Or How Moira Got Her Bookish Groove Back
There’s no other way I can start this post, the reading groove is BACK and better than ever. I feel like a little kid again, going into the library to return a stack and taking home a tote full of new books. On top of that, 2023 was the year I discovered audiobooks, 2024 is the year I devoured audiobooks.
Goal Update
After last year’s major reading success reading 26 books, more than double my goal of 12, I set my sites reasonably high this year. I didn’t want to go hog wild, but I figured I could afford to stretch a little! I set my 2024 Reading Goal for 20 books. As of the end of July, I’ve completed my goal, hitting 21 books! A good chunk of these were audiobooks, but given that I spent the first half of this year working a fulltime job and a side hustle, I think finding time for that many is pretty dang good!
Recently Finished
If you want to see the full list of what I’ve finished so far this year, let’s be friends on Storygraph!
Last summer I started reading Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere books and around December of last year, I decided I wanted to try and finish them all within 12 months. As of June 5th, I finished the last of his books, nearly 3.9 million words read by Sanderson, which is an insane number. Most of these were audiobooks, but I’m looking to re-read Stormlight Archive book #4 in preparation for the fifth in the series coming out in December.
Outside of the Cosmere, it really has been the year of the dragon for me. Truly, 5 of the books I’ve finished (and one current read!) are fantasy novels with dragons in some way shape or form. One of my favorites was the Aurelian Cycle series from Rosaria Munda. I really did not like Fourth Wing, and like cheap wine, I hated it more as time went on. Members of the Bad Bitch Book Club recommended Fireborne, the first in the trilogy. I wasn’t hooked right away, but I was ravenous for the sequel after the first. Each book in the trilogy is better than the last, you can really see the improvements in Munda’s writing between each book, and the voice actor choices were incredible, actually giving me a new dynamic into the deeper allegory of the plot. Absolute 5 star series!
Currently Reading
Now that I’ve made it to the other side of the Cosmere, I’m making a conscious effort to vary my books and keep a few of different genres going at once.
Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov
As recommended by Storygraph from the “out of your comfort zone” section, I’ve been enjoying Grey Bees so far. The Ukrainian author tells the fictional story of Sergey Sergeyich, a beekeeper living in the Donbas “Grey Zone” during the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. I’m enjoying the book so far, and it fits the unique tone I feel most classic Russian lit has.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
The first time I sat down and cracked this book open, I expected to read a chapter or two. I got through a quarter
A friend gave me this for my birthday,
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman
I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, which is something I’d really like to change this year. Adult friendships, female friendships, and the continuation of old friendships is something that’s been on my mind a lot the past few years, so it’s a big topic of interest for me. I’m not far into it, and it’s a very casual feeling read, but I have a feeling I’ll take away a lot in the end without realizing it!
Stay tuned for more books in progress! I’m warming up my bookstagram again, add me on Storygraph, and follow me on TikTok!
