It’s been a fantastic year, especially in my reading life! Here’s a little wrap-up of this year’s choices. For more information, feel free to visit my GoodReads site.
*Thank you to The Perpetual Page-Turner and Aesop to Oz for the questions!
How Many Books Read in 2011?
92
Fiction/Non-Fiction?
73 Fiction/19 Non-Fiction
Male/Female Authors?
22 Male/67 Female (this is definitely conscious – I seek out female voices, especially forgotten/under-appreciated female authors in the canon/classics genre)
Oldest Book Read?
The Merry Wives of Windsor, published 1602, believed to have been written prior to 1597
Newest Book Read?
I’ve read tons of books released in 2011.
Longest Book Read?
Skippy Dies (and I really had to force myself to finish that one . . . I hate leaving a book without finishing it, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite)
Shortest Book Read?
Probably a tie between the various plays . . . let’s go with A Streetcar Named Desire
Best Book You Read in 2011:
I refuse to choose!
Most Disappointing Book/Book You Wish You Loved More Than You Did?
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing (I love the Thursday Next series, but this latest installment was just not up to the usual caliber)
Most Surprising (in a good way!) Book of 2011?
A Visit From The Goon Squad (normally I hate this kind of post-modern fiction, but this just worked somehow!)
Book You Recommended to People Most in 2011?
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks . . . a YA novel that is also fantastic for adults. A strong, female heroine who embodies post-modern feminism realistically in a book with a strong plot that avoids the didactic lecturing typical of similar ‘coming-of-age’ novels.
Best Series You Discovered in 2011?
All Souls Trilogy, A Discovery of Witches (let’s hope that Harkness follows through with the next two!)
Best Book That Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone or Was a New Genre For You?
Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War (in the past, it has been difficult for me to read about the kind of oppression and violence described in memoirs like this, but I’m so glad that I opened myself up!)
Most Thrilling Book in 2011?
We Have Always Lived in The Castle (this novel evokes the fear and pain of the main characters so sharply in the reader)
Book You Most Anticipated in 2011?
I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Lives of Girls Around the World (I loved The Vagina Monologues, and Ensler’s newest didn’t disappoint!)
Favorite Cover of a Book You Read in 2011?
The Borrower (and I loved the book as well, even though it got poor reviews!)
Most Memorable Character in 2011?
Frankie Landau-Banks (she’s the 15-year-old we all wish we could have been!)
Most Beautifully Written Book Read in 2011?
The Night Circus (just such a delicate, complex story with beautiful description)
Book That Had The Greatest Impact On You in 2011?
Big, Big Love, Revised: A Sex and Relationships Guide for People of Size (This is just an amazing body-positivity book for us overweight ladies!)
Book You Can’t Believe You Waited UNTIL 2011 To Finally Read?
The Bell Jar (I mean, I’m a feminist, I’m passionate about society’s impact on mental health – come on!)
Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2011?
“You were young, I thought, not once but always before, always always, every day before the day just passed. You were young only minutes ago.” – The Coffins of Little Hope
“There is no wrong way to have a body.” – Glenn Marla, performance artist, quoted in Big, Big Love
“If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust, the wicked people would have it all their own way; they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but grow worse and worse.” – Jane Eyre
(I was so never going to pick just one . . . )
Book That You Read In 2011 That You Would Be Most Likely To Reread In 2012?
She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems (beautiful collection of classic and contemporary poems, edited by Caroline Kennedy)
Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About?
Every single essay in Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape
One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2011 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2012?
I don’t know about ‘number one priority,’ but I already have Austen’s Love and Freindship (yes, the misspelling is intentional) at the ready.
Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2012?
Seriously, the Discovery of Witches sequels.
Half-Way to a Mid-Life Crisis 
1. I love that picture you have at the top and 2. this is an awesome survey. I may have to steal it. : )
good idea im gonna try it
Thank you! I found the picture on Pinterest.com, and I linked to the original surveys which are a little bit different!