As we come to the end of February 2024, it might seem like this post is a little bit on the late side, but never mind. I think it’s a helpful way to draw a line under last year whilst reviewing what worked and what didn’t in terms of my reading habits and goals…
Reading Habits of 2023
My reading was very up and down throughout 2023. There were weeks (if not months) where I read very little at all, bar the reading for The Lord of the Rings read-along I’m hosting over on my writing site. If you’re interested in that, head over and join in. You’d be very welcome!
I had also fallen behind on the From My Bookshelf Reading Challenge, and at one point I think I opened 3 books on the same day! However, I did get back on track with that (see below).
As I stopped posting on this site halfway through 2023, I used Goodreads to keep track of what I had read and what I was reading. I was pleasantly surprised that I managed to be pretty consistent with it, updating every one or two weeks, although even over there, I only rated books rather than reviewing them.
LibriVox was my greatest find of last year. Although I had heard of it before (and listened to a book or two), it was towards the end of the year that I became an avid listener of their audiobooks. The reason which prompted this was I was (and always seem to be, and still am!) thinning out my books, but I buy books quicker than I can read them, and always have. This has led to me having far too many books. So I started listening to the books I owned instead of reading them. This I could do whilst doing chores, designing, and I found that I got through so many more books than I otherwise would have. I also found that I wanted to listen to books I would never have considered before, and discovered new-to-me authors, which is always wonderful.
Books Read in 2023
And so, rather surprisingly, my total books read in 2023 was 60, 3 more than my most recent high of 57 back in 2017. The list of books I read last year can be found at the bottom of the post, alongside what I rated them over on Goodreads.
From My Bookshelf Reading Challenge 2023
This was a super fun reading challenge, where I basically gifted books to myself that had been languishing on my bookshelves for years. Wrapping them up and accompanying them with little treats (incense, candles, chocolates, cakes, tea, hot chocolate, etc), it’s no surprise really that this has been the only self-set challenge I have completed within the year it was set!
Would I do it again? Definitely. Though not this year…
My original challenge post has been updated to include the full list of books I read as part of the challenge, and their rating, as well as links to posts and reviews, if there are any.
Reading Goals for 2024
The only one I will be actively focusing on is to beat 2023’s total of 60 books read.
A bonus would be to rehome at least half of the books I read in 2024.
List of Books Read in 2023
Where I have written reviews for the books, links will be provided. To see which books I listened to via LibriVox, check out my bookshelf, “Listened To” on Goodreads.
- Accident, Manslaughter or Murder?: Life and Death in Victorian Staffordshire by Anthony Hunt – 5 / 5
- The Essex Serpent by Sarah Parry – 4 / 5
- Complete Guide to Knitting and Crochet by Nicki Trench – 3 / 5
- Death at Victoria Dock by Kerry Greenwood – 5 / 5
- A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint – 5 / 5
- Good Cop, Bad Cop by Simon Kernick – 4 / 5
- Manna from Hades by Carola Dunn – 3 / 5
- A Whisker of Trouble by Sofie Ryan – 5 / 5
- By A Whisker by Sofie Ryan – 5 / 5
- The Prince and the Pilgrim by Mary Stewart – 3 / 5
- Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch – 1 / 5
- Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir – 5 / 5
- A Spoonful of Murder by J. M. Hall – 5 / 5
- Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- The Blue Cross: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 4 / 5
- Murder and Manslaughter Around Cannock Chase by Anthony Hunt – 5 / 5
- Bitten by Kelley Armstrong – 5 / 5
- Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- And Only To Deceive by Tasha Alexander – 1 / 5
- Sorry I Missed You by Lorraine Brown – 4 / 5
- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty – 5 / 5
- The Brontesaurus: An A to Z of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte by John Sutherland – 3 / 5
- More Murder and Mayhem around The Chase by Anthony Hunt – 5 / 5
- The Songs of The Kings by Barry Unsworth – 4 / 5
- Spartacus: The Gladiator by Ben Kane – 4 / 5
- Stone of Fire by J. F. Penn – 4 / 5
- Don’t Look Now by Daphne du Maurier – 4 / 5
- The Wrong Shape: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 4 / 5
- The Honour of Isreal Gow: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 4 / 5
- The Invisible Man: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 4 / 5
- The Flying Stars: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 3 / 5
- The Queer Feet: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 3 / 5
- The Secret Garden: A Father Brown Mystery by G. K. Chesterton – 4 / 5
- The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg – 4 / 5
- Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel – 5 / 5
- Cleopatra’s Shadow by Emily Holleman – 3 / 5
- Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- Cousin Phyllis by Elizabeth Gaskell – 4 / 5
- The Riddle of The Sands by Erskine Childers – 4 / 5
- Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- Club Dead by Charlaine Harris – 4 / 5
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley – 4 / 5
- Death of a Blue Blood by Jessica Fletcher – 4 / 5
- The Grass Is Singing by Doris Lessing – 4 / 5
- Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit – 4 / 5
- The Sword In The Stone by T. H. White – 3 / 5
- The Mask of Apollo by Mary Renault – 5 / 5
- The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien – 5 / 5
- The Sky is Falling by Lester del Ray – 3 / 5
- Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs – 4 / 5
- The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs – 3 / 5
- Outlaw by Angus Donald – 4 / 5
- A Gathering of Ghost by Karen Maitland – 5 / 5
- Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle – 1 / 5
- The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow – 5 / 5
- All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris – 5 / 5
- From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris – 5 / 5
- Silas Marner by George Elliot – 4 / 5
- Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris – 5 / 5
Sammi Loves Books 