My 2023 in Books

Happy New Year! Have you made any resolutions? In 2023, one of mine was ‘to read more’, partly because I’d started an MA in Creative Writing with the Open University and our Tutor was fiercely passionate about reading as widely and deeply as possible. It would make us better writers, she said.

Then, a week into the year, I saw this tweet:

Inspired by @kirbyhazard and others, I’m going to attempt the 52-book challenge in 2023.

Makes me spend less time on the phone and also makes me go to bed earlier to read.

Book 1/52 completed is “1999” by @DickinsonTimes, a brilliant book and a great trip down memory lane. pic.twitter.com/HszQxM7cYv

— Dan Williamson (@winkveron) January 8, 2023

Daniel Williamson is one of the few authors who has been included twice in my Reading the Game series of football book reviews. If he could challenge himself in this way, why couldn’t I? Like Daniel, I had already read one book in 2023, so why not try to try to finish one a week? Here’s how I did:

You probably noticed that I said ‘finish’ there, not ‘read’. That’s because nine of the books were listened to, rather than read with the eyes. If you’re thinking ‘that’s cheating!’ my response is simple: don’t be so ableist. Conceived for the visually impaired, audiobooks are books you can enjoy while doing the washing up, or on a long drive / bus journey and can be used as an alternative to the printed word by dyslexic people. I’d also probably have never even started Spare, never mind finished it, if I’d had to haul the hardback about. It’s absolutely massive!

I also want to point out that 20% of the books listed above were the Kindle editions, rather than hard copies. I was given a Kindle by my wife for our anniversary and while reading on it isn’t as satisfying as physically holding a book in my hand, having access to e-books has been a massive boost to my reading. For example, when we took a family holiday in North Wales, I didn’t have to carry three or four books around. I simply slipped the Kindle into the back pocket of my jeans, giving myself a choice of reading material while saving space for other stuff that needed packing. I can read on the Kindle while waiting for our son to settle at bedtime, or after my beloved has gone to sleep, without disturbing either of them. In 2024, I’ll definitely be reading in multiple formats.

If you look at what I’ve been reading, you’ll notice that in the main, it falls within four broad categories; football, transport history, the autistic condition and memoir. Three of these are my Special Interests, or SpIns and memoir is related to my studies. I make no apologies for, even here, mining my SpIns. For instance, Football and How to Survive It by Pat Nevin is a thrilling memoir by a former footballer whose punditry I greatly admire. The memoirs of autistic people in the public eye also feature heavily in the list above because I am interested in how other members of our tribe experience the condition. How different (or not) their challenges are to mine. Some of the best AutiMemoirs I read this year were Illuminated by Melanie Sykes, Drama Queen by Sara Gibbs and Strong Female Character by Fern Brady. I also enjoyed both Pete Wharmby’s books.

I’ve learned a huge amount, some of which I wish I hadn’t (Spare was far too long and went into more detail than I was comfortable with and re-reading The Loneliest Man in the World was a pretty bleak endeavour). I’ve got a lot of joy from all this reading too; it’s definitely a better use of my time than doom-scrolling on Twitter.

Am I a better writer than I was a year ago? I’d like to think so! At least some of the improvement is down to the course I’m doing, the feedback from other students and our tutors but some of it is definitely driven by reading voraciously. The more I read, the more I learn about each author’s voice, which helps me find my own. I’ve also got much better at self-editing and avoiding certain words and phrases.

I’ve no idea how much reading I’ll do in 2024 – I have five assignmentss and a 15,000 word dissertation to write between now and October – but I know that every minute I spent reading (and listening) in 2023 was time well spent.