Year-End Book Wrapup 2022

Once again, my goal this year was to read 75 books and complete the Read Harder Challenge.  I finished 93 books and completed the RHC; you can check out which book I read for each category and see links to reviews here.



Top five books of the year:

1. The Trees

This is the book I have kept coming back to recommend to people all year long.  Brilliant, moving, and yet somehow funny in spite of it all. Percival Everett is amazing and it’s also amazing how different this is from another book of his I loved, So Much Blue.  I discovered both of these books from the Tournament of Books, by the way — not sure what I’d do without it.

2. One’s Company

This book was created in a lab to specifically appeal to me. My Year of Rest and Relaxation meets Remainder with a Three’s Company theme? Yes please! The ending isn't perfect and I wouldn’t necessarily say this book is for everyone, but never before has a book been so specifically for me.

3. See You Yesterday

Probably my favorite YA of the year (although Not My Problem and Love Is for Losers also get an honorable mention) about two people stuck in a time loop, ala Palm Springs. Delightful.

4. The Thursday Murder Club (series)

I read all three books in this series this year and they are all delightful, cozy mysteries with a delightful cast of retiree characters. If this doesn’t sound too hopelessly twee for you and you enjoy a mystery, these are impeccably done.

5. Sorrow and Bliss

Another book about a woman dealing with her mental health in maybe not always optimum ways, with a mix of black comedy and vulnerability — I guess this is my genre, now.  But it’s a lovely read.

Honorable mentions:  Jane Austen at Home, The Sentence. Beautiful World, Where Are You?, Sea of Tranquility, Mouth to Mouth, and the prologue of Love After the End, which blew my mind



Bottom three books:

As usual, I DNF the books I absolutely disliked, so these are the ones I liked enough to finish but left me feeling meh at the end.  

1. Happily Ever Island

I wanted to love this! Disney reenactments on a luxury island! But the world-building and business model here made absolutely zero sense at all, and thus I was annoyed.

2. Light from Uncommon Stars

I know people loved this book, but I could not get past the main character having sentenced all these souls to eternal damnation. It bothered me the whole way through and never was resolved. So, no.

3. A Study in Honor

Sherlock Holmes, but black and queer and female (hell yes) with no amazing deductions or case-solving? (what the hell?! no!) 

 

2023 plans:




For 2023 my goal will once again be 75 books, and the Read Harder Challenge. I will track my Read Harder Challenge books here throughout the year and tag them with 2023 rhc. The 2023 categories are below.

Some initial thoughts: it’s taken me a long time to get comfortable with DNFing books so it’s funny that I have to finish a DNF for this challenge now.  For repeating a challenge I am inclined to go back to 2015 again, since I started the challenge in 2016 and so I haven’t done any of them yet except for “self-help” last year, but the challenges are generally super broad. (Like, I could count any book by a male or nonbinary author.)  I’ll have to think about this one. I have no idea what “social horror” is (help). I’m not looking forward to reading a cookbook. But I’m excited to dig in anyway! It’s my favorite time of year. Happy new year, book friends!



Total: 24/24

[X] Read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author: The Passing Playbook
[X] Read one of your favorite author’s favorite books: Evelina
[X]  Read a book about activism: Pleasure Activism
[X] Read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author: Gender Queer
[X] Read a completed webcomic: Check, Please
[X] Finish a book you’ve DNFed (did not finish): All the Bright Places
[X] Listen to an audiobook performed by a person of color of a book written by an author of color: Bad Fat Black Girl
[X] Read a graphic novel/comic/manga if you haven’t before; or read one that is a different genre than you normally read. My Brother's Husband
[X] Read an independently published book by a BIPOC author: Cupid Calling
[X] Read a book you know nothing about based solely on the cover: Really Good, Actually
[X] Read a cookbook cover to cover: Smitten Kitchen
[X] Read a nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history: And the Category Is....
[X] Read an author local to you: Rift Zone
[X] Read a book with under 500 Goodreads ratings: Out of Character
[X] Read a historical fiction book set in an Eastern country: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
[X] Read a romance with bisexual representation: It's Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake
[X] Read a YA book by an Indigenous author: Hearts Unbroken
[X] Read a comic or graphic novel that features disability representation: Marbles
[X] Read a nonfiction book about intersectional feminism. Against White Feminism
[X] Read a book of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author: Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency
[X] Read a book of short stories: Life Ceremony
[X] Read any book from the Ignyte awards shortlist/longlist/winner list: & This Is How to Stay Alive
[X] Read a social horror, mystery, or thriller novel: The Other Black Girl
[X] Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!
 The Ship of Dreams

Never Ever Getting Back Together (by Sophie Gonzales)

A nice, fun holiday read with great bisexual representation and a slight genre problem.  The premise is that Sophie and Maya go on a Bachelor-like game show where women are competing to win the affections of the bachelor, who in this case is their ex-boyfriend, but begin to fall for each other instead.  

This premise would work perfectly with people in their mid-20s, but the characters are like 19? They handwave the alcohol thing as "the drinking age in this small European country is 18" which is fine I guess, but how has this dude accrued this giant list of "exes" when he's barely 20? How are the relationship histories serious enough to warrant all this drama?

And the villain gets his comeuppance at the end, which is satisfying I guess, but not when he's basically still a kid. Maybe this is just me being An Old. Anyway, I solved this by mentally aging all the characters up to 25 years old, and then I really enjoyed it!

Mouth to Mouth (by Antoine Wilson)

This would make a great book club book - it's a compelling read, and under 200 pages, but explores a narrative within a narrative that holds some surprises.  Plus it's a Tournament of Books book!  

The conceit is that our narrator is in an airport and runs into an old friend named Jeff. Their flight is delayed, and Jeff decides to tell him his life story and his biggest secret, all stemming from his rescuing a man who was drowning decades before.

Our narrator doesn't just stay out of the story - he asks questions, comments on Jeff's story, and occasionally steps away to think about what he has heard. I loved this, plus the setting of an airport lounge (and Jeff's takes of working at an art gallery).  I can't wait to discuss this one in the ToB (here's hoping they have comments again instead of trying to host it on Discord, which was miserable).

Just Eat It (by Laura Thomas)

The subtitle of this book is "How intuitive eating can help you get your shit together around food" and that captures the - sorry - flavor of this book pretty well. Laura Thomas is trying to be all hip and relatable and swears a lot, but she also dismantles diet culture effectively and has messages I really needed to read as I emerge into a new, healthier relationship and mindset around food.

She is from the UK (and I had to buy this book on paper because there's no e-book version at any of my libraries) but the principles are universal.  I loved the insight that nutrition should be additive - adding fiber or veggies or whatever into your diet is supportive and healthy, trying to exclude foods or deprive yourself of foods leads to binging and yo-yo dieting and all kinds of badness.

I kept a journal while reading this and I'm sure I'll refer to it often. And I have to say over the course of reading this book, I've gotten a lot better about listening to my body and being nice to myself about it. Excellent reading experience.