#also i surpassed my storygraph reading goal

[saturdaynightghostclub]

Finished the first quarter of my Master’s on Sunday :)

[petite-ursus]

I don't think I said this here yet, but 2024 was the first year since 2020 that I hit (and surpassed) my reading goal. I read 25 books and no, it's not the most I've ever read in a year, but it felt so good. It has been a minute since I've found books I was excited to read, particularly outside of sapphic romances-- which I love, but which are generally the candy of books.

As someone who has had her personality tied to being A Reader and Writer since... elementary school... being in a several year slump, even for a variety of legitimate reasons, has been Difficult.

So I just want to take a moment and say how grateful I am that I've been able to find joy in it again to any greater degree.

I also think Storygraph helped? December was like... a perfect storm of finding two new series I enjoyed And feeling compelled to complete more books so the graphs could have more Data.

Also very happy I finally got into Terry Pratchett. The man dominated my reading list this year and I still have so many to go.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Doing this for last year

How many books did you read this year? 36 novels, 78 manga and graphic novels. I'll skip talk

Did you reread anything? What?I've been rereading (actually listening with audiobooks) the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. Last year I reread Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum, Mort, Soul Music and Hogfather. I also reread (listened) American Gods.

What were your top five books of the year? Our Wives Under the Sea, In the Dream House, Otherside Picnic Volume 8: Accomplices No More, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emporer and Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality. You can see more in-depth looks at my favorite in this post here.

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year? I'm interested in checking out more of Julia Armfield and Carmen Maria Machado. And Chuck Tingle, but I already knew about him lmao. (Manga and GN wise, Uta Iskaki, Tatsuki Fujimoto, Mark Russell and Mokumokuren. See my full list of new favorite manga here!)

What genre did you read the most of? Besides manga, according to storygraph, fantasy (actually LGBT comes in second but I don't really consider that a genre).

What was your average Goodreads rating? 4.3. I do tend to be overly generous with my ratings because I'm an author and I know how hard it is, plus I like to err on the side of kindess, but yeah, probably essentially accurate! Might be closer to a 4.

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to? Oh, a lot. Godkiller, Delilah Green Doesn't Care and The Spirit Bares it's Teeth stand out.

Did you meet any of your reading goals? I always set the low goal of 25 books, so yeah. On Storygraph I surpassed 100 counting manga.

Did you get into any new genres? No? I read a surprising amount of horror last year though.

Favorite new release? Camp Damascus or Night's Edge. If you count "released in English" It's definitely Otherside Picnic Vol 8.

Favorite book that been out for a while? In the Dream House and Our Wives Under the Sea

Any books that disappointed you? I found Mexican Gothic too slow paced and had to DNF it. The Old Woman with the Knife was such a cool idea but the writing was dull, so another DNF. For ones I did finish, Piranesi also didn't hit the way I wanted. I really struggled though She is a Haunting, which sucks because I actually bought that one on a whim.

Least favorite books? Oh boy, though I technically didn't read the whole thing, it was definitely Medusa's Sisters. As I said on here "I have to say, "Athena cursed Medusa and her sisters because she's a mean lesbian who's afraid of Zeus's homophobia, so she punishes her gf for being raped by making it so she turns in men to stone, classic manhating lesbian move" sure is a way to add extra layers of ick to Ovid's version of the Medusa myth, and i didn't know it was even possible to make that worse!' I also skimmed the end to see if it got worse or had any satisfying conclusion, and yeah it sure did get even worse, it included a character sleeping with her sister's rapist and hashtagtotalgirlboss telling him to go away as her big empowering moment, while also mentioning he gave her a baby which gave meaning to her life. All of the characters were awful but not in a fun way, and probably the funniest moment was when a character acted like it was SO shocking to see an older man getting sexual favors from a pretty young man in a brothel..IN ANCIENT GREECE.

whoops took too long answering this, invalid now.

books that won awards? I have no idea.

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? Probably Piranesi? Based on how people were talking about it I expected a lot...I kept waiting for a cool twist that never came.

