I didn't read very much in 2025 - only 25 books overall. Looks like I spent way too much time scrolling on TikTok versus reading a good book.
Since New Year's Day is the day to set intentions for reading challenges, I decided to try Storygraph yesterday and I imported all of my Goodreads data to give it a go. I really like the deeper charts and analysis of what I've been reading. I enjoy tracking but I don't typically review books that I've read. I'm not sure if I'm worried about hurting an author's feelings if I don't like something. Which is wild since I wanted to be a music critic when I was a teenager. Will that change this year? Who knows, but either way, I'd like to read more than I did last year.
Here is a list of my favourite books from last year, as well as a collage of all of the books I read.
I promised myself back in October that I'd spend some time over the Christmas holidays sorting out this site. It's January 2nd, and I actually did do some sorting out. I'm shocked too. My domain name points here now, instead of my creaky old self-hosted WordPress site that I've barely maintained.
I've been hemming and hawing about trying to import all my old blog entries from the last 25 years. I talked to multiple AI tools about how to convert the content into other filetypes so I could automate the process. I understand just enough about the different recommendations I was given that I don't trust myself to complete the whole process smoothly. I did get all my WordPress entries converted into individual Markdown files. It was figuring out how to convert those Markdown files into individual emails and ideally backdate them to match their original publish date. I still haven't landed on a solution I felt capable of implementing on my own.
I started adding old entries manually, but it was tedious and not something I want to do for hundreds of entries. Are all of my old entries even worth importing? I made a lot of posts private after my daughter learned to Google and kept asking me questions about stuff I'd posted over the years. There was nothing scandalous - quite the opposite in fact. She was mostly asking about stuff I wrote in the early days of motherhood. I had no problem answering her questions, but I hid them mostly to stop the question-asking since she was searching this stuff with her friends when they were at school. So hiding the entries was one less distraction.
Now I'm undecided. Part of me wants to conquer the problem and figure out how to automate the import process, just to say I did it. Part of me wants all of that writing in one place. Part of me wants to start fresh.
Super excited to try Pagecord out! I’m tired of getting distracted by backend updates every time I login to my WordPress account. It’s too much for my very sporadic, nicheless, unmonetized, personal website. I just want to be able to write something and have it post easily. Short or long. This feels like a good fit and I’m looking forward to reviving a hobby I thought was no longer for me.
—- title: “What I read in 2020” date: 2021-01-09 categories: [books, life] —-
Lainey Lui coined a new word - inlectio- earlier this year. it’s two Latin words that translate to ‘not reading’. (New words like this make me glad I took Latin for three years in high school.) She wrote about struggling to read books during the pandemic. I also struggled with this on and off throughout 2020. Books took longer to jump out at me as I scrolled through the library website. They took longer to read as my attention span was much lower and constantly interrupted by doomscrolling (another new word for 2020).
I still read books, and I read 62 books this year. But I read in fits and spurts. Usually I always have at least one book on the go, and this year, I sometimes went weeks between books. We did travel at the beginning of the year (the Before Times), and I always read lots when I travel so that added to my book count.
But it’s January 9th, and I haven’t really read much of anything yet this year. I’m late writing this annual post. What’s bothering me most of all is that I look at this list, and I usually remember at least one thing from nearly every book I read. For 2020’s books, there are some that I have No Idea what happened. I hate that feeling. It feels disrespectful to the authors.
I relied on the library to feed my Kobo but also bought a couple of physical books as well. Here is my year in books on Goodreads.
Here’s hoping 2021 is a better year for reading. Here are the books I read this year:
--- title: “What I read in 2019” date: 2020-01-01 categories: [books, books, goodreads, ideas, life, reading, whatiread] ---
It’s time for my annual what-I-read-last-year blog post! Here’s the breakdown for 2019,
I read 78 books, which surpassed my goal to read 60 books by 30%.
According to my Goodreads ‘Year in Books’ page, I read a total of 25,807 pages. I’m not sure how accurate the page counts are, considering different editions of books, (ebooks vs. print, hard vs softcover, etc.). My shortest book was 203 pages, and my longest book was 549 pages.
