#end-of-year book wrap-up

[esseastri]

Nicole's Favorite Books That She Read in 2024!

I think I missed doing this post the last few years, but let's get back on the train, shall we?

In no particular order, we have:

The Book of Ile-Rein, by Martha Wells: I've been gobbling up all the Martha Wells backlist that Tor has been reprinting, and I adored this set. Element of Fire was a classic and Death of the Necromancer was a romp. Both were fun for very different reasons, but as always I love Martha's characters too much.

Lady Eve's Last Con, by Rebecca Fairmow: Oh, what an absolute DELIGHT of a novel! Full of 1820s etiquette and elegance, 1920s glitz and glam, 2020s swag and shenanigans, and 2120s gravity and grit, this book is fast and fun. The characters are unforgettable, the plot is unputdownable, and the romance is to die for. The most fun you've had at a zero-g engagement gala, for sure.

The River Has Roots, by Amal El-Mohtar: Comes out in March 2025!: I cannot put into coherent words how very much I love Amal El-Mohtar's writing. It's just so beautiful. Lyrical and clever, intricate but open, so full of heart. This book was written with so much love, and it shows. I could wrap myself in this story like it's a scarf and just wander its sentences forever.

The City in Glass, by Nghi Vo: God, this book is so beautiful, but it made me full-body sob for an entire chapter, so I guess, be aware. This book is about grief. Loss and hurt and anger and grief. It is absolutely gorgeous.

Parable of the Sower, by Octavia Butler: It's really hard to rate this book because it was amazing and also horrifying. So many terrible things happen, but the book is beautiful, too. Despite the fact that everything that can go wrong in Lauren's life does, in fact, go wrong, she is so hopeful. She's got something to believe in, and she is so tenacious. I hated this book and I also loved it. And I am so deeply angry at every literature class I took that didn't teach Octavia Butler.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, by P Djeli Clark: I don't think P. Djèlí Clark is capable of writing a thing I don't like. His prose is just magical, his ideas are brilliant, his characters are wonderful, and his books just fill me with joy. This was hilarious and brutal and fun and sad and I loved it. I loved it so much.

Mammoths at the Gates, by Nghi Vo: If you haven't read the Singing Hills, don't start with this one, go back and read the first three. But then read this one. This one is about grief and it is beautiful.

Swordcrossed, by Freya Marske: The Midnight Bargain's less magical and much spicier cousin, this book is an absolute delight. I'm a sucker for a snarky con man with a heart of gold, so I was sold on Luca from page one, but Matti crept up on me and I found myself loving his seriousness and his sneaky sense of humor, too. Personally, I want the Maya and Sofia POV of this book, because I love those two women more than I can explain, but I'm content with the disaster boys getting the spotlight, too. A great, low-stakes romp though business espionage, sword lessons, guild intrigue, "sword lessons", and the wildest wedding this town has ever seen, Swordcrossed is just fun. So much fun.

A Novel Love Story, by Ashley Poston: This one is about how books by your favorite authors have the ability to change the course of your life, and I just wish Ashley could know that she's that author for me. I love this book.

Howl's Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones: I'm still not sure how I somehow managed to miss this book entirely, but god, it is SO SWEET and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. It wraps up very quickly at the end, but honestly, that feels very Howl--slapdash and manic and wild. I love how Sophie is the embodiment of "This Might As Well Happen." I just really love them all. What a good book.

Godkiller, by Hannah Kaner: I loved Kissen from page one, and Elo is such a soft boy he was irresistible, and I love the worldbuilding of this strange, godful land sO MUCH. The circle of people creating gods who create people and destroy them so the people must destroy them is such a fascinating design for faith and belief, and I loved the exploration of it.

The Mars House, by Natasha Pulley: Have you ever gotten mad at an author for being too good at writing words? For taking deep, dark, heavy topics like prejudice and fear, anger and murder, right versus good versus kind--and making them beautiful and delicate? For taking harsh edges and writing them in such a way that they seem like soft candlelight? For taking real science and feeding enough fiction into it that you hope this is how the world turns out because maybe, if it were real, then things might be okay a long time from now? Anyway, I've finished this book and I am pissed off that I finished it because what the hell do I read now?

