Books in 2023

[luzula]

I see I forgot to do the book meme last year? Ah well. I read 74 books in 2023. Some statistics:

• 48 books written by women, and 27 by men (judging by name). I don't have a particular goal around this, it just usually happens that I read more books by women. More than 50% of the non-fiction is by men, though (I noticed someone else reflecting on this.)
• 11 books read in Swedish, the rest in English.
• 41 books by British authors, 16 by Americans, 11 by Swedes, the rest single other countries. Err, I guess this is what happens if you're in a British fandom.
• 19 non-fiction, 3 children's/YA, 3 SF, 13 fantasy, 22 romance (in some sense), 47 historical (both fiction and non-fiction). Books can belong to more than one category. Huh, I see that I currently read very little SF.
• 41 Bechdel test passes, 33 new-to-me authors, 9 rereads, 14 books from my own bookshelves, 13 audiobooks.
• 4 books written in the 1700's, 9 in the 1800's, 10 written 1900-1950, 8 written 1950-2000, 43 written in the 2000's (all books from book club are in the last category).

A few stand-outs:
Kirsteen and Hester and Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant (19th century novels focused on women)
C S Forester's Hornblower series (slashy Age-of-Sail)
Aster Glenn Gray's various historical romances, with Honeytrap as the highlight so far.
My Austen rereads, narrated by Karen Savage from Librivox.
A Dalliance With the Duke by AMarguerite (Elizabeth Bennett/Duke of Wellington)
Something Human A J Demas (pseudo-Ancient Greek m/m romance)
Henchmen of Zenda by K J Charles (swashbuckling m/m Zenda fanfic)
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (deep-sea YA fantasy adventure)
The Heiress, by Molly Greely (published Austen f/f fic about Anne de Bourgh)

As a whole, this seems to have been a year of historical fiction for me! I haven't had any reading goals, just read what appealed to me.

Comments

[muccamukk]

I think I was the one complaining about my non-fiction reading slanting towards male authors. One of the problems is that a lot of the non-fiction I read is for research into military history, and not a whole lot of that is by women. Haven't seemed to be able to figure out how to get past that one yet.

I need to read the new Hardinge. I always love her.

[luzula]

Oh, that's right, that was you. One women-focused military history book that I enjoyed was Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe by John A. Lynn. It's true that the author is a man, but I liked his preface where he was all "I'm aware that this is not just military history but also women's history, which is new to me, but I'm really trying! Please accept my humble offering."

The content was also very interesting; my review/summary is here, if you're interested.

And yes, Hardinge is always so good!

[muccamukk]

I should check that out. Thanks for the tip! I'm still poking at the Kidnapped Polly Oliver AU, and need to read more women's history from that era. I have the Lady Grange bio, and probably will wander over towards Rebel Bitches at some point.

[luzula]

mildred_of_midgard recently summarized the Lady Grange bio over at cahn's salon, if you're interested.

Otherwise, I see you've got your email on your profile, so I will email you some women's history-related pdf:s I have! : )

[muccamukk]

That salon is way too intimidating for the unlettered. But I am looking forward to reading the books (and the PDFs, thank you very much) when I have time to dig into AU planning (ie some time in April, haha).

[luzula]

when I have time to dig into AU planning (ie some time in April, haha)
I know how you feel. Arrrgh, why so much to do?

[jesse_the_k]

That's a lot of reading.

I was surprised that you had 41 British authors but no Scots!

[luzula]

Well, I didn't separate out English and Scottish within the British authors. : ) I can easily see that 13 are Scottish for sure, but I'm afraid I'm too lazy to look up the other authors to check...

[vendettadays]

That's a lot of books read!

Oh, The Heiress by Molly Green looks good. Adding that to my TBR list! :)

[luzula]

Fewer than some and more than others, I guess! I hope you enjoy The Heiress if you get to it, it's great. : )

[nnozomi]

Your statistics are fascinating! I also notice more male authors among my non-fiction reads, I think. Wonder why. (Still more men in academia, even in the humanities?).
Are you ever moved to read the same book in both Swedish and English?

[luzula]

Are you ever moved to read the same book in both Swedish and English?
Huh, good question, the answer is no. I prefer to read a book in the original language if I can, though I guess it might be interesting to look at the translation to see how it handles various issues. But I don't think I'd read the whole book for that, rather than just a sample.

[chestnut_pod]

It's so wonderful to see what you read, which is so different from a lot of what I read! Maybe this can be the year I plunge into Scottish historical fiction too.

[luzula]

Maybe this can be the year I plunge into Scottish historical fiction too.
I had no plans of doing so, before it happened! I just fell into a new fandom. : D

[regshoe]

That sounds like a good year of reading. I am also pleased to have found Margaret Oliphant's books this year :D

[luzula]

Indeed! *ponders which one to read/listen to next*

[regshoe]

I have no particular others on my list, except Miss Marjoribanks... Perhaps pick one at random and see what it's like? :D

[luzula]

I think I'll probably pick one of the ones that are on Librivox! If the reader(s) work for me, of course.