Did any books surprise you with how good they were? I mean I expected In the Dream House and Our Wives Under the Sea to be good, but they blew me away, and I wasn't sure I'd enjoy a middle-grade book but I loved Zachary Ying.

How many books did you buy? 16. Minus all the Pratchett audiobooks, it's 8. (you don't want to know the answer for manga)

Did you use your library? Yes, a ton.

Most anticipated release? I don't really anticipate releases all that much, I mostly hear about books after they've released.

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama? Well, I follow withcindy on youtube so I watched a lot through her. I also saw the Cait Corrain thing going down on twitter. God help me if I ever participate in book drama, though.

Longest book? American Gods for sure.

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book? Guesswork here, since I don't want to check them all, but probably Magirevo 3 since it was so repetitive I could skim most of it. Qualia the Purple was likely the second fastest at 5 days.

Did you DNF anything? Yeah, 11 books according to Storygraph. Last year I struggled through a few books so this year i decided to drop books as soon as they were boring to me or I realized I wasn't feeling it/in the mood. I'll probably return to some! Medusa's Sisters was the only one I dropped because I was angry.

Reading goal for this year? The usual 25 books.

end-of-year book ask

How many books did you read this year?

Did you reread anything? What?

What were your top five books of the year?

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

What genre did you read the most of?

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Did you get into any new genres?

What was your favorite new release of the year?

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Any books that disappointed you?

What were your least favorite books of the year?

What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

How many books did you buy?

Did you use your library?

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

What’s the longest book you read?

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

Did you DNF anything? Why?

What reading goals do you have for next year?

[bloodmaarked]

☺︎ my year in books: 2024 RANKED! ☹︎

happy new year everyone! in 2024 i hit a personal record of finishing 84 books (surpassing my reading goal of 50!) and it is the first year i've kept a running ranking of every book i've read. to close out the year i wanted to reflect on my reading and share my ranking! all my books under the cut, with my original reviews linked, and my storygraph summary below (feel free to follow me!):

84. in every mirror she's black, lọlá ákínmádé-åkerström month read: december rating: 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑 one-sentence review: bad writing, unearned trauma for its black women, and suggested the villain did what he did because of autism 🥴

83. black girls must die exhausted, jayne allen month read: may rating: 🌕🌗🌑🌑🌑 one-sentence review: the black girl who died exhausted was me reading this book.

82. saving time: discovering a life beyond the clock, jenny odell month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 one-sentence review: amazing subject matter, badly executed, and i've forgotten what this book wanted to say.

81. and so i roar, abi daré month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 one-sentence review: heartbreakingly disappointing given how amazing the first book was - read that instead!

80. the house of broken bricks, fiona williams month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 one-sentence review: forgettable.

79. where sleeping girls lie, faridah àbíké-íyímídé month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: not awful but this didn't have anything on ace of spades that's for sure.

78. the dos and donuts of love, adiba jaigirdar month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: cutesy and lighthearted, but juvenile and a little too surface level for the topics it wanted to discuss.

77. pageboy: a memoir month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: great insight into one person's experience with being transgender, but at the same time i didn't come away feeling i knew elliot page that much better.

76. the first woman, jennifer nansubuga makumbi month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: there's a very solid 20% of this book that makes me glad i read it, but the rest was utterly boring.

75. shanghailanders, juli min month read: april rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: tbh i fully forgot i read this, mid.

74. the human origins of beatrice porter & other essential ghosts, soraya palmer month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: has a name much cooler and more memorable than the book itself.

73. leave the world behind, rumaan alam month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: this book just makes me unreasonably angry and is a worse experience than watching the movie which was also quite bad.

72. land of milk and honey, c pam zhang month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: another book with a fantastic concept and terrible execution; r.f. kuang led me astray with this one 😭

71. the other black girl, zakiya dalila harris month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: did not give the psychological race thriller/workplace satire it said it would give (and also the show is WORSE)

70. in search of the perfect peach: why flavour holds the answer to fixing our food system, franco fubini month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 one-sentence review: pretty much just a misdirected, long-winded advertisement for the author's company.

