November goal:
In November, I’m setting a goal of 4 books.
What I read: (Link to my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge
Medallion Status—John Hodgman
4.75* (Nov 6)
Review
Hotel Silence—Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
3* (Nov 7)
Review
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer—Michelle McNamara
4.5* (Nov 20)
Review
A Treacherous Curse—Deanna Raybourn
3* (Nov 16)
Review
Truly Devious—Maureen Johnson
4* (Nov 19)
Review
The Vanishing Stair—Maureen Johnson
5* (Nov 23)
Review
Excuse(s) for Not Reading More: I read 6 books and feel no shame.
Diversity? An Icelandic novel, historical fiction, 2 YA novels, and 2 nonfiction (1 memoir, 1 true crime/memoir) audiobooks.
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: 10 books
- 4 stars: 15 books
- 3 stars: 16 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
- November – 1992
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 – Mission accomplished! I’m at 44/40.
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
- Dec 1 – 75/22 (I blame Small Business Saturday)
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)
November was a very good reading month! I’ve already finished one book in December, so I’m setting a goal of 6. It would be nice to finish with 50 books.
