June is like halfway through the year, right?
I posted my 2023 reading goals here and stated I wanted to read 150 books, and have 30 of those books be YA fantasy.
How am I doing so far? Good AND bad!
I've read 123 out of 150 books!! I'm 82% into my goal! Woohoo!
Here's the genre breakdown:
4 YA fantasies
86 BL manga
31 Comics and Manga (non-BL)
2 Adult horror
So...I've been doing a lot of reading, just not YA fantasy! Why is that? Well...I made attempts to read more, but DNF'd them. In fact, novels in general have been really hard for me this year. I just haven't been able to get into them at all. I peter out between 30 and 50 pages.
Is it the quality of the writing, or is it just me? All I know is that things are taking longer for me to get into, and I don't like putting forth a lot of effort into my reading when I can be reading something that holds my attention better and can actually enjoy.
BL (or boys love) is my favorite thing to read, can you tell? I just get a sense of comfort when I read light and fluffy stories, and I also like darker, more violent stories as well. And BL shows me sides of men (including vulnerabilities) I don't really ever see, so it's sort of wish fulfillment, too. (This link asks why so many women are into BL, if you're curious). Anyway, BL is my go-to read and I've certainly gone through a lot this year. None of these count my subscriptions to Lezhin, Manta, or TappyToon where I read BL manhwa on the regular!
I also read some Western comics in addition to manga that didn't have BL storylines. I guess all around, comics are my thing and I can read them all the time without running into any issues with pacing or voice or concentration. I can get into them quickly and zip through them fast.
I know there's a population of people out there who don't believe reading comics counts as reading. This, of course, is bull. Just because a comic book has illustrations doesn't mean there isn't a narrative or words to be read. The fact that I even have to say anything about this annoys me. Comics and manga are my saving grace when it comes to reading, and they definitely matter.
So, I've got until December to suddenly find the power within me to read 26 YA fantasies. I'm not exactly confident I can do this at the rate I've been going. I'm currently reading a YA right now and don't feel drawn into it, so I may DNF this one, too. I'm not sure.
I'm completely optimistic about breaking through 150 books, though!
I'll see you in December for the 2023 Year in Books (read 2022's here)!