Reading Books Challenge

My ongoing reading goal is to read 50 books throughout the year. I honestly haven’t acheived this for a while but I know it’s possible for me, I’ve gone through that many books before, and I have a few ideas how I might get closer in 2023. The audiobook app Audible is desperate for my involvement, for example. They gave me two months subscription for free and when I went to cancel it they offered another three month subscription at half price (yes I accepted it). That should help me along my reading goal, as I can combine reading with the time I’m cleaning, working on my crafts or along a commute. 

Here are a few highlights from 2023 so far, the books I would recommend from about 16 I have read lately- 

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl as Told By Herself by Hariet Jacobs The title should give you all the trigger warnings and content foreshadowing that exists, it’s heartbreaking and ruined my day every time I visited this story. All the same I think it’s worthwhile to read and remember a painful history. It’s easy to find a free ebook and there’s an audiobook on Librivox too. 

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki this is a re-read that was great to revisit. There are two main characters and one of them is bulimic, which is probably what put this on my radar in the first place. The writer might have a vegan agenda, but I don’t view that negatively. The setting is Japan for one of the characters, and various rural places in the USA for the other. It’s an interesting story and some details had really stuck with me from having read it almost 20 years ago.

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey a western from 1912 I read mainly because it was freely availible (public domain series). I have read a few of them out of order, now I’m in a pattern of reaching for the next when I’m indecisive about what to read (or maybe in need of a palate cleanse from horrific events in other books) there’s danger and action, but it’s usually pretty chill. The writer doesn’t seem to view Mormons very well, I appreciate that as well

Apollos Angels: The History of Ballet by Jennifer Homans it was published in 2010 and is a great read but already a bit out of date. Online ballet influencers, the “Me Too” movement and Covid ending performance arts, have been really impactful. Ballet is one of my favorite interests, I am so happy for the continuing “balletcore” trend in fashion lately and I would suggest this for anyone with a curiosity about the historc world of ballet. 

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk I just started this one, and I’ve heard so much about it, I’m worried it might be upsetting, but I’ll be sure to update another time. 

On my upcoming “To Read” list in the next few weeks or months are the latest Stephen King book Fairytale that came out last year, and also the big meme recommendation that I’ve seen from so many misandrist internet feminists on reddit when any woman complains about her boyfriend or husband- Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft.  I’ve been making my way through all the Margaret Atwood books I haven’t read yet, which is hard because I also like to re-read my favorites sometimes! I’m definitely open to hearing any recommendations, and if you’ve read anything good or bad, please feel free to share your thoughts 📖 ❤️