City of Bones, by Martha Wells: While I don't jive with the title of this book (and I'm not sure the book jives with it either), I loved everything else about it. Wells is an absolute master of characters, especially non-human characters that end up being the most human and the best of them. Khat is no exception, and falls in with Murderbot, Moon, and Kai on my favorites list. I love a person who is too deeply good for their own safety. And Wells writes these doofuses perfectly. It's a slow start and a soft story (surprisingly soft, considering how dark it can be), but if you can give it a little patience and attention, this book--like its main character--will open up to you and reward you greatly for your time.

[the---hermit]

2025 reading goals

My reading goal for next year is no reading goals! Jokes aside, I have a couple of things I would like to keep in mind, but my main goal for the year is really to avoid goals and challenges at all costs. I don't want to set a number of books goal, I don't want to do tbr challenges, or other types of challenges. I want track my reading as best as I can, but I want to see what a reading year with no external pressures looks like. I kind of what to see what I'll do as a reader naturally. I have never been particularly strict with my reading goals, but they are of course in the back of my mind, so I am really curious to see how the reading is going to be when I have no rules at all. I might do a quartely update on how my reading year is going? But no promises, because I might forget.

There are a couple of things I want to keep in mind anyway. Firstly my habit of trying to read the books I buy right away. I don't see this as a reading challenge personally, it's more of a thing I keep in mind to be more mindful when I am buying books. What this really is is just consider as well as I can how I spend my money in books. At this point it's such a well established habit I don't really have to think about it anymore.

What I really want to focus on instead of goals is to track my reading. I normally do that quite accurately with my storygraph, but I would also like to get back into using my reading journal more. The main things I want to track is which of my unread books I end up reading during the year, and which books I buy during the year and if I read them or not. I already kind of do this, but this year I didn't touch my reading journal for several months, and I'd like to be more consistent. As I have mentioned in my physical tbr post I will be writing a list of my unread books at the beginning of year, and then I will cross out things as I read them, if I do. Same with the books I buy, I will be listing them on a page on my journal and cross them off once I read them. I will approach neither as a challenge, it will only be me logging data in my journal.

Last thing I'd like to do is to start posting again book reviews like I did. It's one of the habits I lost this year, and I kind of miss it. I might not post a review for every single book, but I'd like to bring back the occasional book review/ end of reading rant.

[lizard-reads-the-world]

Books I read in 2024

Here is my eclectic and very random-looking read list! The first two images are World Challenge books. I read 27 books and checked off 25 countries for the challenge, for a total of 80 countries read since 2022.

Other than that, I managed to read two Brontë sisters, four graphic novels, one memoir, and a few others I picked up. (Vā is a Pacific anthology even though it's in the graphic novel line) I did more picking up random stuff for the fun of it and as expected got some that were interesting and some meh.

Favorites (in no order):

The Cat I Never Named - fictionalized memoir of a teen surviving a siege during the Bosnian war West of the Jordan - interconnected stories of family members in Palestine, Jordan, and the US in the early 80s Here the Whole Time - A warm hug of a story about two gay teens falling in love while sharing a room and overcoming their insecurities Home is Not a Country - novel in verse about a Sudanese teen longing for a country and a life she doesn't have American Street - intense and realistic story set on the streets of Detroit All Things Seen and Unseen - a unique psychological thriller-ish book with a trans coupling and a disabled protagonist Navigating With You - super-cute sapphic romance about teens bonding over a manga series, also with a disabled protagonist

Countries completed:

🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina - The Cat I Never Named, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess

🇧🇷 Brazil - Here the Whole Time, Vitor Martins

🇧🇬 Bulgaria - Wunderkind, Nikolai Grozni

🇨🇲 Cameroon - A Long Way From Douala, Max Lobe

🇹🇩 Chad - Told by Starlight in Chad, Joseph Brahim Seid

🇨🇬 Congo, Republic of - The Lights of Pointe-Noire, Alain Mabanckou

🇸🇻 El Salvador - The Volcano Daughters, Gina María Balibrera

🇫🇮 Finland - True, Riikka Pulkkinen

🇩🇪 Germany - Boy in a White Room, Karl Olsberg

🇬🇪 Georgia - Giorgland Fables, Tamuna Tsertsvadze

🇭🇹 Haiti - American Street, Ibi Zoboi

🌺 Hawai'i - Lei and the Fire Goddess, Malia Maunakea

🇭🇳 Honduras - Libertad, Bessie Flores Zaldívar

🇭🇰 Hong Kong - Stuck in Her Head, Kylie Wang & Liana Tang

🇮🇩 Indonesia - The Songbird and the Ramubutan Tree, Lucille Abendanon

🇯🇴 Jordan - West of the Jordan, Laila Halaby

🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan - Jamila, Chingiz Aitmatov

