It’s not too late to do a best of 2023 post yet right?
Maybe. Anyway, who likes charts?
KM’s Reading Stats 2023
I read a lot less last year than I usually do, and most of that was via audiobooks. I did a lot of driving last year, so this makes sense and keeps me sane. I’ve been reading fewer physical books, partly because I started school last year and can only spend so much time sitting and reading. wtf happened in october tho? idk
I did do a few print books last year, mostly comics and poetry. Which also explains why my page count skews so low...
But what can I say? Poetry and comics are pretty freakin' great. They were both in my top genres (despite the fact that they're media not genres but w/e).
Both my top genres (fantasy, LGBTQIA+, science fiction) and my top moods (adventurous, dark, emotional) are highly reflective of the handful of rad series I read or reread this year...
Which includes Wayfarers, Locked Tomb, Shades of Magic, the end of Temeraire, the beginning of Murderbot, the latest in the Singing Hills Cycle, and Legends & Lattes and its prequel. These series were some of my favorite books I read this year (and if you wanna see what the rest were you can jump to the end!)
I did embark on a few reading challenges in 2023 to help kick my butt into gear, some of which were more successful than others.
Reading Goal: 51/50
I usually set my reading challenge pretty high because I read a lot of comics, picture books, and zines but hit a pretty nasty reading slump this year. That said, I’m pretty pleased that I managed to read as much as I did!
In 2024: 200
I’m setting this goal SUPER HIGH in 2024 because I’m reading one zine every day. I’m not adding anything new to Storygraph for this challenge, however about 170 of the zines I’m going to be reading are already on there, so why not count them?
Alphabet Challenge: 26/26
This was a really fun way to encourage me to read more and read widely while still giving me a ton of flexibility.
In 2024: A-Z Challenge (31) & A-Z Authors (26)
I loved it so much I’m doing it again, and more! This year I found an alphabet challenge with a few bonus title prompts, PLUS an alphabet author challenge.
Local Library Challenge: 33/20
I mean there’s no way I wasn’t going to finish this one, especially because I get almost all of my audiobooks through Libby or Hoopla.
In 2024: Library Love (10)
I love reading goals that support libraries, but last year’s challenge of just counting the library books I read wasn’t nearly challenging enough. This year I found one that has more specific prompts, like reading a book and attending a related program or requesting a book at your local library.
23 TBR in 2023: 7/23
This challenge was a bit at odds with the local library challenge, because I chose to count books that I already owned that I hadn’t read yet, even if I read them in a format that was different from how I own them.
In 2024: Read What You Own 2024 (25)
I always try to read more of the books I physically own, so I’m definitely doing this one again. Because for my zine-a-day challenge I’m reading through my own physical and digital collection, this one will be a piece of cake.
Sapphic September: 7
I loved this! What a fun community, and I’m excited to do it again next September.
Zine-A-Day 2024
Finally, the biggest reading challenge I'm doing this year is one I set for myself: to read through my collection of zines, minicomics, chapbooks, pamphlets, broadsides, and all the other ephemera I keep on my zine shelves. I've got 365 zines for 365 days, and you can follow along on Bluesky, Instagram, or right here on the blog.
I hope you'll join me on some of these challenges and share any reading challenges you're undertaking in 2024! Anyway, I know no one cares about my reading habits as much as me. But maybe you do care about good books? And top ten lists that aren’t really top ten lists? Because I ordered them alphabetically instead of by preference because dang it it’s hard enough to pick just ten?
Well I hope so. Because here they are!
