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Melody's 2023 Reading

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Fifty-eight books in 2023! Breaking all the records since 2013. ‘Twas a pretty even split between fiction and non. Two of the fiction books are re-reads ( Countess Below Stairs , by Eva Ibbotson, and Surviving the Applewhites , by Stephanie S. Tolan), and the rest are brand new to me! Some thoughts about this graph and the number of books: E-books continue to make up the bulk of my reading. I check them out from my local library (that is indeed a thing). And yes, I read them on my phone. If you can scroll Instagram, you can read a book on that oh-so-tiny screen. It's not that different. Print books once again got a bump from the online book club. I didn’t prioritize 30-minutes-a-day of print reading this year, but the habits I formed in 2022 carried over. Settling in for a chapter or two of a print book is now something I know to make time for! I set aside (quit) 18 books before finishing them. That’s more than twice as many as last year, which was its own record. I’m trying to get...

Melody's 2022 Reading

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Let's jump in: in 2022, I read 55 books. This was seven more than my goal, and more books read in a year since 2013! I prioritized reading this year--turns out, I don't have a lot of hobbies, but I know I love to read--so it feels good to see it pay off. How did I do it? A couple were Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novels; those are quick reads. I could do nothing but listen to audiobooks when I had (and recovered from) covid. I participated in an online book club, which inspired a daily-ish habit of 30 minutes of physical book time to transition from work life (I work from home most days) to home life. Not a new trick, but still a reading life-saver: e-books on my phone. Why choose the infinite scroll when you have a wealth of free reading available through your local library's e-book library? I keep my wishlist updated with all my want-to-reads, so whenever I finish a book, I just tap through to see what's available for me to check out next. See how much of this y...