🇱🇷 Liberia - She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore

🇲🇺 Mauritius - Eve Out of Her Ruins, Ananda Devi

🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea - Tales from Faif, Baka Barakove Bina; Emily Sekepe Bina

🇷🇼 Rwanda - Our Lady of the Nile, Scholastique Mukasonga

🇰🇷 South Korea - A Magical Girl Retires, Park Seolyeon

🇸🇩 Sudan - Home is Not a Country, Safia Elhillo

🇺🇬 Uganda - A Girl is a Body of Water, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

🇻🇪 Venezuela - The Sun and the Void, Gabriela Romero Lacruz

[theladyofshalott1989]

✨ My Favorite Movies and Books of 2024 ✨

Happy New Year! Every year on January 1st, I post my favorite books and movies of the prior year. I've been doing this on Facebook for a decade now, but I literally never go on Facebook anymore (LMAO), so I thought I'd post it here instead. I'm glomming what are usually separate posts into one this year because I wrote so much in 2024 that I didn't read or watch my usual amount. BUT I DIGRESS.

I'm just going to list them, but please feel free to ask me about any of them. I love to wax on about my favorite books and movies, as most people know about me, for better and for worse. 😅

TOP MOVIES (in order of viewing)

*My husband and I watched 8 movies in the theater this year, which is (extremely) low for us. This is definitely a trend now. I'm not sure how I feel about it.

1. American Fiction

2. Thelma

3. The Wild Robot

4. Wicked, Part 1

TOP BOOKS (in order of reading)

*I read 45 books this year, which was lower than usual but not by much, at least since I had my child.

1. Into the Gray Zone by Adrian Owen (non-fiction)

2. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (fantasy)

3. Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin (contemporary fiction / queer romance)

4. Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin (contemporary fiction / queer romance)

5. The Husbands by Holly Gramazio (magical realism / romance)

6. One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (fantasy / romance)

7. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (literary fiction)

8. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell (non-fiction)

9. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher (gothic horror)

What were your favorite movies and/or books this year? I want to hear about them!

[wondereads]

2024 End of Year Wrap-Up

Every book I read this year with ratings

(The last three I missed/finished after I made this graphic)

[bitchwhoyoukiddin]

End of the year books chat!

Only a few asked me questions about that books meme, so I decided to do the whole thing. For fun!

How many books did you read this year?

At the time of writing, I've read 77 books this year. Though, my end of the year break is nigh, and I'm in the middle of reading five. And I have five on reserve to read!

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Surprisingly, I did! It's not my normal modus operandi, but this was the year of the re-read for me. I started the year re-reading the first ten volumes of Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill by Eguchi Ren. Guys they are so stupid and so calming. I also re-read all (then) three extant books of Beware of Chicken, and the first part of Ascendance of a Bookworm. The last is in anticipation of the final volume of part 5 coming out next year. Overall, 17 books I've re-read. Which is deeply weird for me.

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

Oooh, good question. In no particular order, they're Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe, The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, Judgement of Paris by George M. Taber, When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill, and Firsts and Lasts edited by Laura Silverman.

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

Three, actually! Patrick Radden Keefe absolutely knocked me sideways with Say Nothing, and I'm cheerfully reading his back catalog. It's a tough sit (he is an investigative journalist who talks to rich, shitty people a lot), but woof. Also V. Castro is someone I want to absolutely read more of. The Haunting of Alejandra was a haunting (lol) sit, and I've put a bunch more of her stuff on my tbr for next year. Lastly, Beth/Bich Minh Nguyen absolutely bodied me with her writing. Likely, some of my abject joy comes from the fact that we have a shared background (Midwestern ladies growing up in the 80's), but her prose just kicked me in the shins and kept jumping up and down on me. I'm so excited to read more of her stuff.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Just due to my dedication to series this year, cozy fantasy has it by a mile.

