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The house has been cleaned, champagne jelly bars have been cooked, several other errands attended to, and now all that's left to do is sit tight till it's time to meet up with folks to ring in the new year. As that's not set to happen for several hours, I figured I'd knock out this year's reading meme in the meantime.
This was not a banner year for me, as far as reading goes: first, because I was too sick for much of it to read much at all, and second because many of the new (or at least new-to-me) books I did read this year were lackluster. By the time October rolled around, I'd pretty much defaulted to rereading tried and true favorites. Still, I did read several good new ones, and the old favorites are old favorites for a reason.
How many books read in 2023?
In 2022, I read 101 books cover-to-cover, defined as always as reading every chapter, glossary, index, author’s note, etc. in the volume.
Favorite first-time read?
Fiction: Melissa Albert’s Our Crooked Hearts, which, in terms of plot, characterization, and descriptive prose was everything I want out of a book. (Runner up: Ray Nayler’s The Mountain In The Sea. Getting to speak with the author in person about the book was just the icing on the cake.)
Nonfiction: Dorsey Armstrong’s King Arthur: History and Legend (runner up: Max Smeets’s No Shortcuts).
Least favorite first-time read?
Fiction: Neal Shusterman’s Scythe. OH HOW LITTLE I CARED FOR THIS LAZILY WRITTEN BOOK. (Runner up: Moshid Hamad’s The Last White Man. Talk about a promising premise ruined by rushed and pretentious execution.)
Nonfiction: Nicole Pelroth’s sophomoric This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends (runner up: Julianto Simanjuntak & Roswitha Ndraha’s Mencinta Hingga Terluka for its Neanderthal Roman Catholic attitudes toward gender, domestic violence, and LGBTQ+ people).
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio? 84 fiction : 17 nonfiction
Author gender breakdown? (Counted by volume, not number of distinct authors.)
Women: 51
Men: 42
Nonbinary: 1
Multiple authors or anthology: 7
Most books read by one author this year?
I read nine by Beatrix Potter. I also read four by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen, and three each by: Jon Klassen, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Tynion IV & Werther Dell’Edera, and Martha Wells.
Any in translation?Yes, four, all from Chinese:
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 1
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: Heaven Official’s Blessing vol. 1
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1
Shuang Xuetao’s Rouge Street
In languages other than English? Five.
In Dutch: Vosje by Edward van de Vendel and Marije Toman.
In Indonesian: Mencinta Hingga Terluka by Roswitha Ndraha and Julianto Simanjuntak.
In Japanese: 蟲師 7 (Mushishi vol. 7) and 蟲師 8 (Mushishi vol. 8), both by 漆原 友紀 (Urushihara Yuki), and 観音経の話 (Kannon-kyo no Hanashi) by an unattributed author.
This is the lowest number of books I’ve read in languages other than English in at least twenty-two years.
Oldest?
Like much of the Internet, I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula (published in 1897). I also read the Harper & Row edition of Edward Lear’s The Scroobious Pip, wonderfully illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Lear started writing this in 1872, but as it was incomplete at the time of his death (Ogden Nash fills in the missing bits in the Harper & Row edition), Dracula wins this category on a technicality.
Newest?
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s The Three Billy Goats Gruff just edged out Ray Nayler’s excellent The Mountain In The Sea for this honor by a matter of two weeks.
Longest Title?
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.
Shortest Title?
観音経の話 (Kannon-kyo no Hanashi) by an unattributed author narrowly beats out several English-language books with six-letter titles.
Longest book?
In terms of words per page, probably Jon Pomfret’s The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Shortest book? Again, Nancy Ekholm Burkert’s beautifully illustrated edition of Edward Lear’s The Scroobius Pip.
Format of books read?
Paper: 60
Ebook: 37
Paper/Ebook both: 2 (I was not about to lug the one-volume edition of The Lord Of The Rings around with me on trips to faraway relatives' houses.)
Audiobook: 1
Great Course: 1
Re-reads? 29
First book acquired:
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s Heaven Official’s Blessing vol. 1
Last book acquired:
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s The Rock From The Sky, which arrived today. Seriously, finding out that these two had published two books I hadn’t known about was like Giftsmas all over again.
First book finished:
Lon Milo DuQuette’s Homemade Magick, which was easily the most engaging thing he's written.
Last book finished:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King, which I wrapped up yesterday.
