October goal:
I’m setting a goal of 5 books for this month, plus so many other things that go bump in the night.
Later this week, I’ll post my Poe-tober report.
What I read: (Link to my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge
A Perilous Undertaking
(Veronica Speedwell #2) — Deanna Raybourn
3.75* (Oct 9)
Review
Frankenstein—Mary Shelley
2* (Oct 23)
Review
The Haunting of Hill House—Shirley Jackson
5* (Oct 29)
Review
25 Icelandic Ghost Stories—Jón R. Hjálmarsson
2* (Oct 31)
Review
Excuse(s) for Not Reading More: I read 4, which is one short of my goal because Frankenstein and 25 Icelandic Ghost Stories were both awful. But there were also some travel and a lot of Poe-tober activities happening.
Diversity? A classic, a foreign translation of lore, a modern classic, and historical fiction.
Star Ratings: I base this on the flat stars Goodreads displays in list-view, not the quarter-star system I assign in my reviews. (I made it to July this year before realizing I’d screwed up the math somewhere along the way.)
- 5 stars: 8 books
- 4 stars: 12 books
- 3 stars: 15 books
- 2 stars: 3 books
- 1 star: 0 books
- 0 stars: 0 books
- Abandoned: 2 books
- Not rated: 0 books
Pages Read: (does not include abandoned books, edited manuscripts, or Coffin Bell)
- January – 993
- February – 1232
- March – 454 (ouch)
- April – 1615
- May – 1248
- June – 1076
- July – 375 (ewww)
- August – 1603
- September – 1196
- October – 929
Coffin Bell Submissions: I used to include these because they took up so much of my time. I resigned my position as their short story editor in March 2019 so I could prioritize other projects.
- January
- 20 short stories
- February
- 14 short stories
- 1 CNF (creative nonfiction)
- March
- 15 short stories
Reading Goals:
1. Read 40 books – I’m 5 books ahead with 38 books.
2. Decrease my TBR –
- Jan 1 – 73 physical / 21 Kindle
- Feb 1 – 71/22
- Mar 4 – 71/22 (huh)
- Apr 3 – 73/23 (it was my birthday month)
- May 1 – 73/23 (how?!?!)
- Jun 1 – 72/22 (it was a good month for reading books I already own)
- Jul 1 – 71/22 (surprising – I visited 2 bookstores this weekend)
- Aug 4 – 71/22
- Sept 3 – 71/23
- Sept 30 – 73/21 (books = souvenirs and I was in Iceland)
- Nov 1 – 73/21
3. Read 6 short story/essay/poetry collections – I want to double that if possible. Not sure that’s going to happen. (I realized in late September that I’d missed one and messed up the months.)
- Jan – 1 (short story: The Sadness of Beautiful Things – Simon Van Booy)
- Feb – 2 (poetry: No Matter the Wreckage – Sarah Kay & Sophia Janowitz, Good Morning, Good Night – Lin Manuel Miranda)
- Mar – 1 (essays: Well-Read Black Girl – Glory Edim)
- Apr – 1 (short story: Get in Trouble – Kelly Link)
- May – 1 (short story: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories – Angela Carter)
- July – 1 (short story: The Doll – Daphne du Maurier)
- Aug – 1 (essays: (Don’t) Call Me Crazy – Kelly Jensen)
- Oct – 1 (short story: 25 Icelandic Ghost Stories – Jón R. Hjálmarsson)
I had such high hopes for October with my plans for reading spooky stories. Instead, 2 of the books were so lousy that they took forever to finish. In November, I’m setting a goal of 4 books.
