Q1 2024 — I read 20 books & wrote some new stuff, too.

Print, audio, & Kindle — oh my!

First off, I’d like to thank my library card, without which, there would be much fewer opportunities for righteously free reads.

(Insert Travis Birkenstock meme here.)

Here’s my reading log for January-March, 2024.

FICTION

Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke

The Beatyrce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo 🎧

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City 3) by Sarah J. Maas

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

The Whispers by Audrey Audrain 🎧

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Happy Place by Emily Henry

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 🎧

We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman

NONFICTION

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom by bell hooks 🎧

1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round by Jami Attenberg

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis 🎧

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a 13-Year-Old Boy With Autism by Naoki Higashida

Autism and Education: The Way I See It by Temple Grandin

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson 🎧

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bordain 🎧

I just kind of had a brain swirl moment thinking, What if I included all the picture books and board books I’ve read to the kids? It would add like 90 more, roughly a book a day.

Okay, that was a lot. In a way, I’m proud.

I’ve been wearing Libby out on walks, in the car, or doing chores. I’ve read my Kindle a bunch lately, and a few of those were physical library books also.

I’ve been trying to really support local bookstores since closing my own. So I’m definitely enjoy reading as much as I can, and it’s healthier for my children to see me read than stare at my phone.

But, can I be honest? I feel a little…overstuffed.

I desperately want to read so many things before I meet my end, but it’s hard to hear my own brain when I’m constantly filling it with other people’s words.

I’ve done a bit of writing during this quarter, too.

I’ve read my 80k word fiction manuscript (which desperately needs to be re-worked), I used a pretty new pen to slash through the slog of words that meandered, and I’ve brainstormed what needs to happen to get it into shape. (Though, I haven’t quite decided on the best ending…)

I’ve written a few new poems, and I’ve edited some others. I want to have my second poetry collection published traditionally, so I’m beefing it up to a “full length manuscript” which is at least 48 pages of poems. (I self-published my first poetry collection.) I got word this quarter that a feminist lit mag wants at least one of my poems for their summer print edition, and if they have room, they want all three I submitted.

I’ve written haphazard morning pages, and I’ve tinkered with a new story that I am really having fun with. I’ve had coffee shop writing dates with friends, and for 3 consecutive months I’ve gone to writing club.

Too much reading could actually be a deterrent to writing. Of course, some reading is necessary to writing, but too much keeps me away from my own thoughts, my own words, and my own stories. So next quarter, perhaps I’ll restrain myself more in the reading department.

But what IS on deck for the next few months?

My book club picked Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner, and One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig for the next three months. I will probably read Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas to complete my Throne of Glass re-read. I *may* finish Iron Flame (I read half of it!), and I have Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, Heartbroke by Chelsea Bieker, and A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum on my short list, too. I also will be finishing A Wrinkle In Time (which I’m reading with my 9yo).

Tell me, what have you read and loved recently?

What do I need to add to my tragically long TBR list? Let me know!