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

*eyes tbr that is 200+ strong* I think the one that's going to meet this is likely Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree. I don't know that I'm going to get to it this year, and it's been on my "to read next month" list all year. But who knows! I still have two weeks left...

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

3.4, and yeah, that seems right. I'm real picky about the stuff I rate highly.

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

I did! To be fair, my goals were pretty minimal this year. The main one was "read more nonfiction because you need to feed your brain". I read a lot of fluff last year and wanted to ease myself back into more high-level reading. I went from two non-fiction books last year to 18 finished right now and two more in-process. I also read ALL the books for my two book clubs!

Oh! And I guess I also tried to read a bunch of the food-history books that have been hanging out on my TBR for a long time. I knocked seven of those off, which is pretty good progress!

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Not exactly? I'm weirdly diverse in my reading, but I guess you could say that I've read a lot more contemporary lit this year. It's a genre I've read before, but not to the extent I did this year.

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

I didn't really read many 2024 books, but HANDS DOWN, The Brides of High Hill by @nghivowriting. I love this series and this entry was a huge tone-shift from the last but delightful and mean and creepy as hell. <3

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

Probably Untangling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbott Riccardi. I tried to read a bunch of food history stuff this year, and this was one of the first I picked up. It's about a woman who goes to Japan in the late 80's to learn how to make the food that accompanies a Japanese Tea Ceremony. It's both a snapshot of her life during that time, but also a meditation on a white woman's experience of Japan in the 80's and the philosophies of the tea ceremonies along with a short history of what that kind of means. Surprisingly respectful and a cool read.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Oh, definitely. Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs, ReLIT edited by Sara Proudman, Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey, The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas, Curry: Eating, Reading and Race by Naben Ruthnum, and The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst.

All were ultimately fine, but none hit the way I wanted them to.

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

I generally DNF ones I am not actively enjoying, but there were a couple notable ones I finished. The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang was just. Well. I wanted more from it than it was willing to give and just really didn't enjoy it. And Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin was just. Too much up its own ass? Ugh, it wasn't for me.

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

Current list: Heretical Fishing #2 by Haylock Jobson, Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks by Patrick Radden Keefe, The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E.M. Anderson, The High Crusade by Poul Anderson, Islands of Abandonment by Cal Flyn, and The Sea is Ours edited by Jaymee Goh and Joyce Chng. In the "Want to But Unlikely" category I also have Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree, You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried by Susannah Gora, and Kim Jiyong, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo.

15. 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?

Nope!

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

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll. It was a compelling read and well written, but I am not really a true-crime person much anymore? Also, the way it was written (prose, not organization) just didn't hit me right. I am glad a lot of people enjoyed it, but I ended up very meh about it.

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

18. How many books did you buy?

Turns out, 89! (YIKES.) To be fair to myself, a good ~40+ of those were me buying the Terry Pratchett discount bundle, and another ~7-9 were audiobook subscription credits, AND a good ~8 were presents for other people. Still, almost 40 books purchased is mildly terrifying. (I did not count the open access books I acquired, because legally free, thank you!)

19. Did you use your library?

God, yes. Of the 77 currently finished, only 29 are owned by me.

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

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

Nope! I am sure something got mentioned in one of the readers I follow, but mostly it's shitting on people who like to read [fill in book type here]. Oh, wait. I was vaguely aware of the hockey fandom overstepping like hell and getting smacked down for being Too Much in public and not just fandom spaces. Which, look. RPF has a long and storied history and I've got complicated feelings on the subject (nuance), but my general rule of thumb is maybe don't send explicit shit to a.) the person and b.) their spouse. That just feels like good manners getting trampled on.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

Beware of Chicken volume 3, clocking in at 785 pages.

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

Probably The Tea Dragon Festival and The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Kay O'Neill. Both were one-sitting reads and absolutely delightful!

