Every year I summarize a year’s worth of reading here, breaking it down by category and listing some of my favorite titles (not all necessarily published this year). (Also, maybe “summarize” is not the word, as it’s not particularly concise; not only do I not provide a Top Ten overall, I don’t even limit myself to ten per category.) Here’s my mid-year reading round-up from early July, and here’s my 2022 Reading Wrap-Up. Perhaps one of these years I’ll wise up and do it like Betsy Bird does with her #31Days31Lists, but for now, we have this. Without further ado…

Total number of books read: 693

Partially-read/started-didn’t-finish: 27. I browsed through several cookbooks, quilting books, various other how-to nonfiction, books at friends’ houses, poetry, essay collections and collective biographies, and some books I started with the kiddo but she either lost interest in or took off to read by herself. As I tell other readers, it’s okay to put down a book!

Picture Books: 274

• Telling Stories Wrong by Gianni Rodari
• Snow Horses by Patricia MacLachlan and Micha Archer
• Somewhere in the Bayou by Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey
• Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild
• Night in the City by Julie Downing
• The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker
• We Don’t Lose Our Class Goldfish by Ryan T. Higgins
• That Flag by Tameka Brown Fryer
• Evergreen by Matthew Cordell
• Dim Sum, Here We Come! by Maple Lam
• Spicy Spicy Hot! by Lenny Wen
• A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond
• Inside the Slidy Diner by Laurel Snyder
• Oh No, The Aunts Are Here by Adam Rex
• The World and Everything In It by Kevin Henkes
• Real to Me by Minh Lê
• Elisabeth by Claire A. Nivola
• How We Say I Love You by Nicole Chen
• A Bed of Stars by Jessica Love
• Big by Vashti Harrison
• Gotta Go! by Frank Viva
• Are You Awake? by Sophie Blackall
• How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney by Barnett/Klassen
• Molly’s Tuxedo by Vicki Johnson
• Snail Crossing by Corey Tabor
• With Lots of Love by Jenny Torres Sanchez
• The World’s Best Class Plant by Vernick/Scanlon
• King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim
• In the Night Garden by Carin Berger
• The Kitten Story by Emily Jenkins
• Stars of the Night by Caren Stelson
• I’m Going to Build A Snowman by Jashar Awan
• The Three Little Mittens by Linda Bailey
• Silver Linings by Fiona Woodcock
• Everything Naomi Loved by Katie Yamasaki
• Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year by Andrea Beaty
• How to Count to ONE by Caspar Salmon
• Good Books for Bad Children by Beth Kephart
• I Can Open It For You by Shinsuke Yoshitake
• Ogilvy by Deborah Underwood
• If I Was A Horse by Sophie Blackall
• How This Book Was Made by Barnett/Rex
• I Am Stuck by Julia Mills
• Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo
• Flower Girl by Amy Bloom
• Hanukkah Upside Down by Elissa Brent Weissman
• Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex
• An American Story by Kwame Alexander/Dare Coulter
• Just One Flake by Travis Jonker
• Mister Kitty is Lost by Greg Pizzoli

Early Readers: 19 (overlap with Chapter Books, Graphic Novels)

• Sir Ladybug by Corey Tabor (GN)
• Charlie and Mouse Are Magic (#6) by Laurel Snyder
• Arlo & Pips by Elise Gravel (GN)
• Henry, Like Always by Jenn Bailey, illus. Mika Song

Chapter Books: 16 (overlap with Early Readers, Graphic Novels)

• No More Ear Buns! by Agnes Mathieu-Daude
• The Apartment House on Poppy Hill by Nina LaCour
• The Story of Gumluck the Wizard by Adam Rex
• The Skull by Jon Klassen
• The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
• Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones

Middle Grade: 162 (overlap with GN, nonfiction)

• The Swifts by Beth Lincoln
• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
• The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander
• The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry by Chad Morris
• Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One by Maggie Horne
• Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner’s Call to Science by Jeannine Atkins
• The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
• Tuesdays at the Castle (series) by Jessica Day George
• Three Strike Summer by Skyler Schrempp
• Wildoak by C.C. Harrington
• Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller
• World Made of Glass by Ami Polonsky
• Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves by L.M. Elliott
• Bea and the New Deal Horse by L.M. Elliott
• Code Red by Joy McCullough
• Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass
• The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
• Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
• Alone by Megan Freeman
• Leeva At Last by Sara Pennypacker
• Elf Dog and Owl Head by M.T. Anderson
• Mihi Ever After by Tae Keller
• Wishing Upon the Same Stars by Jacquetta Nammar Feldman
• Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus
• The Jake Show by Joshua S. Levy
• Have Sword, Will Travel by Garth Nix
• The Witch of Woodland by Laurel Snyder
• The Lost Library by Stead/Mass
• You Are Here by Ellen Oh (editor)
• The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett
• Witches of Brooklyn: Spell of a Time by Sophie Escabesse
• Greenwild by Pari Thompson

