January started off as a strong reading month, with a mix of comfort and practical reads. It's always nice to bank a nice start on my reading goals at the beginning of the year! Books I Read This Month Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree--Described as the perfect cozy fantasy novel, I requested this a few months ago from my local library, and it came in just at the end of the year. Set in a D&Desque world where a female orc decides to leave her adventuring party and open a coffee shop, this is truly the perfect relaxing read for fantasy fans. Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer--Jewish romance with anxiety rep; I didn't like it as much as The Matzah Ball but still a fun read. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky--A game to divide household tasks and the research behind it. Definitely an interesting and hopefully productive contribution to the emotional labor/mental load/household labor debate.
My 2022 reading stats will not be as impressive as former years in overall numbers and also less impressive when I break it down, but I did do at least some diverse reading in 2022, which I hope I can significantly improve upon in 2023. I've modified my usual survey to just some basic stats that matter to me--it was originally taken from the sadly now discontinued blog, Boston Bibliophile . 2022 Reading Stats How many books read? 38 Fiction/nonfiction? 31 fiction, 3 nonfiction, 4 poetry Female/male/nonbinary author ratio? 32 female, 5 male, and 1 collection with mixed genders Writers of Color/Minority Writers? At least 3 books by writers of color, at least 7 books by Jewish authors, at least 1 Muslim author, 1 collection with multiple writers of color and minorities, at least 2 LGBTQ writers Favorite book? Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin, about a French cemetery keeper finding joy after tragedy Longest and shortest books? Longest: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie P