#also. technically. i did read the first two volumes of star crossed AND another weird manga thing.... idk why i didn't count those.

[astramachina]

✨IT'S almost THE END OF THE YEAR, BABY. ✨ Which means it's time for a reading log recap!

It was sometime during June that I decided to seriously get back into reading because the writing well was feeling dry as all hell, and because we were already halfway through the year I decided to settle on an achievable goal.

Thus began my journey towards reading 30 books in 6-ish months, and at the time of making this post (12/16), I'm sitting at a comfy 27 finished books! The other three are about halfway and I'm feeling confident that I'll wrap them up before the year is through.

I'm using the term "book" rather loosely here too, because I'm including audiobooks, graphic novels, manga, plays, short story collections, and poetry collections. The goal was to read more, and that I did.

Because this is getting rather long, so if you want an exhaustive list of this year's reads, click the read more!

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

Fiction, Folk Horror, Fantasy - 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Fiction, Classics, Science Fiction - 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

3. Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon & Ashley Lukashevsky

Nonfiction, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. Constellations by Nick Payne

Play, Contemporary 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

5. This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Fiction, Science Fiction, Romance, LGBT 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

6. The Worm and His Kings by Hailey Piper

Fiction, Horror, Lovecraftian, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

7. Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes

Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

8. Near the Bone by Christina Henry

Fiction, Horror, Thriller 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

9. Southern Reach #1: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

10. Southern Reach #2: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror 2/5 ⭐⭐

11. Southern Reach #3: Acceptance by Jeff VenderMeer

Fiction, Science Fiction, Horror 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

12. Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

Fiction, Horror, Thriller 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

13. Remembrance of Earth's Past #2: The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin

Fiction, Science Fiction 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

14. Remembrance of Earth's Past #3: Death's End by Liu Cixin

Fiction, Science Fiction 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

15. Berserk Deluxe Edition Volume #1 by Kentaro Miura

Manga, Horror 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

16. A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

17. Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

Fiction, Horror, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

18. London Calling #1: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

19. London Calling #2: Husband Material by Alexis Hall

Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, LGBT 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐(insert half star here)

20. How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Fiction, Horror, Thriller 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

21. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Nonfiction, Memoir, Horror, LGBT 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

22. The Fisherman by John Langan

Fiction, Horror, Lovecraftian 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️

23. Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede

Fiction, Horror 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

24. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Fiction, Horror, Thriller 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

25. Fazbear Frights Volume #1: Into the Pit by Scott Cawthon & Elley Cooper

Graphic Novel, Middle Grade, Horror 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

26. At the End of Every Day by Arianna Reiche

Fiction, Horror, Thriller 3/5 ⭐⭐⭐

27. Five Nights at Freddy's #1: The Silver Eyes by Scott Cawthon & Kira Breed-Wrisley

Fiction, Young Adult, Horror, Mystery - 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In-progress:

28. Tales from the Pizzaplex #1: Lally's Game by Scott Cawthon, Kelly Parra & Andrea Waggener - Fiction, Young Adult, Horror

29. Five Night's at Freddy's #2: The Twisted Ones by Scott Cawthon & Kira Breed-Wrisley - Fiction, Young Adult, Horror

30. Five Night's at Freddy's #3: The Fourth Closet by Scott Cawthon & Kira Breed-Wrisley - Fiction, Young Adult, Horror

31. Crush by Richard Siken - Poetry

❤️ = books that still haunt the corners of my brain months after finishing them.

Because I'm starting off on the right foot, I'm gearing up to tackle 50 books in 2024! Which is about a book a week, hopefully. Really looking forward to starting The Murderbot Diaries as they trickle in from the library.

And, of course, if anyone wants to know more about any of the books listed on here, I'm more than happy to chat about them!

HAPPY READING.