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

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

Honestly? To have a good time and learn some stuff. I also want to keep up my general background goal of reading books by prioritizing reading authors that aren't [fill in my personal demographics here]. I've been doing that for 7+ years now and it's given me so many new stories and authors and even genres to enjoy.

[lexreadsdiversely]

So far I've read 10 Indie books in 2024. It was an interesting experience looking up each book. Books I was certain were Indie were often not, and books that seemed like they couldn't possibly be Indie were. I definitely want to read more Indie books in 2025.

[phantajam]

my hot take about descendants is that NONE of the core four were ready for a relationship until maybe like, the third movie (rant in tags)

[evelhak]

🔹2023 Wrap Up🔹

I've never really done an end of the year type of post, but I got inspired somehow. Maybe because this year has been in many ways slower and filled with rest more than any other year in my life so far (which is a good thing), but I started looking back, wondering if I'd really done "anything" this year, and I can see there's still a decent amount of things I've accomplished that are meaningful to me. So, this is almost diary type self-reflection. But I'll post it because I would like to see other people do this type of thing too. ✨

This is mostly work and hobbies related.

Original writing published

Rummuttaja (Drummer)

My third published novel and the first book in my first fantasy series. I'll talk about it more in its own post but it's about an island where people can control earthquakes with music, and musically gifted children are brought up as heroes to be. I spent about half of 2023 editing this book and I'm probably more proud of it than anything else I've published.

Sydäntekniikkaa (Heart Techniques)

A short story, or a novella, with a spin on the innocent girl meets heartless boy trope. Discusses politics, environment, prejudice, ignorance and disability in a fantastical setting. It was published in a steampunk anthology Rautasilmä ja muita steampunk-kertomuksia (Iron eye and other steampunk stories) with three other stories. Here's a drawing of my main character.

A book review I wrote on Sankareita ja shakkinappuloita (Heroes and chess pieces) by Heidi Torn, appeared in a Finnish SFF magazine Kosmoskynä. I very rarely make time to help with this magazine I've subscribed to for many years, so I'm glad I did. The book was about Greek gods in modern day Finland, so as a Percy Jackson fan I was obviously intrigued.

Original works written

2023 wasn't the most active writing year since I spent so much time editing, but I managed to write

about a half of a fantastical murder mystery in a ballet school told from the perspective of seven students with very different views on the school and the people in it

a short story about a magical doll maker student attempting to manipulate another guy to be less full of himself

Editing work

I've just started as one of three editors for a magic school story anthology. It is my first time so I'm learning from the other two who are more experienced and actually have their university degrees in Finnish language which I don't. I was asked along as more of the magic school expert since most of my published work so far is set in them. We are only just starting to go through the submissions since the deadline was the end of the year, so I haven't done much yet but I really love helping other people make the most of their writing, so I'm very excited. ✨

Fan fiction

Words published: 225 239

Words written: 263 315

Not including a few 100 word drabbles, and fake chats which are actually from past fics anyway just in visual form.

My fics were mostly KagaKuro, as they usually are, but I also wrote one AoMomo. My plans for 2024 have more diverse focus characters, though!

Illustration/Graphic design

I got more work for cover design than before this year. I'm still such a newbie on this, but I'm fairly happy with many of them, and I've discovered such passion for this art. Only writing books is more satisfying than getting to be the one to bring out the book's core in a visual form. And some of the authors have really loved the covers and felt like I got them, which of course feels amazing. I always wanted to do my own covers but now that I get to do other people's too I just want to do it more and more.

Drawings/Paintings

This was definitely a KnB heavy year! Which I enjoyed a lot. I didn't do that many original things but I was really happy to get back to traditional art after several years now that I think my digital art skills have improved to pretty much the same level.

Comics

I didn't really complete anything but in June I got about half way through this KagaKuro comic (with female Kuroko) based on my own fic Kuroko's Fairytale.

