In a short story by Carol Shields, the narrator receives too many social invitations for the same weekend evening and decides to stay home and read Jane Austen instead.
I make decisions like this, too, which is why I read 201 books (54,498 pages) in 2023.
In terms of pages, this is similar to my previous reading year (about a thousand pages difference), but about forty books fewer.
The shortest books were Zadie Smith’s The Essay of Cambodia (which is a single short story) and Jessica Au’s Cold Enough for Snow (96 pages).
And the longest was Gabor Maté’s The Myth of Normal, although ironically Zadie Smith’s Feel Free was tagging along there too (545 pages).
My quietest months for reading were February and July; my busiest months for reading for April and June. (From year to year, these months have proven that there’s no predicting: the previous year, the quietest was January and the busiest was December.)
NOTE: THE WIDGETS BELOW ARE DESIGNED TO BE VIEWED ONLINE, NOT IN EMAIL OR A FEED READER, SO PLEASE CLICK THROUGH.
2022 = 242 books
My year began and ended with writers I’d not read previously, ‘new-to-me’ writers: some intentionally, some whimsically.
Both the percentage of books written by women writers and the percentage written by writers of colour: coincidentally, the same!
Shortest = 70pg
Longest = 560pg
The irony of the title of Métis writer Michelle Porter’s 2023 novel, A Grandmother Begins the Story, is that the story begins where one chooses. “Our creation story begins with the cry of the young and we follow that cry,” she later writes: “We’ll follow those cries across the land and into the next world, too.”
Time and space are different here: “And now it was someone else’s turn to tell a story. I was cold. I was old and cold.” The chapters are short and kaleidoscopic. With each turn of the page, readers have an opportunity to resituate themselves and the characters they’ve already met. Bits of story, like songs, align and diverge.
In some ways, this is more like reading poetry than prose. You can read a page or two and set aside the book once more because each section presents a different perspective. There are many perspectives here (with another writer, I might say many voices, but that’s not true here) and, at first, I thought I recognised a pattern I’ve loved in books by, say, Louise Erdrich or Michael Cunningham. And there’s some of that.
But Porter is telling a different kind of story about how one can choose to view the world, about how one can choose to view one’s own place in it, their relationships—kinships—to and with other inhabitants. And this is evident in the structure of her book.
“When it’s my turn, I’m going to bring everyone around an old wood stove, smell of a stew bubbling on top, the heat making our faces pink as the stories unwind. Can’t get enough of the telling. Which is a good thing, because it there’s one thing we’ve got here, it’s time.”
If you enjoy writers like Linda Hogan and Leslie Marmon Silko, Joy Harjo and Rebecca Solnit, Tommy Orange and Morgan Talty, you’ll want to read this. And if this sounds vague, it’s because the kind of jolt I got, midway through reading, when I began to understand what Porter’s up to, is the reason I read: I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. This is how a book permanently alters understanding: tenderly, lastingly. A highlight in my 2023 reading year.
What surprised me about 2023’s reading? I was surprised that some reading almost entirely disappeared (poetry, graphic novels and memoirs, books for children and young readers—just six of these, total). These are double-digit categories for me usually and for most of the year, I wasn’t aware of not reading them. But the previous year held more of all of them, more than usual perhaps, so perhaps a single year doesn’t really capture the spirit of a reading wave.
It’s easy to forget that when we are choosing what we will read, we are also choosing what we will not read. So I wasn’t reading as much of those categories, but I did read more than double the genre fiction than I read in 2022; that pleased me, brought more new-to-me writers into my stacks, and addressed the disappointment I’d felt at missing those stories in the previous couple of years.
Other categories seemed to swap too: I read ten more story collections in 2023 which made it a slightly-better-than-average year for short fiction for me. Because of the nature of my year, I didn’t post my usual Quarterly Short Story posts during the year, but they’re live now: Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Autumn 2023, and Winter 2023. Please let me know if any of these collections tempt you.
But while I was reading more short stories, I was reading fewer works in translation: fifteen fewer than in 2022. This hasn’t affected the overall diversity of my reading: there are still 32 countries represented in my reading log, from Algeria to Zimbabwe. And even before I had done my 2023 calculations, there were several translations in my stack for 2024 already, so I think this will steady.
I was disappointed to have only reread one book in 2022, but I reread three in 2023. With my reading goals for 2024, I think rereading will be a more natural fit. Almost half my reading is new books: in 2023, 42% of my reading was published in 2023 and 2022. Only ten books that I read had been published before 2000 (one of my 2022 readolutions that I am re-adopting for 2023, a backwards glance) and my three rereads were among them. I’ve already reread one book, and have readopted my abandoned Middlemarch project (also from 2022) which is another reread.
Non-fiction was scarcer in my stacks last year (only 24%, compared to 32% in 2022, which was a little low too) but I read more literary fiction (45%, compared to 37% the year before). My current library stack of five books includes two non-fiction and the next set of holds on their way reflects the same breakdown. I think that will naturally shift…but that’s veering towards more 2024 talk than 2023!
Some of my stand-out reads from 2023 will come into the conversation here by virtue of my reading more of those author’s books this year, so I’ll leave them be for now.
But Bryan Washington’s Family Meal was stand-out for me this year and I’m all caught up with him so won’t be reading him again this year, and I haven’t heard if Maxine Clair has a new book in the works, but Rattlebone was a perfect match for my reading taste (publisher).
Offline, James Nestor’s Breath is probably the book I’ve recommended most often in the past year, followed by Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara. And because I know some of you love linked collections of stories, Ana Menéndez’s The Apartments is one for you.