I read nearly everything with my Kobo, and most of my books came from the library. (I love Overdrive integration!) I bought some books as well.
I unintentionally reread a book that I first read in 2015, but didn’t realize it until I was partway through, so I kept going.
I read my usual mix of fiction and memoir, with some other non-fiction here and there, but tried to expand to include more new-to-me authors.
I enjoyed most of the books I read, and gave up on a few I didn’t. No more slogging through!
I reviewed very few books because I hate the idea of hurting an author’s feelings. (And to think, I wanted to be a music critic when I was growing up!)
I read this book in less than 24 hours within a week of its release. I love both oral history-style writing and rock biographies so a story of a 70s rock band and their magnetic singer felt like a book that was written just for me. Looking forward to the screen adaptation that is in progress. The Show Your Work podcast had a great two-part interview with Taylor Jenkins Reid, which definitely worth listening to now if you missed it back in May (Part 1, Part 2).
This was a long memoir, but I really enjoyed how Michelle Obama told her story. We would all do well to have someone like her in our lives: smart, funny, and insightful.
This book drew me in quickly and told the stories of a couple who immigrated into the U.S. from Cameroon, and of the wealthy family they worked for in New York City. Taking place just before and during the 2008 recession, it humanized a lot of issues that have been in the news ever since.
I added this to my to-read list after I heard Judith Krantz had died. I discovered I wasn’t the only one who did that - there were a lot of holds for it at the library. The book itself was a fun read, if a bit dated.
I kept putting this book off, even though the premise appealed to me. Once I finally started to read it, I wondered why I had waited. I read it quickly and really enjoyed it.
This was a super dishy read that I borrowed from the library on a whim. The author seemed to know many of the subjects well, or at least well enough to get them to talk. I’m surprised so many of the women went on record.
--- title: "What I Read in 2018 Part 2: The Details" date: 2019-01-01 categories: [2018, book, books, books, novels, read, reading, reading challenge] ---
As noted in Part 1, I read 63 books in 2018. I missed my goal of 70, but that was a pretty ambitious goal. 63 books over 52 weeks is still a lot. (An aside, here is a fun article about Canadians and their reading habits that I found when I was trying to figure out how many books the average Canadian reads in a year.)
As for the books themselves, I read mostly fiction (a mix of contemporary, romance, thrillers and beach reads) with some memoirs sprinkled in. I abandoned more books that I used to, but I don’t like to track that because it feels mean. I have come back to books I’ve abandoned in the past and enjoyed them which reminds me that frame of mind when reading a book is important.
I didn’t rate or review many of the books I read. I’m not sure if that’s because I don’t want a less-than five-star review to hurt an author’s feelings, or if I was just lazy about it. I’m not sure if I will take specific action on this during this year’s challenge. No sense in overthinking it.
I will share my favourite reads here though. Here is a list of the books I really enjoyed in 2018, in reverse order from what I read them in. I’d love to know what your favourite reads in 2018 were.
--- title: “What I Read in 2018 Part 1: The List” date: 2019-01-01 categories: [2018, book, books, books, goodreads, novels, read, reading, reading challenge] ---
I’ve done the Goodreads Reading Challenge every year since 2013, and 2018 was only the second time I didn’t meet my goal. 2018’s goal was an ambitious one: 70 books read over a one-year span. I ended up finishing 63 books in 2018.
Here’s what I read in 2018. I’m having trouble with the Goodreads widgets this year so I’m going to split my annual what-I-read post into two parts this year. This post for the actual list of books, and a second post for the details.
--- title: “What I read in 2017” date: 2018-01-01 categories: [book, books, books, goodreads, list, novels, read, reading] ---
It’s time for my annual what-I-read-last-year post! My Goodreads profile tells me I read 79 books in 2017 - the most books I’ve read in a year since I started tracking! The link leads to some stats about the books I read - you may need to be a Goodreads user to see it, despite me changing my settings to make my profile public.
I know a lot of people don’t like ebooks, but I read nearly all of those books on my Kobo. I know I wouldn’t read nearly as much if I didn’t have easy access to library books via the Toronto Public Library’s Overdrive page and new this year, the new Libby app. (And this is not a sponsored post; I just really like this stuff.)
