It's a magical world

Happy New Year! I'm procrastinating on Festividding, as usual.
( The Questions )

Happy New Year! I have hopes that 2024 will be better overall.

2023 Reading Stats

• Books read: 113, of which 1 was a reread
• By gender: 35 (31%) by men, the rest by women and other genders
• By race: 36 (32%) by people of color
• By language: 16 (14%) in Japanese, 13 (12%) in translation
• New books: 46 (41%) published in 2023 or 2024
• New-to-me authors: 32

…versus 2023 Resolutions

• Read 125 books ==> Failed, but I came close
• Read 25 physical books owned since 2021 or earlier ==> Success! 34!
• Read 35 books by authors of color ==> Success!
• Read 10 books in translation ==> Success!
• Read a volume of manga a week in Japanese ==> Failed. 
• Read all the comics bought before 2023, both physical and digital ==> Failed. Ugh.

General Comments

My reading fell off a cliff for the last two months of the year because I was devoting almost all of my time to book revisions. Book revisions are still taking up a large chunk of my time but I have hope that I will be free to read more books soon. I'm pleased that I made a real dent in the physical TBR stack and I think I can continue to do so this year. Similarly, I need to get a handle on the comics situation. It doesn't help that Amazon finally killed the Comixology app and has now shuffled everything into Kindle. I still have more than 100 comics to read in it and I don't love that but there's nothing to be done.

Best of 2023

• Kate Elliott, Furious Heaven
• Margaret Owen, Little Thieves and Painted Devils
• Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent
• Cliff Chiang, Catwoman: Lonely City
• Kristin Cashore, Seasparrow
• Mark Oshiro, Into the Light
• Terry Bisson, Fire on the Mountain
• M.A. Carrick, Labyrinth's Heart
• Sarah Monette, A Theory of Haunting
• Sin Blaché and Helen Macdonald, Prophet
• Yamada Murasaki, Talk to My Back

2024 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 125 books
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2022 or earlier
3. Read 35 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read a volume of manga a week in Japanese
6. Read all the comics bought before 2024, both physical and digital

Happy New Year! I arrived in California yesterday during a brief dry spell and we are currently battening down the hatches for Wednesday (and next week after that).

2022 Reading Stats

• Books read: 143, of which 12 (8%) rereads
• By gender: 54.5 (38%) by men, the rest by women and other genders
• By race: 42.5 (30%) by authors of color, the rest by white authors
• By language: 3 in translation, plus 12 in Japanese
• New books: 37 (26%) published in 2022
• New-to-me authors: 29

…versus 2022 Resolutions

1. Read 125 books ==> Success!
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2018 or earlier ==> 16. Not great, not terrible.
3. Read 35 books by authors of color ==> Success!
4. Read 10 books in translation ==> Failed.
5. Read 15 books in Japanese ==> Failed. So close!
6. Read all the comics bought before 2022, both physical and digital ==> I made progress!

General Comments

This is the most books I've ever read in a year since I started my spreadsheet in 2009. Relatedly, I spent most of the year unemployed. I got back to using the library (yay!), stalled out on some planned reads/rereads (boo), and read a lot of comics. That's part of the reason my authors of color stat is so low, actually; my planned blitz through the rest of Ta-Nehisi Coates' Black Panther run did not come to fruition. This year!

Best of 2022

• Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
• The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
• Aspects by John M. Ford
• Spear by Nicola Griffith
• Servant Mage by Kate Elliott
• A Frog in the Fall by Linnea Sterte
• Unraveller by Frances Hardinge
• Ducks by Kate Beaton
• The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
• The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
• The Mighty Thor by Jason Aaron, art by Russell Dauterman (comics run)
• A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo
• What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

2023 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 125 books
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2021 or earlier
3. Read 35 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read a volume of manga a week in Japanese
6. Read all the comics bought before 2023, both physical and digital

Happy New Year! Like the tweet says, it is the circumstances' turn to improve.

