All the Books I've Read. Ever. A summary.

I've read a lot of books. Hundreds. I'm not claiming that they were all of any literary value, because, who cares? It's a book. It's like a movie you read... or sometimes it's like a documentary you read. I like the heavy, meaningful stuff too, but 89% of the time I want to read a book that is either going to make me laugh embarrassingly loud, transport me somewhere else, and draw me so far in that I'm a little depressed when the book is over.

I've always been a reader, as soon as I could read, I was devouring books.

It was the summer when I was 15, however, that I started keeping track. My friend Melissa was volunteering at the public library, I never did anything on summer break, so one day I visited her. She gave me a poster for children to track their reading. It had spaces to read 20 books.

I've always been a lister too, so this appealed to me.

I took the poster home and tacked it to our pantry door.

I obsessively wrote down the title of each finished book. In a couple weeks the spaces were filled, but I continued my list in the blank spaces and on the back.

"You're still keeping track?" Melissa asked me a year later.

Yes, Melissa, if you're reading this. I'm still keeping track. 13 years later.

I read pretty fast. I learned how to speed read in middle school and that was one part of 8th Grade English I will never forget. It proved to be very helpful in college.

All The Books I've Read Ever. A summary.

2001

In 2001 I was a Freshman in High School. I never studied or did my homework or payed attention in class, so I had a lot of time for reading. I read pretty much all day, every day, unless I was figure skating or watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I read 51 books that year, but keep in mind I didn't start keeping track until June 12, 2001.

Mostly I read Young Adult Fiction based off of the WB TV shows of the Time.

That Summer I read the entire Roswell series. Those were the only aliens I wasn't afraid of because they were hot.

I also read Buffy The Vampire Slayer Novels as often as I watched the show. A lot. Too much. I actually memorized one book/episode verbatim. I could act out the whole episode by myself. And I would. A lot.

I was a Buffy The Vampire Slayer quote machine. I don't know if I'll ever completely rid myself of all the facial and verbal expressions I learned from the show.

I read Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya because I had imagined that I would take Honors English. I changed my mind, but I kept the book. I loved that book. I read it in 2 days. (I also kept track for a time of how long it took me to read a book. Usually I read a book a day. Or every other day.)

I read a lot of of books by Lynn Andrews:

Medicine Woman
Star Woman
Crystal Woman

Then I re-read all the Tamora Pierce Books that I read in 8th grade because a new one came out.

That was another odd thing about teen-aged me.

I had a lot of rules. I made them up myself. One rule was that if a new book in a series came out, I had to re-read the entire series right before the new book came out so I would be fresh.

That's how I read the Harry Potter series 8 times. One was for good measure.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry was sad.

Besides that and The Princess Diaries, I read some un-notable Young Adult fiction and dozens of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Novels.

I also read my first Victoria Holt novel that year.

2002
Age 16
Total number of books read that year: 99

The entire Harry Potter series to date so far (Goblet of Fire)

Lots of Buffy books.

The Roswell series again.

A bunch of witchy new-age young adult fiction.

A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks. (Hahahahaha.)

The Mists of Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

The entire Fearless Series to date by Francine Pascal.

Required reading.

A bunch of Victoria Holt Books.

2003
Age 17
Total number of books that year: 81

Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, White Oleander and a lot of Buffy, Fearless and other books I already read and some new ones.

Also, Beloved, by Toni Morrison.

2004
Age 18
Total number of books that year: 50

The Da Vinci Code,  Angels and Demons, Go Ask Alice, Tuck Everlasting and A BUNCH OF BOOKS I READ ALREADY, including the entire Fearless series again. What the hell, 18-year-old self? Did they stop printing new books that year?

I must have been following my must re-read series rule.

2005= 14 Books
2006= 22 Books
2007= 10 Books
2008= 31 Books
2009= 16 Books
2010= 11 Books
2011= 18 Books
2012= 31 Books
2013= 10 Books
2014= 9 books So far....

What have I been reading in the last 9 years?

Reading the Harry Potter series 3 more times.

Finally gave up on ever seeing and end to the Fearless FBI series and began to get embarrassed as a college student hanging round the young adult section.

Every book by Victoria Holt. Twice.

Every book under Victoria Holt's other pen names: Phillippa Carr and Jean Plaidy

Every book by Augusten Burroughs.

Every Book by Mary Stewart.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. More than 5 times.

Brave New World.

Every book by Pam Houston. Cowboys are My Weakness  is really, really good.

I guess I did read The Alchemist. I didn't like it.

You must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oats. Oh. my. good. book.

Adverbs by Daniel Handler. I'm a total fan girl for this writer after that book.

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. So, so, so, so, so good. Don't judge me.

The Road. Meh.

All of Jane Austen's books.

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.

The Hunger Games series and the Divergent series. Yes. And I loved it. All 6 days of reading them.

And that is all the books I read. Ever. That I kept track of. Plus a lot of new age self discovery books.