LOOKING FORWARD
"MIDYEAR" WRAP-UP
FALL AND WINTER READING
2023 THEMES AND CHALLENGES
Hello, my lovely library lions and book dragons! I started drafting this post in June and as you can see... I never got back to it. Heh. That's why midyear is in quotes. Ha ha.
After reading 103 books in 2021, most of them 350+ pages, I felt I was spending too much time reading and not enough time playing my instruments, baking, and listening to music; three things that calm me and put me in a good frame of mind. I decided to try and pare down to one book a week.
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I now only listen to audiobooks, and ebooks on text-to-speech, while I'm eating. Joey, the Kindle text-to-speech voice, is my boyfriend. Ha ha. I listen to music when I go on walks instead of audiobooks. I also no longer listen when I'm doing mindless tasks like folding laundry, dusting, or doing my nails. I found that quiet, other than my ever-present fan, while doing these things is also calming. The only actual physical reading I do now is of graphic novels; which are far and few between.
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Will I do this again next year?
No, but I'm in the habit now, especially with listening to music while walking, so I probably will continue to have lower yearly reading totals. I only went rogue once; while listening to an exciting part of an audiobook I continued to listen after I had finished eating, while doing my nails.
All of my 2022 reading challenges are personal ones, except the Carib-A-Thon which was in June, and the Anti-Bullying Read-A-Thon in November. I have been reading all Black and Native American authors this year with the exception of Nonfiction and ARCs from favorite authors. Which I think has only amounted to two books so far.
2022 PERSONAL CHALLENGE TOTALS AT THE END OF JUNE
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NONFICTION 1/12
MIDDLE GRADE 10/12
NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST NATIONS AUTHORS 7/12
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I was way ahead with MG reading and one ahead on Native American books. Nonfiction is looking dreadful. I might change it to six.
CARIB-A-THON
Karen from Runwright Reads co-hosts this read-a-thon every year. It even got a nod from Oprah in 2021. It's ten days in mid-June. I hope you will put it on your calendar and join us next year!
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I've been doing the same monthly themes here on the blog for four or five years. It keeps my reading varied and diverse.
SEPTEMBER
Witches! I only have three books: two by Black authors and one by a Native American author...
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I could use a few more recommendations of witch books written by Black and Native American authors.
OCTOBER
Horror! My spooky season theme changes from year to year. I've done vampires, zombies, and ghosts to name a few. I have three books lined up: two Black authors and one Native American author.
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Again, recommendations would be helpful. I found out Wicker Man isn't Horror, and two books I thought were written by Native Americans weren't; Goodreads needs to research their curated book lists more carefully.
NOVEMBER
November is Sci-Fi Month for everyone! I really wish it was during the summer because when it gets cold out I want to read Fantasy. Ha ha. There are two Black authors and two Native American authors on this list.
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DECEMBER
December is my catch-up month for my year long challenges (MG, Nonfiction, re-reads, classics) and ARCs.
2023
My first full year theme challenge was in 2020 when I read all classics. In 2021 I took a break before challenging myself to read all Black and Native American authors in 2022. In 2023 I'm taking another break before hitting my challenge of reading all Middle Grade books in 2024.
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This, however, doesn't mean my reading will be totally free-range next year. There will still be my monthly themes and my personal year long challenges. Because I will be reading less, my year-longs will be halved from previous years.
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THREE CLASSICS
THREE RE-READS
THREE ANTI-RACISM BOOKS
SIX NATIVE AMERICAN/FIRST NATIONS BOOKS
SIX MIDDLE GRADE
SIX NONFICTION
SIX BACKLIST ARCS
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And a new category...
SIX FREEBIE - 99¢ EBOOKS
I have hundreds of free and 99¢ ebooks on my Kindle. I expect a lot of these will be DNFs, so I'm hoping this will clean up my digital shelves quite a bit! Only completed books will count. I'm thinking of using Katherine's (I Wish I Lived in a Library) TBR bingo method for these.
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What are your reading and blogging goals for 2023?
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