2021 Reading Stats

• Books read: 110, of which 15 (14%) rereads
• By gender: 37 (34%) by men, the rest by women and other genders
• By race: 33 (30%) by authors of color, the rest by white authors
• By language: 1 in translation, plus 1 in Japanese
• New books: 49 (45%) published in 2021
• Books owned before 2018-ish: 3 (3%)
• New-to-me authors: 22

…versus 2020 Resolutions

1. Read 125 books ==> Failed, but did not decrease from last year.
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2018 or earlier ==> Failed. Gotta do better!
3. Read 30 books by authors of color ==> Success!
4. Read 10 books in translation ==> Failed
5. Read 15 books in Japanese ==> Failed. I need to read these stacks of manga, argh.
6. Read all the comics bought before 2021, both physical and digital ==> Progress is being made.

General Comments

You can tell the kind of year it was from the marked increase in the number of rereads--and I didn't even get to most of the ones I had planned. I stalled out on the Michelle West reread after Hunter's Oath, partly because I joined her Patreon and I've been reading the forthcoming novel Hunter's Redoubt almost as she writes it. I joined a few more author Patreons and Discords this year and it's been a good decision. I am making progress on the comics, truly, which is gratifying. I did reread Sabriel in advance of Terciel and Elinor, and I would like to go back to read the other four books at some point. I don't know, it was a year. I survived.

Best of 2021

• M.A. Carrick, The Mask of Mirrors
• Rebecca Roanhorse, Black Sun
• Leigh Bardugo, Rule of Wolves
• Kristin Cashore, Winterkeep
• Zen Cho, Black Water Sister
• Nghi Vo, The Chosen and the Beautiful
• Shelley Parker Chan, She Who Became the Sun
• N.K. Jemisin and J. Campbell, Far Sector
• Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, DIE (4 vols)
• Martha Wells, Fugitive Telemetry
• Malinda Lo, Last Night at the Telegraph Club

2022 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 125 books
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2018 or earlier
3. Read 35 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read 15 books in Japanese
6. Read all the comics bought before 2022, both physical and digital

Well, we're still here.

The Vids
February
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Star Trek: Discovery) - Festivids 2019
Thra (Let Me Go) (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) - Festivids 2019

April
Run Away With Me (Good Omens)

June
Grapevine Fires 2.0 (Star Trek)
Supercut (Dickinson)

July
I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance (Star Wars sequel trilogy)

November
City Bird (AmazingPhil) - Autumn Equinox 2020

( The Questions )

How to sum up this year except to say, the curse is upon us. Things were okay for me personally, though my ongoing despair about the state of the world also made it hard to make forward progress on my personal creative endeavors. I'm going to change that this year because I do want to publish my book. But it's damn hard, friends.

2019 Reading Stats

• Books read: 141, an all-time high, of which 7 (5%) rereads
• By gender: 50 (35%) by men, the rest by women or non-binary authors
• By race: 40 (28%) by authors of color, the rest by white authors
• In translation: 4 (3%) in translation, plus 7 (5%) in Japanese
• New books: 56 (40%) published in 2019 or 2020
• Books owned before 2016: 7
• New-to-me authors: 41

…versus 2018 resolutions

1. Read 110 books ==> Success! 141/110
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2016 or earlier ==> Fail, 7/25. Doing better than last year.
3. Read 25 books by authors of color ==> Success! 40/25
4. Read 10 books in translation ==> Fail, 4/10. Better than last year.
5. Read 15 books in Japanese ==> Fail, 7/15. Better than last year.
6. Read all the comics bought before 2019, both physical and digital ==> Fail, but making progress.

General Comments
I did manage to complete the Sirens reading challenge this year, which was gratifying. I've also gotten slightly better at sending books out the door once I'm finished with them, which is useful. Other than that, I would say that many of the 2019 books I read this year were really great. The SFF field definitely seems to be getting stronger and stronger.