This is definitely one of the things I want to finish the most in 2024! I felt so high drawing it. It was such a strange experience because female Kuroko was not supposed to be a thing for me... (it was supposed to be just one funky fic that happens in a dream, never to be revisited again, because my brain is so much work it beats itself up about even the most minuscule changes I might like to make on existing characters, like, my brain just has no chill about fiction, everything is death serious, it's fucking annoying even to me) But. BUT. B U T. When I was drawing this comic. Oh. My. God. I have no words for how good it felt. Like, I obviously knew you can experience love on behalf of fictional characters (hello, shipping) but I had never before experienced gender euphoria on behalf of a fictional character. There's no other way to describe it, girl Kuroko absolutely destroyed me in the best of ways. So she's here to stay, I can't push her back anymore.

Anyway, have a sneak peek. I still struggle a lot with consistent anatomy as I have my whole life, but there are a few frames I love already, my favourite probably being the one which is also my icon.

Not that I'm not also in love with stupid prince Kagami, but I was never fighting that so it's a little different.

Books read

Not an especially good reading year in quantity. In quality it was, though. I don't think there was one book that I disliked. My problem these days is that every time I try to take time to read a book, about a half an hour into it my brain goes like... You know what? You could be working on your own writing. But it's also very important for a writer to read, so I have to retrain my brain to stop feeling like it's wasting time when I read.

Total: 29 (or 35 if you count KnB as two volumes each since it's double edition)

New books: 17

Rereads: 12(/18)

Several of these are books I did covers for, and I started a KnB reread to check for ideas I haven't covered in my fics yet, so if you take these "business" reads out of the equation, I didn't read that much for just pleasure. That's something I want to improve in 2024.

The most memorable book was probably The Song of Achilles (a damn difficult read since I saw so many of my own relationships patterns in Patroclus to a painful detail, ugh. And yeah Achilles definitely reminded me of some specific people too. Kind of destroyed all my blissful surrealist separation with this story and made me disillusioned with it, but in the end it might have been good for me).

Fics read

Ok, this is downright shameful to me. I read so little. But go give some love to these fics I've read which were obviously made with love.

Reap What You Sow (one-sided (??) AoMomo) by @vespersposts

summer drabble (Kagami) by cempasuchil_03

Noodle Kiss (KagaKuro) by @myndless88

The Art of Self-Pillage (Haizaki, OC) by @lylakoi

Let's Have a War (Kise, Kasamatsu, OC) by @lylakoi

Tastes of Cinnamon (KagaKuro) by @lilypheria

Nail art

A new hobby for me! I hadn't even owned nail polish before. And couldn't stand long nails either. I have no clue what inspired this, to be honest. I'm very new to it, but here are my favourites.

The text print on blue nails was definitely the most me, but I think I particularly enjoy prints in general. I made the star ones for Christmas.

I bet I've forgotten something obvious but this post is pretty long already and it looks like a pretty good summary. Definitely helped me sort out my thoughts on what I want to do in 2024 and what priorities I should have.

Good luck to everyone on all your future plans. ✨💙

[radioprune]

i am actually so good at giving gifts i was in denial about that being my love language for a long time but i'm ready to accept it now

[authorkarajorgensen]

My End of 2023 Reflection

This week's blog is my end of year reflection for 2023, where I talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mostly though, I talk about how thankful I am for all of you.

I’m not going to lie, I have been putting off writing a yearly review of 2023. By and large, this year has been awesome. My book won awards, I had a record number of preorders on The Reanimator’s Soul, I wrote a whole book, things have gone well– more than well. On the other hand, there were things that happened that upset me and have continued to grate on me all year. My fear is that this…

[cmrosens]

2023 Wrap-Up

Looking back on the year that was, and looking forward to the year that might be Greetings all, and happy new year! This is my 2023 wrap-up post, many thanks to all who have supported me and made this the most successful sales year to date. My top viewed post this year was my just-for-fun list of Werewolf Films 1910-1949, cw for anti-indigenous and anti-ziganist tropes in some of those. Other…

[ismahanescorner]

December Wrap-up!

well!! i didn’t achieve any of the 2023 goals i set for myself, sooo… come hail or high water (is that how the saying goes?!) i was gonna meet the reading goal i set up! hence reading 40+ books in one month!!

