reading meme!
Dec. 31st, 2013 04:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silverflight8I stole this from cloudsinvenice without asking so you should go read her entry first --> http://cloudsinvenice.livejournal.com/43998.html.
==
1. How many books did you read this year?
I finished 38 books :(
a) fic
b) time
I should run a regression on how many books I read:
books = α + β1(hours at work) + β2(hours of other work) + β3(words of fic read) + β4(number of visits to library) + ε
alpha is clearly > 0.
β1(hours at work) < 0 because I can't read at work
β2(hours of [things I have to do]) < 0 also.
β3(ln(words of fic read)) < 0, because more fic = less novels
β4(number of visits to library) > 0 because more visits to library = more books read
I suspect that β2(hours of other work) has the greatest impact, honestly. Significant! Very significant! Also, I'm debating "β5" which would stand for the time I'm spending reading Les Mis because it's consumed half my reading time and I am still 49% through it, according to Moon+ reader (Marius has only just joined les amis de l'ABC).
I am really actually tempted to do this. I can run a regression pretty easily, I can see how many pages of books (I don't think "# of books read" would be as informative) I read a week, compile a couple weeks' worth of data, and stuff it into Excel (no more STATA, boo). Then kapow! Actual numbers instead of alphas and betas everywhere.
Except, of course, omitted variable bias...but whatever. I can't be bothered to use 2SLS or IV.
ANYWAY.
2. Fiction to Non-Fiction Ratio?
I generally include only fiction, but I did include Freakonomics by Levitt this time.
3. Male/Female authors?
17 single works by female authors
18 single works by male authors (...ten of which were Garth Nix but anyway)
2 which were written by men and women together
1 which was written by multiple people--some anonymous but most likely men (collection of medieval fabliaux)
4. Books by People of Color?
I have no idea...?
5. Books in translation/a second language?
I'm still in the midst of Les Miserables but it's not on the list because I'm not done. So it doesn't count. Er, the fabliaux I guess. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
6. How many were borrowed from the library?
All but Siddhartha (borrowed from a friend) and Freakonomics, borrowed from my mother.
7. Oldest book?
Fabliaux for sure.
8. Newest book?
I gather that Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons is the most recent? Although I'm halfway through Kate Elliott's Cold Steel (summer 2013) but I'm not done :(
9. Longest book title?
A Natural History of Dragons I think.
10. Shortest book title?
Aenir by Garth Nix.
11. Most by any one author?
Eight by Garth Nix /o\
12. Favorites?
*Among Others by Jo Walton (historical/modernish)
*Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (mythology? historical?)
*The Thief by Megan Whalen-Turner (fantasy)
*Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman (fantasy)
13. Least Favorite?
I generally ditch books I hated (DNF with great prejudice!) so that Agatha H and the Airship novel (terribad) doesn't count. Guns of Avalon (confusing and uneven). Lots of really good books this year.
14. How many were rereads?
Quite a few, actually, especially like the six books that comprise The Seventh Tower.
15. Favorite character?
This is an impossible question.
16. Favorite scene?
The one where Lewis titledrops Till We Have Faces. That was amazing.
17. Favourite quote?
Ditto.
18. Most inspirational in terms of your own writing?
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. I really liked the Ludovician and other thought sharks, and I enjoy the way he layers description. Lewis' is my favourite but he is out of my league. And I think my own journaling is way too close to Mori Phelps' (Among Others) to be inspirational; it was a bit strange actually.
19. Which would you read again?
I reread a lot. Most of them I would quite willingly reread. Most are because I thought they were meh (e.g. Agents of Change, as much as I wanted to like it), or because I didn't like them much (Spindle's End's ending).
==
(If you want to do this meme, here's a little textbox.)
==
1. How many books did you read this year?
I finished 38 books :(
a) fic
b) time
I should run a regression on how many books I read:
books = α + β1(hours at work) + β2(hours of other work) + β3(words of fic read) + β4(number of visits to library) + ε
alpha is clearly > 0.
β1(hours at work) < 0 because I can't read at work
β2(hours of [things I have to do]) < 0 also.
β3(ln(words of fic read)) < 0, because more fic = less novels
β4(number of visits to library) > 0 because more visits to library = more books read
I suspect that β2(hours of other work) has the greatest impact, honestly. Significant! Very significant! Also, I'm debating "β5" which would stand for the time I'm spending reading Les Mis because it's consumed half my reading time and I am still 49% through it, according to Moon+ reader (Marius has only just joined les amis de l'ABC).
I am really actually tempted to do this. I can run a regression pretty easily, I can see how many pages of books (I don't think "# of books read" would be as informative) I read a week, compile a couple weeks' worth of data, and stuff it into Excel (no more STATA, boo). Then kapow! Actual numbers instead of alphas and betas everywhere.
Except, of course, omitted variable bias...but whatever. I can't be bothered to use 2SLS or IV.
ANYWAY.
2. Fiction to Non-Fiction Ratio?
I generally include only fiction, but I did include Freakonomics by Levitt this time.
3. Male/Female authors?
17 single works by female authors
18 single works by male authors (...ten of which were Garth Nix but anyway)
2 which were written by men and women together
1 which was written by multiple people--some anonymous but most likely men (collection of medieval fabliaux)
4. Books by People of Color?
I have no idea...?
5. Books in translation/a second language?
I'm still in the midst of Les Miserables but it's not on the list because I'm not done. So it doesn't count. Er, the fabliaux I guess. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
6. How many were borrowed from the library?
All but Siddhartha (borrowed from a friend) and Freakonomics, borrowed from my mother.
7. Oldest book?
Fabliaux for sure.
8. Newest book?
I gather that Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons is the most recent? Although I'm halfway through Kate Elliott's Cold Steel (summer 2013) but I'm not done :(
9. Longest book title?
A Natural History of Dragons I think.
10. Shortest book title?
Aenir by Garth Nix.
11. Most by any one author?
Eight by Garth Nix /o\
12. Favorites?
*Among Others by Jo Walton (historical/modernish)
*Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (mythology? historical?)
*The Thief by Megan Whalen-Turner (fantasy)
*Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman (fantasy)
13. Least Favorite?
I generally ditch books I hated (DNF with great prejudice!) so that Agatha H and the Airship novel (terribad) doesn't count. Guns of Avalon (confusing and uneven). Lots of really good books this year.
14. How many were rereads?
Quite a few, actually, especially like the six books that comprise The Seventh Tower.
15. Favorite character?
This is an impossible question.
16. Favorite scene?
The one where Lewis titledrops Till We Have Faces. That was amazing.
17. Favourite quote?
Ditto.
18. Most inspirational in terms of your own writing?
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall. I really liked the Ludovician and other thought sharks, and I enjoy the way he layers description. Lewis' is my favourite but he is out of my league. And I think my own journaling is way too close to Mori Phelps' (Among Others) to be inspirational; it was a bit strange actually.
19. Which would you read again?
I reread a lot. Most of them I would quite willingly reread. Most are because I thought they were meh (e.g. Agents of Change, as much as I wanted to like it), or because I didn't like them much (Spindle's End's ending).
==
(If you want to do this meme, here's a little textbox.)