I want to try to finish the Kate Elliott backlist bingo soon, this year if possible; I currently only have eight of her books left to read (six Crown of Stars, Black Wolves, and the triple author standalone). I'm also planning to do a reread of at least some of the Michelle West books--I don't have all of the House War with me, but I do have The Sacred Hunt and The Sun Sword. Plus finishing my His Dark Materials reread.

Best of 2019

• Michelle West, Firstborn and War
• Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House
• Dorothy Dunnett, The Lymond Chronicles
• Seanan McGuire, Middlegame
• Laurie Marks, Air Logic
• Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, This Is How You Lose the Time War
• Tim Maughan, Infinite Detail
• Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth
• Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire
• Jason Aaron et al, Mighty Thor
• Gillen and McKelvie, The Wicked and the Divine
• Charlie Jane Anders, The City in the Middle of the Night
• Gillen and Hans, Die vol. 1
• Ronan Farrow, Catch and Kill

2020 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 125 books
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2016 or earlier
3. Read 30 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read 15 books in Japanese
6. Read all the comics bought before 2020, both physical and digital

Finally, if you give me a number between 1 and 141, I can tell you about what book that was and what I thought of it.

This past year was a century, and I find it difficult to remember my own individual actions in it. There were some good things! There were many bad things! I went to the last VividCon and it was really great. I went to Japan, that was good too. We retook the House. May next year be better for all of us and for the planet.

2018 Reading Stats


…versus 2018 resolutions

1. Read 110 books ==> Failed. But I held steady at 107, which I am proud of.
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2016 or earlier. ==> Failed with 1/25.
3. Read 25 books by authors of color. ==> Achieved! 28/25
4. Read 10 books in translation. ==> Failed, 1/10
5. Read 15 books in Japanese ==> Failed, 1/15.
6. Read all the comics bought before 2018, both physical and digital ==> I am making progress on this, but still haven't finished.

General Comments
I think I did pretty well considering that I lost a solid month in September around the Supreme Court hearings. Relatedly, however, I had my poorest showing ever at the Sirens reading challenge; normally I finish it or come within a book or two if I don't succeed, but this year iirc I was more than halfway away at the deadline.

I joined the Sirens reading club and my local comic book shop's women's comics club, which together account for the preponderance of new books in my reading this year. I've tried to switch modalities to optimize reading, with more taking place on my phone than previously, though I still spend too much time on Twitter on BART when I could be reading. My bird is coming to live with me, however, so I am more determined than ever to get the stacks of comics off the floor and tackle the stacks of old books, as I need to prepare for the possibility of moving this summer.

I'm slowly savoring the last Lymond book (I skimmed it in the spring but couldn't bear to finish it formally, as I didn't want it to end), and after that I'm hoping to tackle Joan Aiken's Wolves Chronicles. Michelle West's current epic fantasy series is finishing this year with not one but two books, with the final arc of the story expected after that, so I'm trying to decide what order would be best for a reread of the entire series. Laurie Marks' Air Logic is finally seeing the light of day, which means I need to get off my butt and finish the Steerswoman books. I also want to read the rest of Martha Wells' backlist, and I am slowly closing in on my goal of reading all of Kate Elliott's books--just Black Wolves and the last six Crown of Stars novels left.

Best of 2018
A 10% selection rate is 10 books, give or take.

• JY Yang, The Tensorate novellas (2017- )
• Holly Black, The Cruel Prince (2018) and The Wicked King (2019)
• Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka, Runaways (2017 - )
• Philip Pullman, The Book of Dust vol. 1: La Belle Sauvage (2017)
• Lara Elena Donnelly, Amberlough (2017) and Armistice (2018)
• Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the End of Time (2018)
• Martha Wells, The Murderbot novellas (2017-18)
• Catherynne Valente, Space Opera (2018)
• Brendan Fletcher et al, Black Canary (2016-17) and Motor Crush (2017- )
• Yoon Ha Lee, Revenant Gun (2018)
  

2019 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 110 books
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2016 or earlier
3. Read 25 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read 15 books in Japanese
6. Read all the comics bought before 2019, both physical and digital

Well, at least it's over.

