November 2023 Reading Recap

So…I went a little crazy this month. 195 books later….I am now trying to see if I can read 1000 books before the end of the year, and I need you to understand that I know this is wild. I know it’s unsustainable, but 2024 is going to be a REALLY exciting reading year, and so I am burning the candle at both ends while I can. The first half of this month I was celebrating being done with one season of award reading and not yet committed to another…but then by morning of November 19th, I was committed to another award committee. Whoops. That invigorated me to really go gangbusters though!

And gangbusters did I go…because between November 1st and 30th I finished ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE BOOKS. Yes, largely picture books and easy readers, but HOLY HECK.

This, frankly, is especially impressive because one of those books was Ink Black Heart, which clocks in at over 1000 pages. ONE THOUSAND PAGES. Did I then DNF Running Grave after 100 pages? Yes, but my hands hurt, okay? 7

Let’s break it down.

Total Books Read in November: 195

Total Audiobooks: 8, all children’s titles, including a few Who Was/What Was Books, Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour, the last Mercy Watson book, etc.

Graphic Novels: 8, including Picture Day, Stars in Their Eyes, Constellations, Mexikid, etc.

Easy Readers: 41, including a slew of Katie Woo books, the April & Mae series, and some 2024 titles

Adult Novels: 7, including Ink Black Heart (1000 pages), a professional development book, a short story collection for my DAR book club, and a backlist title I’d had for two years. I also read a devotional I’d been meaning to read all year–yay to checking off goals!

YA Novels: Just two graphic novels–Stars in Their Eyes and Constellations

I also read 5 children’s prose novels, including Simon Sort of Says, Worst Broommate Ever, some titles I was reviewing for Booklist, and Leeva at Last.

And then I read like…109 picture books, I think. This includes a slew of digital 2024 titles I wanted to preview, some books for my Museum project I am working on, etc. It’s SO MANY.

There were days I truly just sat down with a stack of picture books and plowed through. And yet, I tell you…and yet I am still surrounded by books I haven’t gotten to yet.

Will I finish 205 books in December? Only time will tell! Pray for me…and my fingers. Paper cuts could kill me right now.