Shystoryteller

I do this every year. I open good reads and check how my year went – reading-wise.

2023 was unique in a couple of ways.

I read 44 books against my target of 52 books. It’s not the first year when I didn’t finish my target but it was the first year when I read too much and yet not enough books.

Entry of Fan Fiction

Let me explain – This year I accidentally got hooked on reading fan fiction. I read so much fan fiction that at one point I was worried that I was getting addicted to it. It’s a good thing that I do not have any stats showing how many individual stories I read cos that would certainly make me feel things I am not ready to feel yet.

Fan-fiction has become my guilty pleasure and I do not see myself stopping anytime soon.

It is also my best-kept secret at the moment. I am not telling anyone what I read there, who are my favorite writers there, and if I write fan fiction or not. It’s like this is one thing, I want to talk about a lot as it makes me so excited and at the same time, I want to keep it hidden just for myself. I don’t want anyone to judge me based on my love for fan fiction.

There are so many great fan-fiction writers who wrote 200,000+ words in a single story (and I gobbled it up in two days).

So, if we go by word count, I know I have read more than I have ever read in my entire life.

But it did not increase my book count and I am not even feeling bad about it.

Book Formats

2023 did become a milestone year in my reading journey.

Another reason for it becoming a milestone is because I consumed more audiobooks than ebooks and I did not read a single physical book in the entire year. I think it’s the first year when I did not even touch even a single physical book. There were a lot of factors contributing to that. And I don’t think this will happen again. This year I am already reading two physical books at the same time.

Anyway, last year I read a good mix of fiction and non-fiction. I realized that it’s much easier to go through difficult non-fiction books on audiobooks than in any other format. And I have become a big fan of dramatized versions of fantasy fiction. I don’t know if dramatization will make such an impact on other fiction genres but in fantasy, it just adds a magical element that transports us to a different world.

There is only one right way to read fantasy now and that is by listening to a dramatised audiobook version preferably while you are taking a walk in nature. I said what I said and I am willing to defend it with my life.

Audiobooks are another thing that will become a staple in my life going forward. I just love the ease with which I can consume them and how easy it is to slip in and out of the book. The boring non-fiction also becomes fun in audiobooks.

The only challenge I am facing is that it is difficult to take notes on audiobooks. So, I tend to finish the audio version and then go back to an ebook or physical copy while taking notes. It works but maybe I will find a better way soon.

My Top Authors

I found a great author – T. Kingfisher and I am slowly going through all her books one at a time.

Brandon Sanderson is going to stay on my yearly reading summary for the rest of my life. I know that even if I stick to reading only his books for the rest of my life, I will still not finish them all. And it’s not cos I am a slow reader cos I am certainly not a slow reader. It’s just that he is such a fast writer. His writing speed vastly exceeds my reading speed and I am already pretty behind. I started reading his works just three years ago and he has been writing for what seems like forever. So, I accept my defeat already and I will never catch up. But that is not going to keep me from enjoying his books whenever I can.

Two of my absolute favorite books this year are – Tess of the Emerald Sea and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. They both were too hilarious and had just the right amount of drama. I loved them both so much.

Plans for 2024

In 2024, I know I am going to keep reading fan fiction but at the same time, I want to read books regularly too. My target will remain the same – 52 books – one book per week. This used to be such an easy target just up to a few years back. But even in 2024, I am not sure I will fulfill it, mostly because I am worried that I will end up reading more fan fiction than books. Fan fiction is more fun for now.

This year I need to re-read a couple of books from different series I started a few years back and then stopped reading them for no apparent reason. My Kindle keeps reminding me of the series I haven’t completed and it always makes me feel guilty. So I am going to do something about it this year at least.