The last few years, January 1st has found me writing bullet-style highlights {sometimes lowlights} of the year before. I keep things short and sweet – a sentence per memory – and it’s a mix of things that stand out to me when I’m looking back. I thought it’d be interesting to do something similar for the blog. And, of course, a quick look at how my year of reading shaped up.

2023 in a Nutshell:
🟣 We added bees to our garden empire!
🟣 After a slow start, it was another fabulous tomato year.
🟣 For the first time in years, I did not make it to the mountains, but I did put my toes in the ocean and breathe that salty, tangy air for the first time since 2009.
🟣 It was a wild year at work, but we’ve got a great crew and we laughed our way through.
🟣 While the mountains didn’t make the list, we were able to visit several Colonial historical sites, including Williamsburg, and it was fascinating to walk where history happened.
🟣 There were many walks in the woods, sunsets admired, and delicious meals savored as we continue to live our best hobbit life.

And maybe the biggest “event” of the year: I returned to blogging, and it has been so very good. In returning to blogging, I’ve also returned to writing – and oh, how I have missed that process. There is something about stringing words together that helps me make sense of the world, and my place in it.

In keeping with our approach to the garden and farm life, I started small and have been slowly growing my blog empire (ha). Life interfered with posting a few times, but I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in almost-a-year, and look forward to watching it grow in the future.

As for my reading in 2023 … In spite of everything, I read 83 books {with another 6 earning a DNF}. My reading was overwhelmingly fictional in nature, and I revisited 5 stories (two of them for the third time). Even though I still love Young Adult [YA], I only read 9 of them in 2023 – my reading is growing up, I guess?

This year, I decided to play around with some fancy color-coded charts, to see how the year stacked up. I’m sharing them below {don’t forget: you can click on the individual picture to see if full-size}, and find it so interesting to see the numbers presented in this manner.

Obviously I am a Library Junkie {I do spend my days there, after all}, although I did better reading non-library books in 2023 than in the past – if you can believe it. One of my goals for 2024 is to read my shelves, including catching up on my Book of the Month picks. While library borrowing does curb my book spending a good deal, I still regularly acquire new volumes for my personal collection. I truly want to read these books, so I’m going to prioritize them this year. Or try to.

While digital formats represent a considerable percentage, I’m still a print girl. There’s nothing like holding an actual book in your hands {although the Kindle does travel better}. And I find it particularly wild that nearly a quarter of my 2023 reading happened in the first 2 months of the year! I guess there’s something to that hibernation idea after all, ha. It’s interesting to look at the months and remember what was going on that resulted in more or less reading.

How about your 2023? What wonderful adventures or experiences did you have? What stands out in your memory when you look back? And, of course, what did you read?