I’ve been looking forward to this day for a while. What started in 2011 as a blog to share book summaries from my seminary days has turned into a broader outlet for my (very) eclectic reading habits.
This morning’s review of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind marked the 1,000th book review on this site—reviews of both fiction and nonfiction books from both Christian and secular viewpoints for both children and adults. Whew!
A Few Snapshot Stats:
- Overall, I’ve averaged 6.3 reviews per month, but have done 9.7 reviews per month since 2021. Thank you, COVID.
- I’ve reviewed 471 books published between 2001-2023; 502 from 1901-2000; and 27 from 1900 or earlier.
- My Fiction reviews slightly outnumber Nonfiction reviews 510-490, while Secular books outnumbering Christian books 529-491. What I consider books for adults outnumber books for children 801-199, which surprises even me!
- There are only 12 years of publication between 1900-2023 that I’ve never reviewed: 1901, ’12, ’16, ’17, ’23, ’24, ’25, ’27, ’28, ’30, ’44. These years are now on my bucket list, but it’s hard finding great books published during Great Depressions and even greater World Wars! Do you have any recommendations??
- My five most popular reviews ranked in order are:
Spiritual Leadership (2001)
The Return of the Gods (2022)
His Needs, Her Needs (1986)
How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth (1982)
The Celebration of Discipline (1978).
The Most popular novel review is James Michener’s Hawaii (1959).
Why Do I Keep Reading and Reviewing?
I suppose a more important discussion than just the numbers would be the reasons for reading and reviewing. If I were to generalize an answer, it would go a little something like this…
Reading books requires attention but reviewing them requires both attention and intentionality. I employ “marginalia” whenever I read, highlighting passages, taking notes, bending pages, etc. Doing so helps me interact with what I’m reading, no matter the genre, which allows for introspection, conversation, and thus meatier reviews.
I hate putting a book down and forgetting what I’ve read—but with 1,000 posts behind me, I feel like I’ll always be able to recall most of the wonderful and the horrible books I’ve consumed. It’s a habit I’ve developed, but honestly anyone can do it!
You might also be wondering, What have I learned from all of this reading? Well, that’s honestly what the reviews themselves are all about, so peruse what sounds interesting and go check them out!
Until the next 100 (or 1,000) are behind me…happy reading!
©2023 E.T.
See Also…
Congratulations on your 1000th review, and have fun and good luck with further reading!
As for the years you are still missing, I have a few reading tips (the links go to my reviews; they are in Dutch, but Google Translate may be able to help you; the books without a link I read before I started my weblog):
1901: Buddenbrooks – Thomas Mann, an interesting family history (https://monalisaleest.wordpress.com/2015/07/25/de-buddenbrooks-verval-van-een-familie-thomas-mann/)
1912: The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett, a children’s book with beautiful drawings and an absolute must-read (https://monalisaleest.wordpress.com/2022/08/01/de-geheime-tuin-frances-hodgson-burnett- illustrations-inga-moore/)
1916: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce, a kind of autobiography, not a simple book but a lot easier to understand/comprehend than his Ulysses
1923: Call to Arms – Lu Xun, a collection of beautiful and well-written short stories
1924: Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann again, a big pill with a philosophical slant, difficult but worth it and
1925: The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite classics (https://monalisaleest.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/the-great-gatsby-f-scott-fitzgerald/).
Another great little book is Night Flight by Antione de Saint-Exupéry (https://monalisaleest.wordpress.com/2016/09/12/nachtvlucht-antoine-de-saint-exuperie/); I thought that was from 1930, but it was only published in 1931 😉
Thank you and thank you! I’ll have to check some of these out!