2023 Books So Far

A list of books read in 2022.

1. Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens - Technically read through most of 2022, but I finished it in 2023. I specifically read this the way it was serialized and I think that made all the difference in reading Dickens.

2 - 4. Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen) by Garth Nix - A fun reread that kept me interested.

5. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie - Very haunting book. Another one off my classics club list.

6. Hammer in the Sky (and other Wonder Tales) by LL Rose - A collection of speculative fiction short stories. Some were truly haunting. Received as a giveaway on StoryGraph.

7. Across the Wall and other tales by Garth Nix - short stories by Garth Nix. Primarily read to get more Old Kingdom tales.

8. Clariel: the Lost Abhorsen by Garth Nix - This was a DNF a long time ago. I enjoyed it much more this go around. 

9. Goldenhand by Garth Nix - Final tale to Abhorsen story (as of now). Wow... this was really interesting and tied up many of the loose threads.

10. Angel Magic by Garth Nix - A bit tougher compared to his other books. Different magic system and not sure I was a huge fan.

11. Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix - Vaguely Austen type fantasy. OK. Not my favorite but it was decent enough.

12. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - One of my classics club books. Just as good as I remember from reading it nearly 20 years ago.

13. A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer - Beauty and the Beast retelling. Story itself was fine. Not sure I'm interested in reading the rest of the series

14. Weyward by Emilia Hart - Fantasy or magical realism involving witches. Feminist read. Loved it. Right in my wheelhouse.

15. The Last Word by Taylor Adams - forgettable thriller. Quick read but otherwise nothing special.

16. East of Eden by John Steinbeck - Read for classics club. Surprisingly engaging and one of my favorites so far.

17. Possession by A. S. Byatt - Read for classics club. I wanted to like this more than I did. Full review coming soon.

18. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Readalong with my mom. Obvious reread. So much fun!

19. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

20. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.

21. The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford - This has been on my TBR forever and I was very excited to read it. It was underwhelming. 

Oh Look! I have a blog!

Clearly I don't post here much anymore. I'm still reading a ton, but I've found reviewing to be a bit of a frustration the last few months (years). 

I do like the idea of writing book reviews and may even come back to it. 

Looking at what's going on with my blog, I see a few different things

1. Classics Club: I was supposed to finish this in 2022. I asked for an extension to 2024. I finished three more books from the list that I still need to review (Peter Pan, Handmaid's Tale, Possession). I DNF'd The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare. I still have Vanity Fair and Don Quixote plus the Volume of Austen's Juvenilia to read. I'll admit, I'm not super thrilled with any of those last three - particularly as I also have read a number of other classics for challenges that weren't part of this list. I'm inclined to swap those last 4 books out for other things I read and call it done. I have a second club list in the wings that I'm particularly excited for, but I think I'll wait for a bit before I consider it. I also might just keep going with my current one and see if I can knock a few more off before 2024...

2. Newford Collection: This definitely fell by the wayside. His books can be hard to find and often involve doing a lot of ILL in order to acquire them. My library has a ton of his books available on Hoopla, but not through Libby or in physical format, so I don't have an easy way to read them and haven't taken the time. 

3. Review pages are out of date and won't be updated. I'll pull them down soon.

In general, I am reading a ton. I bought an e-reader a year or two ago. Originally, I'd planned on using it solely to read classics as I find most of the library editions have tiny print and are difficult to read. However, I quickly integrated it with Overdrive and now do most of my reading on the device. As such, I tend to read books I can easily get from Overdrive. I'm looking to put up a list later this month.

Anyway, if anyone still reads this blog, hello!