October ’23 Reading Wrap-Up

Time for a wrap-up!

October goal:

I’ll commit to 3 books, just in case I don’t read much on the trip/on the plane.

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What I read:

• • Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story—Bono
    • Audiobook 🎧 / 17h 20m
    • Sept 26 – Oct 4
    • 3⭐ 
    • Review
  • The Girls Left Behind—Emily Gunnis
    • Kindle / 400p
    • Oct 7 – Oct 16
    • 3⭐ 
    • Review
  • An Impossible Imposter—Deanna Raybourn
    • Kindle / 325p
    • Oct 16 – 25
    • 3.75⭐ 
    • Review

Note: I quit linking titles to that big site that funds the rich dude and his space wars with other rich dudes. I’ve linked to Goodreads, but if you’re looking to support independent bookstores, my favorite local shop is Old Town Books (they ship!), and you can support my favorite podcast and a local shop of your choosing through their Bookshop.org link at KickBezosInTheBalls.org. And you can never go wrong with your local library!

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2023 Progress

Star Ratings: Based on the flat stars Goodreads displays in list view, not the quarter-star system I assign in my reviews

• 5 stars: 2 books
• 4 stars: 12 books
• 3 stars: 17 books
• 2 stars: 7 books
• 1 star: 1 book
• 0 stars: 0 books
• Abandoned: 5 books
• Not rated: 1 book

Pages Read/Hours Listened: (does not include abandoned books, edited manuscripts—2 between May & Sept, etc.)

• January – 1779, 18h 56m
• February – 1682, 20h 1m
• March – 1358, 11h 18m
• April – 1459, 8h 38m
• May – 1421, 1h 9m
• June – 817, 7h 55m
• July – 1131, 7h 31m
• Aug – 1452, 6h 43m
• Sept – 614, 5h 51m
• Oct – 1301, 17h 20m

Reading Goals:

1. Read 45 books – I finished 3 more books toward my Goodreads Challenge. I’m at 89% and 2 books ahead of schedule.

• Audiobooks: 16
• Kindle: 25
• Physical books: 1

2. Decrease my TBR – 

• Jan 1: 64 physical / 23 digital
• Feb 1: 64/23
• Feb 28: 64/23
• Apr 2: 65/22 (birthday gift!)
• May 1: 65/22
• May 31: 65/21
• Jul 5: 65/21
• Jul 31: 65/21 (read one but bought one)
• Sept 1: 65/20
• Oct 1: 65/20
• Nov 6: 65/20

3. Read 6 short story collections/anthologies:

• Jan: 0 (I forgot I set this goal)
• Feb: 1 short story collection
• Mar: 0
• Apr: 0
• May: 0 (I need to get going on this)
• Jun: 1 short story collection
• Jul: 1 short story collection
• Aug: 0
• Sept: 0
• Oct: 0

4. Read 23 minutes per day – I’m on Day 781 of my reading streak.

That may be my least creepy Poetober ever, at least in the book department.

We traveled in October, so I was away from home Oct 5–17. Not a lot of extra reading happened, though I kept up with my daily 23 minutes.

I’m struggling with the book club choice (again) that’s due Nov 15, but I plan to finish it. I’m also well into an audiobook. I’ll commit to 3 books again this month, and I should really think about some short story collections/anthologies if I’m going to hit that goal.