I tried to leave more ratings for the books I read this year. I’m a generous rater and I don’t like leaving ratings on memoirs – it feels like I’m rating someone’s life – so I didn’t rate everything I read. I left reviews sporadically. I always feel like my reviews are too light/simple when I see some of the longer/more-thought-out ones so any reviews I did leave are pretty superficial, which is fine.
There were a few books I slogged through this year, but if I really didn’t like a book, I abandoned it and didn’t add it to Goodreads. That way, I didn’t screw up my tracking. I liked most of the books I read, but here’s a list of the books that I really enjoyed, in the order that I read them throughout the year:
--- title: "Thoughts at the end of 2017, in no particular order" date: 2017-12-28 categories: [life, thinking] ---
There’s just so much to be thankful for right now. 2017 was a mess for so many, many reasons, but on a micro/personal level, it was pretty good.
‘Run‘ by the Foo Fighters was the song of the summer.
‘Go to War‘ by Nothing More was the song of the fall.
I read way more books than I challenged myself to read - that post will come in a few days.
I’m pretty sure the only concert I saw this year was the Metallica Worldwired show in July - Sean saw more stuff but had to go with other people (or by himself) due to childcare issues
I hired a house cleaning service to come to my house once a month and it makes such a difference to my home and my feelings about it. It feels awkward to admit this out loud, but feeling awkward about it is also a bit shame-inducing. Time to just own it and say it out loud.
I’m working at home more which saves me money on commuting and lunch costs (I’ve never mastered bringing my lunch to work - too many restaurants near the office). I’m more productive and I still get dressed every day.
My loved ones and I are reasonably healthy and content.
Life is mostly small, and that’s okay.
I’m trying to write more by journaling. I’d like that to lead to other things, but I’m not working as hard at it as I should if I really want it.
I’m restless and itchy to create stuff, but still lost in the ‘no one cares what you have to say’ thought pattern. Which leads to not creating, which adds to the restlessness. It’s a bad hamster wheel to be on. Writing this less-than-interesting post is a baby step.
It was a quick doodle, done while waiting our turn at an appointment. Something to occupy her that didn’t involve a screen. She didn’t want me to look at it initially. She had drawn it in the middle of my notebook so I’d be surprised when I found it.
I couldn’t resist peeking and I looked for it later that evening when she was hanging out with Sean and I was doing post-dinner cleanup.
The love - and joy - pouring out of this little doodle brightened up my day in ways she can’t understand yet.
Her mouth is a heart!
I went up, told her I’d peeked and thanked her for her drawing. I tried not to let her see me tear up.
Life has been small lately: work, parent, eat, sleep, repeat. It’s still cool and rainy with just enough occasional bursts of sun to keep everyone from losing all hope. I’ve been working too much and feel like I haven’t been doing any more than the bare minimum for my family.
I often feel like I’m failing everyone, and everything, in my life.
Yet my daughter still loves me. So does Sean. They love me anyway.
And I love them.
And it’s reminders like this that get me through the hard stuff.
And that makes me think, maybe I’m not screwing everything up.
Tonight, Flora showed me some of the stuff she’s been listening to/watching on YouTube with her friends. A lot of the content still seems remarkably adult, despite being creepily sanitized for young ears via Kids Bop, the Mini Pops and children’s YouTube channels.
Tonight’s example, the Haschak Sisters covering Kanye West’s ‘classic 2005 hit’, ‘Gold Digger’:
(Aside: ZOMG, didn’t 2005 just happen?! How is a song written then a ‘classic hit’ now? Oh… math. And the passage of time.)
Part of me is uncomfortable with young girls singing a song and making an accompanying video about some nasty female stereotypes. Another part of me is really impressed at the production values these ‘amateur’ videos have.
I guess this is no worse than when my parents gave me a copy of the ‘Rock ‘87‘ compilation tape for my sister and I to listen to. I remember my father playing it and singing along to the Paul Lekakis hit, ‘Boom Boom (Let´s Go Back To My Room)’ VERY LOUDLY. I’m still cringing in embarrassment about that, and my dad’s been dead for nearly 26 years. I can’t even remember the last time I heard that song. However, in the name of research, that streak has now been broken. You’re welcome.
