Reading 82 Books in 2023 — with some commentary

My Annual Reading Challenge Summed Up

A few of the books I read this year

I’ve written before about how I enjoy Reading Challenges and the biggest one I do every year is my annual reading challenge, which I’ve tracked on Goodreads every year since 2012.

In 2023 my goal was 80 books, which was up from my 2022 goal of 70 (but below the 105 I actually read in 2022). I finished with 82 books 102.5% of my goal. I’ve listed these books below.

Disclaimer

Before we get started, I’ve been told that I rate books too harshly, but I try to follow Goodreads’ guidelines:

1 star: did not like it
2 stars: it was ok
3 stars: liked it
4 stars: really liked it
5 stars: it was amazing

I typically try for 3.0 average — I was a little low this year at a 2.8. I felt like I hit a slump of books that I felt pretty “meh” about, and my ratings reflected that.

Fiction

1. Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata — 2 stars
2. All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie — 3 stars
3. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie — 3 stars
4. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones — 3 stars
5. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree — 3 stars — it wasn’t…