I realize all my last posts have been very heavy, so probably no one is even following this any more, but I'm hoping this will get some interest. I read. All the time. Not as fast as I used to, but I still love it. When I can sink into a great book, I love it. I feel safe and contented. And I've especially needed that this year. I've struggled a lot, so my subject for this year has helped especially.
Each year for a few years now, I have been choosing a theme for the year to direct my reading for that year, since I'm never going to be the kind of reader who reads 100 books in a year. And I know that because I've been tracking how many books I read every year since 2013 through Goodreads and their yearly reading challenge. My best year since I started doing their reading challenge was in 2014, when I managed to read 66 books. This year, at this point, I am at 33 books. I doubt I'll get to 50. I could be wrong, but I'm not going to push myself. Not this year.
So last year, I focused on characters and writers of color, Jewish stories, and stories about LGBTQIA+ characters. Jewish was hard, because it directly connects to my own family, but I did manage to read a couple. POC were easier, and I definitely read several interesting stories because of that one. LGBT+ was easiest for me, as I have a lot of those stories on my kindle already. This year? I decided to go with something much closer to my heart: fairy tale retellings. I've had a lot of great reads this year, and it's been enjoyable. I'm currently working on finishing Winter, as it's a massive book, and I keep getting library books that interrupt my reading it, but it's quite good, so I haven't stopped yet. Next year, I will be focusing on finishing on some of the series I've started over the years. Lots of books I need to read.
Library is new for me this year. I had a library card as a child, but stopped reading when I went back to college, and struggled until 2013 to get back into reading, and then being on my kindle meant I didn't need a lot of books, because I had so many I quickly bought myself, and even got free. I just didn't need more books to read. But this year, I hit a book that I desperately wanted to read that I couldn't access anywhere. Then I discovered that our county library had a copy, so I had to get a card so I could borrow it. It was the second book I got. It was a good story, but not great, but I've definitely enjoyed having a wider variety of stories to look through. My hold list is at 10 at the moment, and my for later list is over 50. So I'll definitely have plenty to come. Still learning how to fit it all into my routines, but I'm loving having a card again. I'm still considering getting a city card as well, but I don't think I need it. I think a county card will do. We'll see if another book comes up that only the Seattle library has, I guess.
Then I started something about a month ago where I was trying to do a post on Tumblr (yes, I still have a tumblr) about my reading each week, but it didn't get much interest there, so I'm going to try it here instead. A weekly post about my reading. Where I am, if I've finished anything and a review if I have, and what upcoming books I have on my library and Goodreads lists.
And I've made a rather rudimentary rating system as well. 5 subjects, each with 5 possible ratings. And then I average out those ratings to give myself an overall score:
Character:
1 = can't identify or like the characters
2 = unlikable but understandable characters
3 = boring characters
4 = enjoyable characters
5 = characters I very much identify with
Setting:
1 = blank or no description
2 = boring or little description
3 = basic settings, some description
4 = good/interesting description
5 = fitting/fascinating description
Plot:
1 = boring
2 = okay
3 = curious
4 = interesting
5 = fascinating
Genre Details:
1 = not enough
2 = confusing
3 = general expectation met
4 = a good amount
5 = plot-influencing
Connection:
1 = did not connect
2 = not enough to keep me interested
3 = some connection
4 = would read again if I had time
5 = will read again as soon as I can
So there you go. Pretty subjective, but a good way to tell how I felt about the book, and hopefully, in time, if you feel I like the same books you do, you'll be able to find more, based on how I rate books. A through F.
So if this you checking this based on other posts, welcome to my blog. If you're family or friends I've linked to, I hope you'll spread links if you feel they are worth spreading. And thank you all for reading!
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