2023 Reading Challenge

Last year I set a rather modest reading challenge for myself: 13 books. The reasoning for this was my read list on good reads was sitting at 287, so I thought it would be nice to round out the number. Also in previous years, I hadn’t had the bandwidth to read that many books, so it seemed like a goold that would push a bit more than the previous 2 years.

I hit 13 books by mid Feburary last year, and ended up reading over 70 books. With that in mind, I’m going to set a higher numerical goal this year. I’m also going to set more focused challenges for myself so that I can get more out of my reading challeng. The following are my goals within my 2023 reading challenge.

Read at least 40 books

At the time of this writing, I’m sitting at 360 books read in Good Reads. Another 40 books would bring my total to 400. Given what happened in 2022, this shouldn’t be too hard of a goal. If I make sure to use my Hoopla credits via the public library every month, I would get to 48 books.

10 books that I already own

I have so many books in my personal library that I’ve never read. I want to read 10 books, of which 5 have to be physical. That way I can make decisions on books to keep on my shelves since my wife and I may need to buy another book case soon.

On the deck for this challenge:

The Departement of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore
Arguably by Christopher Hitchens

At least 3 Vonnegut books

Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors. Slaughterhouse Five may be my favorite book. That said, I’ve accumulated quite a few of his books that I still haven’t touched. I want to try and read at least 3 of them (these can count towards the previous challenge).

On the deck for this challenge:

The Sirens of Titan
Love, Kurt: The Vonnegut Love Letters
If This Isn’t, Nice What Is?

At Least 1 book by Joe Hill

I read at least 6 books by Joe Hill last year. I’m not as into his writing, but I am curious to see how substance abuse is reflected in his writing versus his father’s (Stephen King). Since I’m only counting success off of 1 book that book cannot qualify for other challenges.

On the deck fo this challenge:

20th Century Ghost Stories

A book of Poetry

I don’t read a lot of poetry. I want to try to read a book of poems to get some more variety in what I read.

On the deck for this challenge:

A collection of Robert Burns Poems

1 Book that I find very challenging

I want to read a book that I find challenging. I don’t care how long it takes me to finish it. Since I’ve been on a bit of a Tolkien kick, I think I’ll read the Silmarillion. I tried to read that book when I was 18 and couldn’t finish it. I think I’m better prepared for that deeper dive into Tolkien’s lore now.

Other books I considered:

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Ulysses by James Joyce (which I DNFed in 2022)

13 books by Women

In 2022, I read 12 books by Women. I thought I’d ratchet that number up a little in 2023.

On the deck for this challenge:

Fledgling by Octavia Butler
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Educated by Tara Westover
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin

1 Philosophy Book

My previous best year in terms of number of books read, I read most of Plato’s cannon. Along side that effort, I read other pholosophy books as well. I’d like to get back to reading philosophy.

Books that I’m considering for this:

In the Dust of this Planet by Eugene Thacker
Does Santa Exist? by Eric Kaplan
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl

1 book of short stories

I want to add some more variety to my reading. Also now that I’m blogging, and engaging with writing a bit more, I’d like to try my hand at some short fiction. I think it would help to read some short fiction as well.

Books that I’m considering for this:

Dubliners by James Joyce

1 Technical book

In 2022, the only book that I would describe as technical that I finished was a book on realist painting. I haven’t finished anything technical in my field in a while. I would like to read at least 1 book this year to hopefully start building some good habits again.

Books that I’m considering for this:

The Rust Programming Language
Rust By Example