IWSG: 2023 Books in Review

Welcome to 2024! I hope it's a good year for you. Since this is the first Wednesday of the year, it's also the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post for the year.  Learn more about the IWSG on their website and Facebook page.

Our hosts this month are Joylene Nowell Butler, Olga Godim, Diedre Knight, and Natalie Aguirre.

I'm skipping the proposed question this month (it has to do with following people through Bookbub, which isn't something I do) to bring you my 2023 reading year in review, courtesy of Goodreads. You can see my books here. My original goal was 175 books, which I temporarily raised to 200 books before lowering it to 170 books. I ended up with 171 books. Goodreads does list book collections as a single item, so the total number of books I read is actually higher. My genre breakdown is slightly off (I think I missed a couple of rows when I went through the list), since it only adds up to 161 (the missing 10 are probably more mysteries):

Fantasy: 27

Science Fiction: 8

Mystery (including fantasy mysteries): 87

General Fiction: 5

Non-Fiction: 34

Here are some of my favorite books I read this year:

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs

Kindred

A Mirror Mended

Justice for Animals

Outlive

That Self-Same Metal

For 2024, I'm lowering my goal to 150 books. The reason I'm doing that is because I would like to stretch myself and read a wider genre. I enjoy cozy mysteries and can find many of them offered for free or for a reasonable price, but I would like more incentive to read more non-fiction books and more books on my to-read lists. I belong to a local book club and a Good Omens book club on a Discord server, so hopefully they'll help me find books I wouldn't normally read.

If you track your reading, how many books do you read each year? Did you have a favorite book? Feel free to share your answers in the comments.

My Year in Books

 Although there are still a few days left in 2022, it's time to look back at what I've read this year. I set a fairly modest (for me) reading goal: 150 books. As of Monday, 12/26/22 (which is when I'm writing this post), I've read 187 books. (The link is to my Goodreads challenge.) I'll probably add another book or two before midnight on New Year's Eve. That's well over 45,000 pages. How do I read so much? I read a lot on my phone using my Kindle and Hoopla apps, I multitask and read (within limits), and I try to prioritize reading over games, TV, or other entertainment. I'm also a quick reader; I can easily finish a cozy mystery in a day or two. When I discover a series I really like, I chain-read it as fast as I can download the books.

Below is my breakdown by genre:

Science Fiction: 7

Fantasy: 32

Mystery: 108 (many of the cozy mysteries I read have fantasy elements, but I count them as mysteries)

Other Fiction: 8

Non-Fiction: 32

Here are some of my recommended books for the year:

Asian American Histories of the United States

A Sorrow Named Joy

The Library: A Fragile History

A Spindle Splintered

Plagues Upon the Earth

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Meet Me in Another Life

For series, I particularly enjoyed Maria Grace's Jane Austen's Dragons and Gloria Oliver's Daiyu Wu Mysteries.

For 2023, I'll probably set a reading goal of 175 books. I'll continue to challenge myself to read at least one Diversity Book (written by someone of a different race, religion, or sexual orientation from me) each month. I recently joined a local book club, which is already challenging me to read books outside my usual genres. Hopefully I can also knock a few more books off my to-read lists.

What books did you read in 2022 that you would recommend? Feel free to list them in the comments.

Goodreads Challenge Complete!

I haven't posted much because I have a couple of hard deadlines for projects coming up in the next few weeks. However, I do have progress to report in another area: I've already completed my Goodreads challenge for the year! It was 150 books, and you can see the list here. Since I started tracking on Goodreads, my record for books read in a single year was 228, which I accomplished in 2013. I lowered my annual goals when I was really stretching to complete 200 books in a year. Perhaps for 2023 I'll aim for 175 books. In the meantime, I can read longer, more complex books if I want to without worrying about how it'll affect my goal. And now, back to writing....

Semiannual Reading Update

I usually post a semiannual reading update at the end of June, but I'll post it a little early this year so I can talk about writing next week. I track all books I finish in all formats. My challenge this year is to read 150 books, which is about what I read last year. With 82 books under my belt, I'm well ahead of schedule. (I tend to lose ground during the summer, so it's good I'm ahead for now.) How do I read so much? I make time for it, and I replace other activities (like watching TV) with reading. Cozy mysteries, my favorite genre lately, can be short and fast-paced, so some of them only take two or three hours to read. 

