Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
I’m narrowing this list down a little to new-to-me authors I read in 2023 that I have opinions about.
Sometimes I’ll finish a book with a completely neutral opinion about the author and his or her writing style. There’s not much to criticize or compliment them about, at least for my first experience reading them.
It almost feels like looking at a blank page. It’s not a bad thing by any means, just an unfinished one for now in my mind.
In those cases, I think it’s best to say nothing at all until or unless I try them again and have something more substantial to say about their work.
Here are some authors that I did think were worth mentioning this week.
1. Lynn Curlee
What I Read From Them: “The Other Pandemic: An AIDS Memoir”
Would I Read Them Again: Probably. This was written for a young adult audience, so I’d be most interested in seeing how the author writes for an adult audience next time.
2. Naira de Gracia
What I Read From Them: “The Last Cold Place: A Field Season Studying Penguins in Antarctica”
Would I Read Them Again: Yes. She had a conversational writing style that worked well for readers who are not scientists but who are interested in reading about science. (If any of you are scientists, I’d sure like to hear what you thought of this book).
3. Hannah Wunsch
What I Read From Them: “The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Modern Medical Care”
Would I Read Them Again: Maybe. She seemed to be very knowledgeable on this topic, but sometimes I felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of detail that was included. (This is something I’d like to revisit someday. I had a cold when I read it so it could have just been a Right Book at the Wrong Time sort of issue).
4. Delilah S. Dawson
What I Read From Them: “Bloom”
Would I Read Them Again: No. It’s a me problem, though! This was a good example of what the gory side of horror can have to say about the world, but I’m simply too easily scared these days to enjoy such things anymore. If you love this sort of horror, please don’t let my squeamishness keep you from reading this. The writing itself was gorgeous.
5. Susan Albers
What I Read From Them: “50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food”
Would I Read Them Again: Maybe. Self-help is honestly not a genre I visit very often, but this book did have a lot of thoughtful suggestions for self-soothing techniques that don’t involve food.
6. Daniel Black
What I Read From Them: “Don’t Cry for Me”
Would I Read Them Again: Yes. I need a sequel to this book written from the estranged son’s perspective immediately! Mr. Black, please make your fans ridiculously happy and show us what happens next in this family. (Hehe).
I still have a number of books from my 2023 seasonal TBR posts left to read.
Here are my goals for 2024.
My list of answers is short this week, but I did have more than two books this time which is a nice change from the winter TBR theme from a few weeks ago that was a struggle for me.
2023 was a wonderful reading year for me. Kudos to 
I was originally thinking about discussing library books this week, but December is such a busy month for me that I needed to finish this post well in advance and therefore would probably have already read (or DNF) any library books I had on my radar when I wrote it by the time this goes live.
Happy (almost) Winter Solstice to everyone who will be celebrating it in a few days! I’m eagerly anticipating the changing of the seasons and the few extra minutes of daylight we’ll soon have each day here in Canada.
As I mentioned last week, winter is a time of year when I often get a lot of reading done.
1. Fewer Migraines
2. Better Sleep
3. More Time to Read
practical to cook or appetizing to eat when it’s 40 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) outside and the humidity levels are 90%.
6. Enjoying Winter-y Reads 
8. Seasonal Treats
9. Winter Light Displays
10. Quiet Days 
They are so many books out there set during Christmas that I continue to be surprised by how much less common it is to find books set during Thanksgiving. Let’s see how many of them I can find!