The Sunday Salon- 01-17-10: By the Numbers

Hello Sunday Saloners! I hope your week has been a good one.


I'm showing off my Excel spreadsheet this week - the one I'm using to keep track of my reading challenges and other reading stats. I used a spreadsheet last year, but it was pre-beginner's Excel; I had no formulas, no way of tracking the books listed in columns, other than using my fingers and toes. It was essentially a journal. But this year - enter Laura, my Geeky-Excel-spreadsheet-and-statistic-loving friend! She showed me how to create some formulas so the numbers will just keep adding up as I go. What a concept! It looks something like this (click on it to enlarge to its full magnificence):




Beautiful, eh? But wait! There's more! I actually ventured off on my own and figured out how to formulate some statistics! I'm starting small - comparing # of male to female authors. But maybe by the end of the year I'll have figured out some more complex stats.


I couldn't wait to finish my first few books so I could watch the magic as I entered the data. Such small pleasures.

I'm on my fourth book for 2010 - Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. It's a wonderful story and the writing is superb. I'll have a review of it up in a day or two. Then I think I'll read Edwidge Danticat's The Dew Breaker - short stories about Haiti.

If you're looking for a good place to donate for Haiti relief, check out my friend Sasha's organization, SOIL. They've been working in Haiti for years on sanitation and sustainability and are now directing all their resources and efforts to disaster relief. Thanks.

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