2016: The Year In Books

With another year coming to an end, it is time to take a look back at the 31 books I read over the past year, even with last year and tied for my highest total ever, surpassing the 27 books I read back in 1992.  Of those 31, 9 were non-fiction and, of the 22 novels, only 5 were TV show tie-ins.  Only 4 of the books came from the “to-read” drawer, and 8 were e-books.  I read over 11,000 pages, the most in 1 year since 1992 and my second straight year reaching the 9000 mark.

Once again, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I’ve never read before. The 12 authors that I read for the first this year were:
Doug Wilson
Jennie Garth
Emily Heckman
J.K. Rowling
Jen Kirkman
Jack Ketchum
John Dean
Judy Greer
Jenny Lawson
Gary Dell’Abate
Anna Kendrick
Emily V. Gordon

There were 3 authors I read multiple titles from during 2016, the ghost writer for Richard Castle, Jeffery Deaver, and J.K. Rowling.

Only 2 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  Vacations in March, November, and December certainly helped pad their totals a tad bit.

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Book 5 (of 52) – I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself

I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself: Tales From A Happy Life Without Kids - Jen Kirkman

I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself: Tales From A Happy Life Without Kids – Jen Kirkman

After reading comedian Jen Kirkman’s first memoir, I Can Barely Take Care Of Myself, one could get the impression that she doesn’t want to have kids.  While this was obviously the hook that got the book sold, 200 pages of it, while she also claims to not doth protesting too much, gets a little monotonous.  I’ve been a far of Kirkman’s comedy, and, for the most part, I enjoyed her book.  But I would be lying if I said that the continual pounding on the kids issue got a bit overwhelming at times.  And maybe that was her point, as she says she is constantly hounded by people who don’t understand her decision to not procreate.