Where I’ve been, and where my books came from

I know…you’re thinking, “Hasn’t she spent a whole week now talking about where she’s been?” But it’s not like that, I promise; this is something that my friend Cherie tagged me with on Facebook. You’re supposed to mark all the states you’ve been in with an X, and you can mark the ones where you’ve lived with an O. Airports don’t count! States driven through, or states where you stopped at the visitors’ center or a restaurant while driving through, don’t count either.
I’m going to use italics (where I’ve been) and bold (where I’ve lived) instead of X’s and O’s, but otherwise I’ll follow directions. I was tagged, but feel free to steal this one!

(Re-posted and corrected to fix an error my sister spotted; I’ve now been to Illinois, but I’ve never lived there. Thanks, Teresa!)

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania 
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Washington DC (with luck, I’ll get here next year!)

So, that’s where I’ve been…but where have my books been? Specifically, where were they before they ended up with me?

Marie of The Boston Bibliophile posted a follow-up to her recent “Bloggers and Commercialism” post listing the sources of her last 20 reviewed books; she was curious about the effect not accepting review copies might have on her blog. Lenore found this interesting for another reason too; Julia Keller called it the “extra story” – how a book found its way to your hands – in an article in the Chicago Tribune last Sunday. I’ve noticed this exercise on a few other book blogs lately, so I thought I’d join in. Here are my last 20 reviews, annotated to say where the book came from:

ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes – Year 1 (purchased)
The Uncommon Reader  (purchased)
Gods Behaving Badly (purchased)
Gatsby’s Girl  (purchased)
Never Let Me Go  (purchased)
Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block
 (review copy, via publicist, received October 2008)
What to Read When: The Books and Stories to Read with Your Child – and All the Best Times to Read Them  (review copy, via publicist)
The Mighty Queens of Freeville (review copy, via publicist)
Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace (review copy/ARC, direct from publisher)
Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family (review copy, via publicist)
The Senator’s Wife  (purchased)
Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl
 
(review copy, via LibraryThing Early Reviewers, received December 2008)
The Laws of Harmony (review copy, via LibraryThing Early Reviewers)
The 19th Wife (review copy, via TLC Book Tours)
Escape (purchased)
The Unit (review copy/ARC, via LibraryThing Early Reviewers)
Certain Girls (purchased)
Fool (purchased)
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (won in a giveaway)
Perfect Life (review copy/ARC, via LibraryThing Early Reviewers)

Summary totals: 10 books from my personal library (I’m counting the giveaway), 4 books via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, 6 review copies from other sources. All but three of the books were reviewed after publication.

Here’s the thing: I started blogging in order to keep record of what I read, and I was at it for nearly a year before I was offered my first review book. If I didn’t accept review books, I’d still read as much, and do at least as many book posts as I do now. It might take me longer to get around to reading some of them, because I’d go back to waiting for the paperbacks, and some of the content might be different, but I don’t think it would change the numbers very much.

Have you done this analysis on your book reviews? How did it turn out?

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4 comments

  1. Kathy (Bermudaonion) – South Carolina was a drive-through, and I couldn't count it :-). But I've always wanted to visit Charleston, so SC has been on my list of places I'd like to visit for a long time…so, you're on! One of these days :-).