Book that most changed my perspective:
James Neil Sneddon’s Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar, which really fleshed out my understanding of the language. I also read a fair amount of philosophically inclined fiction (think Jo Walton's The Just City), but none of it changed my perspective per se.
Favorite character:
Azhanharad, from Katherine Addison’s The Grief of Stones. I do love me my prickly (fantasy steampunk) Victorian-era detectives.
Favorite scene:
I mean, anything with Faramir or Treebeard in it. The Mines of Moria. Bree. Weathertop. The Barrow Downs. Pretty much the entirety of Megan Whalen Turner’s Thick As Thieves. The conclusion of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s We Found A Hat. The Herdmans burning down the shed at the start of Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
But these are all from books I’ve read before. In terms of books I read for the first time this year, I’m going to go with Thara Celehar repeatedly learning he’s woefully misread Azhanharad throughout The Grief of Stones.
Favorite Quote:
India Holton's The Wisteria Society Of Lady Scoundrels made me laugh aloud repeatedly. Men! she thought irritably as she went. Their hysterical nature was a trial to any rational creature was a particular favorite; though as with most humor, it's at its funniest in context.
And, "I want you to fuck me," he said. "I want to feel like I can't get away from it" from Freya Marske's A Marvellous Light is also pretty damn hot.
Number of in-progress books as of December 31
I started, but have yet to finish, 16 books this year, to which count we can add several more that have been on hold for even longer.
What do you want to read in 2023?
I’m really out of the loop in terms of what’s set to publish next year; the only thing currently on my radar is Jacqueline Carey’s retelling of Kushiel’s Dart from Proto-Beshelar—I mean, Josceline’s—perspective. And yes, I will read it because: Josceline. Otherwise, I hope to read all the stuff that published in 2022 that I didn't manage to read this year, Natasha Pulley's The Half Life Of Valery K and Naomi Novik's The Golden Enclaves being at the top of that list.
Finally, for last year’s Snowflake Challenge, I made a list of 50 books I theoretically wanted to read within the year, and as of today I've read 18 of them and Little Free Library'ed three more. Not as good as my 2021 record of 30 (which is 33 now, seeing as I read an additional three off that list in 2022). But still, not bad! I'll probably do the same again this year...stay tuned.
Happy New Year, everyone!
これで以上です。
This was not a banner year for me, as far as reading goes: first, because I was too sick for much of it to read much at all, and second because many of the new (or at least new-to-me) books I did read this year were lackluster. By the time October rolled around, I'd pretty much defaulted to rereading tried and true favorites. Still, I did read several good new ones, and the old favorites are old favorites for a reason.
How many books read in 2023?
In 2022, I read 101 books cover-to-cover, defined as always as reading every chapter, glossary, index, author’s note, etc. in the volume.
Favorite first-time read?
Fiction: Melissa Albert’s Our Crooked Hearts, which, in terms of plot, characterization, and descriptive prose was everything I want out of a book. (Runner up: Ray Nayler’s The Mountain In The Sea. Getting to speak with the author in person about the book was just the icing on the cake.)
Nonfiction: Dorsey Armstrong’s King Arthur: History and Legend (runner up: Max Smeets’s No Shortcuts).
Least favorite first-time read?
Fiction: Neal Shusterman’s Scythe. OH HOW LITTLE I CARED FOR THIS LAZILY WRITTEN BOOK. (Runner up: Moshid Hamad’s The Last White Man. Talk about a promising premise ruined by rushed and pretentious execution.)
Nonfiction: Nicole Pelroth’s sophomoric This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends (runner up: Julianto Simanjuntak & Roswitha Ndraha’s Mencinta Hingga Terluka for its Neanderthal Roman Catholic attitudes toward gender, domestic violence, and LGBTQ+ people).
Fiction/Non-Fiction ratio? 84 fiction : 17 nonfiction
Author gender breakdown? (Counted by volume, not number of distinct authors.)
Women: 51
Men: 42
Nonbinary: 1
Multiple authors or anthology: 7
Most books read by one author this year?
I read nine by Beatrix Potter. I also read four by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen, and three each by: Jon Klassen, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Tynion IV & Werther Dell’Edera, and Martha Wells.
Any in translation?Yes, four, all from Chinese:
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 1
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: Heaven Official’s Blessing vol. 1
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System vol. 1
Shuang Xuetao’s Rouge Street
In languages other than English? Five.
