Well, Jesus fuck me gently with a chainsaw: this month I finished 53 books. FIFTY THREE!
It still counts if much of that was volumes of poetry, right? Actually, I feel like I should get bonus credit for reading poetry. I enjoy it occasionally, when I’m in the mood, but since August 24th was National Poetry Day, I pushed hard to try works from a wide variety of poets (and squeezed in a few of my faves too – I’m looking at you Rupi Kaur and Selina Tusitala Marsh, with heart eyes!), with a focus on including Kiwis, women and people of colour.
The rest was a fairly typical mix of crime thrillers & spiritual stuff, with the odd Spec Fic novel thrown in.
The NZ Book Council released survey reports stating that 86% of adult respondents read/started at least one book in the past year, and gave an estimated average of 35 books read per reader. Honestly, that seems high to me and I suspect it’s because of book nerds like me fuckin’ with the bell curve. Danyl Mclauchlan of The Spinoff floats the idea that people are prone to fibbing in these kinds of surveys, which makes a weird kind of sense too. He says that Wellington Library reported the average number of books borrowed by members in 2017 was about 11 per person, but there’s no mention of how many registered members they have. If I look at my immediate circle of family, not many use the library: me obv., and I know my brother borrows ebooks, and my mum may rarely go (she usually just buys her own books though, or borrows from friends), and after 18 years with my spouse, he did actually get a library card last year – to borrow a grand total of three books.
Anyway, for those who are curious, here’s the big list!
Wheels of Life by Anodea Judith
Cold Granite by Stuart McBride
Before the Storm by Christie Golden
The Witch’s Athame by Jason Mankey
Essential Oils in Spiritual Practice by Candice Covington
Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter
What’s a Witch to Do? by Jennifer Harlow
Wicca for Life by Raymond Buckland
Bloody January by Alan Parks
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
If You Go Down to the Woods by Seth C. Adams
Little Wolves by Thomas Maltman
Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham
The Murder Book by Jane A. Adams
The Merry Spinster by Mallory Ortberg
Wrede on Writing by Patricia C. Wrede
Writing With Intent by Margaret Atwood
Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks
Wicca for One by Raymond Buckland
A Little Book on Form by Robert Hass
In Perfect Love by Taliesin Govannon
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
Poisoned Apples by Christine Hepperman
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong
The Dream of a Common Language by Adrienne Rich
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen
Rumi: Bridge to the Soul by Coleman Banks
100 Best-Loved Poems by Philip Smith
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde
Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke by Rilke
The Best of Best New Zealand Poems ed. by Bill Manhire
Winter Trees by Sylvia Plath
Auckland ed. by Witi Ihimaera
Allen Curnow: Collected Poems ed. by Terry Sturm
Tightrope by Selina Tusitala Marsh
Selected Poems by James K. Baxter
Collected Poems 1951-2006 by C.K. Stead
Mauri Ola ed. by Albert Wendt
Poems 1960-2000 by Fleur Adcock
Al Que Quiere! by William Carlos Williams
A Miscellany by e.e. cummings
yesterday i was the moon by Noor Unnahar
The Silver Child by Cliff McNish
Omega by Stewart Farrar
Sign of the Labrys by Margaret St. Clair
Witchcraft from the Inside by Raymond Buckland
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
Failure of Moonlight by Rosemary Edghill
Murder by Magic ed. by Rosemary Edghill
Modern Wicca by Michael Howard
Witches of America by Alex Mar
Merry Meet Again by Deborah Lipp
53 (!) in total.
