{"id":2947,"date":"2024-01-01T13:06:47","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/?p=2947"},"modified":"2024-01-01T13:06:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:06:52","slug":"a-bookish-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/?p=2947","title":{"rendered":"A bookish year in review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As 2023 slinks out with a whimper, I find myself several books behind schedule in my blogging efforts, sitting in a heat-less home with a case of COVID to welcome in 2024. Hopefully this isn&#8217;t a harbinger of things to come &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I *will* go back and finish writing up the final 6 or so books of 2023, but in the meantime, I figured a quick summary of the year was something my covid-infected self could manage. In between naps and drinking water and tea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I did end up reading 42 books, MUCH more than expected (although 3 of them were children&#8217;s books, all read on the same day).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had an unspoken goal this year to read more books by female authors, and ended with year with 31 of 42 books written by women. It&#8217;s telling, I think, that I thought it was more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Half (22) of the books were classified (by me) as Great or very very close to great, falling into a category called &#8220;pretty darn good&#8221; that I only created to try and split the &#8220;great&#8221; list up a bit and tease out the best of the best. Better, only two books were disappointingly &#8220;meh&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To revisit my reading challenge for 2023, here is how it all fell out. A 2024 challenge will be along at some point in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Challenges related to books:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Read a favourite book of a close friend or loved one.<ul><li>It&#8217;s hard to get my avid-reader friends to specify a favourite book, so I went with &#8220;here&#8217;s one I liked&#8221; instead. Based on that, I read Little Fires Everything (Sharl&#8217;s recommendation) and Magic for Liars (Erin&#8217;s recommendation). Both totally worth it! My friends have good taste in books.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Read a graphic novel<ul><li>This is the reason I read The Sandman, and I enjoyed it! Would I read another graphic novel &#8220;just because&#8221;? Likely not, but I would definitely read one as part of a challenge or book club pick.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Give a book a second chance<ul><li>Americanah, which turned out to be simultaneously not amazing, but better than I thought when I abandoned it the first time. I don&#8217;t regret picking this one back up.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Read a book by a non-cis-white author<ul><li>I think the closest I came here was Christian Cooper, but I don&#8217;t think he passes the non-cis test? This challenge will likely reappear in my 2024 list.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Read a book by a local PEC author<ul><li>Blackwater Bluff. I will be repeating this goal in 2024, and already have a 4-book collection lined up.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Challenges related to activities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Figure out my wheelhouse and my doghouse (a fun list coming in Dec, and yes, \u201cwheelhouse\u201d will definitely include murder mysteries!)<ul><li>Okay this is harder than I thought, so maybe I&#8217;ll start broad and narrow it next year.<\/li><li>Wheelhouse: <ul><li>Books with a bright, fun cover (yes, I&#8217;m just that shallow, but it worked like gangbusters for Eleanor Oliphant and Lessons in Chemistry, so just let it be)<\/li><li>Muuuuurder most foul<\/li><li>A few choice authors who I&#8217;ll read unconditionally (Guy Kay, Emily St John Mandel, Marina Endicott, Tana French, Megan Miranda&#8230;)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Doghouse:<ul><li>Family drama and generational trauma<\/li><li>Romance, unless the romance is secondary to, say, a murder mystery<\/li><li>Most self-help books. Maybe all self-help books. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Write a blog about the books I have read (since you are reading this, check!)<ul><li>I am behind schedule, with about 6-7 books to go. A bit of a writing slump, sadly. But in general, I upheld this goal pretty well.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Read at least 2 books per month<ul><li>Going with an overall count, I needed to read 24 books and ended up at 42 (excellent!!) so I&#8217;m calling this a win. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Buy books from independent booksellers, ideally local stores OR borrow from the library<ul><li>I&#8217;m just going to say I spent way too much money at the local book store, Books &amp; Company, and highly recommend it to anyone who is in the area.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Read more diversity<ul><li>I think I can call this a win: Christian Cooper, Michelle Good, Celeste Ng, R.F. Kuang, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, a summary of my 2023 reading, by category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So Great!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Witch Elm, by Tana French<\/li><li>Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng<\/li><li>Sea of Tranquility: A Novel, by Emily St John Mandel<\/li><li>Shit, Actually, by Lindy West<\/li><li>Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good<\/li><li>The End of Everything (astrophysically speaking), by Katie Mack<\/li><li>The Witches are Coming, by Lindy West<\/li><li>Atlas of the Heart, by Brene Brown<\/li><li>How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question, but Michael Schur<\/li><li>The Observer, by Marina Endicott<\/li><li>Normal Rules Don&#8217;t Apply, by Kate Atkinson<\/li><li>Yellowface, by R. F. Kuang<\/li><li>Eleanor Opliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman<\/li><li>Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pretty Darn Good!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Such a Quiet Place, by Megan Miranda<\/li><li>What an Owl Knows, by Jennifer Ackerman<\/li><li>Living with Cannibals &amp; Other Women&#8217;s Adventures, by Michele Slung<\/li><li>Magic for Liars, by Sarah Gailey<\/li><li>Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens<\/li><li>The Sandman: Preludes &amp; Nocturnes &#8211; Book I, by Neil Gaiman etc<\/li><li>Killers of a Certain Age, by Deanna Raybourn<\/li><li>Better Living Through Birding, by Christian Cooper<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story, by Christopher Moore<\/li><li>The Appeal, by John Grisham<\/li><li>Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, by Sarah Vowell<\/li><li>The Word is Murder, by Anthony Horowitz<\/li><li>Briefly, a Delicious Life, by Nell Stevens<\/li><li>The Six-Figure Student Playbook, by Jackson Thornley<\/li><li>Ottawa Rewind 2: More Curios and Mysteries, by Andrew King<\/li><li>The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/li><li>Why Birds Sing, by Nina Berkhout<\/li><li>Blackwater Bluff, by S.M. Hurley<\/li><li>Furbidden Fatality, by Deborah Blake<\/li><li>Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie<\/li><li>Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng<\/li><li>A Place of Execution, by Val McDermid<\/li><li>Chapter and Curse, by Elizabeth Penney<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meh \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Field Notes from an Unintentionial Birder, by Julia Zarankin<\/li><li>Better Living Through Plastic Explosives, by Zsuzsi Gartner<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Kids<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Night Owl Night, by Susan Edwards Richmond<\/li><li>A Warbler&#8217;s Journey, by Scott Weidensaul<\/li><li>Two Green Birds, by Geraldo Valerio<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As 2023 slinks out with a whimper, I find myself several books behind schedule in my blogging efforts, sitting in a heat-less home with a case of COVID to welcome in 2024. Hopefully this isn&#8217;t a harbinger of things to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/?p=2947\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8xTNS-Lx","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2950,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2947\/revisions\/2950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mynerdyfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}