The Vids
February
Missionary Woman (X-Men movies - alternate timeline)

April
The Last of the Real Ones (Star Wars Rebels)

July
Congratulations (Star Wars)

August
Hard Times (The Good Fight)
The Greatest (Star Wars Rebels)

November
Warrior (A Wrinkle in Time) - Autumn Equinox 2018


The Questions
Favorite
Honestly I am really, really pleased with all three of my Star Wars vids. My two favorites are The Last of the Real Ones and Congratulations, depending on my mood.

Least Favorite
This feels disloyal, but I think Warrior is the one that still could use more work, which is the closest to "least favorite" that I'll get.

Most Successful
Probably The Last of the Real Ones? I got some very nice comments on it from the BP organizers and from people at VividCon, though The Greatest also went down pretty well at Club Vivid.

Most Underappreciated by the Universe
Probably Missionary Woman. It's (deliberately) about the wrong character and I sent it to Escapade knowing that it was mismatched to the crowd. But I'm okay with that.

Most Fun to Make
In some ways, Missionary Woman, because I did most of it in the Sky Club during a six-hour delay on a trip to Hawai'i, and finished it later that same trip. In others, Congratulations, because it really is my id and my deepest fannish feelings about Star Wars in vid form. In still others, The Last of the Real Ones, because the vid grew and changed as the last few episodes of the show developed.

Hardest Vid to Make
In some ways, The Good Fight, because it's a very talky show, my rips didn't match, yadda blah… In others, Warrior was a struggle in ways that I think show. I still think the song choice was right, but I think the seams of the idea are a bit obvious, and I would have liked another week to keep tweaking things.

The Things I Learned This Year
Famous vidders are so nice! I had a truly wonderful time at VividCon and I'm so glad I went for the first and last time. Also, I really like Star Wars.

Planning for Next Year
I was able to meet my goal of six vids for this year, and I think six seems like a reasonable goal for next year too. I also continued my con submission strategy as per my goal, with five out of six vids being made for cons, and I definitely want to continue that in 2019, particularly with FanWorksCon and WisCon. I also want to get back on the VidUKon bandwagon, and I still have hopes of finishing a vid for the Vid Big Bang. My other goal is to try to consciously integrate some of the things and techniques, particularly on the FX side, that I learned at VividCon into my actual vidding practice. I also want to make a Steven Universe vid once I catch up to the current episodes.

Farewell and fuck you to this cursed year. You wouldn't know it from my vidding output, though.

The Vids
February
Heroes (Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries) - Festivids 2016
state of war (Haywire) - Festivids 2016

March
We Are Who We Are (Star Trek Beyond) - Equinox Spring 2017

May
1985 (Tomorrowland)

June
Halfway Away (Yuri!!! on Ice)

August
Fall of the Jedi (The Clone Wars)

October
Heartlines (The Chronicles of Narnia) - Autumn Equinox 2017
Get Behind Me, Hogfather! (Hogfather) - Autumn Equinox 2017


The Questions
Favorite
I liked all of the vids I made this year, but ultimately this is a tie between Fall of the Jedi and Heartlines. Both of them did basically exactly what I wanted to do, which is always nice. I also really love Halfway Away, but I want to remaster it with Blu-ray footage, and it isn't quite as close to what I initially envisioned.

Least Favorite
The Hogfather one, maybe, though I quite like it. It had been so long since I seen the movie I forgot how little action shots it has, and how dark the whole thing is.

Most Successful
Probably the Star Trek and Narnia vids, though there isn't a clear standout this year.

Most Underappreciated by the Universe
The Yuri!!! on Ice one. Probably I need to change the summary; my sense of humor doesn't always work well on the internet, QED.

Most Fun to Make
The Clone Wars vid, probably. I used a spreadsheet and the concept was so restrictive that it was pretty easy to lay down clips. I do love spreadsheets.

Hardest Vid to Make
Probably the Hogfather one…nothing like discovering that your ancient rips are missing a third of each half of the movie, then trying and failing to rip the actual DVD because of copy protection, failing to find any download links, finally ripping the movie off YouTube, then realizing the old and new clips aren't the same size but deciding not to care.

The Things I Learned This Year
My clipping style works for me and I embrace it, even if my habit of naming the clips after bad jokes does make it hard to keep them organized at times. Also, spreadsheets are the best.

Planning for Next Year
Eight vids in one year is a lot, and I'm not sure I will be able to sustain at this level; six seems more reasonable. I am pleased with the results of trying to make vids for con submission and plan to continue it. But I want to submit several vids to the last year of Vividcon, as well as hopefully attend myself. And maybe in 2018 or 2019 I will finally attend VidUKon.

What a year. My 2016 was okay personally, but a disaster for humanity and the planet. I would, for the record, make that trade if I could.

Trying a new format this year! 


2016 reading stats

…versus 2016 resolutions

1. Read 100 books
    Well, I read 99, which I'm proud of. This is the third-most I've read in the seven years I've been tracking, and I was only two books off my second-best count of 101 in 2010.

2. Read 50 physical books owned since 2014 or earlier
    Nine isn't a terrible start. Every little bit helps, right?

3. Read 25 books by authors of color.
    Welp, 22 instead of 25.

4. Read 10 books in translation.
   Three, which is a start.

5. Purchase no more than 52 books.
   I honestly have no idea about this because I didn't track it. I suspect I may be pushing pretty close to this if we count all the manga I bought in Japan last month.


General comments
A full 22% of my reading was consumed by two series in 2016, the Wimsey novels and the Young Wizards books (including the two short stories collected in Uptown Local; I've not yet read Interim Errantry 2.0). These books were great, which is good because I also read a lot of bad books this year: books I expected to love that I didn't (Wicked City by Alaya Dawn Johnson), books that everyone else loved which I came to hate as people continued to praise them (Updraft by Fran Wilde), and a lot of frankly mediocre books that I would have put down if I weren't reading them for the Sirens challenge (Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King), some of which I hated so much I wound up skimming and so I didn't count in the spreadsheet (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern).

I also haven't decided how/whether to count fanfic; I read several fics over 70K this year, which is a novel by any count. (Hint: these were all bedlamsbard's amazing Star Wars fics.) Counting those, I'd be at 101 for the year.


Best of 2016
A 10% selection rate is 9 books, so without further ado…

• Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter Wimsey novels (all, especially Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, and Gaudy Night) (1922-37)
• Erin Bow, The Scorpion Rules and The Swan Riders (2015-16)
• N. K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season (2016)
• C. S. Pacat, Captive Prince trilogy (2013-16)
• Yoon Ha Lee, Ninefox Gambit (2016)
• Sofia Samatar, The Winged Histories (2016)
• Noelle Stevenson et al, Lumberjanes vols. 1 & 2 (2015- )
• Diane Duane, The Young Wizards New Millennium Editions (all, especially Deep Wizardry and Wizard's Holiday) (1983- )

Yes, I'm cheating here, and I acknowledge this. But the books that I've listed together are, I think, better taken together than apart. AMA.


2017 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 105 books ==> a solid second-best ever
2. Read 25 physical books owned since 2016 or earlier
3. Read 25 books by authors of color
4. Read 10 books in translation
5. Read 15 books in Japanese ==> I have so much unread manga
6. Purchase no more than 52 books.
7. Read all the comics I've bought from Comixology and ECCC, the latter before ECCC 2017