Books I Read in 2023 (sez Kindle) - 7 January 2024

Reading books had fallen off my list.  I was reading lots on the Internet and lots of magazine articles, but had rather dropped books.  This was not a particular plan, but I have long been a reader but I dropped significantly.  When COVID hit, it got even worse, worse to the point that it worried me.  Somehow, I was viewing reading as a Bad Thing, a Poor Way To Spend Time.  I will blame a boring, unrewarding job and the isolation of COVID (which are probably proxies for something deeper).  

In response, I resolved to read more.  I used the innate accounting of Kindle to keep track and I pretty much gave up on paper books.  Some would say I am behind the curve, but I have always liked the physical sense of holding a book and turning the pages, so moving to a Kindle was quite a revolution for me.

So to recap 2023, Kindle says I set a goal of 30 books (I did), of which I read 48.  Not bad.  As of 7 Jan 2024, I have read for 90 weeks in a row ( 17 April 2022 - 6 Jan 2023, inclusive) and have a continuous daily reading streak of 154 days.  I object to the 154 days because of the way that I believe that Kindle works.  I could complain to Amazon and suggest they add a feature to give readers a way to edit the days-read statistics, but it is simply not worth the effort to them or to me.  My complaint about Kindle comes from my experience as a traveler.

My experience suggests that Kindle only counts days-read when you are in WiFi or cellular contact.  If you are out of contact, it does not matter how much or when you read, Kindle does not count it.  There are a couple of 1-2 day gaps in my record as kept by Kindle, and these happen to be travel days, days when we were out of the US and out of WiFi range.  Furthermore, I am not convinced Kindle handles time zones correctly, a sort of Kindle jet lag, but I do not have very much experimental data on that claim; the no-WiFi-no-cellular bug is more obvious.  As a result of Kindle's behavior, I claim my reading-days streak is much longer than Kindle reports.  So be it.  I will work on the weeks-read streak because it is unlikely I will be out of WiFi or cellular service for an entire week.

List of books I finished in 2023:

1. Hide, Tracy Clark
2. Number Go Up, Zeke Faux,
3. The Spy Coast, Tess Gerritsen
4. The Crossing (Bosch Legacy), Michael Connelley
5. The Burning Room, Michael Connelley
6. Black River, Matthew Spencer
7. Slow time Between the Stars, John Scalzi
8. Just out of Jupiter's Reach Nnedi Okorafor
9. The Long Game, Ann Leckie
10. Falling Bodies, Rebecca Roanhorse
11. Void, Veronica Roth
12. How it Unfolds, James S.A. Corey
13. Lookin gGlass, Andrew Mayne
14. slow Horses, Mick Herron
15. Agent to the Stars, John Scalzi
16. Stargazer, Anne Hillerman
17. Spider Woman's Daughter, Anne Hillerman
18. Eternity, Greg Bear
19. Eon, Greg Bear
20. The Reversal, Michael Connelly
21. The Brass Verdict, Michael Connelly
22. The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly
23. Sharpe's Revenge, Bernard Cornwell
24. Sharpe's Rifles, Bernard Cornwell,
25. Going To The Sun
26. the Black Box, Michael Connelly
27. Desert Star, Michael Connelly
28. Noumenon
29. Dark Sacred Night, Michael Connelly
30. Quantum, Patricia Cornwell
31. Fields of Fire, Marko Kloos
32. The Overlook, Michael Connelly
33. Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi
34. The Drop, Michael /connelly
35. Abadoon's Gate, James S.A. Corey
36. 9 Dragons, Michael Connelly
37. Caliban's War, James S.A. Corey
38. Leviathan Wakes, James S.A. Corey
39. Red Moon, Kim Stanley Robinson,
40. Murder Theory, Andrew Mayne
41. Under Enemy Colors, S. Thomas Russell
42. Echo Park, Michael Connelly
43. The Closers, Michael Connelly
44. The Narrows, Michael Connelly
45. Lost Light, Michael Connelly
46. City of Bones, Michael Connelly
47. Bandwidth, Eliot Peper