KM’s Favorite Books and Series of 2023
sapphic cozy high fantasy with a will-they-won’t-they romance
Yes, I read Legends & Lattes. And Bookshops & Bonedust. And you know what? Worth the hype imo. These books are fun, sincere, and just a simple pleasure–I don’t think we have enough simple pleasures. That said, it takes a little bit of rewiring of my own brain that reads these with the expectation of some grand betrayal, a surprise plot twist, a puzzle to be figured out. They have none of those things, and really are as straightforward and delightful as you think they are.
deep space horror with sapphic POC MCs and complicated family dynamics
Basically a love letter to Aliens and other space horror, this fantastic novella packs so much into so few pages. Brown does a great job of withholding information from the reader until the perfect moment for a great reveal, and resists infodumps that wouldn’t make sense on a ship full of people who have known each other their whole lives. It’s a glimpse into a vast and fully realized universe, even if we only get a peek at a small corner of it in this tightly woven story.
serial deep space scifi with many queer characters
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet grabbed me right away, and every book in this series built out the world in such a perfect way. Honestly, I’m a little upset that there’s only four books in this series, because they’re just so good and constructed in a way that one could tell dozens and dozens of stories. I love that each book has a unique structure, and while they’re all connected through at least one character, each cast is its own kind of family.
sapphic epic fantasy political thriller
This book is a wild ride from beginning to end. If you like epic political fantasies that engage with racism, colonialism, and occupying military states that include queer characters and complicated family relationships, you’ll love this book. There’s a sequel as well that’s on my list for 2024, and I’ve got high hopes for it!
collection of original queer fairy tale comics
I’ve always been a big fan of Gillman’s 24-hour minicomics, many of which made it into this collection. So many of these stories, like classic fairy tales, engage with belonging (or not). But unlike the classics, Gillman’s stories aren’t just queer-coded, but openly, unapologetically queer. Their colored pencil work is as soft and beautiful as ever; this one is a real treat.
speculative history political thriller
This one’s gotta be the best book I read this year, an instant add to my all-time favorites list, and I don’t know that there’s much more I can say to summarize how much I love this incredible book. I know it’s long, I know, but trust me when I say it’s worth it. A bit of a slow burn start rolls into a raging inferno of murder and subterfuge as the characters struggle to resist the colonial status quo that Oxford and its invented magical translation school are built on. Definitely pick this one up if you like alternate history spec fic and/or have a love of languages and linguistics.
speculative sapphic romance and found family
I’m usually not a huge romance reader, but I’m a sucker for a good queer love story, especially when you throw time travel in the mix. This one has a lot of different moving parts: a long-lost family member, the impending closure of a beloved local institution, mysterious subway crush lost in time, all the usual elements. It’s very fun, and made me just a little nostalgic for the dumb shit my friends and I got up to in college.
feminist mythology retelling
I adored Circe when I read it, so you know I had to read Galatea too. It’s a short story that’s full of all of Miller’s usual beautifully crafted, fluid language. Like Circe, she gives voice to another woman traditionally shadowed by the “hero” of the myth, asking questions from a modern feminist perspective and redefining identities and relationships. It’s a short, melancholic read for an overcast winter day or a quiet moonlit night.
queer necromancers in a murder labyrinth in space
I was fully peer-pressured into reading this series, and I’m so glad I did (thank you peers). This wild mix of fantasy/science fiction/murder mystery/cosmic horror/fucked up romance is so much and it is so good. Each book is a puzzle, and right when you think you’ve found your footing Muir throws a wrench into your understanding that forces you to completely reorganize your conspiracy board. Babel may be the best book I read this year, but this series is my favorite, an obsession that has completely swallowed my life (in a good way).
social science nonfiction on race, class, and caste
I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, but I read this book for one of my fall classes and loved it. Wilkerson examines race and class in America through the lens of caste, drawing connections between the American caste system and that of India and Nazi Germany. It’s a method of understanding that makes a lot of sense to me, and has rewritten how I think about racist and classist structures in the U.S., and is a must-read for everyone imo.
Wow if you’ve stuck around this long thank you. I sometimes write about what I read and post it on Instagram or Bluesky. If you wanna talk about what we’re reading, I’m also on Storygraph (and technically I still have a Goodreads account but I’m not actively updating it anymore).
Don’t forget to get your reads from your local libraries and/or independent bookstores!
Bookshop not Amazon
Libro not Audible
Storygraph not Goodreads
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