This is probably going to do HORRIBLE things to your data, because I spend 40 hours a week in the library AND they unwisely put me in charge of the donations/sale books, and for the record I paid new book prices for exactly none of these: they were all either borrowed, bought used, or being given away. But here are the last 50/3 months worth from my Goodreads tracking, in reverse chronological order. (...I can do the other 125 for the year, if you want....)
1. saw it on the withdrawn shelf on the library where I work, knew it was on a topic I'm interested in and looked like a quick read 2. somebody placed it on hold at the library and it's full of pictures of ADORABLE BABY SLOTHS so I took my break and looked at all the ADORBALE BABY SLOTHS before I sent it out on the hold. 3. Part of a comic series that came highly recommended by The Internet in general and multiple friends in particular so I'm trying to read it through 4. Picked it up from my industry friend's magic Box of Free Comics, thinking I would give it away as a charity Christmas gift; sister read it before I got a chance to and said it was good and kid-appropriate but it also ended on a cliffhanger, which is too cruel for a kid who may never get the next book, so I read it myself to verify, and ended up keeping it. 5. I was crashing out at an overnight party and it was eye-level on my friend's bookshelf while I was trying to get to sleep and had cute cats on the spine 6. it was donated to the library where I work and I used to read the comic it's based on back when it was in the funny papers, so I read it before putting it out for sale 7. Another one in that comic series from #3 8. Have been reading the author's blog since way back when she was just posting fantasy art to Elfwood, read her books whenever I find them. 9. Different comics series that came highly recommended by the Internet In General And Friends In Particular 10. Was helping industry friend sort Magic Box of Free Comics and she said any comic in this series were really good and she wanted them for herself; also the writer used to post on a message board I was on and he was really nice, so I checked them out from the library. 11-12. See # 10, same series. 13. Patron returned it at the library and said it was good and it looked like something I'd like so I read it. 14. See # 8, same series 15. Saw it on the withdrawn shelf at the library, realised it was by somebody I knew and admired in passing from online fandom, thumbed through it and realized it contained an essay about an online event that we both took part in, could not resist morbid curiosity 16. Came in on the donations cart at work, by a writer/author who is an acknowledged master of comics but I had never gotten around to reading anything by. Also about angsty gay WWII soldiers so could not pass up. 17-18. see #10, same series 19. Came in as a donation at work and looked awesomely bad in an interestingly vintage way 20. On the withdrawn cart at work, drawn/written by an artist whose animation work I really admire and about a character I've been meaning to check in on for about five years. 21-22. See #10, same series. 23-26. Someone on my DW reading list was really enthusiatic about the series and I was intrigued by the titles, and then I got assigned them for Yuletide due to reckless fandom-offering habits. (Not on Goodreads yet for secrecy-related reasons) 27. The author was interviewed on a podcast I really like, and the book sounded relevant to a fanfic I was thinking about writing. 28. It was my lunch break, I didn't have anything else to read, and it's a comic with a young black girl fighting evil on the cover, and pretty much every comic I've tried with a girl or woman of color fighting evil on the cover has been worth picking up. 29-30. More in the comic series from #3 31. Another picture book that had too many cute animals on the cover. 32. I wanted to test out my library's eaudiobook loans, and this one was available in the right format, fairly short, and looked interesting. 33. I bought it at a used book sale because it's part of a series put out by the Brooklyn Botantical Gardens that has always had good stuff, and started reading it in the car on the way home because i'd forgotten to bring a book to read with me; later discovered that one of the authors was a character in a historical novel I'd read earlier in the year, which was cool 34. Tie-in comic to a movie I'd recently seen and enjoyed 35. State Park rangers were giving them out free at the State Fair & on a topic I'm interested in 36. Was on the new display at work for two months and nobody checked it out even though there was an adorable snake on the cover; took pity on the poor snake 37. See #34, same series 38. Ultra-regional field guide I used on a Nature Adventure I went on 39. Book I bought at a used book sale thinking my archeologist sister might want it; she didn't but I ended up needing it for fic research anyway 40. Yet another series of comics recommended to me by The Internet In General And Friends In Particular 41. Bought at a thrift store because it looked cool and was on a topic I'm interested in 42-43. See #40, same series 44. Instruction book for a craft that my ten-year-old cousin got me started on at a boring family event 45. See #40, same series 46. Donation at work, it looked like a quick read and I needed something pretty but brainless 47. Have been trying to teach myself this topic for years, and failing, so when I turned up a kids' book from the 50s (back when kids' science books were actually relatively rigorous) I decided I needed it. 48. Another book that was recommended in the podcast from #27 49. A little girl at work really wants to read this series in order but the library is missing a bunch of them so I've been buying them when I find them used and I thought I'd read one before I passed it on. 50. It had a bare-chested teenage Joe Hardy being nonconsensually tattooed by a burly bearded pirate on the cover, I had to find out WTF was going on (for the record, reading it did not help)
And just for fun, here are the ones from this year that I started, then gave up on (which are on Goodreads under 'to-read' even though I'm probably never going to bother to finish them.)
