Welcome to by first quarterly reading report! This will cover my reading (and book buying) for January, February, and March 2023.
Since I don’t do monthly reading wrap-ups here or on Instagram, I thought it would be fun to start doing quarterly reading wrap-ups (or reports) as a way to track and share my reading for the year.
As much as I try to share my reading updates etc on Insta as I go, and I swear I DO try to get reviews and essays finished here on Substack, I still don’t think you guys get a full picture of my reading because I can’t possibly share everything all the time.
This format allows me to quickly share everything I’ve read (including DNFs), share some ~stats~ for fun, and track my book buying as well.
Of course my first report is a little behind schedule (sorry)…this will outline my reading for January - March only (April & May books will be included in Quarter 2, along with June). Better late than never?
Q1 Reading Stats
Books Read: 23
Physical Books: 11
E-books: 10
Audiobooks: 2
Owned: 19
Borrowed (Library): 4
Pages Read: 5,643
Books DNF’d: 1
Books Bought: 18
Favorites
The Neapolitan Quartet by Elena Ferrante
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux
Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth
Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill
Month-by-Month
(Key)
RR = re-read
DNF = did not finish
EB = e-book
AB = audiobook
SS = short stories
NF = non-fiction
Links are to my reviews, either here on Substack or over on Instagram
January
Read:
The Choreography of Everyday Life by Annie-B Parson (NF, EB)
They Call it Love by Alva Gotby (NF, EB)
Bought:
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
An Apprenticeship, or the Book of Pleasures by Clarice Lispector
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux
My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley
Aftermath by Preti Taneja
Archaeologies of the Future by Fredric Jameson
A Singular Modernity by Fredric Jameson
Tristano by Nanni Balestrini
Drought by Ronald Fraser
The Lamentations of Zeno by Ilija Trojanow
Utopia by Thomas More
Daddy Issues by Katherine Angel
February
Read:
Nobody Somebody Anybody by Kelly McClorey
Aftermath by Preti Taneja
Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth (EB)
The Lightness by Emily Temple (AB, RR)
Utopia by Thomas More
The Lamentations of Zeno by Ilija Trojanow
Bought:
March
Read:
Arcadia by Lauren Groff (DNF)
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (AB, RR)
Owning the Future by Adrienne Buller & Matthew Lawrence (NF, EB)
Amora: Stories by Natalia Borges (SS, EB)
A Modern Utopia by H.G. Wells (EB)
The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor
Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin (EB)
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (EB)
Bought:
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Three Californias by Kim Stanley Robinson
Conclusion
I’m averaging 7-8 books per month, which had been pretty standard for me the last few years. And I’m not surprised I bought SO many books in January—I almost always do a big book buying spree at the start of the year.
Putting this together has definitely helped me notice some patterns in my reading habits, so this might be more useful (for me) than I thought. But I hope you found this interesting in some way!
I’ll have my Quarter #2 report ready in a more timely fashion, so look for my April - June reading sometime in July.
Let me know if there is anything you’d like to see added to these wrap-ups in the future (leave a comment, reply to this email, or DM me on Insta).
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