This year I’ve started keeping a record of the books I’ve read, to get an idea of how many books I read in a month and what type of books I’ve read. This record is an Excel spreadsheet with columns titled:

• Book title
• Author
• Gender of author
• Nationality of author
• Author ethnicity
• Physical or E-book
• Fiction / Non-fiction
• Sub-genre
• Setting country
• Source
• Language
• Copyright year
• Month read

In July I read 10 books and was half-way through two (which I finished by the third day of August). As of today, I have read 27 books this year. That works out to an average of about 4 books a month. Not too bad I’d say. Going by the trends I see on my spreadsheet, I’m reading more non-fiction (24) than fiction (3). Most of the books I’ve read are written by white males (22) and many authors (both male and female) are from the US (16). I need to have more diversity in my reading repertoire. I also think I should read in Chinese, lest I forget the language.

I tend to read more than one book at any one time. For example, right now I’m reading three books. The first book is usually a light paperback which I can put in my handbag and carry around with me. I usually read it in the morning (when there is enough natural light) on the way to work while sitting on the bus. At night when taking the bus home, I will read an e-book on my phone as the sky has turned too dark for me to read the paperback. Before going to bed, I would read another hard copy book which usually tends to be a bit too heavy for me to put in my handbag so I only read it at home.

I’m hoping to read at least 50 books this year. Let’s see if I can hit my target!

If you have any book recommendations, please feel free to drop me a note!