Reading – LARSEN

Decolonising A Bookshelf in Enough Trope

Reading is my only competitive sport (though one in which I only compete with myself).

My 2025 reading year

I am a self-confessed book nerd and reading evangelist with very few other hobbies. So no-one is surprised that I set annual reading estimates for myself that I track, analyse and report against – not just to keep myself accountable, but to also share the joy and gratitude I find in other people’s spoken, printed and digital words.

Which is how I know that I read 186 books in 2025 – encompassing three different reading challenges and a range of other ambitions and interests.

My 2024 reading year

Reading is never a competition. As a proud book nerd and reading evangelist, I’m passionate that whatever, however and however much you read is wonderful, valuable and valid.

But if neither the size nor style of our reading lists really matter, why do I still set annual estimates for myself that I track, analyse and report against – including the 198 books I read in 2024?

Loving our libraries

My free occasional enews has included some bad news about libraries lately, so I wanted to set the record straight.

Reading in 2023

With my own book hitting bookshelves and another one in production, I really thought I’d read fewer books in 2023. I was wrong.

In fact, I blew my personal reading record out of the water by getting through 236 books last year (exceeding the 212 I read in 2022).

But let me be clear: READING IS NOT A COMPETITION.

National reading symposium wrap-up

Australia is a nation of readers, with reading the second most popular way we engage with art, culture and creativity (after listening to recorded music). Yet 44% of us have low or very low literacy, 25% haven’t read a book in the last year, and recent research shows a 7% drop in the number of young people reading for pleasure.

Nearly double the number of Australians engage in reading every week than playing or watching sport, but sport takes place in the public realm and is so is seen as more integral to and defining of the Australian identity – including receiving significantly more investment.

And another thing: on banning book bans

Book lovers, prepare to get riled up. My latest ‘and another thing’ vlog is about the book bans in Dakota and Florida that could put teachers and librarians in prison just for doing their jobs.

In Bed with Animals review

In Bed with Animals is a poetic exposé of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The experience of one woman and every woman, Bronwyn Lovell’s debut collection captures the ‘wildly frightening’ banality of patriarchy’s bludgeoning of women, animals and the environment.

Reading and writing in 2022

I blew my personal reading record out of the water last year, topping out at 212 books in 2022 – far exceeding the 147 I read in 2021 (mostly thanks to 3+ months of COVID recovery and a lot of sleepless nights).

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