2023: Reading Year In Review

Hey friends!! Welcome to YEAR SEVEN of my Reading Year In Review, which is when I look back on what I read last year and lay out what my plans are for the new year. If you’re new around these parts, here are past Reading Year In Review posts from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022!

Much like the previous year, in 2023 I once again set my reading goal to 25 books for the year. I knew there was no way I’d reach the amount of books I’d read in 2022 because I didn’t have the long backlist of books I owned that I was trying to get through–I’d read pretty much all of the unread books on my shelves in 2022. So, 2023 was about reading when I wanted to with zero pressure, reading new books I didn’t own, and rereading lots of old favorites.

Now, onto my favorite thing: stats. I read 22,360 pages across 55 books The shortest book I read was 109 pages, and the longest was 757. My average book length was 406 pages (up from 371 in 2022). And my average rating of books was 4.1 on a 5-star scale (up from 3.1 in 2022).

I read 8 e-books this year, 47 audiobooks (some of which I read a chapter or two of the physical book, but majority was audio), and 0 physical books. Of the 55 books I read this year, 13 were rereads, 8 were sent to me for review, and 22 were 2023 releases.

I started off the year with “All The Feels” by Olivia Dade, which firmly solidified her as one of my favorite authors. I read “Ship Wrecked” a few months later during the summer. She does plus size romance so well.

The few ARCs I read this year were primarily romance novels, nothing very stand out. My favorite was probably “Take The Lead” by Alexis Daria. But I actually think I preferred the ARCs for the YA novels I was sent this year. “I Feed Her To The Beast And The Beast Is Me” was phenomenal, as was “This Dark Descent.” I still was very much being extremely selective when it came to the ARCs I accepted this year.

The big thing this year was “Fourth Wing,” which I definitely read in the spring and loved, and its highly anticipated sequel “Iron Flame,” which I read in the fall, and loved. It was so fun seeing everyone excited about a new series and screaming about dragons and fantasy. I’m excited for the future of that world.

I did get to a handful of nonfiction books this year. At the very start of the year, I read Prince Harry’s “Spare,” which was fascinating. I read all 3 of Carrie Fischer’s memoirs–“The Princess Diarist” was my favorite. I reread Lauren Graham’s “Talking As Fast As I Can” because I am forever a Gilmore Girls stan. The Britney Spears memoir was heart wrenching and eye opening. And I read “Where Are Your Boys Tonight: The Oral History of Emo’s Mainstream Explosion,” which was so nostalgic and had me listening to only emo music for a good month.

I officially read all of Alice Hoffman’s “Practical Magic” books and the whimsy was beautiful. I declared “Love Theoretically” as my favorite of Ali Hazelwood’s STEMinist novels. I binged 5/6 of the “The Bonds That Tie” series while I had COVID, and still haven’t brought myself to finish off book 6. I reread “Daisy Jones & The Six” twice, the first right before the TV series dropped, and the second after I rewatched a few months later.

I started a very slow reread of the SJM-verse over the course of the entire year to prepare for “House of Flame & Shadow” release day. The first half of the year I dedicated to ACOTAR, and the second half I got through the first 4 books of “Throne of Glass.”

Now, plans for 2024? Well, I really am liking having an obtainable, low-pressure goal, so I’ve once again set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 25 books. I’m still not at the point where I want to go back to setting high goals and putting that pressure on myself.

I want to continue to not let books sit around on my shelves and get to them within the year I buy them or am gifted them. Maybe I’ll try to set aside time to read physical books more often, as I didn’t read any physical books start to end this year. But I’m not harping on audiobooks at all, and will take them any chance I get. I just sort of do miss holding an actual book. lol

Here’s to 2024, and 25 books!