Here's the genre breakdown:

Fantasy: 10

Science Fiction: 4

Cozy Mysteries: 48

Other Fiction: 5

Non-Fiction: 15

Many of the mysteries I read have a paranormal element, but I count them as mystery instead of fantasy.

Here are a few of my favorites so far:

Meet Me in Another Life

The Dawn of Everything

A Spindle Splintered

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (a reread)

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics

 What are your favorite books so far this year?

2021 in Review: Reading

There are still a couple more days left in 2021, but it's time for my semiannual reading review. This is based on the tracking I do through Goodreads. I'm not always good about tracking the date I start a book (since I then have to delete it from my Goodreads if I decide I don't want to finish it), but the end dates are more accurate. 

My goal for this year was 150 books. Unlike previous years, I had no trouble reaching my goal. As of 12/26 (the day I'm writing this post), I've read 157. This doesn't include the multiple re-reads of Murder at Magic Lake that I do as part of revising and editing books before publication. There will probably be another couple of books added to this total before Friday. The average book was about 257 pages, with the shortest being 64 pages and the longest 776 pages. (It was an anthology of cozy mystery novels.) Here's the breakdown by genre:

Fantasy: 24

Science Fiction: 19

Mystery (includes regular and traditional): 86

Other Fiction: 6

Non-Fiction: 22

Mysteries have taken over from fantasy as my comfort reading, but since I'm also writing it now, I need to continue learning about the genre. The other genres haven't changed much, though I suppose I should read more non-fiction, especially books on writing and publishing. Other than reading at least one diversity read a month, I don't have many set goals for the type of books I read. (It's typically whatever I'm in the mood for at the moment.)

About thirty-eight books were paper books checked out from the library; however, I also borrowed a lot of Ebooks. I did read one paper book from my To-Be-Read stack, but that didn't make much of a dent. 

I will probably set my 2022 reading goal for another 150 books. Do you set reading goals for yourself? If so, feel free to share them in the comments.

Book Club Questions for Lyon's Legacy

I received a nice surprise last week when I found out the Insecure Writer's Support Group had chosen my novella, Lyon's Legacy, as one of this month's selections for their Goodreads book club. One of the moderators emailed me and asked me to contribute three questions to the discussion. I've listed them below:

1. Joanna’s family history plays a big role in how she perceives herself. What are the positive and negative ways families and genetics affect her identity?
   
2. Should the time travelers request permission to take DNA samples from the alternate universe, even if the people never know the true purpose for the samples? What would be fair compensation?
3. Lyon’s Legacy was partly inspired by the author’s love for a famous rock group that she never got to see perform. If you could travel to the past to meet someone, who would it be and why? What would you want to bring back with you?

If you haven't read Lyon's Legacy yet (a science fiction novella about a scientist forced to clone a famous ancestor), you can download a permafree eBook from your favorite store here. 

Have you ever had a book of yours selected for a book club? What was it like? Feel free to share your thoughts below. If you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, hope it's a happy and healthy holiday!

 

 

Mid-Month Mysteries: Tea

What can be cozier in the middle of winter than cradling a cup of your favorite warm beverage in your cold hands? For me, that beverage is tea, particularly green tea. My favorite type is jasmine pearl green tea, but I also enjoy other types like sencha and gyokuro. On the left is my teapot, also known as PorgPot. He's been my most valuable coworker at home.

There are several cozy mystery series out there featuring tea or tea shops, but many of the ones I've read feature not just the beverage, but the ritual of afternoon tea. I particularly enjoyed the Chintz 'n China series by Yasmine Galenorn. You can find the first book, Ghost of a Chance, here. It's been a while since I read that series, but I think the main character sells a lot of teapots in addition to tea. Another author who writes about tea shops is Laura Childs in her Tea Shop Mysteries (see link for the series list). I just finished the first book in the series, Death by Darjeeling. While her descriptions of tea are the best I've read in cozy mysteries, other parts of the book didn't work so well for me. However, I'm particularly looking forward to Erin Johnson's Spelling the Tea, which will be published later this month and is the first book in a vampire tea room mystery series. I enjoyed Johnson's Spells and Caramels series. Other tea cozy mystery books I've found on Goodreads but haven't read include Steeped in Murder and Pushing Up Daisies. 

