Tag: reading

I usually spend a lot of time at the end of the year thinking about all the books, music, movies & other things I’ve enjoyed. Taking stock & picking out my favorites usually brings a sense of order and fun to my end of year. But this year, I just didn’t get around to it.

To be honest, I didn’t listen to much music, and I don’t think I watched many new or notable movies. what I did do, however, was read more books than in recent memory.

Actually I listened to many (but not all) of them. Audible was my bff this past year. I indulged in genre fiction like fantasy and sci-do much more than usual, devouring a half-dozen multi-book series (at a guess).

I might even sit down and pick out some favorites. but in the meantime, here is my Goodreads Year in Books 2022.

My goal was 48 books, and I read 114! Holy cow!!!

Going back through the year, reflecting on things I’ve consumed (whether it be music, books, movies & tv shows, or even just delicious food) has always been one of my favorite things to do. This year, however, I’ve been a little low on the brainpower. Books continued to be a constant companion for me, though. I read real paper version of books, relishing the different smells of paper and ink—as always saving poetry and graphic novels for the printed page. But I also listened to dozens and dozens of books via Audible. I’ve been using Audible since only 2018 but it has truly revolutionized how I read. I can now “read” while driving, cleaning, putting together a puzzle, or just staring at the sky from my seat on the back deck. There must be someone who argues that audiobooks are not really reading, but that person is NOT me. As I get older & my eyes get worse & my time becomes stuffed with too many to-dos, listening to books is my only way to read as much as I love.

So what did I read (in any form)?

If we do the math, I’ve read 60 total books. Forty were works of fiction (13 of those specifically the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series) Non-fiction, mostly memoirs, totaled 8. Tied at 6 books each, we have poetry and comics/graphic novels.

See the more interactive list at My Year in Books

If you’re a completist, you could go stalk me on GoodReads and see the gritty details. Instead, lets just cover some of my personal trends briefly.

At the beginning of the year, and then again about half-way through, I binged the Dr. Siri Paiboun Mystery Series. These are 15 books, written by Colin Cotterill from 2004 to 2020, that follow the namesake, the national coroner for Laos, as he solves crimes & mysteries in the 1970’s. The books heavily feature the culture, history and politics of Laos, including American participation in the Vietnam War. Even the background scenery was educational, giving me new insight on the country, region, and so many other topics, like the illegal animal/pet trade. But the series isn’t heavy, if I’m making it seem that way. At its core, the books are each self-contained mysteries, just like episodes of a tv show. Beyond the serious topics, there is also magic, religion, love, and friendship. Oh, and communism.

12 out of 15 books in the Dr. Siri series, original cover art.

I was just trying to think how on earth I ended up reading this series, out of all the possible mystery series on earth, and I realize now that it was suggested by Audible’s algorithm after I read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman, a 1998 non-fiction book about the Hmong people, their flight from oppression in Laos, and one family in particular’s journey through the American medical system.

Another series that I finished was the Hell’s Library Trilogy by AJ Hackwith. The series follows main character Claire (& several other central characters added along the way) as she care for books in “The Unwritten Wing” of the all-encompassing library, and then as she is expelled to “The Arcane Wing” where she curates all manner of magical/sinister objects. She also visits many other realms and their respective libraries, with repeat visits to Valhalla and also The Dust Library (where books go after they have been read and/or remembered for the very last time on Earth). There are muses, fallen angels, one conflicted Hero escaped from his book, a whole wing full of damsels who chose to leave their unwritten books and live in the library, and of course death, whose name is Walter.

The Library of the Unwritten, first in the trilogy by AJ Hackwith

As an interesting aside, I have found a distinct topic missing from Wikipedia. The author, the individual books, even the Hell’s Library trilogy itself, of the above-discussed series. I didn’t even realize this was possible!

Another trend I’ve discovered in my 2021 in books review is a new favorite author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia. She is a Mexican-Canadian author who has published a spectacular amount of great short stories and novels in her young career. Based on what I’ve read in various biographies, she’s definitely into weird & speculative fiction. I was turned onto her 2020 Nebula Award nominated book Mexican Gothic by The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub. This oddly and aptly named club was founded by The Bloggess Jenny Lawson, who is herself a hilarious and moving author with this year’s book Broken winning a GoodReads Choice Award.

