#and my last book of the year will be a nona reread. LMAO

[sexcromancy]

my end of year reading recap! I was still doing storygraph at the start of this year but i fell off majorly, luckily I did still keep track of titles. I read SO much this year, 56 books on this list plus many individual chapters of nonfiction/short stories out of books that crossed my desk, several books of poetry that i didn't list here, and plenty of my #1 circ desk vice (flipping/skimming thru romance and thrillers to figure out the crime/read the sex scenes). I love BOOKS I love having near constant access to books and being able to engage with so many different forms and genres exactly as much as I'd like to. my favorites on this list are bolded, and rereads/audiobooks are noted.

the actual star by monica byrne

Nona the ninth by tamsyn muir (audiobook/reread)

shoal of time by gawan daws

terraformers by annalee newitz

gods of want by k-ming chang

united we spy by ally carter (reread)

less is lost by andrew sean greer

hell followed with us by andrew joseph white

everything for everyone: an oral history of the new york commune by eman abdelhadi and m. e. o'brien

cartographers by peng shepard

hell bent by leigh bardugo

another faust by daniel nayeri

nausicaa #1 by hayao miyazaki

disasterama by alvin orloff

nausicaa 2 by hayao miyazaki

reggie and delilah's year of falling by elise bryant

ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins

belle of the ball by mari costa

there but for the by ali smith (reread)

pjo #1 by rick riordan (reread)

we have always lived in the castle by shirley jackson

the girl I am was and never will be by shannon gibney

pjo #2 by rick riordan (reread)

nox by anne carson

parable of the sower by octavia butler

pjo #3 by rick riordan (reread)

pjo #4 by rick riordan (reread)

some desperate glory by emily tesh

pjo #5 by rick riordan (reread)

pjo #6 by rick riordan (reread)

hoo #1 by rick riordan (reread)

harrow the ninth by tamsyn muir (audiobook/reread)

dune by frank herbert

shubeik lubeik by deena mohamed

love on the brain by ali hazelwood

the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood

loathe to love you by ali hazelwood (I think i read two of these three novellas twice?)

chain gang all stars by nana kwame adjei-brenyah

maggie moves on by lucy score

love theoretically by ali hazelwood

crazy rich asians by kevin kwan

an abundance of katherines by john green (reread)

the adventures of amina al sirafi by s. a. chakraborty

I know what I am: artemisia gentileschi by gina siciliano

check and mate by ali hazelwood

from a certain point of view (compilation)

idlewild by james frankie thomas

thistlefoot by gennarose nethercott

book lovers by emily henry

life between the tides by adam nicolson (audiobook)

blonde identity by ally carter

companion piece by ali smith

the birthday of the world by ursula k. le guin

mall goth by kate leth

hula by jazmin ’iolani hakes

timefulness by marcia bjornerud

[ryttu3k]

End of the year book asks! Which I'm just... going to fill out. Original post here.

1. How many books did you read this year?

As of posting this on December 15th, it's 36, with a note that I am including zines over 100 pages. Will update at the end of the year! Edit: 38!

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Reread Gideon and Harrow the Ninth in preparation for Nona's release!

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Okay. I am going to categorise.

Favourite novel: Tamsyn Muir - Nona the Ninth

Favourite novella: Becky Chambers - A Prayer for the Crown-Shy

Favourite series: Seanan McGuire - Wayward Children

Favourite anthology: Xenocultivars - Stories of Queer Growth

Favourite zine: Archive of the Odd (available here, only read issue 1 so far but I have issue 2 purchased and ready to go!)

Favourite unexpected addition to my reading list: Bram Stoker - Dracula

Other favourites of note: Travis Baldree - Legends & Lattes, RoAnna Sylver - Stake Sauce 2 and Life Within Parole vol 2, Freydis Moon - Exodus 20:3

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

Read the Wayward Children series, would be quite happy to look into more of Seanan McGuire's writing!

5. What genre did you read the most of?

I am sitting comfortably in my SFF hole, thank you.

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

*laughs in excessively long TBR*

7. What was your average Goodreads Storygraph rating? Does it seem accurate?

4.32, which seems pretty solid!

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

I did, averaging three new reads a month!

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Is 'gothic horror that is actually all about The Power Of Friendship' a genre?

