A year of actually reading books
books meta NaBloPoMo · 3 comments · 350 words · read ~205 times.
I set myself an unofficial New Year's Resolution0 - to read more books and write a review of each of them. I wanted to read about one new book per week.
Well, I fell a little short of that target - what with getting a new job, moving house, road-tripping across Australia - but I'm pretty pleased with the total.
It has been a bit tough getting into the swing of reading again. I get about an hour on the train each day, and an hour or so before I fall asleep. I do most of my reading in all-day chunks on holiday.
I deliberately alternate between fiction and non-fiction. I know this sounds weird, but I use a serif font for non-fiction and sans-serif for fiction. Helps my brain switch between books.
This year I've consciously tried a more diverse reading list. Half the books have been by female authors, and I've chosen more books by PoC and Queer writers. I've enjoyed reading stuff that normally wouldn't make my reading list - and I want to read more. It's boring just reading stuff you already know you'll either like or agree with.
Writing reviews is a weird experience. I'm mostly writing for my own memory - but even so, I try to avoid major plot points or spoilers. I don't think anyone is reading my reviews - but I enjoy jotting down my thoughts.
I've been using the excellent WordPress plugin Recencio Book Reviews which lets me add all sorts of metadata in Schema.org JSON-LD format. That means search engines can pick up and display the review information: 
Sadly, my trusty Nook e-Reader is nearing the end after 6 years of faithful service. The screen is scratched, the buttons stick, and it is getting a bit slow. Time for a new toy soon!
So - what should I read next? Suggestions in the comments box, please!
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My new year runs from my birthday. I shall not be bound by the tyranny of the Gregorian calendar! ↩︎
A year of only reading books by women
Every Book I Read This Year
I had fun producing Babbage’s autobiography and it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Victorian polymath: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/charles-babbage/passages-from-the-life-of-a-philosopher
Commonwealth saga by Peter F Hamilton (or you can start with a smaller prelude novel, Misspent Youth): heavy sci-fi that explores several concepts: rejuvenation, internet that connects brains, and many others. It shows how those technologies affect society and human relations.
The Kingdom of Infinite Space - very philosophical journey inside your head and how you mind works.
Finn Fancy Necromancy - light reading. Imagine Harry Potter written by a comedian that loved the 80ies.
sikander says:
Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Super fun reads.
https://www.marthawells.com/murderbot.htm