In Dutch: Vosje by Edward van de Vendel and Marije Toman.
In Indonesian: Mencinta Hingga Terluka by Roswitha Ndraha and Julianto Simanjuntak.
In Japanese: 蟲師 7 (Mushishi vol. 7) and 蟲師 8 (Mushishi vol. 8), both by 漆原 友紀 (Urushihara Yuki), and 観音経の話 (Kannon-kyo no Hanashi) by an unattributed author.
This is the lowest number of books I’ve read in languages other than English in at least twenty-two years.
Oldest?
Like much of the Internet, I read Bram Stoker’s Dracula (published in 1897). I also read the Harper & Row edition of Edward Lear’s The Scroobious Pip, wonderfully illustrated by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. Lear started writing this in 1872, but as it was incomplete at the time of his death (Ogden Nash fills in the missing bits in the Harper & Row edition), Dracula wins this category on a technicality.
Newest?
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s The Three Billy Goats Gruff just edged out Ray Nayler’s excellent The Mountain In The Sea for this honor by a matter of two weeks.
Longest Title?
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton.
Shortest Title?
観音経の話 (Kannon-kyo no Hanashi) by an unattributed author narrowly beats out several English-language books with six-letter titles.
Longest book?
In terms of words per page, probably Jon Pomfret’s The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Shortest book? Again, Nancy Ekholm Burkert’s beautifully illustrated edition of Edward Lear’s The Scroobius Pip.
Format of books read?
Paper: 60
Ebook: 37
Paper/Ebook both: 2 (I was not about to lug the one-volume edition of The Lord Of The Rings around with me on trips to faraway relatives' houses.)
Audiobook: 1
Great Course: 1
Re-reads? 29
First book acquired:
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s Heaven Official’s Blessing vol. 1
Last book acquired:
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s The Rock From The Sky, which arrived today. Seriously, finding out that these two had published two books I hadn’t known about was like Giftsmas all over again.
First book finished:
Lon Milo DuQuette’s Homemade Magick, which was easily the most engaging thing he's written.
Last book finished:
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King, which I wrapped up yesterday.
Book that most changed my perspective:
James Neil Sneddon’s Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar, which really fleshed out my understanding of the language. I also read a fair amount of philosophically inclined fiction (think Jo Walton's The Just City), but none of it changed my perspective per se.
Favorite character:
Azhanharad, from Katherine Addison’s The Grief of Stones. I do love me my prickly (fantasy steampunk) Victorian-era detectives.
Favorite scene:
I mean, anything with Faramir or Treebeard in it. The Mines of Moria. Bree. Weathertop. The Barrow Downs. Pretty much the entirety of Megan Whalen Turner’s Thick As Thieves. The conclusion of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s We Found A Hat. The Herdmans burning down the shed at the start of Barbara Robinson’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
But these are all from books I’ve read before. In terms of books I read for the first time this year, I’m going to go with Thara Celehar repeatedly learning he’s woefully misread Azhanharad throughout The Grief of Stones.
Favorite Quote:
India Holton's The Wisteria Society Of Lady Scoundrels made me laugh aloud repeatedly. Men! she thought irritably as she went. Their hysterical nature was a trial to any rational creature was a particular favorite; though as with most humor, it's at its funniest in context.
And, "I want you to fuck me," he said. "I want to feel like I can't get away from it" from Freya Marske's A Marvellous Light is also pretty damn hot.
Number of in-progress books as of December 31
I started, but have yet to finish, 16 books this year, to which count we can add several more that have been on hold for even longer.
What do you want to read in 2023?
I’m really out of the loop in terms of what’s set to publish next year; the only thing currently on my radar is Jacqueline Carey’s retelling of Kushiel’s Dart from Proto-Beshelar—I mean, Josceline’s—perspective. And yes, I will read it because: Josceline. Otherwise, I hope to read all the stuff that published in 2022 that I didn't manage to read this year, Natasha Pulley's The Half Life Of Valery K and Naomi Novik's The Golden Enclaves being at the top of that list.
Finally, for last year’s Snowflake Challenge, I made a list of 50 books I theoretically wanted to read within the year, and as of today I've read 18 of them and Little Free Library'ed three more. Not as good as my 2021 record of 30 (which is 33 now, seeing as I read an additional three off that list in 2022). But still, not bad! I'll probably do the same again this year...stay tuned.
Happy New Year, everyone!
これで以上です。