2017’s Year in Reading

Well, that was a new milestone: an entire year without blogging.

I guess it’s clear that blogging is no longer the daily priority for me that it once was. I don’t know if this journal will find its way back into my life in any kind of a regular way in the future, though I do find myself wanting to think, write, reflect, communicate at greater length–and with greater thoughtfulness–than Facebook seems to support. And I’ve got stuff to talk about (like picking up and moving to an island) that could use more in-depth treatment than I have had time or bandwidth to write about so far.

I’ve been thinking about my (also-long-abandoned) newsletter. I may resurrect that in the coming months. Feel free to sign up if you like; I think I can safely promise not to spam your inbox with lots of verbiage! 🙂

Anyway, it is New Year’s Day, and I have my Year in Reading stats! 2017 was my readiest year yet, with 115 total books read, 92 of which were for work and 23 of which were for pleasure; the pleasure books included six book group choices, with the rest being chosen by me. For comparison, 2016 had 107 books total, with 27 pleasure; 2015 had 63 total, with 25 pleasure. (Not that I don’t just adore so very, very many of my work books…hmm, I ought to rethink my terminology here.)

What this tells me is that my editing/copy editing/proofreading business is booming better than ever, but that I’m still holding onto some time for chosen-by-me reading. That’s encouraging.

What really suffered in 2017 was my writing. I started strong, but then the whole center of the year was eaten by the move, and by other family urgencies that kept me away from writing for months on end. I’m back at it now, almost done with a terrible first draft of the sequel to Orcas Intrigue, and I’ve got more stuff lined up after that. It feels SO GOOD to be writing again, like an important part of my brain had gone to sleep and has now woken up again. When I wasn’t writing, I questioned whether I really wanted to; now, I am quite sure that I do. I wake up in the night with new books bursting to be written. Just like the old days. YAY.

More on all that later! For now, here’s the list of books I chose to read last year (I don’t list my work-read-books any more; sometimes they are secret).

Corey, James S.A., Nemesis Games
Kadrey, Richard, The Everything Box
Scalzi, John, The End of All Things
Scalzi, John, Lock In
Hendee, Barb, The Mist-Torn Witches
Hendee, Barb, Witches in Red
Hendee, Barb, Witches with the Enemy
Hendee, Barb, To Kill a Kettle Witch
Bear, Greg, Songs of Earth & Power 1: The Infinity Concerto
Bear, Greg, Songs of Earth & Power 2: The Serpent Mage
Hobb, Robin, Ship of Magic
Brown, Pierce, Red Rising
Hobb, Robin, Mad Ship
Hobb, Robin, Ship of Destiny
Chen, Curtis C., Waypoint Kangaroo
Lowell, Elizabeth, Amber Beach
Johnson, Kij, The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe
Lyris, Sonia Orin, The Seer
Hobb, Robin, Fool’s Errand
Hobb, Robin, Golden Fool
Hobb, Robin, Fool’s Fate
Rowling, JK, The Casual Vacancy
Taylor, Laini, Strange the Dreamer