Welcome to my 2023 reading list and end of year report. In addition to the list and some numbers related to my reading, I will add a few end of year thoughts on things like blogging and social media. Before I go on, once again I did write a post on my thoughts about the pandemic at the end of 2023. If you are interested, or in case you missed it, feel free to check it out. I also wrote some random thoughts on what is left of my social media at the start of 2024. 2023 was a year I cut down dramatically on my social media presence, and I think it is for the better. Anyhow, feel free to read that for details.
As I noted at the end of last year, I stopped worrying about Notes from a Simple Librarian, my professional blog. If I find something I want to write about related to librarianship, I will write it. If not, not too worried. I wrote five blog posts over there in 2023.
My main blogging focus is here at The Itinerant Librarian. I continue writing book reviews both as a way to remember what I read and as a small form of reader's advisory. It's my small way as a librarian to give back to other readers. I also do cartomancy deck reviews and a miscellaneous post here or there. Overall, I am pretty happy blogging here, and I hope to continue in 2024 and beyond. The blog schedule here is a new post every Friday, plus additional posts here or there when needed or I feel like posting more.
A reminder for any authors and publishers, if you would like me to review your book or your cartomancy deck, feel free to contact me. I do suggest you look over my reviews policy to make sure we are a good fit for each other. For a sampling of what I have reviewed in Tarot and cartomancy, feel free to check the Tarot tag on the right column of this blog.
After this blog, my blogging focus is on my cartomancy and commonplace blog, Alchemical Thoughts. This is where I post about my Tarot and cartomancy journey. Deck interview spreads are a highlight of this blog. The blog also serves a bit as a commonplace book where I jot down quotes and other small things I want to remember. I continue to work on writing for this blog, exploring new ideas.
Overall, as I noted on my social media post (link above), when I cut back on my social media presence, I lost reach for the blogs. Oh well, I will just continue to persevere, and I hope people will gradually discover the blogs and tell their friends about it. Every little bit of sharing helps.
Oh, another reminder. If you want to see what I was watching during the year in terms of media, you can check the film and television tag where you can find my monthly wrap up posts of what I was watching. I continue to enjoy using TubiTv for a lot of the streaming I watch. I do try other services here or there depending on what they have at a given time.
In other things, my politics/social issues/activist stuff moratorium continues. This means, in brief, I do not read nor watch any media on any of those three topics, or I avoid it as much as possible. As I have mentioned before, after 2016, I just got burned out on that stuff. It does not mean I don't care. It just means I choose not to engage for the sake of my mental health. I will admit a book slips in here or there that breaks the moratorium. I don't regret breaking the moratorium, but for the most part I've managed to maintain in during the year, and I will continue to maintain it in 2024. As I have said before, I cannot tune out 100%. Tempting as it is, personally and professionally I have to keep some awareness and stay informed. I do minimize the exposure as much as possible then.
A new thing in 2023 was my boycott of the publishers and imprints suing and trying to shut down Internet Archive. You can find my full statement on that here. The boycott means there are books I will not be reading anytime soon. As I wrote on the statement, I have no delusions those companies will do any change, but it is my way to make a stand and express my displeasure. At any rate, there are plenty of books to read from other decent publishers. I am thinking I may write a follow up post on the statement, probably close to March 2024 when I reach one year in the boycott.
Finally on the updates, my cartomancy studies continue, and I feel they are going well. I have been doing some cartomancy challenges and prompts that I share on social media, so if you follow me on social media, feel free to check those posts out. I am considering at some point in the future offering small modest readings for folks online somehow. I need to work on the logistics of that, so stay tuned.
So now, let's get on with my reading list for 2023. Book titles with an asterisk (*) indicates a re-reread.
January 2023
- Brian Keene, Earthworm Gods.
- Bryan Paiement, The Little Book of Whiskey Cocktails.
- Joe Benitez, Lady Mechanika, Volume 1.
- Matthieu Gabella, et.al., The Cimmerian, Volume 4.
February:
- Ru-Lee Story, Your Tarot Toolkit: Simple Activities for your Daily Practice.
- Scott Montgomery, The 2000 AD Encyclopedia.
- Martha Wells, Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 2).
- Dik Browne, Hagar the Horrible: Happy Hour.
- James Tynion IV, et.al., Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 2.
- Eliot Rahal, Knock 'Em Dead.
- Colette Baron Reid, The Wisdom of Avalon Oracle Cards (kit with deck and companion book).
- Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living.
- Dik Brown, Hagar the Horrible: Sacking Paris on a Budget.
March:
- Brian O'Connor, Armorclads.
