Alphonzs.xyz

2023 Reading Wrap-up

I set my reading goal at 21 this year, and managed to read 27, yay me!
I have a history of setting super high goals when I wasn't even reading much. So a few months into the year I just gave up and told myself I would make a better effort the next one. That was until last year when I remembered I actually loved reading, and didn't care much about meeting a goal. It was back to just enjoying books and stories giving me a mindspace to wander and explore. Still, out of stubbornness and a need to track my progress, I set a low doable goal of 8 books.

This year I continued riding that wave, but when thinking about what I wanted out of my reading for 2023 I took into account that I wanted to try new things, instead of just reaching a higher number inside my comfort zone.

The list

On to what I read throughout the year. I'll eventually add the extra stuff like webcomics and short stories that I enjoyed the most, but book-wise by finished date:

  1. [2023-01-02] Before the Coffee gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2015), translation by Geoffrey Trousselot.
  2. [2023-01-07] Spell or High Water (Magic 2.0 #2), by Scott Meyer (2014).
  3. [2023-01-10] Neuromancer (Sprawl #1), by William Gibson (1984).
  4. [2023-01-14] All the skills: A Deck building LitRPG (All the Skills #1), by Honour Rae (2022).
  5. [2023-01-17] A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot #1), by Becky Chambers (2021).
  6. [2023-01-20] A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2), by Becky Chambers (2022).
  7. [2023-04-10] The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler (2022).
  8. [2023-04-06] Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata (2016), translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
  9. [2023-07-11] The Two Lions, by Nagisa Furuya (author and artist) (2017-2019), translation by Jocelyne Allen.
  10. [2023-07-16] Oshi no Ko Vol.1, by Aka Akasaka (author), Mengo Yokoyari (artist) (2020), translation by Taylor Engel.
  11. [2023-07-21] Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki (2021).
  12. [2023-07-27] Oshi no Ko Vol.2, by Aka Akasaka (author), Mengo Yokoyari (artist) (2020), translation by Taylor Engel.
  13. [2023-07-29] Laser Writer II, by Tamara Shopsin (2021).
  14. [2023-08-09] Tales from the Café (Before the Coffee Gets Cold #2), by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2017), translation by Geoffrey Trousselot.
  15. [2023-08-15] Before your memory fades (Before the Coffee Gets Cold #3), by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2018), translation by Geoffrey Trousselot.
  16. [2023-09-04] Gay Gigante, de Gabriel Ebensperger (autor y artista) (2015).
  17. [2023-09-10] Mis manos son otra persona, poemas de Gabriel Cortés Serra (2020).
  18. [2023-09-12] Gatos pirómanos y otros poemas, de Gabriel Cortés Serra (2021).
  19. [2023-08-17] Veniss Underground, by Jeff VanderMeer (2003).
  20. [2023-09-23] All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1), by Martha Wells (2017).
  21. [2023-09-24] Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2), by Martha Wells (2018).
  22. [2023-10-04] Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries #3), by Martha Wells (2018).
  23. [2023-10-13] Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries #4), by Martha Wells (2018).
  24. [2023-11-03] Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5), by Martha Wells (2020).
  25. [2023-11-07] Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries #6), by Martha Wells (2021).
  26. [2023-11-09] System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries #7), by Martha Wells (2023).
  27. [2023-12-28] Maggie's Grave, by David Sodergren (2020)

_Highlights

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is what made me more open to translations, it's a series that I liked for its teathrical style and sad stories.
Murderbot is a sci-fi series that I found really fun. It has the character who I've felt most connected with. I'm really looking forward to the TV series that is going to be released on Apple TV+.
Monk and Robot is 2 short books with a solarpunk theme. It gave me a sense of wholesomeness that still lingers whenever I think about it. It's my top read for the year. Will probably re-read soon 💚.

New domains

This year I read comics, manga, translated fiction, a bit of poetry, horror, litRPG, and tried audiobooks again. Out of all of them I still do not feel like audiobooks are for me but didn't have problems with the rest. I'm putting much of my old prejudices to rest and as a result my potential read pool grew by a ton.

_Comics

I started following web comics and bought a book from a local author, both were a success. I've already added more comics to my wishlist and I intend to read Saga next year.

_Manga

I had tried reading manga before but the lack of color just put me off. Also, I feel I couldn't grasp what was happening in most of the action scenes and that made me lose interest fast. I don't know if the many hours of anime I've watched since then are the cause but I didn't feel lost this time, and even paused just to admire the art. So many complex things pictured in just black and white.

_LitRPG

A weird subgenre for which I hadn't read any books that fit the label until now. These are stories that have a gaming or RPG component that is made explicit, like earning experience, objects, equipment, or keeping track of attribute points. I found it entertaining, however, I get the feel that the writing isn't very polished. It could be that the authors are more gamers than writers, or it could be an artifact of bringing this foreign gaming system into a narrative. I definitely have to read more authors to figure it out.

_Translated Fiction

Up until recently I considered myself a purist in terms of translated work. I just wouldn't read something if it wasn't the original text as written by the author. Reason being that I believe there are words that have a match in another language but the precise meaning differs, or it just doesn't have the same impact; the sentence ends up losing rhyme, tone, hidden meanings, and it changes its voice.
I think a lot about how authors go over a sentence many times, making adjustments to achieve a certain sound, or rework it to better convey what they mean. All this gets lost and we end up with a new different work based on the original.
In the end I failed to come to terms with the fact that there are a lot of stories that I wouldn't be able to read unless I read a translated version and had to give in.
I still prefer the original if it's in a language that I can read, but otherwise I'm more open to translations, specially stories of japanese or korean origin.

_Poetry

This one was a real struggle. I just didn't know how to read a poetry book. I had to find my own way, and that was by recording myself reading them aloud. Only then it finally clicked, and the poems started making (more) sense to me.

_Horror

I used to feel that horror belonged to the realm of media, like movies, but tension can also come from a book. Also, there are things that can be too much to portray on video but the written word has extra bandwidth to leave it to the reader's imagination.

_Audiobooks

The thing about them is that I have to adjust to the narrators pacing. When I read my inner narrator voice goes through some parts faster or slower. Not having that control distracts me from the story and I end up rewinding and skipping too many times.
It could also be that I haven't found narrators that I like listening to.

Otherworldy presence

I stopped using Goodreads at the beginning of the year. I felt that I could no longer trust the star-review system and how Amazon uses all the information. Also, I haven't seen much visual changes or new features in years.

I've mainly switched Goodreads for Storygraph and have been trying Hardcover.app on the side, but both still feel lacking.

I regularly post reviews or what I'm reading in stories on Instagram, however I've been growing increasingly tired of the Meta ad-gorithm and Threads intrusion. Time to try TikTok maybe?

New Main Quest Unlocked

For 2024 I'm rising my goal to 37 books. I feel an urge to go back to fantasy worlds. This coming year I want to focus on longer stories, hefty tomes, I feel in the mood for long fantasy series.
Lineup includes Discworld —which has set unread for a number of years in my bookshelf— The Witcher, and Realm of the Elderlings, maybe Mistborn or Malazan as well. But my first read, which I already started, is going to be the Earthsea books by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Hope everyone enjoyed some good books, new adventures, or teary moments. Time to get excited for new releases. I'm specially looking forward to a new book by one of my favourite authors (Moonbound by Robin Sloan), but don't forget to give the ol' backlog pile some love as well.

🦄 Alph