2023 Yearly Round-Up: ABC Challenge

Happy New Year everyone! One of my goals for 2024 is to get back into my creative endeavors. Instead of starting yet another hobby that I will drop in a few months, I want to try picking one back up. My first step is to do a wrap-up of my reading challenges that I set for myself last year. This will be a multi-post thing because otherwise it would be way too long to cover in one post. Silly me, I was working on multiple challenges at once.

My first challenge was the one I do every year through Goodreads. I set my yearly goal for 15 books. I know this seems quite low compared to most people you see on BookTok, but for me this seemed like quite a large goal. Once I hit high school, I all but stopped reading for pleasure. All I did was overwhelm myself studying and doing extra-curriculars; and this toxic behavior continued into college where I completed the burnout I had been working toward for years. 2021 was actually the first year I hit my reading goal in I don't know how long. So, 15 was a good start. However, I more than doubled that goal this year with 36 books! I am so proud of myself.

On top of this Goodreads goal, I also challenged myself to read 26 books that each start with a different letter of the alphabet. While I did not complete this one, I am proud with how close I got. I'm not going to give a full post to each of these, but I will give you a quick blurb. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on any of these, let me know in the comments.

A	B	C	D
E	F	G	H
I	J	K	L
M	N	O	P
Q	R	S	T
U	V	W	X
Y	Z

A: Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - three stars

I love Greek myths, and this is a great retelling. However, it is a little slow at times. If I were to choose a retelling of a myth with a female protagonist, I would go with Circe by Madeline Miller.

B: Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski - three stars

Another installment of the Witcher series. It was good and I enjoyed the new characters, but, again, it felt slow. A lot of travel through the woods and it didn't feel like too much got accomplished.

E: Everless by Sara Holland - five stars

Excellent read! The world the author has built was fascinating and the plot kept me enthralled the whole time. I am very excited to read the next one in the series.

F: For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams by Kei Sanbe - four stars

A murder mystery manga (Japanese graphic novel, if you aren't familiar with the term). I have read the first 9 issues of this and I am so intrigued. Lots of twists and turns, some you see coming, some you don't. They are quick reads that are excellent for mystery fans.

G: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee - three stars

This was a decent read. A YA story about growing up and finding yourself. Unfortunately, the plot was a bit dull, so I don't plan to continue the series.

I: I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy - five stars

Wow! So well written. Jeannette's heart-wrenching journey through life and stardom couldn't be put down!

K: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - five stars

Now, I haven't seen the movie, so I can't compare it. But this is an important piece of history that you don't get in school. The countless injustices done to Native Americans is disgusting. I am glad this is coming to light. However, I might recommend you try the abridged version for teens. The original print if full of a lot of irrelevant information. I didn't need the biographies of the white men working on this case.

L: Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See - three stars

This was a cute story. I related to this story a lot because I also identify as Ace and some of the things Joy thinks and experiences are very familiar. This book has wonderful representation (both in terms of sexuality and of ability). The writing felt quite juvenile and it was sometimes hard to power through, but I am glad I did.

M: Manacled by SenLinYu - ten stars (out of five, mind you)

By far the best thing I read all year, maybe in all my life! This Dramione fanfic from AO3 broke my heart, mended it back together, then smashed it into a million pieces. It is a gut-wrenching love story that I would read a thousand times over. And it is so, impressively well-written!

O: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter by Kazuki Irodori - three stars

This is a cute, queer story. It is a slow-burn and the characters are cute. However, the plot outside the romance feels a bit flimsy, and not super interesting (a lot of the main character doing his accounting work).

P: The Perfect Father by John Glatt - four stars

A good read for fans of true crime. You get a lot of back story and the chain of events are well established. It is wild because the family had such an online presence and the author uses those receipts to juxtapose the family's online presentation against the darkness brewing behind the cameras.

Q: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian - four stars

Strongly written, queer characters. I enjoyed that this was a queer romance whose focal plot points weren't about someone being in the closet. Also, they purposely avoided one of my least favorite tropes: misunderstandings. At one point, there was a misunderstanding that most stories would use to break up the characters; instead, Sebastian actually has their characters talk to one another and clear it up almost immediately! Plus, while I wouldn't fully call this an enemies to lovers, it is along those lines, which I love.

R: Reclaiming Two Spirits by Gregory D Smithers - five stars

An incredibly well-researched history of gender roles and gender fluidity in Native American cultures. I learned so much from this! Now, the writing is more academic, so it took me a bit to get in the right mindset, but once I did, it was a great read. Not a part of queer history you hear very often.

S: Supporting Trans People in Libraries by Stephen G Krueger - five stars

Absolutely fantastic read! This book is an important resource for librarians on how to make their practices and their libraries more gender inclusive. I learned so much, and even did a presentation at my work (library) inspired by Krueger's book.

T: They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe - five stars

This is a queer, modern gothic ghost story about mother/daughter relationships. This was one of my favorite books of the year! One thing I loved most was that the main character is lesbian, but the story isn't based on her being a lesbian. So often, I feel like authors are so hell-bent on having queer characters that they have to have a big coming out or a romance to make sure readers know they are definitely gay. Not this book. This is a gay character dealing with family issues (not related to her queerness) and supernatural curses. Just like straight characters, gay characters need to exist outside romance and coming-out stories.

W: Welcome to St. Hell by Lewis Hancox - five stars

This is a funny story of the author's transition. It is written as a letter from the present day author to their pre-transition teenage self. This had me laughing and crying.

Y: You Can't Be Serious by Kal Penn - five stars

I decided to read Kal's memoir about making it as a person of color in Hollywood after hearing him speak at the Public Library Association's 2022 conference. The book is just as funny as you would expect from Kal Penn. I loved seeing his journey through Hollywood and the White House. There are some hard truths in there about the industry, but it is something that needs to be talked about more.

I am curious to see what books from my list you might have read and how you feel about them as well. I am also going to redo this ABC challenge in 2024. This time, I am going to get through the letters I missed in 2023 first. Let's see if I can get all 26 this time around!

Thank you for reading and I hope to be posting more throughout the year, so stay tuned!

~ Hella Va'Night