October 2023 Reading Recap

WE ARE BACK, baby! Out of a reading slump, back into mostly purely pleasure reading, and back on the wagon, so to speak. October ties May 2023 for my highest reading months of the year: 72 titles! As always, keep in mind that includes picture books, but it’s important for me to track those as part of my reading for my you know…job. But 72 titles is HUGE for me, especially because October was a huge final push for my 2023 Award Committee reading…and in September 2023 I only read 38 titles. Almost doubling is pretty good to me!

How did I do it? Well, I had two trips in October, and I’m very good at reading on trains! On my NYC trip, I made it through an audiobook, an ACM title I was re-reading, a backlist title, and a new romance published in September 2023! Then, the next weekend on my trip in VA, I made it through a HECK TON of picture books ARCs I had on my computer, and a backlist middle grade title I had been eager to read for months.

Let’s break it down:

• Total Books Read: 72
• Audiobooks Listened To: 2
• Short Story Collections Read: 1
• Picture Books Read: 42
• DNF’d Titles: 5

I’m really really proud of how I turned October around, compared to September! Let’s just hope I can keep the energy up for November. I could have done more audiobooks…and am trying to get back into them, but the new Taylor Swift album, you know?

In keeping with my short story collection goals, I’ll need to be a little more intentional this month, since I don’t necessarily have any required short story collections to read. I’m thinking I’ll go back and finish one of the short story collections I DNF’d earlier in the year. BUT! I could just count the book my DAR book club is reading in November, which is a short story collection: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty.

On that note…I DNF’d purely out of lack of time my September book club pick, and I want to make sure to finish that this month. On top of reading Night of the Living Rez, of course! Luckily for me, we take December off and call it a movie night, haha.

When it comes to assigned reading, I read 3 titles I was assigned for Booklist in October, and 2 that I was assigned for School Library Journal. I enjoyed all of them! I already have two on the docket for Booklist in November, and suspect I’ll do at least 2 more by the end of the month. Here’s to keeping on top of those instead of doing them at the last minute because I run out of reading hours in the day.

Looking ahead to November, I am excited to make some headway in the stack of TBR print books I haven’t been able to get to, including some BOTM titles, middle grade ARCs, and the two Cormoran Strike novels I’m behind on at this point. I’m hoping to read some of the Capitol Choices nominees I’ve missed—including some YA like new Becky Albertalli and Sunshine, the graphic novel. I also want to power through some short audiobooks on my listening wishlist—including The Apartment House on Poppy Hill, Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour, Mercy Watson is Missing, and History Smashers: Christopher Columbus. If I schedule them for my Sunday morning work sessions I can probably stay on track, haha.

Oh, I also want to read the new Michael Cunningham before I see him speak…but that might happen AFTER, looking at this week.

Honestly, life is crazy right now, but getting CHOICE in what I’m reading again is so nice! I love award committee work and know how important it is for my professional development, but I also love diving into a murder mystery or cheesy YA romance for a few hours.

Let’s do this!