69. sorrowland, rivers solomon month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: well-crafted horror scenes but aside from that it didn't do much for me, and i much preferred an unkindness of ghosts.

68. gleanings, neal shusterman month read: february rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: we didn't really need this addition to the original arc of a scythe trilogy tbh.

67. the list, yomi adegoke month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: i promise you the cover tells you all you need to know about what this book is like.

66. rootless, krystle zara appiah month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: the ending of this book pisses me off to this day 😭😭

65. the power, naomi alderman month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: an interesting speculative feminist premise but it needed tightening up a lot more; the end of men did it better (ranked higher this year!)

64. the muse, jessie burton month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: forgettable and not very exciting.

63. the last family in england, matt haig month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: the dog does die but the story wasn't emotionally engaging enough for me to care!

62. back to black: retelling black radicalism for the 21st century, kehinde andrews month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: an interesting exploration of black radicalism, but maybe this was too much for me as a beginner?

61. four eids and a funeral, faridah àbíké-íyímídé + adiba jaigirdar month read: april rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: lighthearted friends-to-enemies-to-lovers between two muslim characters, which i loved, but i hoped for a bit more.

60. the taking of jake livingston, ryan douglass month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: some really cool, atmospheric horror, but jake was too bland to be the main character!

59. circe, madeline miller month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 one-sentence review: i don't think i saw what you all did; i don't think circe was an interesting enough character to base a full-length novel on!

58. she's in CTRL: how women can take back tech, anne-marie imafidon month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: honestly a very solid book if you're looking to make your own way in the tech space/become more tech savvy!

57. flux, jinwoo chong month read: february rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: as stylish and cool as its cover, but needed a little more focus overall.

56. the kinder poison, natalie mae month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: absolutely on the more unique and refreshing side of ya fiction; i'm just a bit burned out from the genre.

55. minor detail, adania shibli month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: a very insightful read about the Palestinian conflict, packing a punch in just over 100 pages.

54. the memoirs of sherlock holmes, arthur conan doyle month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: not a bad addition to the series, but mixed in quality as short story collections tend to be.

53. brown girls, daphne palasi andreades month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: i loved certain aspects, but it speaks to a new york-centric experience that i couldn't quite relate to.

52. dracula, bram stoker month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: you know authors from back in the day liked to yap, but when this book is at its best, it's thrilling!

51. what you are looking for is in the library, michiko aoyama month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: really cosy and comforting; i think i will enjoy this more on reread away from all the hype.

50. the sellout, paul beatty month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: the outrageousness of this book was more than i bargained for, i wasn't prepared!

49. the vanishing half, brit bennett month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: honestly very good; stella, who is mixed and chooses to pass as white, had a particularly great storyline.

48. family lore, elizabeth acevedo month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: my least favourite of elizabeth acevedo's works, but i loved the exploration of female family dynamics.

47. the empress of salt and fortune, nghi vo month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: i enjoyed escaping into this mystical world, which was very immersive in such a short space of time!

46. you and me on vacation, emily henry month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: i'm not 100% sold on emily henry, and highkey i wish these characters had stayed friends 😭

45. autumn chills, agatha christie month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: a fun and intriguing seasonal collection of short stories, and i already have the winter one lined up!

44. lord of the flies, william golding month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: very engaging from a psychological perspective, but needed to lean into the thrill of the situation a little more!

43. solomon time: adventures in the south pacific, will randall month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: a humorous yet insightful look into life on the solomon islands; i had a fun time.

42. when we were birds, ayanna lloyd banwo month read: february rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 one-sentence review: unexpectedly good; this was a pleasant surprise and very thought-provoking.

41. enola holmes and the elegant escapade, nancy springer month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: not the best entry into the series, but this perked me up in the middle of a reading slump!