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

Nona the Ninth Nona the Ninth I cannot reiterate how much I goddamn adore Nona the Ninth. Sob.

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

Dracula has been out for. A while lmao

12. Any books that disappointed you? 13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

Mm. I don't like naming names because I can totally see people enjoying it, but there was one novel in particular that I felt didn't quite stick the landing. I gave it a 6/10 rating.

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

I'd like to get in Where The Drowned Girls Go (the last Wayward Children book currently out, the next one is due in January!), which will be easy enough because it's a novella, and probably one other. Edit, 16th December: Done!

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year? What did you think of them?

I got into the Wayward Children series, most of those either won or were nominated for the Best Novella nebulas, and which won this year's Best Series. This Is How You Lose The Time War won that category for the Hugos, Nebulas, and Locus in 2020; Binti: Home and Night Masquerade were also nominated for Hugos.

Also I feel Dracula's probably won a few awards. Probably.

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

Oh, hm! I don't know, most felt like a suitable level of hype.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

Dracula. Dracula. I expected to read it as like, a pivotal vampire/horror novel that I felt lowkey obligated to get through but I fucking loved it. At least part of that was the Dracula Daily experience but damn, I really liked that book.

18. How many books did you buy?

.......significantly more than I actually read. Awkward laughter at my Kobo account.

19. Did you use your library?

I did!

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

Nona the Ninth, and it absolutely did. I knew I would be goddamn deceased after it and I very much!! was!!

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

No drama here!

22. What's the longest book you read?

The Harrow reread is the only one that tops 500 pages, although both the Gideon reread and Nona are in the 400s.

23. What's the fastest time it took you to read a book?

I mean I can knock out a novella in an hour?

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Nope!

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

Read more novels. I read a lot of novellas and anthologies this year!

[villainanders]

3 and 24 for the book ask! =]

What were your top five books of the year?

Hmm I don’t think its fair count rereads for this (unfortunately a lot of my non-rereads this year were kind of flops lmao) so in no particular order: Nona the Ninth, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, The Color Purple, I’m Glad My Mom Died, and watership down

Did you DNF anything? Why?

I picked up the shock doctrine at a used book sales last year and while I haven’t dnfed it I sure have made very little progress this year. Trying and failing to be a nonfiction reader

[scionshtola]

3, 10 and 25 for the book asks!

3. What were your top five books of the year?

this is not actually in any particular order because that would be too hard but

last argument of kings by joe abercrombie

this is the last book in the first law trilogy (but not in the whole series) and imo really makes the whole trilogy worth it. it's my favorite of the three. abercrombie is fantastic at making you care about characters who are just kind of terrible people. there's a lot of political maneuvering and battles that are interesting but the characters are the main reason to read it for me.

project hail mary by andy weir

listen i thought this was just gonna be a funny little book with some action and science humor and it was all of that but it also has SO MUCH HEART. a science teacher gets sent to space to save the world and he tries to do it by becoming best friends with an alien. there's just so much love! and hope!

broken harbor by tana french

im realizing i read a lot of series lol. anyway this is the fourth book in the dublin murder squad series, about a detective very determined to stick to the rules but is confronted with a case that can't be explained by his traditional methods. a tad cliche but i thought the mystery was interesting and anyway my favorite parts were not the mystery but the budding friendship between the main character and his partner. tana french knows how to write a dynamic i'll tell you that.

the space between worlds by micaiah johnson

i know you love this book lol but probably the most fascinating premise of all the books i read this year?? a woman whose job is to travel to parallel dimensions where the parallel her has died getting sucked into a conspiracy that affects the multiverse?? with a little wlw romance thrown in on top?? perfect. to me.

leviathan falls by james s.a. corey

the last book in the expanse series! i have read 9 books with these characters, they are family to me, and they get a wonderful thematically fitting send off in this book and i already miss them so much.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

i only read one new release this year lol and it was i kissed shara wheeler by casey mcquiston. i was kind of nervous because i really did not like one last stop but this was less of a romance. i liked the rivalry between chloe and shara wheeler, and chloe is honestly such a little gremlin of a character that i loved her instantly.

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

I want to finish reading the first law standalones and then the age of madness series. i also want to reread the first two the locked tomb books so i can finally read nona the ninth. and i really want to read more nonfiction, which was one of my goals this year and i read...zero lmao.