2009 Inputs

I'm a numbers guy (as many of you know), so I tend to keep track of how many books and plays and movies I take in each year.

Here are my totals for 2009:

Books read:  51 

I have friends who read a lot more books, but this is more than I usually read.  I read dozens that I liked a lot, but a few of my favorites were:

The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak
The Giant's House: A Romance by Elizabeth McCracken
Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese
by Brad Kessler


Plays read:  12

Favorites included:  Breath, Boom by Kia Corthron and The Song of Extinction by E.M. Lewis.

This is a pathetically small number, I know, but I was reading a lot novels and non-fiction instead of plays this year.  In 2010, I plan to read a lot more plays.


Plays and readings watched:  29

I know people who see 100 plays a year, but this was a good amount for me.  (Back in the days before kids, I might see 75 readings and plays a year.)  Favorites included Sleep No More from Punchdrunk and the ART and SpeakEasy's Boston production of Reckless.


Movies watched:  52

Most these were via Netflix.  I didn't see any great movies in 2009, though I liked Up in the Air quite a bit, and was really struck by The Garden.  And I'd highly recommend Iron Ladies of Liberia. We did watch the entire new Battlestar Galactica series, which was tremendous.  And now we're hooked on Veronica Mars (just starting Season 2).


I've got a big pile of books already waiting to be read in 2010 (I just finished Nick Hornby's latest, Juliet, Naked, and liked it quite a bit.)