Sunday, September 26, 2010

State of the Blog, Part Two: The Authors

Part of being a compulsive "list" reader is keeping track of the progress I make on my many lists. I try to do a comprehensive assessment every quarter.  This fall progress review is the most important to me since I still have time to accomplish some reading goals before the end of the year.

This is a three-part assessment. This second part looks at my author lists (in the right-side column). Part One reviewed my reading lists.  Part Three, coming soon, will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

So far this year, I have read 19 books by my listed authors. I'd like to get up to 24 by the end of the year -- and average of two a month seems pretty good.

THE AUTHORS

Kingsley Amis
Books read so far: 8/48
Books read in 2010: four (or two, depending how you count compilations):
  1. One Fat Englishman (reviewed here); and
  2. Everyday Drinking: The Distilled Kingsley Amis (reviewed here), which includes the complete, previously published volumes:
    • On Drink;
    • Every Day Drinking; and 
    • How's Your Glass
Books I hope to read in 2010: probably no more
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

Kate Atkinson
Books read so far: 2/8
Books read in 2010: one (Case Histories, for the Typically British Challenge)
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2
Books on my TBR shelf: 2

Cara Black
Books read so far: 2/9
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one, Murder in Belleville
Books on my TBR shelf: one

William Boyd

Books read so far: 3/16
Books read in 2010: one (The New Confessions, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Brazzaville Beach)
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

James Lee Burke
Books read so far: 13/17 (Dave Robicheaux series only)
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe none
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Lee Child

Books read so far: 13/14
Books read in 2010: one (Gone Tomorrow)
Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (61 Hours)
Books on my TBR shelf: one

A. J. Cronin

Books read so far: 1/25
Books read in 2010: one (Three Loves, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: that may be it for this year
Books on my TBR shelf: 5

M. F. K. Fisher
Books read so far: 4/27
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe one
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Books read so far: 8/13
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: probably zero, this is a future goal
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Penelope Fitzgerald
Books read so far: 2/9
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: one (The Bookshop, for the Bibliophilic Books Challenge)
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Richard Ford
Books read so far: 5/10
Books read in 2010: zero
Books I hope to read in 2010: undecided
Books on my TBR shelf: 3

Dick Francis
Books read so far: 4/47
Books read in 2010: two
  1. Second Wind (reviewed here); and
  2. Under Orders.
Books I hope to read in 2010: 2 more
  1. Proof
  2. Shattered
Books on my TBR shelf: 4

Jim Harrison

Books read so far: 20/20 (prose only)
Books read in 2010: one (Farmer's Daughter, reviewed here)
Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
Books on my TBR shelf: zero

Nick Hornby
Books read so far: 5/11
Books read in 2010: 3
  1. The Polysyllabic Spree (reviewed here)
  2. Housekeeping vs. the Dirt
  3. Juliet, Naked (reviewed here)
    Books I hope to read in 2010: one more (Shakespeare Wrote for Money)
    Books on my TBR shelf: 3

    John Lescroart
    Books read so far: 16/17 (Dismus Hardy series and spin offs)
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: one (A Plague of Secrets)
    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    Elinor Lipman
    Books read so far: 4/10
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Then She Found Me)
    Books on my TBR shelf: 2

    David Lodge

    Books read so far: 3/15 (fiction only)
    Books read in 2010: one (Deaf Sentence,reviewed here)
    Books I hope to read in 2010: maybe one more, but I don't know which one
    Books on my TBR shelf: 8

    Ian McEwan

    Books read so far: 5/13
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I do not have any on my TBR shelf
    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    Jack Ohman
    Books read so far: 5/10
    Books read in 2010: one (Angler Management, reviewed here)
    Books I hope to read in 2010: no more

    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    Anthony Powell
    Books read so far: 14/32
    Books read in 2010: one (Venusberg, reviewed here)
    Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
    Books on my TBR shelf: none

    Philip Roth

    Books read so far: 7/30
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: at least one, but I haven't decided which one
    Books on my TBR shelf: 11

    Martin Cruz Smith
    Books read so far: 6/6 (Arkady Renko series only)
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: zero, unless I get my hands on Three Stations
    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    Julia Spencer-Fleming
    Books read so far: 5/7
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: one (I Shall Not Want)
    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    William Styron
    Books read so far: 2/10
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: probably zero
    Books on my TBR shelf: 2

    Anne Tyler
    Books read so far: 4/18
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: one (Breathing Lessons, for my Pulitzer pick for the Battle of the Prizes challenge)
    Books on my TBR shelf: 5

    John Updike
    Books read so far: 10/26
    Books read in 2010: 2
    1. The Witches of Eastwick
    2. The Widows of Eastwick
    Books I hope to read in 2010: no more
    Books on my TBR shelf: 10

    Andrea U'ren
    Books read so far: zero/2
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: hopefully both of them
    Books on my TBR shelf: zero

    Simon Winchester
    Books read so far: 5/16
    Books read in 2010: zero
    Books I hope to read in 2010: two
    1. The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
    2. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded
    Books on my TBR shelf: 2

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