BOOKENDS: What I Read in December 2023

I made a very dedicated effort to finish off my 23 in 2023 reading list, which lead to three DNFs (The Night Ocean, The Luminaries, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) because they were three I was got iffy about by the middle of the year and dreaded reaching next for them (which should have been an indication at the beginning of the year! I think because I’d carried them around for years and multiple moves, I felt obligated to give them a try, but this was a lesson in letting go of something no matter how much weight (physically and metaphorically) it carried.

The rest of the reading month was great!! I giggled and kicked my feet at the three romances I opened up the month with (even if The Dead Romantics has a dose of millennial cringe in it). Cemetery Boys made me love what YA can do, Where Peace Is Lost made me want to read more science fiction in 2024 (which I strangely haven’t???), The Genesis of Misery is Pacific Rim meets Joan of Arc with all of the strangeness of kaiju and religion combined, and The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson was so engaging and I loved her introduction at the beginning. It’s made me excited for the paperback release of her translation of The Iliad later this year that I will definitely pick up.

Overall, 2023 was a decent reading year. I focused more on what I wanted to read and requested much less from publishers overall (and getting access to Edelweiss as a bookseller helped with that immensely because I can download most upcoming titles I’m interested in or want to review without having to go through the waiting/approval thing). I also realized that I very much enjoy reading a finished product, because so much can change between the advance reader copy and the finished book.


WHAT I READ

💖 purchased/owned | 🌠 library/borrowed | 🔮 review copy | 💞 reread | 👻 dnf

💖 The Duke’s Rules of Engagement, by Jennifer Haymore
💖 The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston
💖 My Lady of Misrule, by Amy Rose Bennett
👻 The Night Ocean, by Paul La Farge
👻 The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton
💖 Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas
💖 Where Peace is Lost, by Valerie Valdes
👻 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith
💖 The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang
💖 The Odyssey, by Homer, trans. Emily Wilson

BOOKENDS: September, October, November, & December

I am an irregular blogger, and I accept this about myself. Without further delay, here is what I read last four months of 2021! January’s wrap-up is in the works!


FINISHED READING

Each month is separated!

I read six books in September! This was the shortest reading month of the year, partially due to a start of a new semester at work that ate away at my brain space and being in a reading slump. My favorite of the month was The Hacienda, and my least favorite of the month was And Then There Were None. I think I may enjoy watching Agatha Christie adaptations more than reading them.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread
⌛️ Act of Service – Lillian Fishman
📚The Ghost Bride – Yangsze Choo
⌛️The Hacienda – Isabel Cañas
📚💞 Twenty-Five Books That Shaped America – Thomas C. Foster
📚 And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
🎧💞 Lirael – Garth Nix, read by Tim Curry

 

I read eleven books in October, a lot of manga to try to catch up on my reading goal for the year! This was a solid reading month with no real duds for me!

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy
⌛️ Small Favors – Erin A. Craig
📚 The Year of the Witching – Alexis Henderson
📱 Duke Gone Rogue – Christy Carlyle (Thank you, Avon!)
📱 Tsubaki-Chou Lonely Planet, vol 1 – Mika Yamamori (Thank you, Yen Press!)
📚 Foreigner – C.J. Cherryh
⌛️ The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World, vol 1 – Kyouka Izumi, Oumiya, Reiko Sakurada
⌛️ The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World, vol 2 – Kyouka Izumi, Oumiya, Reiko Sakurada
⌛️ Practical Magic – Alice Hoffman
📚 Nights With a Cat, vol 1 – KyuryuZ
📚 Nights With a Cat, vol 2 – KyuryuZ

 

I read thirteen books in November. A lot of them were novellas, but I still count them! I also enjoyed the experience of listening to all of the novellas in the Into Shadow collection.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured – Kathryn Harrison
📱 Happy Place – Emily Henry (thank you, Berkley!)
🎧 The Six Deaths of the Saint – Alix E. Harrow
📚 Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor – Xiran Jay Zhao
⌛️ The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World – Kyouka Izumi, Oumiya, Reiko Sakurada
🎧 The Garden – Tomi Adeymei
🎧 The Candles are Burning – Veronica G. Henry
🎧 Persephone – Lev Grossman
🎧 What the Dead Know – Nghi Vo
⌛️ Castles in Their Bones – Laura Sebastian
📚 No Longer Human – Osamu Dozai
🎧 Out of the Mirror, Darkness – Garth Nix
📱 Maeve Fly – C.J. Leede (thank you, Tor Nightfire!)

