Adria Bailton, Author
  • Home
  • About
  • Musings
  • Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Home
  • About
  • Musings
  • Contact
  • Newsletter

Musings from a Mountain

Reading Reflection 2022

1/6/2023

0 Comments

 
Picture: A goodreads banner with an orange 2022 Reading Challenge and open book with the word

2022 Reading Reflection

You can see by my Goodreads banner that I did manage to make my 2022 reading goal - 18 of 15 books! If you read my 2022 update about 2021, you'll know that this is actually quite an improvement over last year. 
I had an amazing reading year in 2019 with 105 books. I also wrote 350k words in the last 4 months of the year. And bought a house and moved. I'm not sure how I did all of that in 2019. But 2020 came along and well, 2020. I didn't have a huge issue reading or writing during most of 2020. But many of the books I was reading in 2020 came from a reading group for discussion - all chosen by the reading group leader. And when books are chosen for you because you want to participate in a discussion, well, sometimes your reading speed drops off. 
Everything caught up to me in 2021 and I read only 8 books. I read a bunch of work that was unpublished, and if I'd managed to track that then my reading would have been much higher.  But the slowdown was, in fact, everything becoming more like wading through molasses rather than letting up.
Unfortunately, that slowdown continued well into 2022. Of the 18 books I read, 15 were completed in the last 4 months of this year.
Graph showing number of books and pages read in 2022

Last Quarter of 2022

I went from a goal of posting about my favorite monthly read to quarterly read to silence. I'm back at giving quarterly faves and suggestions. I sort of did an entire year update back in September after reading 4 whole books in a few weeks!
Graph listing genre and number of books I read in each one.
I read many genres, but SFF is my home genre, as seen by my top read genres this year. It makes sense that my long drought for reading was broken by reading books in my favored genre. I also read several novellas or shorter books, which helped.

I also listened to a large portion of books I read this year. I'm finding the time to read on my commute, which has always been a good reading time for me, and I can listen at work and while I do household chores.
Pie Graph showing the percentage of books I read over 500 pages - 11%, 300-499 pages - 56%, and less than 300 pages- 33%.

Favorite Reads of 2022

All my favorite reads I read in the last quarter of 2022. Here they are.
Gideon the Ninth cover
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is a science fiction-fantasy novel about necromancers in space. I listened to the audiobook, read by Moira Quirk. She narrates excellently. Definitely part of the fun.

I'll be honest, it took until the sunglasses for me to get into it. But I appreciated so much in the craft of this story (and in Harrow the Ninth) along with the humor. The worldbuilding is fantastic.

Gideon is right up there with Joscelin Verreuil as a bodyguard. (I read Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey back in April 2004, and Joscelin has been a favorite character of mine since.)

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is a horror novel about mermaids. My favorite horror books are Grant's Newsflesh series. You might be picking up on a trend here.
Into the Drowning Deep cover

Iron Widow cover
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, narrated by Rong Fu is a YA science fiction-fantasy novel weaving Chinese history into a world with mechas. 

There is so much to love about this book! The characters are well-done, the pacing is fast, there are several twists, the craft is spot on! 

I thought this would be my top read of 2022. I loved it so much and I cannot wait until Heavenly Tyrant comes out.
In fact, I can't wait so much that I listen fairly often to Xiran Jay Zhao's playlist.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo read by the author is a YA novel-in-verse about a Dominican-American high school girl navigating first love and family.

There is a power and vulnerability when an author reads their own work. With the Fire on High​ is a runner-up on this list of best books I read in 2022.

I had to pause this book while at work (and not in my office) to cry. I don't often cry reading anymore. 

When I finished it, I drove directly to my local bookseller to get a physical print copy. Because I needed to see her words. 

This is my top read for 2022.
The Poet X cover

@adriabailton The Poet X #review #booktok #books #poetry #ya #elizabethacevedo ♬ original sound - Adria

2023

Picture
I've challenged myself to read 24 books in 2023. This won't count the unpublished feedback novels I read or all the short stories. 
I've got two ready to go and hundreds sitting on my shelves. 

​Here's to a good reading year!
0 Comments

Quarter 3 of 2022 Reads

10/7/2022

0 Comments

 

First Time for Everything

This is my first quarterly reading update, despite making a goal to have these each quarter in 2022. That's because I read about three published books along with several beta reads prior to August 2022. I've been struggling to read for most of 2021 and 2022.
Picture

Audiobooks and novellas save the day!

I have no idea why, but I asked a group of avid readers about the best audiobooks a couple of weeks ago. Reading print is still a struggle for me. The only published book I've read in print for most of the year was Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire on a plane flight to go to a close relative's funeral this summer. That book is a) written by one of my favorite authors, b) filled with characters I already know from a series, and c) short.
Picture
And if I may make a confession, I hear that title sung in the same cadence as "Where the Down Boys Go," which both dates me and tells you some of the music I listened to in my formative years.

My group made suggestions and I cross-referenced them with books already on my wishlist. One was All Systems Red by Martha Wells. I already owned both a physical copy and an e-book copy and had yet to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed Keven R. Free's rendering of the story and the story itself.
Picture
Okay, you may see a trend here, of novellas that are also Hugo and Nebula Award winners or part of a series that is. Sometimes when in a reading funk, you have to go with what you know is good and easy.

I'm pleased to say that in the past ten days, I've completed four published books. In June, I read two books, and a single book in February. This doesn't count beta reads and critiques (on which I'm constantly behind my promised timelines.) This doesn't count short stories, of which I read 20-100 monthly. 

As of the writing of this post, I'm reading the third Murderbot Diary novella. I'm interspersing them between longer reads as pieces of candy. Hopefully, this reading streak will continue. I'd had high hopes after reading Beowulf A Translation by Maria Headley, but they were for naught. 

