A Year in Books: My 2023 Reading Challenge
Happy World Book Day! If you’ve come across this blog before, or you’ve seen my posts on social media (I’m @emmapooleytherapy on Facebook and Instagram if you’d like to be nosy!), you’ll know that I’m a massive bookworm. Libraries and bookshops are sanctuaries for me, and my idea of a top-tier day is being able to do nothing but read.
One of my aims for 2023 was to get back into a regular habit of reading books, rather than mindlessly scrolling on social media with a TV show I’ve seen 1000 times on in the background. I decided to set myself a somewhat ambitious target of attempting to read 104 books in a year, averaging 2 books per week.
By the end of December, I’d managed to read 67/104 books, which was considerably more than I expected, given that I’d had a couple of very quiet reading months! For 2024, I’ve set myself a new target of reading 75 books in a year, so let’s see how that goes!
You can find the list of all the books I read each month in 2023 below, and I’ve highlighted my favourites with a *.
Jan:
Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life - Anne Lamott
Quiet - Susan Cain
*The Devil You Know: Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry - Dr Gwen Adshead & Eileen Horne
*Mina and the Undead - Amy McCaw
Tales of Body & Soul - Lionel Blue
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art - James Nestor
Chill & Prosper - Denise Duffield-Thomas
Daughter of the Siren Queen - Tricia Levenseller
Mina and the Slayers - Amy McCaw
Feb:
Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka
The Shadows Between Us - Tricia Levenseller
The Importance of Being Interested - Robin Ince
Mar:
False Value - Ben Aaronovitch
Amongst Our Weapons - Ben Aaronovitch
Apr:
*Strong Female Character - Fern Brady
The Screaming Staircase - Jonathan Stroud
The Way of the Fearless Writer - Beth Kempton
It’s All In Your Head - Suzanne O’Sullivan
That Moment When - Mo Gilligan
What My Bones Know - Stephanie Foo
May:
The Winter Ghosts - Kate Mosse
The Manningtree Witches - A.K. Blakemore
*Memphis - Tara M. Stringfellow
Wabi Sabi - Beth Kempton
The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet - Benjamin Hoff
Bibliomaniac- Robin Ince
Jun:
Stories We Tell Ourselves - Richard Holloway
One Day I Shall Astonish the World - Nina Stibbe
The Three Dahlias - Katy Watson
The Choice - Edith Eger
A Writer’s Journal Workbook - Lucy van Smit
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - Jeanette Winterson
Happier Hour - Cassie Holmes
Visual Journaling - Barbara Ganim & Susan Fox
Jul:
Treasury of Folklore: Seas and Rivers - Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham
*What Happened to You? - Dr Bruce Perry & Oprah Winfrey
Six Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon - Alison Weir
I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki - Baek Sehee
This Much Is True - Miriam Margolyes
Femina - Janina Ramirez
*The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies - Alison Goodman
The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke
Aug:
*The Madness - Fergal Keane
The Psychology of Money - Morgan Housel
Deep Work - Cal Newton
Content Fortress - Martin Huntbach & Lyndsay Cambridge
Sep:
Booth - Karen Joy Fowler
The Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity - Daniel Aherne
Oct:
*The Creative Act: A Way of Being - Rick Rubin
The Situationship - Taylor-Dior Rumble
*Black Butterflies - Priscilla Morris
*Wintering - Katherine May
How to Kill Your Family - Bella Mackie
Nov:
Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries - Ed. Alan Taylor
Slow Seasons - Rosie Steer
*On Liberty - Shami Chakrabati
The Refugees - Viet Thanh Nguyen
Darling - India Knight
A Chip Shop in Poznań - Ben Aitken
Dec:
The Book Eaters - Sunyi Dean
The Angel of the Crows - Kate Addison
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K Dick
The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer
*The Book of Beginnings - Sally Page
*Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard
The Psychology of Supremacy: Imperium - Dwight Turner
Mrs Death Misses Death - Salena Godden
What do you think of this list, and the ones I’ve highlighted as particular favourites? I’d love to know if you agree or disagree with my choices, and if you have a favourite read from last year that I should take a look at!
As ever, if you’re struggling and think I might be the therapist for you, feel free to get in touch with me. You can contact me: using the form at the bottom of the page; on Facebook and Instagram @emmapooleytherapy, or via email to emma@emmapooleytherapy.com, and we can see if we’d like to work together.