40. enola holmes and the black barouche, nancy springer month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: there's not much to say other than i love enola and this series and i will always enjoy spending a day or two with her.

39. the toll, neal shusterman month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: arc of a scythe was a really good series, and the toll was a satisfying and fitting conclusion.

38. the woman in me, britney spears month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: love britney, can't support justin after this (i still stream justified on the dl though 🤫)

37. the meaning of mariah carey, mariah carey month read: april rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: i still don't listen to her music, but this book endeared me towards mariah so much 🥺

36. this is my brain in love, i.w. gregorio month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: while not all the writing landed, this was a mostly wholesome and sweet tale of two teens grappling with their mental health.

35. the cloisters, katy hays month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: i really enjoyed my time spent at the cloisters for this highly atmospheric, dark academic, slow-burn mystery.

34. excuse me while i ugly cry, joya goffney month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: a very sweet tale of growth and self-discovery; but not as good as one of her other books which is ranked a bit higher!

33. loud black girls, yomi adegoke + elizabeth uviebinené month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: packed with powerful essays from self-proclaimed loud black girls!

32. kim jiyoung, born 1982, cho nam-joo month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: a very moving exploration of what it’s like to be a woman in a world designed to stop you from flourishing

31. the lightning thief, rick riordan month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: so fun and the perfect nostalgia hit!

30. the murder at the vicarage, agatha christie month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: my first introduction to the world of agatha christie which made me understand why she's the queen of crime!

29. a song of wraiths and ruin, roseanne a. brown month read: february rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: a fantastical journey based on african mythology; not overly unique but one of the better entries into the genre.

28. as long as the lemon trees grow, zoulfa katouh month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: don't be fooled by the romance aspect; this is a very tender and honest look into life lived during the syrian civil war.

27. disorientation, elaine hsieh chou month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: so fun, like a more sarcastic version of yellowface while the mc descends into madness!

26. the space between here & now, sarah suk month read: february rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: speaks to the reality of living with a chronic condition in a heartwarming and comforting time-travel story.

25. adult children of emotionally immature parents, lindsay c. gibson month read: november rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 one-sentence review: if you need this book, you'll know, and if you do, it's a very enlightening and helpful guide.

24. a psalm of storms and silence, roseanne a. brown month read: march rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: great character growth, an all-round improvement on book 1!

23. the gifts, liz hyder month read: april rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: one of this year's unexpected gems. a dark, atmospheric, feminist historical fantasy!

22. empireland: how imperialism has shaped modern britain, sathnam sanghera month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: a great, nuanced analysis of the British empire and how that has impacted and translated into the Britain we live in today.

21. the body in the library, agatha christie month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: a bigger, better than the murder at the vicarage and i love the humour in the writing!

20. before the coffee gets cold, toshikazu kawaguchi month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: warm, sweet and fulfilling like starting your day with the perfect cup of coffee.

19. my friends, hisham matar month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: gorgeously, gorgeously written, and a rare story that kept me thinking after i turned the last page.

18. the hound of the baskervilles, arthur conan doyle month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: a quintessential sherlock holmes mystery and by far my favourite of the series so far!

17. water moon, samantha sotto yambao month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: an unexpected gem, so cozy and whimsical and thoughtful - and it comes out later this month!

16. the moon represents my heart, pim wangtechawat month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: a gorgeous story with beautiful poetic prose, and moving themes of love, grief, family, and the importance of living in the here and now.

15. she would be king, wayétu moore month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: a beautifully and creatively told fantastical retelling of the founding of liberia; engaging and informative.

14. the end of men, christina sweeney-baird month read: may rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: eerily reminiscent of the COVID pandemic, a thought-provoking, moving, humorous imagining of a world without men.

13: just sayin': my life in words, malorie blackman month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: malorie blackman is just a queen, her autobiography was deeply personal and inspiring for me.

12: confessions of an alleged good girl, joya goffney month read: january rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: written with so much heart and explores important topics of sex positivity; i wish i'd had this book in my teens!