1. Annotated version of a classic book I love, but the annotations were just... not very interesting or insightful (I keep picking up "The Annotated X" books because I loved Martin Gardner's annotated Lewis Carrolls, but none of the others have ever measured up.) 2. Part of a read-along book club for the library's social media, but SO TEDIOUS that I barely made it through the first couple of chapters before the readalong was over 3. Picked it up thinking it would be about short stories/drabbles etc. but turned out to be by a dude who thinks Twitter is just SO AMAZING; would probably have finished reading as some of the writing advice was pretty good, but got tired of the misogynist microaggressions in his examples 4. A book of drawing exercises that looked like it would help me practice, but really should never been bought by a library since it was designed for you to draw IN the book. (If I owned a copy of this that I could draw in, I'd probably enjoy it a lot) 5. Book that was recommend by my uncle, whose taste is exactly the opposite of mine, but since it's by J. K. Rowling I thought it might be good anyway and that way we could talk about something other than avoiding politics; it was okay but I had a busy couple weeks and had to return it to the library before I was more than a couple chapters in, and didn't care enough to get it back out.
...based on that, if you want me to read your book, you should a) be somebody I know from the internet (you got that one!); b) put adorable animals on the cover; c) donate it to your local library
no subject
1. saw it on the withdrawn shelf on the library where I work, knew it was on a topic I'm interested in and looked like a quick read
2. somebody placed it on hold at the library and it's full of pictures of ADORABLE BABY SLOTHS so I took my break and looked at all the ADORBALE BABY SLOTHS before I sent it out on the hold.
3. Part of a comic series that came highly recommended by The Internet in general and multiple friends in particular so I'm trying to read it through
4. Picked it up from my industry friend's magic Box of Free Comics, thinking I would give it away as a charity Christmas gift; sister read it before I got a chance to and said it was good and kid-appropriate but it also ended on a cliffhanger, which is too cruel for a kid who may never get the next book, so I read it myself to verify, and ended up keeping it.
5. I was crashing out at an overnight party and it was eye-level on my friend's bookshelf while I was trying to get to sleep and had cute cats on the spine
6. it was donated to the library where I work and I used to read the comic it's based on back when it was in the funny papers, so I read it before putting it out for sale
7. Another one in that comic series from #3
8. Have been reading the author's blog since way back when she was just posting fantasy art to Elfwood, read her books whenever I find them.
9. Different comics series that came highly recommended by the Internet In General And Friends In Particular
10. Was helping industry friend sort Magic Box of Free Comics and she said any comic in this series were really good and she wanted them for herself; also the writer used to post on a message board I was on and he was really nice, so I checked them out from the library.
11-12. See # 10, same series.
13. Patron returned it at the library and said it was good and it looked like something I'd like so I read it.
14. See # 8, same series
15. Saw it on the withdrawn shelf at the library, realised it was by somebody I knew and admired in passing from online fandom, thumbed through it and realized it contained an essay about an online event that we both took part in, could not resist morbid curiosity
16. Came in on the donations cart at work, by a writer/author who is an acknowledged master of comics but I had never gotten around to reading anything by. Also about angsty gay WWII soldiers so could not pass up.
