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I started keeping track of what I read about six or so years ago. It's very interesting to look back and see what you read over time, and how your tastes have and have not changed. I thought I'd post this for anyone who's interested in participating to say what they read this year and what their reading goals are for next year. That gives you most of the month to look at it, or even the beginning of next year.

1. How many books did you read this year?
2. What were the different genres of books and how many of each did you read? If you want to list the different types, here is an outline that you can use if you like, or come up with your own:
Historical romance (Regency, Victorian, Medieval, Viking, Pirate, Traditional Regency, Georgian, Paranormal Historical, etc)
Contemporary romance
Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Interracial Romance
Category Romance (Harlequin, Silhouette, Loveswept, Kimani, etc)
Paranormal Romance (Vampire, Witch, Faery, Werewolf, Other)
Erotica
Mystery
Historical Mystery
Historical Fiction
Chick-Lit
Inspirational Fiction
Urban Fantasy
Fantasy
Horror
Non-Fiction
Literary Fiction
Action/Adventure

If you keep track, you can even classify them by themes such as: Less than perfect, hero in pursuit, fairy tale, virgin hero, Scottish setting, etc.
3. What were the top ten books that you read this year?
4. Were there any books you did not like? Why?
5. What is your top favorite book and why?
6. What are your reading goals for next year?
7. Did you read any books out of your normal routine?
8. Any new genres that you got into this year? What books got you into this type of reading?
9. Who is your favorite new author?
10. Did you glom any authors this year (meaning: read as many of the author's books you could get your hands on)?
11. Favorite hero and why? Has this changed?
12. Favorite heroine and why? Has this changed?
13. Any authors you decided to 'fire'? Why?
14. What was the most unique storyline you read in a book this year?
15. Any book you liked that you were surprised that you liked?
16. Any book you expected to love but were disappointed by?
17. Favorite couple and why? Did this change?

Anything else you want to tell us about your reading this year?

I can't answer all of these questions because I didn't keep track (I average 3 books/week).

I can, however, answer a few of them:

Q 4 and 16: "PS I Love You," by Cecilia Ahern. Argh, what a mess. I honestly believe that if Ahern were not the photogenic daughter of the Irish PM, this book would not have been published. The premise was marvelous, but the book? Ugh. Fortunately, with my favorite actor in the film (Gerard Butler), they brought in other writers and made a movie that was moving and beautiful.

Q3: My two favorites this year were not romances, but memoirs: There are a lot of things to learn about love and compassion in both of these books.

Interesting questions :) I started keeping track of what I read this year for the first time in years. I'll post my responses in the next couple weeks as I finish my reading for 2009

Sharon wrote: "I can't answer all of these questions because I didn't keep track (I average 3 books/week).

I can, however, answer a few of them:

Q 4 and 16: "PS I Love You," by Cecilia Ahern. Argh, what a mes..."


--Thanks for participating, Sharon. I see you're a cat lover. Me too!

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Interesting questions :) I started keeping track of what I read this year for the first time in years. I'll post my responses in the next couple weeks as I finish my reading for 2009"

Sounds good, Flib. I will have to get my information together, so I'll probably post mine around the 1st or the 2nd.

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I see you're a cat lover. Me too! "

I love all animals (our house is not quite like Dr. Doolittle's but it's getting there, LOL -- five cats and three dogs). :-) I particularly loved "Homer's Odyssey" because it made me think about what one might do if one had no idea that some things were impossible. :-)

I'm an animal lover too. Since I was little girl. I'll check those out. Thanks!

