January 3, 2024
2023 was a long, complicated, and often difficult year. I started a new job in a new industry (bartender gang rise up), I moved apartments (people who hate moving gang rise up), I completely revised my closet, had my first paid commission as a vocal arranger, and fell devastatingly short of my reading goal for the year. My goal was 18 books (one more than 2022) and I finished…10. Almost 11. Brutal stuff. However, I also read well outside my comfort zone, which I had also made my goal for the year. I picked up my first non-fiction-but-not-for-class book since probably high school, and delved into a number of different genres, eras, and styles. I felt fulfilled as a reader, and I focused on getting as much as I could out of the books I was reading, rather than pushing through them for numbers. Quality over quantity, as they say. I think I’ll still try for my goal of 18 books in 2024, but I'll also try not to let that goal become a source of stress. I’ll read the books I want to read, I’ll enjoy them, and if I reach that goal, then all the better.
I’m also going to try to be more consistent about writing these reviews, because that is a personal flaw worth fixing. No more reviews a month after I finish a book! That is too long! To that end, if you are one of my 3 readers, and you see I haven’t posted in a long while, feel free to shoot me a very kind and oh, so gentle message asking where the hell I’ve been. It helps to know that someone other than me is looking forward to reading what I have to say. And as always, if you have book suggestions - your favorite, your least favorite, your most controversial, your personal guilty pleasure - you can suggest them to me right here on the site. I promise they will go on my list, and I will eventually get around to them, almost definitely. In fact, my first review of 2024 (coming shortly) is a reader suggestion! So there! I will read them!
Finally, thank you to those of you who read this blog, either once, or every time. It is a very cool thing to share part of yourself with the faceless internet, but also can feel very vulnerable, like no one is listening, and I’m grateful to know that at the very least, someone is invested in this work. Stories are an extremely important part of my life and worldview, perhaps even sacred to me in some ways, and it makes me real happy to know that they’re important to you, too. It’s neat to share that with the world, a community connected by the way we talk about ourselves, each other, and the universality of being alive. So see you soon, and once again,
Happy Reading!
6/10
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