Tea can feature in a mystery by being a vehicle for poison. The poison can either be added to the tea, or the tea can also be brewed with toxic plants. Hot water can also be used as a defensive weapon.

Abigail Ritter, the heroine of my upcoming Magic Lake Mysteries series, will be running a tea shop, but her focus will be on fruit teas and bubble teas. 

What's your favorite type of tea? Feel free to share in the comments.

IWSG: Writer Turnoffs

Welcome to the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post of 2021! We're here to share our concerns and encourage other writers. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter.

Our hosts this month are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner, Sandra Cox, and Louise-Fundy Blue.

Here's our question for the month: As a writer, when you're reading someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?

Writers are probably much more critical readers than pure readers. For example, last month, I read the first book in a cozy mystery series by a bestselling author. (Title and author name withheld.) The first chapter contained a mistake about the main character's profession (she had a degree that didn't exist). The second chapter was a breakup scene, but the structure of it didn't make sense to me. The unemployed boyfriend first worried about his girlfriend was going to pay the bills, then announced he had just landed a new acting job in a new city (rendering his first complaint moot), and then finally came out as gay after three years of being together. I found out later this author is supposed to be funny, so maybe what I thought were bugs were actually examples of her humor. However, I also found many of the side characters to be stereotypes, and the murderer turned out to be someone who hadn't been part of the story before then. These were elements that didn't work for me, but many of the reviewers on Goodreads seemed to enjoy the story. I think the readers were reacting to other, emotional aspects of the story that didn't work for me. I finished the book mainly for my annual Goodreads reading challenge. This year, I'm backing off on my reading goal slightly so I have more freedom to quit books I don't care for.

Perhaps this the best way to sum up my frustrations with other people's books: my personality type is INTJ, which is the rarest type among women. Many books that appeal to other people don't appeal to me, and I worry about making my works emotionally appealing to others. I'm hoping as I continue to write and try new genres to find more common ground with my readers.

What frustrates you about other people's works? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

2020 in Review: Reading

Welcome to the last post of 2021, a year that most of us probably can't wait to end. Here's hoping we'll all be doing better by this time next year. 

At the end of every year, I like to look back at the books I've read. Here's my list on Goodreads. I track only books I finish, not those I start. (This is why I don't always record the date I start a book, but I am better at recording when I finish.) Goodreads counts everything from short stories to multi-volume sets as a single book, so I do my best to track my reading accordingly. My initial goal for 2020 was 150 books, but I adjusted my goal a couple of times for a final goal of 140 books. Goodreads says I read 144 books this year, but I can only account for 143. (I think one of them may have been counted twice.) With a little push, I might add one more book before midnight tomorrow. Considering two of my books were actually three-book collections but still counted as a single item, I came pretty close to reaching my original goal. Reading Swann's Way didn't help.

My breakdown by genre is listed below:

Fantasy: 40

Science Fiction: 10

Mystery (cozy or otherwise): 52

Other Fiction: 9

Non-Fiction: 32

This might be the first time that mystery, not fantasy, has been my top category. (Many of the cozy mysteries I like have paranormal elements, but I still count them under mystery instead of fantasy.) Since I'm working on a cozy mystery series, naturally I need to learn more about this genre, though I was reading it before I decided to write it. Some of my other reading goals this year were to read ten books on writing, five physical books from my To Be Read pile, and 40 non-fiction books. I came close with the non-fiction, but I only read four books on writing and nothing from the TBR pile. I have a feeling many of those books will never be read, alas. EBooks outnumber paper books 91 to 52. Although my library was closed for a couple of months due to COVID-19, I still managed to check out quite a few paper books along with eBooks.