Books:

Catching Fire: 5/5 🌟

Mockingjay: 4/5

Kill the Boy Band: 3/5

Elixir of the Sun (S3): 4/5

Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies: 4/5

My Happy Marriage (Vol.4): 3.5/5

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute: 4.25/5

The Kiss of Deception: 4/5

The Heart of Betrayal: 3/5

The Beauty of Darkness: 3.75/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.1): 3/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.2): 3/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.3): 3.5/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.4): 4/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.5): 2/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.6): 4.75/5 🌟

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.7): 3/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.8): 4/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.9): 3/5

The Apothecary Diaries (Vol.10): 4/5

Spy X Family (Vol.8): 5/5 🌟

Spy X Family (Vol.9): 4.75/5 🌟

Spy X Family (Vol.10): 4.5/5

Spy X Family (Eyes Only): 3/5

Fangirl (Vol.3): 4.5/5

Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party: 3/5

Frizzy: 4/5

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager: 3.75/5

The Tea Dragon Society: 4/5

The Tea Dragon Festival: 4/5 🌟

The Tea Dragon Tapestry: 3/5

Persephone: 2/5

Undercover: 2.5/5

The Rise of the Dragon: 4/5

The Wicked + The Divine (Vol.1): 2/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.33): 3/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.34): 3/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.35): 3/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.36): 4/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.37): 4.5/5

Haikyu!! (Vol.38): 4/5

Monstress (Vol.1): 2.5/5

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon: 4.75/5

Saga (Vol.10): 4/5

Heaven Official’s Blessing (Manhua Vol.7): 4/5

Heaven Official’s Blessing (Manhua Vol.8): 4/5

Stupid Games (Dramione Fanfic): 3/5

A Dowry of Blood: 4.25/5 🌟

Spider-Man (Spider-Verse: Miles Morales): ••

Shows & Movies:

Gen V: 8/10

Spy X Family (S2/C1): 9/10

The Apothecary Diaries: - (Up-to-date!)

My Happy Marriage: 8/10

Jujutsu Kaisen (S2): 8/10

i just wanna say, gege akutami, you ain’t ever seeing the pearly gates for what you did with the shibuya incident!!!

see y’all in the new year, hopefully with more frequent reviews/updates!

bye! 🫰🏼✌🏼

[lizard-reads-the-world]

2023 Wrap-up

I fulfilled 31 countries for the World Challenge this year, bringing my total up to 57 out of 208.

I also read about 14 other books that were repeats of countries, additional books in series, and ones I just randomly picked up, so something like 44 in total.

I also finished up all the backlog of countries I had rolled with the randomizer, so in the new year I will get to roll some new ones - yay, exciting.

So here are my top favorites from the year!

Top 5 reads in 2023

The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya

A really beautiful novel of a prodigy pianist coming of age in Soviet Azerbaijan. Musical prose and just breathtaking story.

2. The Exiles of Crocodile Island by Henye Meyer

This was an unexpectedly really good book that I was lucky to find for the tiny islands of São Tomé & Príncipe. Following a group of Jewish children forced to a Portuguese settlement. Really insightful characterization and lovely writing.

3. The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk

Such a unique folklore-esque story by an Estonian author. A clash of modernity with ancient ways, and what gets forgotten.

4. The Key by Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

Book 3 and finale of the Engelsfors series set in Sweden really brought the series to an amazing climax and gave us great character development. Also I think, the longest book I read this year.

5. The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa

Super fun queer pirate adventure! This was just so refreshing and comforting at the same time.

Honorable mentions:

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue; Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi; I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera; On the Edge of Gone by Corrine Duyvis; When a Bulbul Sings by Hawaa Ayoub

See my book review tag for all my reviews!

Full list of countries read this year

Here's all the countries I fulfilled this year and the books I read for them.

🇦🇺 Australia - Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan - The Orphan Sky, Ella Leya

