52 Books in 52 Weeks

In 2005, I began an annual meme called “52 Books in 52 Weeks,” wherein one reads at least 52 books in a year and then reports on each. It’s a combination of self-improvement and a recommendation program. Because I will soon start the meme again for 2006, I’ve decided to make a base page to list the year and relevant information (some of which won’t be available until the meme is over).

Each meme will consist of an introductory page that keeps a list of the books I have read for that year, an entry for each book, and then a planned wrap-up post with my thoughts on books selections, favorites, and metadata. This page will reiterate some of that information, as well as links to the introductory page for each year.

2009
Total books read: 25 [as of 30 June 2009]
Total pages read: 7902 [as of 30 June 2009]
Favorite book: TBA
Least favorite book: TBA
2008
Total books read: 69
Total pages read: 25′609
Favorite book: The Raw Shark Texts
Least favorite book: The Da Vinci Code
2007
Total books read: 58
Total pages read: 19′389
Favorite book: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkein
Least favorite book: The Braindead Megaphone, by George Saunders
2006
Total books read: 68
Total pages read: 22′904
Favorite book: Lord of the Barnyard, by Tristan Egolf. For new books, Kornwolf, by Tristan Egolf.
Least favorite book: Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson, tied with A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey.
2005
Total books read: 64
Total pages read: 21′418
Favorite book: America the Book by Jon Stewart & al.
Least favorite book: Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Update: June 30th, 2009
  • May 20th, 2007 at 10:52 | #77268

    Thanks for the inspiration!!! I’ve started and here’s hoping I get through the year with at least 52 books reviewed! Thanks!

  • May 20th, 2007 at 11:33 | #77275

    It’s a bit of a late start, but I think you can do it. My first year doing this meme, I didn’t start until 1 April, and I managed 60 or so reads, so it’s still perfectly doable.

    Welcome to the wonderful world of 52 in 52.

  • Dec 8th, 2008 at 08:35 | #170384

    I know that you use the Now Reading plugin but how did you even come up with this!

    I love how you have the yearly statistics. How would I go about doing that?

  • Dec 8th, 2008 at 11:26 | #170389

    Honestly, I just keep a spreadsheet that can autototal page numbers and such. There’s no web-side magic for that, though I’ve considered trying to write something.

    I know that Rob, the author of the Now Reading plugin, has written a semi-usable plugin that can auto-calculate stats and such, but I don’t think he ever released it publicly, and probably doesn’t have time to work on it anymore.

  • Robbi
    Mar 16th, 2009 at 12:06 | #174106

    Awesome. I’m totally trying this. I read a lot, but lately I’ve become sucked into the world of TV. This might be just the thing.

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