I'll give it a try:

1. I read about 80-90 new books
3. My fave books for 2009 are:
Private Arrangements
The Duke of Shadows
A Most Unsuitable Man
England's Perfect Hero
After the Kiss by Joan Johnston
To Beguile A Beast
No Rest for the Wicked & A Hunger Like No Other
Deeper
Branded by Fire
The Leopard Prince
4. My most disliked books were:
To Love a Dark Lord by Anne Stuart and Perfect Sin by Kat Martin.
5. My favorite book is The Dangerous Gentleman by Julia London, followed closely by The Bride Finder by Susan Carroll. However, duke of shadows was probably my best book for this year. I was rendered speechless after reading it:)
6. Buy less books and decrease my TBR list!
7, 8. I think I'm more open to erotica after reading Deeper and I might try a couple of this. Also planning to try out more from the PNR side which I didn't care for until recently.
9. I never thought I'd pick a PNR author, but right now Kresley Cole makes the top of my list with all books of hers, above 3 stars.
10. Kresley Cole, Nalini Singh, Elizabeth Hoyt and
Lorraine Heath.
11. Adrian Spencer from TDG has been my favorite for years but Fitz from A most unsuitable man is vying for this position... I'll have to re-read AMUM to be sure who's the winner:) Judd from Caressed by Ice, Harry from The Leopard Prince and Marcus from After the kiss were my most memorable heroes this year.
12. I really liked Damaris from AMUM.
13. There is something I thought I'd ditch recently, but can't remember her name right now:)
14. The duke of shadows first half, Untouched and Private Arrangements. Completely different from any other book out there.
15. Private Arrangements, because it contained adultery. A hunger like no other because it has werewolves which I thought I disliked and To dance with the devil, because I wasn't impressed with Fantasy Lover and it is PNR.
16. Too many:)
17. Ripley and Mercy, Georgina and Harry, Damaris and Fitz...

Thanks for posting, Fani. You are way ahead of me with this. I am still going to see how the rest of the year goes before I post my recap. I've heard great things about Private Arrangements, but I'm going to skip that one. But I'm glad it made your favorites list. Sad that you didn't like To Love a Dark Lord, but I can respect that it's not for everyone. Kresley Cole and Nalini Singh consistently write excellent paranormal. Two of my faves. Again, thanks for sharing.

Well, I don't think I'm in for excitements until the end of the year:) I'm mainly trying to finish off any series I have unread. But even if I run into something great, I figured I just edit my post. Thanks for the chance you gave us to regroup our favorites for the year Danielle!

Thanks for participating, Fani. I think it's a fun exercise.

My favorite romance read this year:

Disclosure: Jaimey Grant and I became friends when we both entered a writing contest (neither of us placed, LOL). She asked me to review one of her books. I told her that I didn't read romance anymore, but that I would give it a try for her. (I don't remember whether I posted this in another forum. Mea culpa; I'm getting older.)

Well.

I liked her book. I cared about the characters. I *cried.* I read two more of her books, and this one is my favorite. Jaimey writes "clean romance," focused on the Regency period. Her work is well-researched, and her characters are interesting.

Jaimey is a GR friend of mine. I do intend to read her books. They sound very intriguing. Thanks for the reminder to pick this one up, Sharon.

Oh my Danielle Lets see
In June I set a goal to reach 100 books on my Read shelf by September. I was on 87 Read at the time. I did it and then some as of today my shelf had 183 books read!!!!

I found my favorites as of late have been
Romance
PNR
Erotica (so far I have only read 4 of them)
YA

Top reads from this year are
Soulless



Belinda

Perfect Chemisty

Shiver

Private Arrangements

The BDB Series

The Bridgerton Series

Book that I did not like at all

book I was disappointed in
and Echo in the Bone



Couple of all time for me is still Jamie and Claire Fraser Outlander.

So many books I am looking forward to that are coming out in 2010.

:-)

I have read Perfect Chemistry out of your list. Could not agree with you more! What a lovely book. I'm trying to get everyone to read it.

Okay, I'm going to take a crack at answering these questions :)

1. Books read = 267 (I believe)

2. HistRomance (35), ContempRomance (10), RomSusp(2), Interracial(2), Category(3), PNR (49), Erotica(3), Mystery(21), HistFiction(1), ChickLit(18), UF (78), Fantasy (9), Non-Fiction (4), YA(28), Sci-Fi (3)

3. Top ten (ugh!!!) hehehe. Hate to single out. :) I often love entire series for the books mentioned...
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TOo many good books. That was painful to choose ;)

4. Books I didn't like:
and more...

5. My favorite book was probably The Hunger Games. I *love* that series. It just really got me excited :)

6. Reading goals: to read 12 classics, 24 Georgette Heyer books, and to check out more books from the library instead of purchasing them. :)

7. I discovered Historical Romance books this year. I had stayed away from them because I figured they were silly, but Julia Quinn's The Duke And I brought me back into the genre.