17-18. see #10, same series
19. Came in as a donation at work and looked awesomely bad in an interestingly vintage way
20. On the withdrawn cart at work, drawn/written by an artist whose animation work I really admire and about a character I've been meaning to check in on for about five years.
21-22. See #10, same series.
23-26. Someone on my DW reading list was really enthusiatic about the series and I was intrigued by the titles, and then I got assigned them for Yuletide due to reckless fandom-offering habits. (Not on Goodreads yet for secrecy-related reasons)
27. The author was interviewed on a podcast I really like, and the book sounded relevant to a fanfic I was thinking about writing.
28. It was my lunch break, I didn't have anything else to read, and it's a comic with a young black girl fighting evil on the cover, and pretty much every comic I've tried with a girl or woman of color fighting evil on the cover has been worth picking up.
29-30. More in the comic series from #3
31. Another picture book that had too many cute animals on the cover.
32. I wanted to test out my library's eaudiobook loans, and this one was available in the right format, fairly short, and looked interesting.
33. I bought it at a used book sale because it's part of a series put out by the Brooklyn Botantical Gardens that has always had good stuff, and started reading it in the car on the way home because i'd forgotten to bring a book to read with me; later discovered that one of the authors was a character in a historical novel I'd read earlier in the year, which was cool
34. Tie-in comic to a movie I'd recently seen and enjoyed
35. State Park rangers were giving them out free at the State Fair & on a topic I'm interested in
36. Was on the new display at work for two months and nobody checked it out even though there was an adorable snake on the cover; took pity on the poor snake
37. See #34, same series
38. Ultra-regional field guide I used on a Nature Adventure I went on
39. Book I bought at a used book sale thinking my archeologist sister might want it; she didn't but I ended up needing it for fic research anyway
40. Yet another series of comics recommended to me by The Internet In General And Friends In Particular
41. Bought at a thrift store because it looked cool and was on a topic I'm interested in
42-43. See #40, same series
44. Instruction book for a craft that my ten-year-old cousin got me started on at a boring family event
45. See #40, same series
46. Donation at work, it looked like a quick read and I needed something pretty but brainless
47. Have been trying to teach myself this topic for years, and failing, so when I turned up a kids' book from the 50s (back when kids' science books were actually relatively rigorous) I decided I needed it.
48. Another book that was recommended in the podcast from #27
49. A little girl at work really wants to read this series in order but the library is missing a bunch of them so I've been buying them when I find them used and I thought I'd read one before I passed it on.
50. It had a bare-chested teenage Joe Hardy being nonconsensually tattooed by a burly bearded pirate on the cover, I had to find out WTF was going on (for the record, reading it did not help)
And just for fun, here are the ones from this year that I started, then gave up on (which are on Goodreads under 'to-read' even though I'm probably never going to bother to finish them.)
1. Annotated version of a classic book I love, but the annotations were just... not very interesting or insightful (I keep picking up "The Annotated X" books because I loved Martin Gardner's annotated Lewis Carrolls, but none of the others have ever measured up.)
2. Part of a read-along book club for the library's social media, but SO TEDIOUS that I barely made it through the first couple of chapters before the readalong was over
3. Picked it up thinking it would be about short stories/drabbles etc. but turned out to be by a dude who thinks Twitter is just SO AMAZING; would probably have finished reading as some of the writing advice was pretty good, but got tired of the misogynist microaggressions in his examples
4. A book of drawing exercises that looked like it would help me practice, but really should never been bought by a library since it was designed for you to draw IN the book. (If I owned a copy of this that I could draw in, I'd probably enjoy it a lot)
5. Book that was recommend by my uncle, whose taste is exactly the opposite of mine, but since it's by J. K. Rowling I thought it might be good anyway and that way we could talk about something other than avoiding politics; it was okay but I had a busy couple weeks and had to return it to the library before I was more than a couple chapters in, and didn't care enough to get it back out.
...based on that, if you want me to read your book, you should a) be somebody I know from the internet (you got that one!); b) put adorable animals on the cover; c) donate it to your local library