- Emma Smith, Portable Magic: a History of Books and Their Readers.
- David G. Marwell, Mengele: Unmasking the Angel of Death.
- Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note, Volume 2: Confluence.
- Dik Browne, Hagar Hits the Mark.
- Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The First Heretic: Fall to Chaos (The Horus Heresy, Book 14).
- Riccardo Minetti, Franco Rivolli, and Barbara Moore, Green Oracle (kit with deck and book).
April:
- Simon Garfield, All the Knowledge in the World: the Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia.
- Stephanie Phillips, et.al., Harley Quinn, Volume 1: No Good Deed.
- Roben Farzad, Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami.
- John and Caitlin Matthews (authors) and Wil Kingham (artist), The Steampunk Tarot: Wisdom from the Gods of the Machine (kit with deck and book).
- Zac Thompson, I Breathed a Body.
- Hannah Dolan, et.al., LEGO Star Wars Ideas Book.
- Anthony M. DeStefano, The Big Heist: the Real Story of the Lufthansa Heist, the Mafia, and Murder. *
- Sarah Milne, The Book Lover's Guide to London.
- Shinsuke Hosokawa, Zen Wisdom for the Anxious.
May:
- Kyle Gray, Angels and Ancestors Oracle (kit with deck and companion book).
- Rose George, Ninety Percent of Everything.
- Ty Templeton, Batman Adventures: Nightwing Rising.
- Dik Browne, Hagar the Horrible: Motley Crew.
- Stephen Bullivant, Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America.
- Sam Magdaleno, The Big Book of Tarot Meanings.
June:
- Josephine Ellershaw, Easy Tarot Combinations.
- Jake Richards, Doctoring the Devil.
- Stacey Graham (author) and Paul Kepple (illustrator), The Zombie Tarot (kit with deck and book).
- Various authors, Batman Adventures: Cat Got Your Tongue?
- Various authors, Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire, Vol. 1.*
- P.N. Elrod, I, Strahd: the Memoirs of a Vampire.
- Cheryl Yambrach Rose, Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle (kit with deck and companion book).
- Nat Segaloff, The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear.
- Jeffrey Brown, Star Wars Jedi Academy.
- Gary Larson, The Far Side Gallery 5.*
July:
- Todd McFarlane, Batman/Spawn: the Deluxe Edition.
- H. Byron Ballard, Roots, Branches, and Spirits.
- Ben Davies, Reading Novels During the Covid-19 Pandemic.
- Marianne Julia Strauss, ed., Temples of Books.
- Deborah Bonello, Narcas: the Secret Rise of Women in Latin America's Cartels.
- Kathleen McLaughlin, Blood Money.
- Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Wisdom Oracle (kit with deck and companion book).
- Kristoffer Hughes (author) and Chris Down (artist), Celtic Tarot (kit with deck and companion book).
August:
- Carl Banks, Walt Disney's Donald Duck: The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama.
- Jane Fritsch, Serial Killers of the '70s.
- Tom Gauld, Revenge of the Librarians.
- Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, Harley Quinn, Volume 3: Red Meat.
- Ricardo Nuila, The People's Hospital.
- Aaron Bowden-Dembski, Helsreach (Space Marines Battles 2, Warhammer 40,000).
- Antonio Pagliarulo, The Evil Eye.
September:
- Rachel Kramer Bussel, How to Write Erotica.
October:
- Steve Parker, Shadowbreaker (Deathwatch, Warhammer 40,000).
- Michael Korda, Making the List: a Cultural History of the American Bestseller, 1900-1999.
- Alana Fairchild, Kuan Yin Oracle (kit with deck and companion book).
- Andy Borowitz, Profiles in Ignorance.
- Riccardo Minetti and Laura Sava, Dark Mirror Oracle (kit with deck and companion book).
- David Kendall, ed., The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics.
- Maggie Stiefvater, The Raven's Prophecy Tarot (kit with deck and companion book).
November:
- Adam Minter, Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale.
- Lindsay Squire, Tarot Magick.
- Tom Gauld, You're All Just Jealous of my Jetpack.
- Norman Solomon, War Made Invisible.
- Barbara Moore and Johnathan Hunt, Trick Or Treat Tarot (kit with deck and companion book).
- Tom Gauld, Baking with Kafka.
- Clive Barker, Infernal Parade.
December:
- Martha Kirby Capo and Vincent Higginbotham, Thrifty Witchery.
- J.M. DeMatteis, et.al., Creature Commandos.
- William King, The Space Wolf Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000).
- Richard Crookes, Tai Chi Reflections (kit with deck and companion book).