8. I went from reading only a few non-fiction books a year for the last couple years to reading on average a book a day. So, most genres were new to me this year :)

9. Favorite new author ... tie between Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas

10. Authors I read as many books as I could get my hands on: Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Katie MacAlister, Jeaniene Frost, Janet Evanovich, MaryJanice Davidson, and Sherry Thomas.

11. Favorite Hero: BONES from Night Huntress series

12. Favorite Heroine: Cat from Night Huntress series

13. Fired authors:
Laurell K Hamilton -- I have so many laughs reading the editing in her books, I will likely read more in the future... We'll see.

14. Unique Storylines:


15. Surprising books:


16. Expected to Love, but Didn't:


17. Favorite Couple: Cat & Bones from Night Huntress series

18. Other things I want to say...Believe it or not, I didn't read any books in January or February 2009, and only one book in March. *gasp* ;)

Wow, Flib. You read a lot of books! Way to go. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you started reading historicals. They are my favorite kinds of romance.

Hehehe. I usually read pretty quickly, and I tend to listen to an audiobook at work. That is how I got so many books squeezed in, I think...

Plus, some of those 267 are really short -- 30-40 page epilogues by Julia Quinn and the LITTLE HOUSE children's series. So, take the number with a grain of salt *wink*

I'm glad I found Historical Romance as well. I always loved historical fiction, so it's fun to read romance-centric versions :)

I guess it's close enough to 2010 that I can accurately answer these questions now.;-)

1. How many books did you read this year?
Looks like my final count is going to be 76, which is 20 more than last year. Woo hoo!

2. What were the different genres of books and how many of each did you read?
Historical Romance - 20
Contemporary Romance - 9
Contemporary Romantic Suspense - 2
Category Romance - 5
Paranormal Romance - 7
Erotic Romance - 4
Historical Mystery - 1
Historical Fiction - 2
Inspirational Fiction - 3
Fantasy - 1
Non-Fiction - 4
Children's Books - 9
Young Adult - 5
Suspense/Thriller - 1
General Fiction - 2

3. What were the top ten books that you read this year?
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4. Were there any books you did not like? Why?

I also read a few novellas in anthologies that I didn't care for. My reasons for not liking them varied.

5. What is your top favorite book and why?

It's really hard to pick just one, but this was a really sweet, tender, emotional romance that I had a hard time putting down.

6. What are your reading goals for next year?
I have too many to list, including lots of reading challenges in the RRRC group. For now I'll just say what I'm doing for the Create Your Own Challenge which is to read the 10 oldest books on my GR TBR list.

7. Did you read any books out of your normal routine?
I don't really have any kind of set reading routine. I usually just read whatever appeals to me. I suppose the only things that were somewhat outside the norm would be the ARC and author requested review books I read.

8. Any new genres that you got into this year? What books got you into this type of reading?
I read my first book each in the Suspense/Thriller, Bangsian Fantasy, and Historical Mystery genres. Since I've only read the one book in each, I don't know that I can say I've become a fan of any of these new genres yet.;-)

9. Who is your favorite new author?
I'd say it's a tie between Elizabeth Hoyt and Kathleen O'Reilly

10. Did you glom any authors this year (meaning: read as many of the author's books you could get your hands on)?
Elizabeth Hoyt
Kathleen O'Reilly
Lorraine Heath
I'm glomming them in that I'm now collecting their books for future reads.

11. Favorite hero and why? Has this changed?
My all-time favorite hero is Jamie Fraser from the Outlander series, which hasn't changed. My favorite new hero that I read this year was Zarek of Moesia from Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

12. Favorite heroine and why? Has this changed?
My all-time favorite heroine is Jane Whitcomb from Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward, which hasn't changed. My favorite new heroine that I read this year was Lizzie Carlise from Devil Takes a Bride by Gaelen Foley.

