Life as a Hobbit

Presented in chronological order as read throughout the year. Conspiracy of Ravens  - Lila Bowen (2nd in The Shadow series). Weird queer Western/horror with dark peeks into how the past treats a mixed-race shapeshifter in the Wild West. The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story. Olga Tokarczuk. So many vibes. Kind of slow and inexorable, which is perfect for horror when I have a patience. My Heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones. Lots of name dropping slasher lore that went over my head, but the way the main character Jade obsessively uses story tropes to shield herself from the world made me sympathize with her. Also, hole full of rotten elk meat and viscera, anyone? The water and swimming in this were way freaky. The ending felt abrupt, but fitting. I'm so curious about the next book given the (massive) death toll in this one. It was all a dream, trope? (And then I messed up and read a completely different book, thinking it was the second in the trilogy, d'oh). I Was ...

Straight stats (j/k there were barely any straight books on this list)  Total (physical) books: 20  Total audiobooks: 135  Total graphic novels: 10  Total picture books: 3  Altogether now: 168  Hours listened: 1,375 aka 57 days (try that 1.25 speed, you might like it)  Pages read: 7,483  Biggest reading month: March, with 19 books.  Tied for least reading, July and October. July was too hot, and October I had just started a new job.  Big Genres: Mystery (47), Horror (25), Nonfiction (17), LGBTQ (11), Thriller (10) Horror with a bullet, since 13 out of my 23 5-star books (and my fiction honorable mention!) are all horror.  Even though they led with pure numbers only 4 mystery books ended up with 5 star from me, and three were from the same series.  I absolutely love the Karma series by Jonathan Ames, A Man Named Doll, Wheel of Doll, and Karma Doll . The other mysteries were mostly popcorn, crunchy, fun, forgettable. The 4th 5...