2017 in review

2017 ended several weeks ago and I have to say, it was a most fruitful year for my reading. Here's a list of all the books I read:

1. Tooth and Nail - Ian Rankin
2. Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb
3. His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
4. Old Man's War - John Scalzi
5. The Ghost Brigades - Scalzi
6. Night Train to Rigel - Timothy Zahn
7. The Last Colony - John Scalzi
8. Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
9. Phule's Company - Robert Asprin
10. Trading in Danger - Elizabeth Moon
11. Shards of Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold
12. Marque and Reprisal - Elizabeth Moon
13. Shotgun Saturday Night - Bill Crider
14. Cursed to Death - Crider
15. To Tame a Land - Louis L'lamour
16. Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold
17. The Warrior's Apprentice - Bujold
18. The Mountains of Mourning - Bujold
19. Pacific Vortex! - Clive Cussler
20. Killing Floor - Lee Child
21. The Mediterranean Caper - Cussler
22. The Prisoner of Zenda - Anthony Hope
23. The Baker's Boy - J.V. Jones
24. Spinneret - Timothy Zahn
25. Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne
26. Devlin's Luck - Patricia Bray
27. Devlin's Honor - Bray
28. A Call to Duty - David Weber, Timothy Zahn
29. Rules of Prey - John Sandford
30. Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan

The good: While I only read four more than what I did last year, I'm more than satisfied with thirty. I'm also pleased with the increase in the number of SF from I believe nine in 2016 to fifteen in 2017. I also like that I read nine SF books in a row because I've never read nine books of any genre in a row before. I usually manage two, sometimes three in a row, but never nine.

Another thing I'm happy with is the variety of books. I read more mysteries and added in some classic lit, thrillers, and even a western. I plan on continuing this trend in the 2018, but that's another post, I suppose.

The bad: All good must have a bad and for me, it was the decline in my fantasy reading. The year before last I read eleven, but could only muster five last year. Even more startling is the the five month gap between the second fantasy book, His Majesty's Dragon, and the third, The Baker's Boy. I had picked up other fantasy books in the interim between the two, but The Baker's Boy was the only one I read to completion. I can honestly say that I have no clue why I went through such a drought but it happened and hopefully I can move on from it.

2017 also marks the last year that I'm focusing on the quantity of books read. I originally did it because I just wanted to track how many I could read in a year and after more than doubling in 2016 what I read in 2015, I wanted to see if I could go further. I did and I'm realistic enough to recognize that thirty books is probably my limit. I still plan on keeping track of what I read, but I'm not shooting for a specific total.

Instead, I'm going to focus on the quality of what I read and try to broaden my horizons, but that's another post for another day.