Chances are, I’ve already read your year-end summary but, if not, feel free to share the link in a comment. Because my feed reader was dormant for six months in 2023, some feeds seem to have been removed, and I’m only gradually reconnecting with some people now.
And, if you don’t create a yearly summary, feel free to share what you liked about your reading last year and what you’d hoped would be different book-wise?
Thanks to each and every person reading this: the community of readers online is a fantastic reminder that being bookish is a great way to be.
I’m still reminding my family to breathe through their noses! lol
I’ve had Michelle Porter’s book out twice now – hopefully one of these days it’ll get read.
As usual, I enjoy reading about all your books and patterns and reading rollercoasters. Every year is different – it’s nice to have a record to look back on!
Right?!? lol And funny that it’s not a self-help book, but he makes his points so consistently and clearly that it defintely has an impact.
Whenever you get to it, you’ll love it, I’m sure. Or you could try the shorter book she wrote about her grandfather (from Breakwater, so presumably easier for you to find than for me).
I wasn’t looking forward to looking back on 2023’s reading, but it turns out that a lot of habits remained in place after all. What I remember from your stat’s was such a high % of Canadian books!
Wow, 201 books read is impressive! I love that for you. It was fun to read some reflections about your reading too, like wishing you had reread more as well as the genres you read or didn’t. I had a great reading year in 2023 and read 178 books, but that was because I was working virtually the first half of the year. So even though I don’t think I’ll read as much this year I’m still looking forward to the many interesting books I have on my shelf.
It seems like an outstanding reading year for you but perhaps all your years are about the same amount. And hooray for literary fiction — the best category of all. Hee hee. Here’s my year-end https://www.thecuecard.com/books/stats-and-favorites-of-2023/
Thanks, Susan: I’m not complaining! Fiction is my first love, and that’s mirrored in the increase but already I can see more non-fiction in my stacks this year (literary memoirs are still NF heheh). Why can’t I get your site via a subscription in my feed? Maybe I simply need to subscribe via email? Anyway, thanks very much for including the link, so can go see what your 2023 was like on-the-page!
Wow, your book counts are always astonishing, and I know I say that every year, but I will continue to say it, because I think its something you should be proud of haha
Is it weird that I don’t ever want to reread a book? Ever? There are just too many books in this lifetime that I want to read, so I hate the idea of re-reading something. I’ve had to do it a few times because of school, but other than that, I’ve never done it. It feels really weird to say though.
I’ve never read any Bryan Washington but I would like to. I loved the Michelle Porter book too, it was so different, but still easy to read.
Thanks, Anne. I still consider myself a work-in-progress, so I hope to keep reading and learning for as long as possible.
My thinking is that people who reread do so because they have a certain kind of relationship with story and with books. So I think your relationship with books is different, but not weird. Lots of readers never reread and can’t imagine why anyone would. (I mean, I think maybe YOU’RE weird. But not because of this.)
I don’t know which of Bryan Washington’s you might enjoy as a starting point, maybe Memorial because of all the food, but there are also a lot of baked goods in this newest one. I know short stories are not your first choice, so I probably wouldn’t start with Lot.
It’s fascinating to look back over one’s year in reading to consider the patterns and reflect on the most satisfying elements (and the disappointments for whatever reason). Rattlebone is definitely one that interests me, although I’m trying not to acquire too many new books at the mo – maybe later, depending on the state of my tbr by the summer!
I want to be more intentional in my reading this year – less scattershot and hopefully less distracted by new novels / the latest buzzy new thing. Famous last words, I suspect, but let’s see how it goes. 🙂
Thanks for encouraging me to follow through with the summary post, despite my hesitation. It’s good to take time to reflect.
I know what you mean…there’s a sense of balance with the incoming purchases and the neglected residents, when we’re lucky to be actively adding to our shelves. It’s very hard to not react to the newest publications, especially when one’s working in a bookshop (or similarly placed to be vulnerable to temptations). It’s wise you’re saying “less” rather than not-at-all! heheh
What a great year of reading!
Thanks!
So 2021 must have been the year you had that preposterous reading total that blew mine out of the water 😉 How interesting to see how categories and numbers ebb and flow. I’ll definitely look out for The Apartment. Have you read Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You? (Also Miami-set linked short stories; Booker-shortlisted this past year; I met him briefly at the ceremony.) And are you up to date on Brandon Taylor? He’s quite similar to Bryan Washington in some ways, though I prefer Washington. My latest thought for a rec for you was Cat and Bird by Kyoko Mori, coming out next month. A memoir by a Japanese American academic about her life with cats (but also some bird rescuing in there!).
Yup, I think it was 469 or something crazy like that! I guessing this’ll be a more typical year (300ish) but I thought that would be true of 2023, so… Escoffery’s flagged as a local ILL so I’m looking forward to that; I stalled in the newest Taylor last year but I really enjoyed the lit class scene and then lost track in MARM-prep. Ohhh, yes, I read about Cat and Bird but I’m feeling a little tender on that topic rn. Just checked to see when it’s shipping here, March 15th…it really does sound like something I’d love. Thanks for offering such thoughtful and personal suggestions.
Family Meal was one of last year’s standouts for me, too. Three brilliant books and barely thirty! What a brilliant young man he is.
I remembered that he’s a favourite of yours too; I think it was partly your love of Memorial that took me back to him after the stories (more quickly than I might have). I’m curious to see what he’ll do next!