Fiction“Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir
Earthseed series by Octavia E. Butler
The Broken Earth series by N.K. Jemisin
The Dublin Murder Squad series by Tana French
“Broken Harbor“ (still on my “to read” list)
“The Secret Place“ (still on my “to read” list)
“The Trespasser“ (still on my “to read” list)
The Shades of Magic series by V.E. Schwab
The D.O.D.O series by Nicole Galland and Neal Stephenson
“Master of the Revels“ (still on my “to read” list)
Non-fictionI’ve always been an avid reader. And I’ve always attempted to indulge the habit/hobby as inexpensively as possible. When I combined my desire for frugality, a pickiness about what I read at a given time, and living in sub-500 sq. ft. spaces I was forced to downsize. My collection of printed books now consists of mostly reference material: books on business, freelance, and productivity; books on farming and sustainable living; and books on the regulations and principles behind home design and sustainable building. No more fiction books grace the walls of my home, at least not right now, though they’ll surely make a return once we have more space and I can have some semblance of a private office. So where did all the rest of my books go? Into digital formats such as ebooks, pdfs, and audiobooks. And historically I’ve purchased those resources from Amazon’s Kindle and Audible library, but I’ve always felt gross about putting money in Jeff B*zos’s pocket.
Last summer (2020), after giving up the Google Suite of products, I was itching to finally give up Amazon as my convenient but ultimately industry-damaging source for ebooks and audiobooks. While researching alternatives for where to reroute my purchases, I found Bookshop.org which — in addition to selling print books, both new and used — partners with Libro.fm to offer DRM-free audiobooks, and with MyMustReads.com for ebooks). Now, unless I’m trying to read something that was produced specifically for Audible (and therefore isn’t available via other retailers) I can send my money elsewhere while still supporting my chosen local bookstore with a portion of my proceeds. Additionally, one of the most important benefits I’ve found for buying audiobooks on Libro.fm is that by purchasing DRM-free content, I can listen to the audiobooks in whatever manner my heart desires. This desire path is currently accommodated with a combination of a personally hosted Plex server that houses my audiobook collection, which then enables me to use the Prologue app for iOS to download/stream my audiobooks any of my devices.
But there was still one issue to solve: another element of Amazon’s publishing ecosystem is GoodReads, a lackluster site/app for rating, cataloging, and building community around one’s reading habits. But, as is the case with all things Amazon-related, all links to investigate titles for purchase lead right back into the Kindle/Audible services. Unhappy with this lure of convenience requiring me to expend willpower every time I wanted to find a book challenge or log some reading progress I went in search of a more socially conscious, less Amazon-y solution — which lead me to The Storygraph. And boy did I ever fall in love with the service.
The Storygraph’s team is small but mighty, and wonderfully communicative, which is a far cry from the stagnant platform that is GoodReads. Since making the jump between services, I’ve been obsessively tracking my reading progress and encouraging friends to join in the fun and support this growing community of avid readers (and track their reading habits so I can peruse their to-read/currently-reading/read lists for inspiration!).
I am always happy to receive book recommendations! If any of these titles resonated with you and/or remind you of a favorite that isn’t included here, I’d love to hear about it!