LIFE'S A PEARL

I hope the new year is off to a great start for everyone!

Today I’m recaping my 2022 reading year, sharing a few standout favorite books, and diving into ideas for what and how I’ll track my reading life in 2023.

My 2022 Reading Year

I read 133 books in 2022. My only reading goal for 2022 was a total numbers reading goal of 100 books.

I didn’t want to put any pressure on my reading life with a new baby and my tendency to get too rigid in my personal goals. In 2022 I really didn’t track any statistics either.

Of those 133 books, I had 31 5-star reads! Which feels really good!

I always feel I’m too stingy with my stars so that seems like a high number and percentage (23%). Which is fantastic. I want to read books I love of course!

My hope is I’m getting better at recognizing my reading tastes. I still want to balance that with taking chances on new reading experiences though.

I know I had a ton of 4 star and 4.5 star reads as well.

Next year I’m planning to track my ratings better. There are also some 4.5 star books that could be changed to 5 star by the end of the year if I’m still thinking about them.

A Reel of my 5-star Books:

Some Standout Favorites:

Favorite New to Me Authors:

I will be excited to see what my favorite debut authors come out with next. Of the above three, I know at least Carley Fortune has her second book releasing in 2023!

I also discovered a few new to me authors to add to my favorite authors list. These include:

• Ashley Winstead
• Lisa Jewell
• Julie Clark
• Angie Thomas

New Seasonal TBRs:

I have always leaned into whatever season of the year I’m in in my reading life as well.

This year I started officially creating seasonal tbr lists in time for fall reading. This is something I plan to keep doing. I’m currently reading through my winter tbr.

My hopes are that autumn will be the largest one. Last year’s was 34 books of which I believe I read 21.

Summer reading will be big but hopefully manageable. I love setting a holiday reading list for December. Last year I read 5 of my 6 selections!

I’m planning to keep winter and spring around 10 books for some seasonal fun but plenty of room to catch up on other reads and allow for some serendipitous book finds.

New Experiences:

I started a bookstagram in September. I’m @seasonalmoodreader. This was a great debate for myself since I’m not a big fan of social media. I have a whole post about my intentions with this to try to keep it a positive thing for my reading life.

At the moment I’m a bit divided on it. There are a few people that I have really enjoyed connecting with and I like being creative again with my review photos. I also find it very overwhelming though and difficult to connect with other readers on a deeper level about books.

For now I’m moving forward with it still but trying to put limits on the time I spend on there and focus on connecting with other readers through thoughtful comments and messages.

The most amazing new experiences in my reading life are buddy reads!

I began using the fable app in November and fell in love with the ability to share an online reading experience with friends.

This has come the closest to giving me the feeling of community among book lovers that I’ve been searching for! I also love the way I read slower and deeper when I’m discussing a book with friends.

In 2023, I would like to do at least 12 buddy reads – one for each month of the year.

I also started two public monthly book clubs hoping to connect with more fable readers whom I don’t know.

One is a nonfiction – Life’s Pearls of Wisdom – for anyone who wants to learn, reflect, and grow together through nonfiction reading.

The January book is Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley, an unfortunately timely but helpful book for me and my family right now.

The other is much lighter – A Dose of Romance – for any fellow romance lovers! January’s book is The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, a book that comes highly recommend by two trusted friends!

My Plans for 2023

I recently shared a post about my reading life bucket list for 2023 so be sure to check that out!

It combines reading goals with new reading experiences, adventures, and ways of building community. It also has a list of 43 ideas to add to your own reading life bucket list.

Two of the new experiences I’ll be trying involve tracking my reading.

I’m a patron of Currently Reading so I have access to an amazing tool I’ve never used before – The Currently Reading Bookish Friends Spreadsheet.

After watching a tutorial on all the features it can do, I’m convinced I need to try it. It’s also easily customizable if you want to keep it simple and hide features that overwhelm you.

I’m excited to use this as easy way to get statistics on my reading formats, my most read genres, diverse authors, ratings, and even track reading challenges. All things that I used to track and add up in notebooks.

Speaking of notebooks, I am planning to use my own personal reading response journal. I heard this idea on the Get Lit(erate) podcast and loved it.

Mine is set up to explore what kind of reader I am, my why as a reader, keeping lists like my 5 star-reads and favorite authors, and having a response section for personal notes and story tags.

I will still share reviews here on the blog, on my bookstagram, and over on goodreads.

Some other reading goals for 2023 include reading a new series, trying a month long slow and steady read, reading 12 authors I’ve loved in the past, and picking up books from a list of genres, formats, and age groups that I don’t usually read.

If you’re interested there’s more on this over on my 2023 reading life bucket list.

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What were your favorite books from 2022? Do you have any reading goals for 2023?