11. the thursday murder club, richard osman month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: silly, cosy, heartwarming, bundles of fun; a great kickoff to a series of which i've thoroughly enjoyed every instalment so far.

10. the man who died twice, richard osman month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: joyous, and still an improvement on the first book!

9. for your own good, samantha downing month read: december rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: just a ton of fun, a punchy thriller that hooked me from start to finish.

8. pachinko, min jin lee month read: october rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: just fantastic - no words. please read this.

7. crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky month read: august rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 one-sentence review: yes it's a long-winded russian classic but they don't call it a classic for a reason!!

6. quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking, susan cain month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: thank you to this book for reminding me there is value in my introversion.

5. an african history of africa: from the dawn of humanity to independence, zeinab badawi month read: september rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: a wealth of african history told by african voices; i learned an incredible amount.

4. such a fun age, kiley reid [reread] month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: insidious, twisted, wild, messy, hilarious - loved it!

3. the bullet that missed, richard osman month read: july rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: by this point in the series i was having so much fun that i ran out of reasons to keep giving the books 4.5*.

2. the girl with the louding voice, abi daré [reread] month read: april rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: incredibly moving and a truly underrated book; i wish more people would read this!

1. babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translators' revolution, r.f. kuang [reread] month read: june rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 one-sentence review: this will forever be my favourite book, my favourite.

[stardustandrockets]

Happy 2023! Starting out with some goals...

I'm starting the year out with 66 unread physical books on my shelf and 21 unread ebooks. My reading goal is the same as the last few years, 25 books. A nice goal that I'm sure I'll surpass, but also low stress in the event I don't.

I'm planning on partaking in 3 challenges this year:

1. #ShopYourShelvesBingo hosted by @loveinpanels—a quarterly (3-month) challenge to prioritize the reading of books you already own.

2. #ReadQueerly2023 hosted by @obscure.pages—a year-long challenge to read more books that feature and focus on lgbtqia+ characters and stories. It can be found on StoryGraph.

3. Blink-182 Challenge—a year-long challenge based around different Blink-182 songs. It can be found on StoryGraph.

What's a bookish goal you set for this year?

[princessjellyfish]

Here are all the books I read in 2022  – and those I haven’t finished (yet)!

It might not seem like a lot, but I only read two books in 2021, so I set a modest goal of 12 books for 2022 and am pleased to have been able to surpass it!

More discussion below the cut.

I completed 14 books, plus two comic books (Let’s Get Burgers by Ash S. [loved it] and Boy’s Club by Matt Furie [not for me]) which I’m not including here because it feels like cheating.

In addition, I’ve been slowly going through the massive Azumanga Daioh: The Omnibus (Kiyohiko Azuma) since early in 2022. I also am still working through Jorge Luis Borges’ Labyrinths (my partner and I read short stories to each other while we wash dishes, so this will be a slow one), and am almost done with The Left Hand of Darkness (Ursula K. Le Guin). 

The one book I started but gave up on is The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck). I should have checked the page count of this epic before requesting it from the library... I actually didn’t dislike it, but I just found it a bit too overwhelming. Hopefully I’ll be able to revisit it in the future. 

My two five-star books from this year are Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Caitlin Doughty) and The Plague (Albert Camus), but I also count Noor (Nnedi Okorafor) in my top three. Other highlights were Acceptance (Jeff Vandermeer), the conclusion to the Southern Reach trilogy (a series that took me way too long to finally complete, but which I absolutely loved), as well as Thrawn (Timothy Zahn). The Hot Zone (Richard Preston) was also absolutely thrilling, though some of the more dated aspects kept it out of my favorites.

Breaking down my reading stats from StoryGraph (which includes the two comic books), I read 69% fiction and 31% nonfiction in 2022. I think this is pretty good! I like to read a mixture of the two, though I lean more towards fiction. I’d like to keep this balance up in 2023.

