A reading journey enhances life. It creates memories each year, along with the joys and disappointments -- some years having more of one or the other, and a lot of in between. I can look at my year of reading and remember what it was like by the titles, recalling their connection to events. Twenty twenty-two was a time of disruption, change, melancholy, and blessings. In February, we moved from California to Florida, and in December we moved into our new home. I finished my typical number of books, but I bailed more than usual; flopped at keeping up with book club; and I did not review as much as I had wanted to.
This is a recap of the books I finished or started to read in 2022, including my rating. Some I re-read (RR) or bailed (B). I was compelled to donate a large percentage of books that I know I will never read or reread. I had to downsize because I have less bookshelves, and I mean to keep it that way.
In addition, the Unread Shelf Project (by Whitney at The Unread Shelf) is my attempt to read unread books I own, to decide which to keep and which to donate.
In the end, I did my best to choose my favorites, which is not an exact science. It changes. (Like science.)
january
- Hardy: A Pair of Blue Eyes ⭐⭐
- Greek Lyrics ⭐⭐⭐
- McCarthy: The Road ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Orwell: Animal Farm ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Ingalls Wilder: Little House in the Big Woods ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
february
- Ingalls Wilder: Little House on the Prairie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Kennedy: The Real Anthony Fauci ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Wister: The Virginian (B) (read a few chapters)
march
- Horace: Odes ⭐⭐ (read selections)
- Spiegelman: Maus I & II ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Shaffer: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Ingalls Wilder: Farmer Boy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Ingalls Wilder: On the Banks of Plum Creek ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Cervantes: Don Quixote (B) (RR) (read a 1/3) (I love this book, BTW, but it wasn't a good time to read it again.)
april
- Torrey: To the Edge of the World ⭐⭐⭐
- Myers: A Place Called Heartbreak ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Popper: Covid Operation ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Ingalls Wilder: By the Shores of Silver Lake ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Skousen: The Five Hundred Year Leap ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Park: In Order to Live ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Steinbeck: The Pearl ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Beowulf ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Cohn: From Sea to Shining Sea ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Marrin: Stalin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
may
- Ingalls Wilder: Little Town on the Prairie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Foley: These are the Generations ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Steinbeck: Travels with Charley ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Beamer: Let's Roll ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Weiss: Helga's Diary ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Hansen: The Dying Citizen ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (B) (read 1/2 but had to return to library)
june
- Lewis: The Abolition of Man ⭐⭐⭐
- Austen: Pride and Prejudice ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Donne: (selections) ⭐⭐
- Blos: Gathering of Days (B) (couldn't get into it)
- Brink: Caddie Woodlawn (B) (read a bit, but had to return it to the library)
july
- Jankovic: You Who? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Hemingway: A Moveable Feast ⭐⭐⭐⭐
august
- Newsom: Polycarp: The Crown of Fire ⭐⭐⭐
- Dickens: Bleak House (B) (read nine chapters)
- Chambers: If You Will Ask ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Milton: Paradise Lost ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Blake: Songs of Innocence and of Experience ⭐⭐⭐
- Popov: Tortured for His Faith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
september
- Merkle: Eve in Exile ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Ten Boom: The Hiding Place ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- Wordsworth: The Works of William Wordsworth [selections] ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Ham: Creation to Babel ⭐⭐⭐⭐
october
- Wein: Code Name Verity ⭐⭐⭐
- Wells: The Invisible Man ⭐⭐⭐
november
- Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls (B) (read 15%)
- Twain: Joan of Arc (B) (read 16%)
december
- Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (RR)
- MacArthur: Because the Time is Near ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Begg: Truth for Life ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Beck: The Immortal Nicholas (read 52% and was unable to renew it from library)
* * *
The 2022 Totals:
total books read, including some bails: 55
total books reread: 17
total books bailed: 8
total books donated: -34
total new books added: +7
total unread books remaining: 79
* * *
The 2022 Winners:
* most beloved children's/y.a.
The Little House Series
* most haunting fiction
The Road
* most memorable biography/memoir
In Order to Live
* most impressive history
The Dying Citizen
* most appreciative non-fiction
The Real Anthony Fauci
* most enjoyable poetry (tie)
Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
* * *
What was your reading journey like this year???
It's nice to read your post again, Ruth!
ReplyDeleteAnd I wish you all the best for your new home.
Ingalls Wilder's for you is like Agatha Christie's for me, we always need to read them from time to time!
Hi, Fanda! Thank you!! Yes, isn't that true? (I still need to read an Agatha Christie!)
DeleteAs someone who also moved this year and doesn't even have a family or house to take care of, I am SO very impressed by all the reading you managed!! That is no small feat with everything you had going on. And what a great mix of classics, history, and current events. I bought In Order to Live based on your recommendation, and it is hanging out on the top of my shelf along with other "soon to read" books.
ReplyDeleteMy reading journey was, uh... rather dismal. Mirroring my mood, I guess. However, my page count was pretty decent, since I DNF'd several books after giving them a fair try. Next year will be more pleasant for reading. Hopefully we'll both feel more settled in!
I'm shocked myself that I made it to 50 books, even after I set the bar low at 40. And BTW, many of my books were read with my kids for school, which helps. But this year they are reading privately; so I need to pull my own weight now.
DeleteI do hope you get to read In Order to Live. You won't regret it!
Definitely ----> here's hoping you enjoy a more pleasant reading journey in 2023!!
You did really well, Ruth, in spite of the upheaval. I'm looking forward to more of your excellent reviews though. 😉 I read 32 books as compared to 12 last year so I'm happy. And I finally finished Moby Dick!! I hope to increase the number in 2023. Happy reading to you!
ReplyDeleteYay! You did it! I'm proud of you. Do you think you will write a review of MD? This next year I hope to convince my book club to read In the Heart of the Sea. I probably couldn't talk them into MD, but this would be the next best thing.
DeleteBest success next year on your reading journey!! (Actually, we all need it.)
I will try to write a review of Moby Dick. But, we'll see ..... 😉
DeleteI must keep a better track of my reading next year. I have 52 listed but I couldn't remember if some other books were ones I'd read in 2021. I'm writing them down in my new journal as I start them :)
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with what you managed to read after everything else you had on your plate. Well done!
I read In Order to Live in 2021 - I know that as I actually reviewed it on my blog. That's been part of my problem - I've read more than I got around to reviewing. Isn't it an inspiring & devastating story!
I have a hard copy book journal too to keep track of the books I attempted and finished and I also have a journal that I record all of my book titles for the year. Maybe I'll do a post on that one day. That's the only way I know what I read each month. It's fun to see the end result and how it connects with your year.
DeleteAnd now that I know you did a review (I know, I slacked so bad on reviews this year) of In Order to Live, I will have to read it. I read some other reviews, but I'm not sure yours was one of them. Anyway...the story was shocking, inspiring (yes), and terrifying to know other people live this way. I want to scream! Lives stolen for sure. I pray for the people of NK. :(
P.S. I think your blog is one of the WP blogs that I sometimes have issues commenting. My comments end up in spam. :( I'm so frustrated. But I guess this last comment made it??? So sometimes I may have to just connect w/ you on Instagram or GR.