(Another aside: this song didn’t even have a music video way back when but a video was made for YouTube nearly a decade ago. Paul Lekakis still seems to be performing live here and there so good for him.)
After I watched the videos she showed me, I asked her when she was going to enter her metal years because that stuff doesn’t scare me. I was laughing when I said it but it reminded me to keep working on her media literacy skills and checking in on what she’s actually watching online because it’s not just Baby Alive videos.
That said, if pop music is her biggest rebellion, we’ll be doing okay.
It’ll happen to you… (it happened to me) (This is one of my favourite Simpsons episodes. Pretty sure I’ve quoted this before on the site.)
--- title: "What I read in 2016" date: 2017-01-01 categories: [2016, book, books, books, goodreads, reading, what I read] ---
I love Goodreads. It is such a useful site/app to track both what I’ve read and to find new books to read. The yearly Reading Challenge really does keep me motivated to read more. This year I surpassed my goal of 50 books by 38% - that’s an extra 19 books! I owe those extra books to some travel we did and my commute to work (extra reading time is one of the few advantages of my car/train/subway commute into the office). I’ll also acknowledge sunny days on my back deck, my favourite spot on the couch and reading in bed while Sean watches sports as other good times for reading.
As you can see from the below list, I read my usual mix of contemporary fiction, biographies/memoirs, “delightfully trashy” romance and a smidge of non-fiction. My fascination with Nantucket summers and ‘summer cottage fiction’ has continued, along with biographies of aging rockers.
What can I say, I am a multi-faceted woman.
I enjoyed all the books on this list - some more than others of course. There were a few I didn’t finish that did not make this list. I’m relieved that I’ve finally allowed myself not to finish books I’m not enjoying.
The books I’d really recommend that you read if you haven’t already are:
People either seem to love this book or hate it. The subject matter is intense, but I read it almost non-stop in one evening so it definitely kept me interested.
Oh hey! It’s the first post to this site in nearly a year!
I started to write about why I don’t keep this site updated (OMG, yawn!) but then realized I was writing an even-whinier version of this post from 2015. So not only boring, but repetitively boring. So enough of that.
Just before my birthday this year, I told myself that I was going to make more of an effort to write. Online, offline, whatever. Just needed to write more. I have so much I want to say and I need to get it out. But first I need to get it untangled. Or I need to emotionally un-constipate myself. Or something. My birthday was at the end of August and it’s taken me nearly six weeks to get to a place where I feel like I can express myself. So here I am.
In mid-September, I signed myself up for some daily writing prompts. Just random topics for free-writing for a minimum of ten minutes a day. To build a writing practice. To loosen up. To play. And I’ve used exactly one of those prompts. They’re interesting prompts, so that’s not the problem. I just put them aside and think ‘when I have the time, I will write’. Then I never make the time. These prompts recommend longhand writing in a journal and I hate it. I found a nice journal and carried it in my work backpack to sneak in some time during my day: whether on my commute or during the work day itself (during lunch of course). And that has been a huge fail. I don’t feel right taking that time while I’m at work, and I can’t get physically comfortable enough during my commute. Then there’s the longhand writing itself. I write fast and hard, and it either becomes tiresome on my hand or completely illegible. Often both at the same time. I know the point of these free-writing exercises isn’t to read or even remember the writing, but just to write. The one day I did do it (at the end of my lunch break at work, I wrote like I was on fire, and things devolved so quickly into worse-than-chickenscratch that I felt ashamed. Then the cycle of Not Writing began again.
So longhand evangelists: why is completing writing exercises in longhand so beneficial? Does it really help a writer’s growth? Is there any hope for me if I’m so terrible at it?
--- title: "What I read in 2015" date: 2016-01-01 categories: [books, books, goodreads, what I read in 2015] ---
Around August, I didn’t think I would complete this year’s Goodreads Reading Challenge. Sean gave me a new Kobo for my birthday (the waterproof one!) and I started reading again and in the last quarter of the year, surpassed my goal of 50 books.
Here’s the list. What did you read? Do you have any recommendations?
