Too much information about what Rebecca's read.
Like last year, I made a list of categories for books that I wanted to read in 2023. It was pretty close to my 2022 reading goal list, but I'm not sure that I'll keep using it indefinitely. I do like that some categories are broad and easy and lead me to try books that I probably wouldn't read otherwise.
2023 Reading Goals
By an author I've never read before: The Winter of Red Snow.
By two people: Ashes to Ashes.
Childhood favorite: There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.
From Goodwill/secondhand: Mockingbird Song.
Made into a movie: The Handmaid's Tale.
Nonfiction book: Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls.
Over 400 pages: The Likeness.
Part of a series: Little Town at the Crossroads.
Published in a decade not on my list: The Turn of the Screw.
Published in a year not on my list: Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill.
Sara recommended: Olive, Again.
Second book by an author I've read only once: Harmony.
Set in Texas: To Take a Dare.
Set in a non-English-speaking country: The Island of Sea Women.
Translated from another language: Eidi.
Under 100 pages: Josefina's Surprise.
After I met my reading goals, I moved onto rereading authors that I'd read before. This gets a little challenging to do with my audiobooks, which just don't have as much selection available, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about that, either. I read a lot via inter-library loans, but they can take a long time to come in. Anyway, below is every book I read in 2023 (34 total, average year published 1990), divided into five categories.
Excellent
In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume.
The Pull of the Stars, by Emma Donoghue.
The Likeness, by Tana French.
American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith.
Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout.
Above Average
Seasparrow, by Kirsten Cashore.
Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green.
Ashes to Ashes, by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, by Maud Hart Lovelace.
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin.
Average
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood.
Eidi, by Bodil Bredsdorff.
The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant.
The Winter of Red Snow, by Kristiana Gregory.
Just Juice, by Karen Hesse.
These High, Green Hills, by Jan Karon.
Alan and Naomi, by Myron Levoy.
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, by Louis Sachar.
More All-of-a-Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor.
Josefina's Surprise, by Valerie Tripp.
Below Average
The Mockingbird Song, by Berthe Amoss.
To Take a Dare, by Crescent Dragonwing & Paul Zindel.
The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides.
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James.
Harmony, by Carolyn Parkhurst.
The Very Best Hanukkah Gift, by Joanne Rocklin.
The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See.
Little Clearing in the Woods, by Maria D. Wilkes.
Little Town at the Crossroads, by Maria D. Wilkes.
Poor
Morning Is a Long Time Coming, by Bette Greene.
And some stats from my Excel list where I keep (almost) every book I've read from 2010 to the present. It currently contains 282 books by 177 authors, average year published 1994. My most-read authors are currently:
9: Maud Hart Lovelace.
8: Ann M. Martin, Melissa Wiley.
6: Kristin Cashore, Tana French, Laura Lippman, Lois Lowry, Valerie Tripp.
5: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
4: Jane Austen, Anna Quindlen.
3: Kate Atkinson, Judy Blue, Emma Donoghue, Jenny Han, Karen Hesse, Cathleen Schine, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elizabeth Strout, Nancy Thayer, Siobhan Vivian, Maria D. Wilkes.
2: 32 authors.
And this is a list of decades published, by popularity: 2010s: 113. 1990s: 53. 2000s: 38. 1980s: 26. 1970s: 15. 1940s: 9. 1960s: 6. 1950s: 6. 1800s (entire century): 6. 2020s: 4. 1930s: 2. 1910s: 2. 1920s: 1. 1900s: 1.
And some common themes among titles, selected at random. Five titles containing the word road: Blood Red Road, Little Town at the Crossroads, Revolutionary Road, The Road, and The Road From Roxbury. Five titles containing US Cities: Baltimore Blues, The Boston Girl, Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme, Little House by Boston Bay, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
2023 Reading Goals
By an author I've never read before: The Winter of Red Snow.
By two people: Ashes to Ashes.
Childhood favorite: There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.
From Goodwill/secondhand: Mockingbird Song.
Made into a movie: The Handmaid's Tale.
Nonfiction book: Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls.
Over 400 pages: The Likeness.
Part of a series: Little Town at the Crossroads.
Published in a decade not on my list: The Turn of the Screw.
Published in a year not on my list: Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill.
Sara recommended: Olive, Again.
Second book by an author I've read only once: Harmony.
Set in Texas: To Take a Dare.
Set in a non-English-speaking country: The Island of Sea Women.
Translated from another language: Eidi.
Under 100 pages: Josefina's Surprise.
After I met my reading goals, I moved onto rereading authors that I'd read before. This gets a little challenging to do with my audiobooks, which just don't have as much selection available, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about that, either. I read a lot via inter-library loans, but they can take a long time to come in. Anyway, below is every book I read in 2023 (34 total, average year published 1990), divided into five categories.
Excellent
In the Unlikely Event, by Judy Blume.
The Pull of the Stars, by Emma Donoghue.
The Likeness, by Tana French.
American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith.
Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout.
Above Average
Seasparrow, by Kirsten Cashore.
Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green.
Ashes to Ashes, by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian.
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, by Maud Hart Lovelace.
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin.
Average
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood.
Eidi, by Bodil Bredsdorff.
The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant.
The Winter of Red Snow, by Kristiana Gregory.
Just Juice, by Karen Hesse.
These High, Green Hills, by Jan Karon.
Alan and Naomi, by Myron Levoy.
There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, by Louis Sachar.
More All-of-a-Kind Family, by Sydney Taylor.
Josefina's Surprise, by Valerie Tripp.
Below Average
The Mockingbird Song, by Berthe Amoss.
To Take a Dare, by Crescent Dragonwing & Paul Zindel.
The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides.
The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James.
Harmony, by Carolyn Parkhurst.
The Very Best Hanukkah Gift, by Joanne Rocklin.
The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See.
Little Clearing in the Woods, by Maria D. Wilkes.
Little Town at the Crossroads, by Maria D. Wilkes.
Poor
Morning Is a Long Time Coming, by Bette Greene.
And some stats from my Excel list where I keep (almost) every book I've read from 2010 to the present. It currently contains 282 books by 177 authors, average year published 1994. My most-read authors are currently:
9: Maud Hart Lovelace.
8: Ann M. Martin, Melissa Wiley.
6: Kristin Cashore, Tana French, Laura Lippman, Lois Lowry, Valerie Tripp.
5: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
4: Jane Austen, Anna Quindlen.
3: Kate Atkinson, Judy Blue, Emma Donoghue, Jenny Han, Karen Hesse, Cathleen Schine, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elizabeth Strout, Nancy Thayer, Siobhan Vivian, Maria D. Wilkes.
2: 32 authors.
And this is a list of decades published, by popularity: 2010s: 113. 1990s: 53. 2000s: 38. 1980s: 26. 1970s: 15. 1940s: 9. 1960s: 6. 1950s: 6. 1800s (entire century): 6. 2020s: 4. 1930s: 2. 1910s: 2. 1920s: 1. 1900s: 1.
And some common themes among titles, selected at random. Five titles containing the word road: Blood Red Road, Little Town at the Crossroads, Revolutionary Road, The Road, and The Road From Roxbury. Five titles containing US Cities: Baltimore Blues, The Boston Girl, Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme, Little House by Boston Bay, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.