13. Any authors you decided to 'fire'? Why?
I didn't have any long-time favs or authors I've read a lot of books from that I decided to fire. I did decide not to read any more books by Judith Ivory or Elizabeth Murphy/Una McManus, because the books I read by them this year were simply too irritating and frustrating for me.

14. What was the most unique storyline you read in a book this year?


15. Any book you liked that you were surprised that you liked?

I wasn't entirely shocked that I liked this one, but for a random library sale grab that didn't have very good ratings here on GR, it was incredibly good.

16. Any book you expected to love but were disappointed by?

I expected to at least like this book and ended up having an extreme dislike for it.;-)

17. Favorite couple and why? Did this change?
I haven't previously kept track of my favorite couples, so I can't say that it changed. My favorite couple from this year was Dallas Leigh and Amelia Carson from Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath.

Phew! That was a lot of work putting together my list.;-)

Congrats to you, Julie! Thanks for posting your stats. It sounds like you had a great reading year!

FlibBityFLooB wrote: "Hehehe. I usually read pretty quickly, and I tend to listen to an audiobook at work. That is how I got so many books squeezed in, I think...

Plus, some of those 267 are really short -- 30-40 p..."

--The great thing about the HR is you get the happy ending (or you should, darn it!)

--It's fine to count short reads. I do!

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Congrats to you, Julie! Thanks for posting your stats. It sounds like you had a great reading year!"

Thanks, Danielle. Overall, it was a good year. Thankfully, I think I have a pretty good knack for picking books I'll like, so the bad reads are few and far between, making most years good reading years for me.;-)

How many books did you read this year? 179

What were the different genres of books and how many of each did you read?
Historical romance total: 20
� Victorian: 5
� Regency: 8
� Harlequin Historicals: 9
� Traditional Regency: 1
� Scottish: 3
� Western: 3
� Historical Paranormal: 2
� Medieval: 7
� Love Inspired Historical: 1 (Inspirational Romance: 1)
Contemporary category romance: 30
� Harlequin Presents: 18
� Harlequin Romance: 7
� Silhouette Romance: 3
� Silhouette Desire: 8
Contemporary Romantic Suspense: 4
Paranormal Romance: 52 (most read in a category) Contemporary: 50, Historical: 2 , Silhouette Nocturne: 5
Interracial Romance: 14
Young Adult: 11 (2 Romance, rest horror or fantasy)
Children’s Books: 2 (horror/fantasy)

Various Themes
� Vampire: 25
� Witch: 10
� Wizard/Sorceror/Warlock: 3
� Faery: 7
� Werewolf: 13
� Mythology:
� Greek Mythology: 2
� Norse Mythology: 1
� Demon: 7
� Inspirational Fiction: 1
� Urban Fantasy: 8
� Fantasy: 12
� Horror: 12
� Non-Fiction: 1
� Literary Fiction: 0
� Classic: 2
� Classic Horror: 3

What were the top ten books that you read this year? Arghhh!!! So many good ones. I don’t know if I can list 10. I’ll cheat and just say that all the Ghostwalker books made my best of the year list. Some others:
� Trolling Nights by Savannah J. Frierson
� Lord Loss by Darren Shan
� Taming the Beast by Heather Grothaus
� Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
� Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
� Tempting Faith by Crystal Hubbard
� Dracula by Bram Stoker
� The Lord and the Scorpion by Shiree McCarver
� Sin’s Doorway and Other Ominous Entrances by Manly Wade Wellman
� Mountain Wild by Stacey Kayne
� Cry No More by Linda Howard
� Wolfsbane and Mistletoe by various authors
� Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
� Lover Avenged by JR Ward
� Fire and Ice by Anne Stuart
� Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
� Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles


Were there any books you did not like? Why? I didn’t care for The Sultan’s Bought Bride by Jane Porter (did not like the heroine), and Taming the Texas Tycoon by Katherine Garbera. I thought the hero was a jerk and completely unworthy of the heroine.

What is your top favorite book and why? Probably a tie between Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, and the Ghostwalker books by Christine Feehan. They both blew me away and were hours of wonderful entertainment. I was blessed to have read so many good books this year. It’s really hard to just pick one.

