Maybe it was simply a love of fresh notebooks? And, then, spreadsheets? Over the years, my book tally, mounting since 1990, became data. Which, it turns out, is another way to demonstrate my love of books. The figures reflect intense reading. But between the lines? It never feels like enough.

Although I’ve always read a lot, my reading habit intensified both when I worked in a bookshop and, later, when I discovered Madison Smartt Bell’s Narrative Design, which revealed just how much one can learn about writing, simply by virtue of reading. Close reading. Because I wanted to be a better writer, I began by being a better reader. It became an act of devotion. Also, I didn’t have many friends.

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These statistics are pulled from 2010 through 2022, a period of 3,732 days. That’s like reading a book a day for more than ten of those years.

In 22, I visited 32 countries on the page. Of the books read, 53% of them were penned by writers of colour, including 43 Indigenous authors.
Of the authors in my stacks, 57% identify as women, which goes toward addressing the imbalance of reading in my school years.
In 2022, there were also 34 collections of poetry, 15 collections of stories, along with 30 translated works.
This year, I’ll continue to read diversely and voraciously.
For more about 2022? Here. And 2021? Here. As for 2023’s plans, here.