>Survey Says....

>The results from the Favorites of 2007 Survey have been compiled. As I did last year, I found the results surprising and interesting. A total of 12 different people replied, although not all completed every question.

1. Favorite Fiction Read in 2007 (12 responses)

- Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince & The A-List series.

- Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. I loved Ishiguro’s take on a science-fiction topic — who would have thought a book about clones would be so beautiful?

- Is it too trite to say Margaret Mitchell’s GONE WITH THE WIND? I was so, so surprised by it, not expecting to like it anywhere near as much as I did.

- Of Human Bondage, Somerset Maugham

- The Oasis

- A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

- Goldberg: Variations by Gabriel Josipovici – A favourite because it expanded my ideas of what fiction could be.

- The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield

- Spook Country, William Gibson

- The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy

2. Favorite Non-Fiction Book Read in 2007 (11 responses)

- James Boswell’s Life of Johnson. This biography captured not only Johnson, but the 18C wonderfully well.

- That’s a really, really tough one, but I think Rose Macaulay’s PLEASURE OF RUINS just squeaks by (by a hair) Vicki Constantine Croke’s THE LADY AND THE PANDA.

- The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

- Light on the Hill, by William D Snider

- Black Dog of Fate, Peter Balakian

- Demons and the Making of the Monk by David Brakke – A well-written, excellently researched, entertaining book about spiritual warfare — often literally. Who could not love a book that combined philosophy with monks and demons duking it on a monastery terrace or at the bottom of a well in the desert?

- Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters

- The Wild White Swan by Jiyu-Kennett

- Fathers and Sons, Alexander Waugh

3. Favorite Author Read for the first time in 2007 (11 responses)

- Stephenie Meyer & Zoey Dean

- Gabriel Josipovici. Goldberg: Variations was an amazing novel.

- Armistead Maupin, no question or tough choices there.

- Richard Dawkins

- Wilson Crawford

- Khaled Hosseini

- David Treuer – His book enthralled me from start to finish. Outstanding. It was hard not to give his book to the top spot in “favourite fiction”.

- Neil Gaiman

- Richard Morgan

- John Galsworthy

4. How many books did you read this year? (11 responses)

<10 0% (0)

<25 9.1% (1)

<50 27.3% (3)

<100 54.5% (6)

I was suppose
to be counting? 9.1% (1)

Books? 0% (0)

5. Favorite Daily Read (11 responses)

- Time & Nylon magazines, Stephanie Meyer, & perezhilton.com

- Tales from the Reading Room. The blog is always smart and the blogger always gracious.

- Ian’s Blog. I’m biased. He’s my brother, and it’s a great way to keep up with each other, as we each lead such busy lives. But I know I’d read him everyday, even if he weren’t my brother, because he’s just so damn funny and such a talented writer.

- A Fraternity Of Dreamers Kookiejar discusses books and pop culture…what’s not to love?

- http://progresscity.michaelcrawford.com/

- That’s a hard choice, but probably Dovegrey Reader Scribbles.

- The Sharp Side I am guaranteed to learn something new, whether it’s an “outmoded” author or a political issue overlooked by the media, and it’s always told in the most spirited, engaging manner. Excellent stuff.

- Fraternity of Dreamers It’s a favorite because I can count on her to post every day, because she post a lot of interesting tidbits besides just her book reviews, and because she’s funny and smart.

- Very unfair to pick one but I’ve learned more from Achelois than almost any other blog – always funny and often challenging.

- Telecommuter Talk – with QC Report a close second, this post in particular. Both make me laugh and brighten my day.

6. I like to read blogs about…. (10 responses)

- The book industry 20% (2)

- Soon to be published books 40% (4)

- Literary Criticism 50% (5)

- Reviews of Books read 70% (7)

- Blogs that summarize and
link to other posts 20% (2)

- Reviews printed in newspapers first 0% (0)

- Some book news and reviews, but
other topics too 80% (8)

- Other (specific answers below) 30% (3)
**Cooking and recipes
**life, parenting, music, politics
**Whatever my favourite bloggers write about

7. Favorite Commenter (9 responses)

- Danielle, A Work in Progress. She asks great questions and makes great observations.

- Mandarine

- Jenclair, from A Garden Carried in the Pocket

- Stefanie at So Many Books

- Sylvia, from A Classical Bookworm – she’s never afraid of challenging my views.

- Litlove, at Tales from the Reading Room. Her comments are insightful on other people’s blogs, but I especially love the comment conversations on her blog.

- God! That one’s too difficult.

- Emily, who lured me into this whole blogging thing in the first place.

8. How often do you post to your blog? (9 responses)
- Every Day 11.1% (1)

- 1-2 Times/Week 22.2% (2)

- 3-5 Times/Week 33.3% (3)

- A few times a month 0.0% (0)

- Infrequently 0.0% (0)

- Whenever I have something to say 33.3% (3)

9.Favorite Reading Meme or Challenge (7 responses)

- The Outmoded Authors challenge received 3 votes. Comments included:

I’ve really enjoyed which is getting me to read authors that are new to me

So far I have loved everything I picked up; and the posts by other bloggers completing the challenge are inspiring me to so many other authors too.

- TBR Challenge

- Russian Reading Challenge (but I guess that one doesn’t count for 2007 yet. ) In 2007 I didn’t participate in any challenges.

- The Great Imperative Meme

- The songs we sing meme

10. How has blogging changed the way you read this year? (# of books, type, etc.) (7 responses)

- I have read more books than ever before because blogs keep me focused a bit more on reading than I was before.

- I read more carefully, always mindful that I might want to post about the books I’m reading, which I didn’t used to do, paying attention to quotable material. Blogging hasn’t changed the number of books I actually read, but it’s certainly changed the number of books I add to my TBR list.

- I’m reading more authors from other countries.

- I guess for me it’s the other way around: reading changed the way I blog! I started a separate litblog this year besides my already existing blog. I wanted to blog about books and reading, my one lifelong passion.

- I’ve begun to search for and read Jamaican novelists for the first time! I’m very pleased about that.

- I’ve gone out and bought at least one book I wouldn’t otherwise have.

- It has broadened my reading, and encouraged me to read more critically.

Thanks to all –whether identified or not — who completed the survey.

The Participants (who identified themselves in blog comments):

Dorothy W., Of Books and Bicycles
Emily, Telecommuter Talk
Myrthe, The Armenian Odar Reads
Dewey, The Hidden Side of the Leaf
Imani, The Book of My Numberless Dreams