top of page
Search

A mid-year reading check-in: how far behind am I on my reading?

I am so far behind on my reading! I haven't read my June books, and pushed my July books back. I don't really believe in treating my reading as an assignment, since I read for pleasure as much as I do for information or anything else, and I've read extra books that weren't on my list, and everything has been so crazy and sad this year, and I've been sick twice! With a fever! So weird.

So, with all of that, I'm not beating myself up, but these books that I chose for myself this year have mainly been good, and even the ones that I DNF'd mostly seemed like good books that were just too heavy for me right now. I want to read new books and new authors and not only re-read old familars constantly, or scroll through bluesky trying to keep up. Maybe if things ever get normal again...


What I've finished from my list:

Ramírez, Tita: Tell it to me singing

Patchett, Ann: Tom Lake

Awad, Mona: Bunny

Brooks, Geraldine: Horse

Choo, Yangsze: The fox wife


This is exactly half of the books I set myself to read in this six months. I also read a few books that weren't on my list, so I have read more than 9 books in 6 months, and I honestly don't think that's bad.


What I'm reading now:

Catton, Eleanor: Birnam Wood

I can't say much about this because I've only just begun it, but I hope it will motivate me to get her first book down off the shelf and give it another try.


What I'm reading next:

White, Tyriek: We are a haunting

Miller, Chanel: Know my name

McConaghy, Charlotte: Migrations


These were my June books. My July books are set to come off their hold suspension in about ten days, and we will see how far away I am from being ready...

I'm worried that these three will be too heavy all at once; I looked through my holds for the rest of the year, and I think the few other heavy books are spread out. I hope I'm right about that; sometimes they surprise you.


What I'm not reading:

Kingsolver, Barbara: The poisonwood Bible (just because my library's copy is lost; it's staying on my TBR.)


What I DNF'd:

Akbar, Kaveh: Martyr! (I know it has been blurbed by everyone and won a hundred awards, and maybe I'll try it again, but the MC is on drugs and I just think that reading about drugs is unbearably boring).


Lynch, Paul: Prophet song (I was determined to hang on until a character said "They're thinking of suspending habeas corpus!" Bye, everybody! I'm out!)


Chandrasekera, Vajra: The saint of bright doors (This is too heavy for me now. I'm not sure what was going on. I'm tired. Maybe another time.)


I feel very behind, but I'm please with what I've read this year. I've re-read fewer books than usual; I love re-reading, but I lean on the familiarity too much. If the new books coming out didn't sound so great, it would be fine... Speaking of new books, there's a sequel to Bunny coming out this fall. So ready for that.

Oh, and I got a stack of arcs at the annual ALA conference last month. I want to read at least some of them while new so I can review them and buy them for the library, which is the point of handing out the ARCs.

I'll find the time!

bottom of page