 

Here are a few recommendations from the year:

The Bird Way

Spellbreaker

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

The Heroine's Journey

Midnight Bargain

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

The Precipice

Dread Nation

Oona Out of Order

Bannerless

Factfulness

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

 

I'm not sure yet what reading goals I want to set for 2021, but I'll try to make them more realistic.

What was your favorite book this year? Feel free to share it in the comments.

Mid-Year Reading Update

Since next Wednesday is July 1st, I'm assuming we'll have another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. I figure I'd do my semiannual reading review a little early. My Goodreads Reading Challenge is to read 150 books this year. Unfortunately, the lockdown didn't give me more time to read; if anything, I feel like I've been busier than ever. I've still managed to read fifty-nine books, but I'm currently twelve books behind schedule. Hopefully I'll be able to use a few more vacation days this summer and spend some time catching up.

Here's how my reading breaks down by genre:

Fantasy: 21

Mystery: 18

Non-Fiction: 11

Science Fiction: 5

Other Fiction: 4

By Format:

Ebook: 44

Paper: 15

Since many of the mysteries I read have a paranormal or fantasy element, I normally count them as fantasy. I was tempted to put those books in both categories, but that would have been confusing.

Here are a few of my favorite books from the past six months:

Oona Out of Order

Half Soul

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse

What's your favorite book you've read this year? Feel free to share the title in the comments.

2019 Books and 2020 Goals

Happy New Year and new decade! (Yes, it's OK to start counting a decade from a year ending in "0.") I'm sure you're not reading this exactly at midnight, so I hope you had a chance to recover if you were out celebrating. Due to the holiday, the Insecure Writer's Support Group is posting next week, so in the meantime, let's talk books.

Every six months, I like to review my reading progress, so it's time to look back at my reading in 2019. My original goal was to read 150 books. This year, I came across a few series with fast-paced books that I devoured, so I had no problem meeting this goal. In fact, I increased my goal to 160 books and passed that. I ended up with 167 books, with a couple more in progress to kickstart my 2020 reading. Here's the genre breakdown:

Fantasy: 78
Science Fiction: 37
Other Fiction: 25
Nonfiction: 27

Here are my recommendations:

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Storm of Locusts
Here and Now and Then
The Murderbot series
The Modern Magick series
This is How You Lose the Time War

And, of course, the collections and anthologies with my own stories: Hidden Histories, Ordinary Wonders, and Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Winters.

As for 2020 goals, I plan to set the same reading goal of 150 books. My writing plans include finishing up my urban fantasy trilogy and hopefully returning to the Season Avatars and Catalyst Chronicles worlds. Best of luck to you with your goals too!

Reading/Writing Update

I don't have a whole lot to blog about this week, so I'll keep this entry short.

On the reading front, I'm up to 91 books read so far this year. Yes, that's a big jump from my last report, but during my vacation a couple of weeks ago, I discovered a fantasy series with eight short (less than 200 pages on average) books. (The series page on Goodreads is a little behind.) I'm also finally getting around to the Murderbot series, and those books are also short, more like novella-length than full books. I probably won't be able to maintain this pace, but hopefully I won't be scrambling to meet my reading goal at the end of the year.

At the end of June, I finally finished the rough draft of Dryads to Discover. (I announced the news on Facebook but didn't have a good opportunity to post it here.) The book is currently a little under 75,000 words. Currently I'm taking a break from it until my son goes back to school in late August, when I'll read it and start revisions. In the meantime, I've started the second book of the trilogy. The working title is Dryad in Doubt. I've written about 8,000 words so far. The writing pace is a bit slow, but hopefully I've got a better sense of the characters and plot this time and won't need two years to finish it. (Having posted that, I've probably jinxed myself to hit a writer's block.) Progress on this book will also depend on how many other projects I work on in parallel. I have started the next book set in the same world as the Season Avatars, though I don't have a book or series title yet. I've also toyed around with a short story, but the idea hasn't jelled yet and needs more time to incubate.

So, how's your summer going? Are you working on any special projects or taking some time off? Feel free to share in the comments.

Semi-Annual Reading Update 2019

Normally I report on my reading progress twice a year, at the beginning of July and January. I didn't want to include it with the IWSG post, so I postponed it a week. I'm actually writing this post on Sunday, July 7th (Ringo's birthday), so the numbers may change slightly by the time this post goes live.

