Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: Fresh Starts

I would love this post to be all about my 2016 stats--the number of books read, the breakdown by genre, the division of male and female authors, the total hours of audiobooks listened to--but, alas, I was a horrible data collector during the last half of the year.

My 2016 review index is not up to date (but I'll correct that soon), and I didn't even feel motivated to compile my favorite books of the year. Well that was last year, and this year is full of bookish hopes. I'm turning my back on the what I didn't do, and I'm looking forward what I can do in 2017. Look for more reviews and more engagement.

Discoveries. Regardless of not having accurate records to back up my claims, I managed to surprise myself in 2016. For example, I've always said I don't like science fiction, unless, of course, it was fantasy set on space ships and other worlds (see the original Star Wars). Yet I read and loved several books last year that I think are technically science fiction, including Sleeping Giants, The Fifth Season, and the Illuminae series. Who knew?

I'm also relieved to discover that I can survive a mini/semi social media break. I didn't exactly disappear, but I stopped reading blogs, stopped feeling the need to post an Instagram photo every day, and stopped closely monitoring Twitter. Although I was still mostly online, that break revived me. I feel fresh and newly interested in resuming all my usual social media activities (just as soon as I hit "mark all posts read" in my blog reader).

Finally, I learned that organizing one's entire book collection across all media is really time-consuming, a little bit boring, and a big pain in the butt. That work continues, even though I missed my goal to be done by the end of the year. I just keep thinking about how good it will feel to be done with this project.

What I listened to lately. I listened to three books last week and enjoyed them all for different reasons.

I plan to write full reviews of these books, so I'll give you only the quick run-down here. Becoming Queen Victoria by Kate Williams is a dual biography of the two women who were in line to succeed King George III  (Charlotte and Victoria) and the circumstances that caused Victoria to be crowned. In H Is for Hawk, author Helen Macdonald talks about the loss of her father and her experience training a goshawk. It's hard to describe in one sentence, so wait for the review. Mincemeat by Leonardo Lucarelli is also a memoir, this time about a young man on an unconventional path to becoming a professional chef in Italy.

What's up for the week and year. I'm ready to get back into the blogging and reviewing groove and to make a full return to social media. So look for me here, on your blogs (not necessarily all on the same day!), on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Litsy. On the other hand, I know I'll step back when I need to, without the guilt or pressure. I plan to find a happy place (= in the book world) to get through the coming uncertain times. Let's hope for and work toward good things in 2017.