2022 was the year I made space for reading. Also reading for pleasure, for a change, rather than for study or work.
Having only finished one book in 2021 (The Only Living Girl on Earth by Charles Yu), I read five books this year and I’m over half way through my sixth (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers).
In January, I filled the space waiting for mum’s funeral with The Martian by Andy Weir. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the film, mainly due to the way the lead character, Mark Watney, came across. However, I loved all the attention to detail.
In June, while visiting a close friend in Bristol, I read Fix the System, Not the Women by Laura Bates. It sets out in painful detail the systems that allow misogyny to thrive. Highly recommended.
In July, I read How One Becomes Sarah Mead by CL Craven. I really liked the way the different characters related to each other. Beautifully written - hopeful if at times heart breaking - and raises lots of questions about our ideas of happiness and relationships.
In November I discovered Bookwyrm and set myself the lofty goal to read 12 books in 2022. That didn’t happen but this was also the month where I started both Mask Off by JJ Bola and The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley, both books I bought for my eldest nephew.
The former is a good primer on toxic masculinity and the systems that both imprison and harm us. The latter I can only describe as ‘quirky’ but I loved it for this, even if I did find some of the period-specific cultural attitudes difficult to swallow.
In December I started The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I’m really enjoying it - this kind of ‘group of outcasts on a spaceship’ and the cultural tapestry that surrounds their adventures is my kind of science fiction - and I’ve discovered the Monks and Robots series by the same author that I’m looking forward to reading.
I think i'll stick with a goal of 12 books in 2023. I already have some books i'd like to return to and finish and some new ones i've been making a note of. However, whatever I end up reading, i'm looking forward to it.
BookWyrm #AmReading #Books #2022RoundUp