Bestseller Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Let me just say that I am not an official member of The Fantastic Strangelings Bookclub, since I don’t have enough room in my house for MORE paper books. I consider myself an honorary member though, having been a devout reader of The Bloggess since the early 00’s and a bonafide weirdo since the early forever. Jenny Lawson chooses a wide variety of books, but she definitely has a penchant for slightly magical historical fiction. I was skeptical for a long time, but once I finally hopped on the bandwagon, I’m hooked. (Oh so many horrible metaphors/cliches in this paragraph.) After reading Mexican Gothic, I quickly moved on to 2019’s Gods of Jade and Shadows followed by The Beautiful Ones. If you’re in doubt about whether you’d like any of these books, just take a chance. You could find a new favorite author like me!

Well, its after midnight now. We’ve officially entered 2022. I crossed the threshold of the year here at my desk, watching Matrix Resurrections (for the third time). My neighborhood is filled with the sound of fireworks— people celebrating the end of 2021 or the beginning of a new year. It doesn’t really matter which, because the time on a clock, the date on the calendar, these things don’t matter in the course of a life. The Hell’s Library Trilogy posits that stories are what matter. That indeed stories are the key to unlocking the power of the soul. And Agent Smith from Matrix Resurrections would add “That’s the thing about stories. They never really end.”

I wasn’t very big on New Year’s resolutions last year, which in hindsight seems just fine, but I did set one goal for myself. To read 30 books. I tracked it using my GoodReads app, since they have a convenient feature for this. And I am shocked to find myself, just a few days before NYE about to finish book number 46! Over 150 percent of my goal. Honestly, this feels really good. 

The only questions I’m left with are 1) do I set next year’s reading goal higher than last year’s goal or higher than last’s years’ actual books read, and 2) what were my favorites and least favorites from the past year??? I have been thinking about my faves, and I believe I’ve come to some conclusions. But if you have an opinion on my reading goal, let me know. Last year’s goal was 30 books and I actually read 46. So, should my goal be somewhere in between? I’m thinking 42? (I would say 40 but I just don’t like that number… can’t tell you why).

You can check out the full list of books I read over the past year here on my GoodReads’ Year In Books 2020 but my favorite and least fave books, broken down by categories appear below. There is no rhyme nor reason. These are just the books that really stuck with me, whittled down into a group small enough to be a manageable list.

Fiction

  • Absolutely Favorite Fiction
  • Favorite Fiction That Took Me Back to High School Feels

Non-Fiction

Favorite Series

Poetry

Least Favorite / Failed Attempt:

A note on my failure: I attempted to listen to the Audible version of this book. The voice was distracting at best, and absolutely soul-killing at worst. I tried to restart multiple times, maybe 3 or 4, but just couldn’t do it. There was going to be NO healing with that version, unfortunately.


Up next in my end-of-year musings, a list of other people’s end of year lists, including some of the topics I’ve covered like music or poetry but also branching out to cartoons and live music. Keep an eye over the next few days!

Also up in the new year: site redesign to get the blog posts to the top of the page! Less Scrolling! Yay!

I just finished wrapping presents for Christmas morning. It isn’t ALL the presents I need to wrap, just all the presents for now… I don’t love wrapping because I start off with dreams of beautiful bows and perfect edges and end up not wanting to waste paper and taping together multiple used edges to make “leftovers” paper, jagged edges be damned. A package from me is either beautiful or hideous. There is no in between.

I also just finished an audiobook and reviewed it over at GoodReads:


The Coroner's Lunch (Dr. Siri Paiboun, #1)The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was included in my Audible membership, and I needed something light (but not without intrigue) and less than a billion hours long to get me over a recent reading/listening slump. This was the PERFECT book. Less than an 8 hour listen, a mystery with many layers, and even some political and historical lessons thrown in for good measure.

I liked it so much that I am going to start book #2 in the series right away. Hopefully I won’t burn though all 15 of the remaining installments too fast…

View all my reviews


How do you read series? All at once or spread out between other books, just one here and there to stretch your experience for as long as possible–assuming, that is, that the series is complete and you can read it all at once in much the same way you can binge a Netflix series these days???

I’m an all at once girl. If I’ve been fully invited into a world of characters and places that I enjoy, I don’t want it to end. It’s like when you get to the end of a book and realize that you’re going to miss the people you’ve come to know, but in the case of a series— you don’t have to! Just jump into the next adventure.


Speaking of adventures, I tried to find marshmallows today. Actually, I’ve been looking for marshmallows and hot chocolate for the past few months. Trader Joe’s hasn’t had its normal hot chocolate selection, and tbh I’m not sure if it’s because it’s sold out or just not available. But hot chocolate hasn’t really been in other stores much either. And marshmallows?!?!

What’s up everyone? I guess there’s a run on hot chocolate fixings a lá hallmark channel? Comfort is in big demand and short supply this year. I hope y’all have enough though. Happy holiday & merry Christmas Eve ❤️