Wallowing in Ink with Courtney Floyd • Issue 36
In which I describe my approach to book tracking, share some updates, and leave you with snapshots of two extremely photogenic dogs.
Thank you so much for checking out my newsletter. If you’re new here, hi! My name is Courtney and I write fantasy for the page and podcatcher. My debut fantasy novel comes out in October, and my cozy horror audio drama series is available free on all major podcast platforms.
When I was thirteen or so, I had a terrible epiphany. I’d read so many books––possibly hundreds––but I’d never know the real number because I hadn’t been tracking them.
This spurred me to fitful bursts of record keeping that I always, inevitably gave up in despair because I am a perfectionist and I had already flubbed my chance at a perfect record.
Cue debut year. I realized I should probably do a better job tracking what I was reading so I could tell people about awesome books whenever I got asked what are you reading? in interviews.
But I knew most systems (GoodReads, StoryGraph, those cute reading journals with star systems you can fill in) weren’t going to work for me. They tracked too much, and somehow not enough. For example, I don’t do star ratings unless I’m forced to (glowers at NetGalley) because numerical ranking isn’t meaningful to me. And while I’d like to track page numbers or hours for audio, that’s too granular and I get overwhelmed.
So, being the nerd I am, I built my own tracker in AirTable. It has columns for title, author, publication year, genre and subgenre, the medium in which I read, status (currently reading, read, DNF), the month in which I read, and notes.
And I’ve mostly kept up with it!?
Since we’re halfway through 2025, I thought I’d share my current reading stats and some ways that tracking my reading has affected my reading life.
I’ve known for a long time that mostly read in ebook, because I mostly read before bed. But I love nothing more than to curl up with a physical book and get lost in it. So, seeing the actual numbers has motivated me to start making time to physical books––especially on days off.
I’ve also known for a long time that I mostly read fantasy (like, by a lot), but I used to read very widely and I think it’s beneficial to my craft. Tracking my reading has helped me be more intentional about exploring and getting out of my reading comfort zone.
I used to be such a completionist, finishing books even when they weren’t for me. Tracking DNF (books I ‘Did Not Finish’) has made me feel better about setting them aside when I need to, because I can add my reason in the notes column as a sort of “it’s not you it’s me.”
Here are my favorite reads of the year (so far):
Updates
This month has been a busy one, behind the scenes. Summer tends to be placid surfaces and churning depths, in my experience. Some of that churning is starting to be visible, though:
My short story, “CoverLetter_Version5” was included in Small Wonders’ Best of Year One anthology
I got to write a roundup of exciting 2025 Dark Academia releases for Psychopomp, and that should be out later this week.
My poem, “Renfield at His Windowsill” will be in the July issue of Small Wonders (out next week)
Snapshots of Summer
Thanks for wallowing with me,
Courtney