 

I read eight books in December! The Book of Gothel was a great fictional historical history of the Rapunzel fairy tale from the mother’s point of view. Undercover only made me want to read more by Tamsyn Muir and revisit The Locked Tomb series. I liked The Queen of the Tearling but I hadn’t realized when I started it that it’s set in the FUTURE, yet it feels very… traditional fantasy sort of thing. I’m interested to see where the rest of the trilogy goes.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

⌛️ The Book of Gothel – Mary McMyne
🎧 Undercover – Tamsyn Muir
📚 Star Wars X-Wing: Rogue Squadron – Michael A. Stackpole
📱 Burning Roses – S.L. Huang (Thank you, tordotcom!)
⌛️ How to Keep House While Drowning – K.C. Davis
⌛️ The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman
📓 Egypt’s Golden Couple – John Darnell and Colleen Darnell (Thank you, St. Martin’s Press!)

 


CLOSING OUT

2022 was a weird reading year. I wasn’t motivated to read certain things I’d picked out for myself, for review and for myself, and I came to the conclusion that I’m going to be focusing less on chasing review copies and more about reading for myself and going back to what it was like when I started this blog. I was reading and posting stuff for me, not for obligation and internet points or whatever. I want to maintain the relationships I currently have with a few publishers and contacts, and I still will request things if they come through my inbox, and I’m able to get to them in a timely manner. I also have Edelweiss and Netgalley at my leisure. Posts will be likely infrequent and sporadic, with a few changes here and there in formatting and approach, but I think having less external pressure to have things submitted and put up and done will help with the pressure I put on myself, too.

BOOKENDS: October, November, December 2021

Let’s just say 2021 was a year and carry on.


CURRENTLY READING

I am still picking through The Big Book of Science Fiction but this will be finished this year. I have a plan. 👀

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

📚 The Big Book of Science Fiction – edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (38%)


FINISHED READING

I read 12 books in October, 7 books in November, and 8 books in December.

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

⌛️ A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson (4/5 stars)
🎧 The King of Crows – Libba Bray (4/5 stars)
📓 A Spindle Splintered – Alix E. Harrow (5/5 stars)
💾 Because Internet – Gretchen McCulloch (3.5/5 stars)
📱 My Heart is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones (DNF)
💾 Gild – Raven Kennedy (3/5 stars)
💾 The Lady From the Black Lagoon – Mallory O’Meara (3.5/5 stars)
⌛️ These Hollow Vows – Lexi Ryan (4/5 stars)
⌛️ Matrix – Lauren Groff (4/5 stars)
📓 Yours Cruelly, Elvira – Cassandra Peterson (4/5 stars)
💾 Glint – Raven Kennedy (3/5 stars)
⌛️ A Tip for the Hangman – Allison Epstein (5/5 stars)

📚 The Ex Hex – Erin Sterling (4/5 stars)
📱 What Moves the Dead – T. Kingfisher (5/5 stars)
⌛️ House of Salt and Sorrows – Erin A. Craig (4/5 stars)
📚 Ninth House – Leigh Bardugo (2/5 stars)
📱 Nothing But Blackened Teeth – Cassandra Khaw (3.5/5 stars)
⌛️ The Wolf and the Woodsman – Ava Reid (3.5/5 stars)
⌛️ Witch Hat Atelier, vol 1 – Kamoma Shirahama (4/5 stars)

📚 The Duke Goes Down – Sophie Jordan (2/5 stars)
⌛️ The Heroine with 1001 Faces – Maria Tatar (2.5/5 stars)
⌛️ The Last Thing He Told Me – Laura Dave (3/5 stars)
💾 Gleam – Raven Kennedy (3/5 stars)
⌛️ Kingdom of the Wicked – Kerri Maniscalco (DNF)
📚💞 Zel – Donna Jo Napoli (5/5 stars)
⌛️ Medieval Bodies – Jack Hartnell (4.5/5 stars)
💾💞 Sabriel – Garth Nix (5/5 stars)


ON THE HORIZON

I will be updating this for January’s reads to keep things more organized!

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

 


WHAT I ACQUIRED

I will be updating this for January’s reads to keep things more organized!

📚 bookshelf pick  |  📓 physical review copy  |  📱 digital review copy | ⌛️ library/borrowed | 💾 ebook | 🎧 audiobook  |  💞 reread

 


ON SCREEN

I will be doing 2021 recaps of each of these in the upcoming weeks!

GAMING:

TV:

MOVIES:


PERSONAL

Let’s just say I am glad 2021 is over.