Young Adult (YA): 61 (overlap with GN)

• For Lamb by Lesa Cline-Ransome
• Enter the Body by Joy McCullough
• Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay by Kelly McWilliams
• If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude
• Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert
• A Little Like Waking by Adam Rex
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez
• Burn, Baby, Burn by Meg Medina
• Be That Way by Hope Larson

Graphic novels: 118 (overlap with most other categories)

• Killer Underwear Invasion! How to Spot Fake News… by Elise Gravel
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
• Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn
• Arlo & Pips by Elise Gravel
• Squire and Knight by Scott Chantler
• Team Trash by Kate Wheeler
• Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke
• Hoops by Matt Tavares
• School Trip by Jerry Craft
• A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
• Sunshine by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
• The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir
• Three Thieves (series) by Scott Chantler
• Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang
• Let’s Make Dumplings! by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan
• Be That Way by Hope Larson
• NewsPrints by Xu Ru
• Maker Comics: Design A Game by Bree Wolf
• Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook
• Eerie Tales from the School of Screams by Graham Annable
• Batcat by Meggie Ramm
• Nell of Gumbling by Emma Steinkellner
• Mexikid by Pedro Martin
• Two Tribes by Emily Bowen Cohen
• Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale
• The Talk by Darrin Bell
• Squished by Megan Wagner Lloyd
• Pebble and Wren by Chris Hallbeck
• 83 Days in Mariupol by Don Brown

Adult fiction: 43

• The Future by Naomi Alderman
• You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
• Starling House by Alix Harrow
• The Talk by Darrin Bell
• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
• Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Adult nonfiction: 25

• Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson’s Creek by Thea Glassman
• A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung
• How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
• Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Seamas O’Reilly
• Accountable by Dashka Slater
• You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
• Growing Up in Public by Devorah Heitner

Children’s nonfiction: 61

• A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis
• The Tower of Life by Chana Stiefel
• Comics: Easy as ABC: The Essential Guide for Kids by Ivan Brunetti
• The Fire of Stars by Kirsten Larson
• Emma’s Poem by Linda Glaser
• the Whose is THAT? series by Darrin Lunde
• A Storm of Horses by Ruth Sanderson
• The 500 Million Dollar Heist (Unsolved Case Files) by Tom Sullivan
• The Hole Story of the Donut by Pat Miller
• Make Way for Animals! A World of Wildlife Crossings by Meeg Pincus
• The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day
• Sew Sister by Elise Matich
• Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari
• A Place Called America by Jennifer Thermes
• How the Cookie Crumbled by Gilbert Ford
• How to Eat in Space by Helen Taylor
• The True Story of Zippy Chippy by Artie Bennett

Short stories/essays: 13

• White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link
• Book of Enchantments by Patricia C. Wrede

Audiobooks: 11

Actual number includes re-reads and is higher, due to family car time and at-home audiobook time with the kiddo, as mentioned above. And sometimes I listen to Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! The NPR News Quiz or – less fun – the actual news. Or music. (Especially The Pogues and Sinead O’Connor this fall/winter.) Standout audiobooks include:

• You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith (“not that Maggie Smith”)
• The Lost Library by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
• Odder by Katherine Applegate
• Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus
• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow (I did warn you I wasn’t going to stop talking about this one)

Five-star ratings: 33

Re-reads: Unknown; I don’t have a good way to keep track. The kiddo listened to all five Mysterious Benedict Society books for what felt like months, and we re-read all of the Dealing with Dragons books by Patricia C. Wrede. I re-read a chunk of Greenglass House by Kate Milford, as I always do toward the end of December, and I certainly revisited favorite picture books at home and at library storytimes. And, after reading Simon Sort of Says in March and refusing to shut up about it since, I re-read it as an audiobook this month and it’s still stunningly good.

WeNeedDiverseBooks: 203, or 33.2%, which is better than last year (again), but still shy of half.

Book reviews: 25+

In my free time (hahaha), I write book reviews for School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews. I review picture books, graphic novels, middle grade, and occasionally YA. I enjoy reviewing because, of course, I get to read books before they’ve been published, and before I’ve heard anyone else’s opinions on them; and because writing reviews forces me to stick to a strict word count, and try to balance summary and evaluation. This year I also served on SLJ’s Best Graphic Novels committee, which is part of the reason I read more GN this year than last year.

So, that’s a wrap for 2023. Every year brings ups and downs, but we can always count on good books. Here’s to 2024! There are already several titles I’m excited about…. What were your favorite reads in 2023? What are you looking forward to? Does anything on this list pique your interest?