Below is my genre breakdown:

Not surprised that sci-fi came out on top, and I actually think it will actually be a higher proportion next year. I’m debating whether I want to consciously branch out into other genres / try to be more “balanced”. It could be a fun challenge, but I kinda just want to stick with what I know I love!

And here is my “mood” breakdown:

Not completely sure what to make of this, but it’s a fun feature that StoryGraph has! Honestly I think these are a little vague, so not that useful.

I’m pretty proud of myself for coming out ahead of the goal I set for myself, and I’m really looking forward to reading more in 2023. Not in any kind of order, here are a few books that I look forward to reading in 2023 (it will be interesting to look back in a year and see if I actually read these!):

Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata

Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn, multiple authors

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

To anyone who actually read this long post, if you have a favorite book you read in 2022, let me know! I’d love to get recommendations or just hear about what you liked. And shout out to @umbralglade​ for letting me chat with you about books this year and helping inspire me to keep on track, even if you didn’t know it! :)

[upside-down-uni]

end of year reading tag!

I really don’t know where she takes the energy but our beloved Sab (@bulletnotestudies) made her own end of the year tag game! Thank you to @jeonchemstudy for also tagging me, I am beyong overjoyed that you enjoyed all the recs I’ve given you! Nothing hits quite the same as your taste in books being complimented.

Here comes my end of the year run down of my reading:

1. did you meet your reading goal?

I did! My goal was 40 books and I even surpassed it! Right now I’m working on book number 55.

2. top 3 books you read this year

....instead of ranking my top three I’ll just yeet some of my 5 star reads out there because how dare you make me choose Sab!! evil!

I reread Gideon the Ninth, so that is obviously on the list. If you haven’t read it I’m literally begging you to! There’s also The BrickTM aka The Priory of the Orange Tree, which I read after @hannistudies recommended it to me. A BLAST, I need more of this kind of books!! Irown Widow completely blew my socks off, I need the sequel NOW. (Oh and there’s this series “All for the Game”, which Sab and @asteristudy are completely normal about, so I read it too, and I am also very normal about it.)

3. what’s a book you didn’t expect to enjoy as much as you did

Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi or Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. I was kind of scared of both but I thoroughly enjoyed them!

4. what books didn’t live up to your expectations?

What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo and Das Ministerum der Träume by Hengameh Yaghoobifarah. Both in different ways: What Big Teeth started out annoying me but in the end it kind of redeemed itself while Das Minisertium der Träume pulled me in from the first page but ruined itself through the ending.

5. did you reread any old faves?

I wouldn’t say “fave” but I reread book one and two of the Clockwork Series by Kady Cross. They hold up surprisingly well and I still enjoyed them!

6. did you dnf anything

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart just didn’t do it for me, I got about 100 pages in and was still bored.

7. did you read anything outside your preferred genre

I read The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix which was my first “true” horror book. (thank you to @tungumalaast) I think gtn worked as a gateway drug lmao

8. what was your predominant format this year?

I read mostly physical books this year although most of the books I’ve read after October have been digital.

9. the longest book i read this year

I was going to say The BrickTM but then I checked my storygraph and The Nightblade Epic: Volume 1 by Garrett Robinson (which includes the first three books in the series) beats Priory of the Orange Tree by 2 pages.

10. your 3 most anticipated 2022 releases

NONA THE NINTH! Right now it’s 258 days until release, I will DIE before that! And the second book in the Iron Widow series is set to release in 2022 but I don’t know when!

Apart from that I haven’t really kept up with anything...I’ll let myself be surprised by what the knife gang will show up with and yell about on discord!

11. what books on your tbr did you not get to this year, but are excited to read in 2022?

Oh for sure! *storygraph checking noises*

I really wanted to read No Gods No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull but didn’t get around to it after it came out earlier this year. Hunger Pangs by Joy Demorra is also very high on my list as is the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 has been chilling on my tbr for about 2 years now too... I will have a lot more time to read next year though.

I don’t really know who to tag outside of knife gang, so if you follow me, and fwant to do the tag: consider yourself tagged! I love seeing what and how others read!