That's my 2022 Quarter 3 reading update. Do you have some excellent audiobooks to recommend?
0 Comments

Reading Reflection 2021

1/7/2022

0 Comments

 

Reflection

On New Year's Day 2021, I posted what I thought were reasonable goals for my reading. They turned out to be overly ambitious.
  • I lost my login to Storygraph.
  • My reading rate dropped drastically. The 2018 - 50 books, 2019 - 100 books, 2020 - 30-40 books trend did not hold and I did not read 36 books - a plan of a fun book, a writing craft book, and a third category book. 
  • I did not read enough to give a "favorite" book of the month after the first couple months.
  • The recorded books didn't count the reads of unpublished work.
  • I read a ton of short work this year. Some weeks I really do post everything I read. But most weeks I read 2-5 times as many stories as I post.
Picture says 2021 Reading Challenge You read 8 out of 36 books. Better luck in 2022!

I'm going to try again for 2022. Goodreads wants me to read just even one book a month. I might take them up on that. But my reading goals are going to be much more flexible this year.
I need to write. Unfortunately, my reading time and writing time heavily overlap.
Thankfully, I've found my login to The Storygraph, so I can try to make fun graphs for you in the future!
Picture

2022 Goals

I will include unpublished work in my book counts but I need to figure out how to remember them. But I will aim to read at least one published book a month as well.
I will post a quarterly reading reflection. 
This wraps up my disappointing reading reflection for the year 2021 and my vague reading goals for 2022. 
Picture
0 Comments

February 2021 Book Reads

3/5/2021

0 Comments

 
I have two books I read in February. I'll admit that I am struggling to read at all and am not making my reading goals. 

Picture
My writerly read this month was Business Essentials for Writers by Jim Nettles. This book will be helpful for anybody who plans to make a living writing stories and books. It tells you where traditional publishing falls short and where you will need to pick up the slack. It tells you what you need to invest in as a self-published author. It isn't a read-straight-through book, other than to glean what information it has. It is a reference book.

Picture
My fun-read this month was The Unbroken by C.L. Clark. I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader e-copy. I haven't quite finished it yet as my fun-reading is slow lately. 
I have been reading unpublished work by several writers, and I can't wait until I can put them on my "what I read" posts for you to also enjoy.
0 Comments

Reading Reflection January 2021

1/30/2021

0 Comments

 
I read two books in January. My writing craft book was Save the Cat and my fun-read was The Demon's Pursuit of Mor.
Picture
My Storygraph is a little odd, but the mix of the books I read follows the above Moods and Pace.
Picture
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder was recommended to me when I had the opportunity to discuss my work with an author via the DragonCon Author track. She specifically emphasized the Screenwriting version rather than the one on novels. Why? Because I struggled to do any pitching of my book. 
I don't think a novel should be written the way Snyder outlines his screenplays. This is yet another throwback to when authors would never admit to pantsing or organic writing being a valid way to write a story. At no point does Snyder "allow" the potential writer to write their story until they've checked certain prep boxes. Sadly, this way of writing doesn't work for me. Thankfully, I didn't need any of that advice.
The advice I needed was within the first couple chapters of the book, which was basically the logline and pitch. I've since taken pitching workshops and read quite a bit on writing a query and pitch. I'm not as bad as I was when asked about my story. Prior to the practice writing my twitter pitches and query letters, I couldn't succinctly tell you about my book. 
I still need to write a logline for my books, but it's something I intend to do going forward. Like most things, it just takes practice.
My fun read for January was The Demon's Pursuit of Mor by Ahisha McGregory. Full disclosure: I interact with Ashisha on Twitter and when she said the book was on NetGalley, I checked it out.

The Demon's Pursuit of Mor is full of morally grey characters and action. It was a fun and fast read, although it ended on a cliff-hanger. The last time I checked, it was Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. You can read a preview here. If you are someone who enjoys urban fantasy, witches, demons, politics, intrigue, and action, this is a story for you! 
​As for the cliff-hanger, Ahisha says she's working on book 2 right now and I can't wait to read it!
Picture
Question: I only have my monthly reading reflection planned for blogging right now. Eventually, I will be publishing some of my short fiction. What would you like to see in this space? What would you like to see from me?
0 Comments

Reading Reflection on 2020

1/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Blogging Goal: In 2021, I will try to do a monthly summary of books I read via Storygraph.
My reading goal for the year 2021 is 36 books. In 2018, I read 50, and in 2019, I read 100.

2020: In 2020, I read somewhere between 30 and 40 books. In general, the "adventure," "dark," "informative," and "emotional" labels are exactly what I read. I have fun reads that I pick up and read with a reading group. I have craft reads to improve my writing. I also read books to learn other things in life. In general, I will discuss some of my fun reads and the writing craft books.

My favorite book of 2020 was The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (2020). Every time I try to describe the story, what I loved, all the words just do not encompass it. 

In terms of writing craft, I found Query Craft by Angie Hodapp (2020) to be helpful. If you are looking for information on querying agents for your novel, this is a good book to start your journey. Even if you have been querying, you might glean a new tip or two. This was one of the first books I read in decades on the topic of publishing novels, so I had a lot to learn.

What did you read in 2020? What was your favorite book? 

0 Comments

    Author

    Writer of spec fic. 
    Flash published at Wyldblood Flash and Constelación Magazine.
    Currently querying a novel.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020

    Categories

    All
    Goals
    ORIGINAL Fiction
    Reading Reflection
    Short Fiction Round Up
    Short Fiction Round-up
    Writer Events And Advice
    Writer In Motion

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.