What are your reading goals for next year? To read more books (try to get to 200 again), to read new genres and new authors. To read off my bookshelves and weed out some books I don’t have to keep.

Did you read any books out of your normal routine? I read more classics this year, and a lot more fantasy (big pat on the back).

Any new genres that you got into this year? What books got you into this type of reading? Fantasy. Some short story anthologies got me interested. Also urban fantasy opened the door for me to immerse myself in pure fantasy again after about 20 plus years away from the genre.

Who is your favorite new author? Christine Feehan. I can’t believe I waited so long to read her. She writes some delicious heroes, and I can say that I haven’t read a heroine by her I didn’t like.
Did you glom any authors this year (meaning: read as many of the author's books you could get your hands on)? Christine Feehan-- I read 23 of her books.

Some other new authors that I enjoyed and want to read more of:
� Simone Elkeles
� Rae Lori
� Michael Moorcock
� Olivia Parker
� Savannah J. Frierson
� Shiree McCarver
� Courtney Milan
� Kat Richardson
� Karen Chance
� Darren Shan
� Patricia Briggs
� Lara Adrian
� Ilona Andrews
� Sheri Lewis Wohl
� Georgette Heyer
� JA Konrath
� Rick Riordan
� Stephenie Meyer

Favorite hero and why? Has this changed? My favorite hero is still Sebastian Ballister, the Marquess of Dain. I have added some new favorites such as Rochester from Jane Eyre and William White from Courtney Milan’s story This Wicked Gift, and Garret Daines from Mountain Wild by Stacey Kayne, and Rehv and John Matthew from the Black Dagger Brotherhood, and also all the Ghostwalkers by Christine Feehan, and Edward Cullen from Twilight, and Timothy Capshaw from Trolling Nights.

Favorite heroine and why? Has this changed? My favorite heroine is still Jessica Trent from Lord of Scoundrels, but I’ve met some really great heroines this year such as the Ghostwalker heroines and Drake sisters from Christine Feehan, and Jane Eyre.

Any authors you decided to 'fire'? Why? No authors got fired this year.

What was the most unique storyline you read in a book this year? Lord Loss was very unique and different. It was story that kept me on my toes.

Any book you liked that you were surprised that you liked? I was surprised at how much Jane Eyre resonated with me. I had heard it was a good book, but I found out how much it truly meant to me.

Any book you expected to love but were disappointed by? Not really.

Favorite couple and why? Did this change? My favorite couple is still Dain and Jessica. But I really like the Ghostwalker couples.

Anything else you want to tell us about your reading this year? I am very happy that I got to read so many good books this year. I hope I read even more next year. And thanks Christine Feehan for giving me many hours of enjoyment during a rough year spent mostly on the road and staying in hotel rooms, with your awesome books!!!

Recap of faves from this year:

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I'm slated to read Jane Eyre this month, Danielle. Definitely looking forward to trying to read more classics this year :)

Jane Eyre was a real pleasure. I had to invest myself becaue the language is very old-fashioned. But it's a moving story. I'd like to read more of the Brontes.

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "How many books did you read this year? 179

What were the different genres of books and how many of each did you read?
Historical romance total: 20
� Victorian: 5
� Regency: 8
� Harlequin His..."

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "I started keeping track of what I read about six or so years ago. It's very interesting to look back and see what you read over time, and how your tastes have and have not changed. I thought I'd p..."

oh my! You make my pitiful few like puny.

Not at all, Melissa. It's quality, not quantity. Plus, you probably have a life, unlike me. :)

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Not at all, Melissa. It's quality, not quantity. Plus, you probably have a life, unlike me. :)"

Not really. Just a simply busy one. Jan 2009-Dec 2009 was my final semester in uni and that kept me really busy during uni months. Then i run my own dog sitting/walking business. I'm reading more now since i'm done school and business is really slow. ^^

That will keep you plenty busy. I'm glad you finished school. Congratulations!

Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "That will keep you plenty busy. I'm glad you finished school. Congratulations!"

Thanks ^^ It only took me 5 1/2 years to do it.

What matters is that you did finish it.