).

Lucky Me for Having Read Them - Books of the Quarter
The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell
She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, by Jennifer Boylan
Just a Geek, by Wil Wheaton

Should Get Paid for Having Gotten Through It - Book of the Quarter
The Kin, by Peter Dickinson

That’s Time You’ll Never Get Back - Book of the Quarter
Secrets of the Tomb: Skull & Bones, the Ivy League, and Hidden Paths of Power, by Alexandra Robbins