So far, I've read 76 books in 2019, which means I'm on track to make my goal of 150 books. (If Goodreads lists it as a separate book, I include it, from short stories to three-book bundles.) Here's the breakdown by genre:

Fantasy: 34
Science Fiction: 18
Non-Fiction: 11
Other (mostly mysteries and historical novels): 13

Some of the percentages are slightly skewed from my normal pattern. About 20-25% of the books I read each year are non-fiction, but I'm only at 14% this time. The other category is higher than it normally is. We'll see if they balance out by the end of the year.

Here are some of the standout books for me:

Code Girls
How Long 'til Black Future Month?
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

The Girls Who Went Away
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Storm of Locusts
Here and Now and Then

Feel free to share some of your favorite reads in the comments.

I haven't done much to promote the blog lately or even respond to comments. That's not going to change this week, since my family and I will be on vacation. Hopefully after I get back and finish some other projects, I can do more to promote this blog and my books. See you then!

IWSG: Questions and 2018 Reading Summary

Happy 2019! I wish you all the best in the coming year.

We're starting off the new year with The Insecure Writer's Support Group. You can learn more about this group on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. Our co-hosts this month are Patricia Lynne, Lisa Blue-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue.

Our question this month is about questions: What are your favorite and least favorite questions people ask you about your writing?

I don't get a lot of questions about my writing, but I always enjoy it when someone genuinely wants to know what I'm working on and is interested in the plot or character. On the other hand, it's annoying when someone asks me if I'm published in the sense of being traditionally published or having my books on display at Barnes and Noble. It can be complicated to explain why I chose (and continue to choose) to publish my novels myself.

I normally summarize the previous year's reading in my first post of the year. I managed to achieve my goal of 150 books. (Goodreads says I read 151, though I must have missed one in my genre count.) Here's the breakdown by genre:

Fantasy: 72
Science Fiction: 21
Other Fiction: 15
Non-Fiction: 42 (includes six books on writing, but doesn't include my Audible lecture series on writing great fiction)

According to Goodreads, I read over 41,000 pages. The shortest work was "The Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway at four pages; the longest was 1,182 pages for The Tale of Genji. (The average length was a more manageable 272 pages.) Some of the books I'd recommend include A Clash of Eagles, Eagle in Exile, and Witchmark.

Have any questions of your own or thoughts on your reading of 2018? Feel free to share them in the comments.

2018 Goals: The Successes

It's hard to believe this is going to be the last post of 2018. At least this is a good time to review the goals I did achieve this year.

Write and submit [short stories] to 3-4 anthologies/magazines--Achieved. I had two short stories published this year, one in an e-zine and one in an anthology. Three of my short stories were rejected. I'll publish two independently and possibly use material from the third in Catalyst in the Crucible. I intend to submit two short stories to anthologies in January; we'll see if any other markets catch my eye the rest of the year.

Prepare and publish 1 or 2 box sets for the Season Avatars series--I did a complete ebook box set of the Season Avatars series early this year.

Participate in local literary festivals when possible--I moderated a panel for the Elgin Literary Festival (ELF) and had a table at my library's Comic Con. I'll be back at ELF to sell books (and raffle off a dinosaur), though I'll have to see if my schedule allow me to participate in any other local writer fests.

Make Santa Jawa costume--I'm now calling it the "Holly Jolly Jawa" since I did it in green instead of red.

Crochet at least ten SW characters--I managed to accomplish this back in January. I made so many I'm considering selling some on Etsy after Star Wars Celebration in April.

Troop 20-25 times--I trooped 21 separate events. At this rate, I should reach my 100th troop before I turn 50 (another of my unofficial goals).

Read 150 books--My Goodreads count is currently 148. Book 149 is nearly done, and since I have a couple more days off this week, I'm quite confident I can finish at least one more book before the end of the year. More details about my reading will be revealed next week.

Although the month isn't quite over, it's still been a long December. Let's hope next year will be better than this one--and that I reach more of my goals!  See you on January 2nd.