so i read 52 books in a year. now what?

last year's faves, this year's hopes, & what comes next

Arbitrary reading goals are not new for me. In 2022, I aimed for 52 and instead read 35. In 2023, though, I did end up reading 52 — and I learned a lot, though not necessarily from the books themselves (more on that later).

Before getting into this recap, I loved this post from

Pandora Sykes

about how we make time for the things we want to do, not the things we want to want to do. A great quote from it that I’ve held close since the article was published: “So if you want to want to read, don’t force it. As long as you’re finding ways to nourish yourself, cut yourself some slack. Screw the books!”

Anyways. Looking back, the real reason I wanted to read 52 books in 2023 was to prove to myself that I could. Now that I know I can, I’m trying to figure out how to have an even better time with it. A few things I’ve learned:

1. Sometimes I’ll look at a thoughtful, robust, learning-filled to-be-read list I’ve previously made for myself and … decide I actually want to read a silly fiction book. I did pick up and put down kind of an egregious number of books throughout the year trying to find ones that fit whatever reading-mood I was in (shout out libraries for saving me so much money while doing this). All this said, I found myself in a few reading slumps throughout the year — no moral lessons to be taken from this, just a note to myself to add more pure-fun books to my TBR lists, too, because spoiler alert, sometimes Libby’s random algorithmic suggestion won’t actually suit my tastes super well.

2. I struggled a bit with long-term reading-retention in 2023, especially with the nonfiction I read. In past years, I’ve been more inclined to highlight pieces that I want to remember, to make notes with stickies, or write down things I learned after reading — but I ended up consuming way more audiobooks in 2023 and wasn’t as intentional about flagging things I wanted to remember. I want to slow down a bit this year and take time to capture what I love and learn from as many books I read/listen to as I can.

3. I love reading with or alongside other humans. My partner and I read the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan at roughly the same time, one of my dear friends and I book-clubbed Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, and I spent many blissful weekends reading in silence at my neighborhood coffee shop. More of this, yes! Might even join my local Silent Book Club chapter.

I read a ton of fiction in 2023 … an admittedly ridiculous number of them being cozy mysteries. Some highlights, starting with my most favorite (disappointingly, none of which were cozy mysteries):

All the Yellow Suns by Malavika Kannan

This book just hit me in the heart. I read it in one sitting. It’s going to stay with me for a long while, I think.

An Immense World by Ed Yong

I adore everything this man writes so much, it’s embarrassing.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Everyone’s talking about it — for good reason.

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

I’d never read a book quite like this — one of the most visceral and gut-wrenching books of my year.

Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan

This was a roller coaster of delightfully messy characters. I loved it.

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

I actually could not put this book down even though it’s SO long. I will say though, I was incredibly frustrated getting to the end and realizing that IT ISN’T A STANDALONE. You’ve been warned.

If all goes according to plan (which, who knows), 2024 will be the year I re-enter my nonfiction era! I’m trying to pick at least one nonfiction book per month, and I’m selecting them in advance so my silly book-indecisive brain has something to really latch onto in advance. The first few titles:

A Land with a People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism edited by Esther Farmer, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, and Sarah Sills

This collection of stories, poems, and photos has a foreword by Palestinian legal scholar and activist Noura Erakat (and was also the beginnings of a theater project that was performed around New York City).

The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison

I want to re-read as many Toni Morrison books as I can this year, so I figure this essay collection is a good place to start.

Tending the Wild by M. Kat Anderson

This came highly recommended by some wonderful folks I met through the Climate Stewards certification course I completed last fall.

A Natural History of Shells by Geerat J. Vermeij

I picked this up at Powell’s when I visited Portland last October. Shells!!

Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

I’m about halfway through this one, but put it down because there’s just so much in it to take in.

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

My mom heard about this book and sent me a copy. I’m stoked about it. Thanks, mom!

And finally, I wanted to revisit what I wrote in a previous issue of this newsletter when I first set the ridiculous 52-book reading goal (I think it still holds true almost two years later):

“The best part? The stakes are literally so low. If I ultimately just don’t even get close to finishing this challenge, it’s totally fine! Yes, I have my Goodreads goal set to 52; yes, it’s satisfying to watch the progress bar tick upward over time; yes, I fully do expect myself to flip-flop and impose random unnecessary stress on myself over this arbitrary number at some point during the year. But, worst case, I reassess, reset my goal, read eight Magic Tree House books just to up my count, whatever. It’s freeing and fantastic to set growth goals and work on giving myself room to adjust them as time reveals more about what my needs are at any given time. I’m still learning how to do that, but books feel like a pretty good place to practice.”

That said: Yes, I will be aiming for 52 again this year, BUT, the way I’m approaching that goal on the day-to-day is changing a lot. Lots more learning incoming, I’m sure.