- Serena Valentino, Undead: Everything the Modern Zombie Needs to Know.
Number of books read in 2017: 84 (the 2017 list).
Number of books read in 2016: 92, including re-reads (the 2016 list).
Number of books read in 2015: 123, including 2 re-reads (the 2015 list).
Number of books read in 2014: 152, including 2 re-reads (the 2014 list).
Number of books read in 2013: 173, including 2 re-reads (the 2013 list).
Number of books read in 2012: 117, with 6 re-reads (the 2012 list).
Number of books read in 2011: 119, with 3 re-reads (the 2011 list).
Number of books read in 2010: 119, with 6 rereads (the 2010 list).
Number of books read in 2009: 98, with 5 rereads. I believe this is the first time I started to actively track rereads. (the 2009 list).
Number of books read in 2008: 111 (the 2008 list).
Number of books read in 2007: 85 (the 2007 list).
Number of books read in 2006: 106 (the 2006 list).
Number of books read in 2005: 73
Commentaries and thoughts on the numbers and reading:
I am happy I managed to read 82 books in 2023, which is close to what I read in 2022. These days, with the Hard Times I am reluctant to make predictions on how many books I may end up reading. I just take it a day at a time, and I go from there. So aside from a reading challenge or two, which I have to decide on as of this post, I am not setting any specific reading goals for 2024. We'll just see how it goes.
Speaking of reading challenges, I completed 2 out of the 3 challenges I started in 2023. I basically was not able to complete the audiobooks challenge. However, I did very well on the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I will probably sign up again for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge and the NetGalley/Edelweiss Reading Challenge. I will post a reading challenges post for 2024 once I get my act together.
On a side note, yes, I still use GoodReads to track what I read. I am not thrilled with it, but the alternatives, such as BookWyrm and Storygraph, which I tried out in 2023, just seriously fall short. I am giving thought to checking Library Thing again. For now, it is what it is, and I am not terribly worried about it. At the moment, just keeping an eye out for a decent alternative option.
So, let's look at the numbers:
Number of rereads: 2, and I admit one of them was accidental, as in I did not recall reading it previously. I am OK with that.
- Public library.
- Berea branch, Madison County (KY) Public Library: 15
- Eastside Branch, Lexington Public Library: 11
- Libby, formerly Overdrive (can be either public library): 0
- Hoopla (via Madison County Public Library): 0
- Hutchins Library: 8
- Interlibrary Loan: 4
- Erotica: 1. This was not a good year for reading erotica. The Hard Times are not always good for reading erotica. Hard Times are just not conducive. We will just have to see how it goes in 2024.
- LIS and reference: 4. That is OK, but I may be able to do better. I am probably going to increase that number in 2024 due to work. Accreditation is coming back again, curriculum changes are in the works on campus, so I am anticipating I may need to do some more reading in the LIS area. Also, I need to work a bit more on checking new reference works we add to our collection, which I could then review here. Stay tuned.
- Tarot and oracle: including companion books for specific decks: 15
- Other esoterica/pagan/spirituality: 7
- NetGalley: 7
- Edelweiss: 7. I did not plan NetGalley and Edelweiss Plus totals to match, but here we are.
- Other books offered for review, not from NetGalley nor Edelweiss. These may be books I got from a publisher, an author, etc. because I requested or they were offered for review: 1
- Books in Spanish: 0. I admit I did not put much effort trying to find books written in Spanish to read in 2023.
- True crime: 4.
- Food and drink: 1
- Poetry: 0
- Books that broke the moratorium. Naturally, this should be zero, but I read 2 books that broke moratorium in 2023. 2 out of 80 is pretty good. This is definitely better than last year when I started tracking this and at the time read 7 books that broke moratorium.
This time last year I was reading the following books. Links go to the reviews.
- Brian Keene, Earthworm Gods.
- David G. Marwell, Mengele: Unmasking the Angel of Death.
- Joe Benitez, Lady Mechanika, Volume 1: the Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse.
- Ru-Lee Story, Your Tarot Toolkit: Simple Activities for your Daily Practice.
As we start 2024, I am reading the following books:
- Ben Counter, The Soul Drinkers Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000).
- Apollo Publishers, Words to Win By: the Slogans, Logos, and Designs of America's Presidential Elections.
- R.K. Brislin, Atheist in Appalachia: Nonbelief in Rural America.
- Feed Your Fiction Addiction has their 2023 End of Year Survey...with graphs.
- The Literary Salon does their 2023 in review.
- RA for All assesses how they did in 2023 and then set goals for 2024.
- That Artsy Reader Girl's end of year.
No comments:
Post a Comment