🇨🇺 Cuba - A Tall Dark Trouble - Vanessa Montalban

🇩🇰 Denmark - The Shamer's Daughter, Lene Kaaberbøl

🇪🇪 Estonia - The Man Who Spoke Snakish, Andrus Kivirähk

🇫🇯 Fiji - The Wild Ones, Nafiza Azad

🇮🇷 Iran - Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

🇮🇶 Iraq - Yazidi!, Aurélien Ducoudray & Mini Ludvin

🇮🇪 Ireland - All Our Hidden Gifts, Caroline O'Donoghue

🇱🇹 Lithuania - Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepatys

🇱🇺 Luxembourg - The Elf of Luxembourg, Tom Weston

🇲🇹 Malta - The Maltese Dreamer, Catherine Veritas

🇲🇽 Mexico - Secret of the Moon Conch, David Bowles; Guadalupe García McCall

🇳🇵 Nepal - What Elephants Know - Eric Dinerstein

🇳🇱 Netherlands - On the Edge of Gone, Corrine Duyvis

🇵🇸 Palestine - Travellers Along the Way, Aminah Mae Safi

🇵🇹 Portugal - Mariana, Katherine Vaz

🇵🇷 Puerto Rico - The Wicked Bargain, Gabe Cole Novoa

🇷🇴 Romania - And I Darken, Kiersten White

🇱🇨 St. Lucia - 'Til I Find You Greta Bondieumaitre

🇸🇲 San Marino - The Gladiator, Harry Turtledove

🇸🇹 São Tomé & Príncipe - The Exiles of Crocodile Island, Henye Meyer

🇸🇳 Senegal - No Heaven for Good Boys, Keisha Bush

🇸🇬 Singapore - Sofia and the Utopia Machine, Judith Huang

🇸🇰 Slovakia - Impossible Escape, Steve Sheinkin

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka - I Am Kavi, Thushanthi Ponweera

🇸🇪 Sweden - The Circle, Sara Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago - When the Vibe is Right, Sarah Dass

🇹🇳 Tunisia - Other Names, Other Places, Ola Mustapha

🇻🇪 Venezuela - The Sun and the Void, Gabriel Romero Lacruz

🇾🇪 Yemen - When a Bulbul Sings, Hawaa Ayoub

And here's the moods that Storygraph says I read which turned out to be pretty varied.

------------------

Overall not bad progress, and I look forward to continuing to read in 2024!

Have you read any of the books I picked or have them on your TBR? Feel free to comment!

[terrorbirb]

Monday my coworker cleared his throat on me when talking to me for 3 minutes, and I immediately put on a mask, disinfected and moved everything I had to the conference room because he obviously had something. I also immediately told my boss who "was wondering if he should send him home". All of that, but apparently that was enough to get me sick.

Here's the thing, and I know this isn't how it works, I got it from a coworker at work and did EVERYTHING in my power to not get it so i could continue work, so I should get my sick days paid even though I don't have any more PTO. I'm still going to work with a mask on in the warehouse because I, specifically, am needed to complete physical inventory which is incredibly important, but I had to go home at 3pm because I was on the verge of fainting. If I cannot complete these last 2 weeks of work, my company will fall apart, which is why I gave a 5 week notice instead of 2 and delayed starting my new job. I know "fuck this company", but I have enough pride to not want things to be worse than they already are because I Built This Place. I want all the systems I designed to work.

Tldr if a coworker got me sick because my boss didn't send him home when he knew he should, and I took measures to limit my exposure right after being exposed, then I should get my sick hours paid.

[jeanmoreaux]

*✧ — FEBRUARY 2023 WRAP UP

not much to add other than that the number of rereads is more than a third of my reading this month, which really surprised me bc it didn’t feel like it. the new stuff i read was quite good—nothing under a three star, which is great! oh, yeah, and ofc fuck jkr (read the books in preparation for a children’s & ya lit course. has not paid off yet, even though the books were on the general syllabus. not much else to say on the topic; i think we all know the good and the bad this series has to offer lol.)

2023 goal: 40/100 books

as alway, feel free to drop book recs, questions, or opinions in my inbox; i am always happy to talk to you about books!

* –> newly added to my favorites shelf

follow my goodreads | follow my storygraph | previous wrap ups

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White | 4.5★ | review

Elektra by Jennifer Saint | 3.25★

Dig. by A.S. King | 4.75★

* The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham | 5★ | review

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys | 3.75★ | review

The Hidden Face of Eve by Nawal El Saadawi | no rating

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak | 3.75★ | review

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë | 4.25★ | review

The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran | 4★

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi | 4.75★ | review

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

rereads

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling | no rating

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling | no rating

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler | 4.5★ | review

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling | no rating

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 4.5★

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern | 5★ | review