This has turned out to be a pretty good year in reading. I think I set an arbitrary goal of reading 75 books on Goodreads back in January, but the number of books I read isn't terribly meaningful to me. This fall and winter there seemed to be lots of enticing books recommended by various people and also available from my libraries, so I kept borrowing and reading. And then reading some more. Goodreads tells me I've read 126 books so far, but I've started several good ones right now, so I'm not sure where I'll end up. And like I said, numbers don't really matter to me.
The enjoyment of the books, what I've learned, and where the books have transported me to matters most to me. I don't want to bore you with numbers, statistics, and ratings, so I'm just going to write about some of my highlights. The links will take you to Goodreads so you can read more about the books and decide if they might be for you.
Some of the books I've enjoyed the most include:
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz
A few of the books I have learned from:
A World On the Wing by Scott Weidensaul
An Immense World by Ed Yong
The Lindbergh Nanny by Mariah Fredericks
All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell
In Love by Amy Bloom
Special books that transported me:
The Fell by Sarah Moss
Foster by Claire Keegan
The Evening Chorus by Helen Humphries
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Young Mungo by Stuart Douglas
For the sake of some conciseness (and because I don't want to bore you!), I've limited my list to 15 of my favorites. This is not exhaustive by any means, especially because it only includes about 10% of the books I read. The books I'm currently reading are Lark Ascending and Remote Sympathy. I didn't think I was much of a science fiction reader, but Lark Ascending was recommended by Margaret Renkl so I had to give it a try. I started Remote Sympathy several months ago but had to return it to the library before I got too far. It was only $2.99 for Kindle on Monday, and I couldn't resist. I also can't stop thinking about Signal Fires, so I plan to re-read it after finishing these two books.
I would love to hear about the book(s) you loved in 2022, what you are reading now, or the one you can't stop thinking about. I need to make sure I've got some good books lined up for 2023, and many of the best recommendations come from you! Here's to another enjoyable, educational, and immersive year of reading in 2023!
This is a great recap of your wonderful year of reading! I obviously have some I need to add to my TBR list. Right now I'm reading Winter Solstice and I love it so much.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful way to "categorize" your reading for the year, Bonny! (Several of my personal favorites for the year also appear on your list.) I hope you're enjoying Remote Sympathy. I thought it was quite powerful . . . it made my list of "shift" books this year. (Books that made me think a little differently. . . ) Here's to more great reading in 2023 (regardless of the metrics). XO
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorites this year are also on your list: The Marriage Portrait and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. I did not read as much this year as last, but I think the quality of my reading has been better, particularly given how many of the books I read were for Read With Us discussions or the Erdrich-along (it's like the best part of an English class without the pressure of a test or a paper at the end). I'm looking forward to more of that in 2023!
ReplyDeleteOh this is just excellent, Bonny! What a brilliant way to contemplate one's reading! And I think I will borrow this idea, as I have been stumbling about trying to think of how to share the books I loved this year! I hope you do not mind! XO
ReplyDeleteI like how you have catagorized your favorite books. We share several favorite books this year, but one I haven't read is Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow and it will be moving up on my TBR list for next year. The book I can't stop thinking about is one I read last spring and you are reading now, Remote Sympathy. Here's to more good reading in 2023!
ReplyDeleteI think we share several books this year because I saw An Immense World and World on the Wing on your goodreads list. I know that if you give five stars to any sort of nature writing, then that is one I will also enjoy and learn from, too. I've only read a bit of Remote Sympathy so far, but I can already tell it's going to be a powerful book.
DeleteLike Debbie, I like the way you synthesized and organized your reading from the year. What others read fascinates me. I have several titles on my TBR list. I want to read Foster, The Evening Chorus, and Lucy By the Sea. Without looking at my reading journal for more detail, The Round House and The Sentence by Erdrich as well as The Island of Sea Women are the latest three that I keep thinking about. Winter Solstice will stay in my heart for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about everyone's "best" books and seeing that we have overlap in that first category (Marriage Portrait, Tx3, and Signal Fires) reiterates my tendency to immediately want to read all the books you really love! and I so appreciate how you read to learn and both Foster and Young Mungo are in my "early 2023" stack. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHow odd that I have only read one of the books on your list! I suspect that if you and I compared our full lists there would be more overlap, but whatever. I am pretty sure I read at least several of the books you wrote about on your Wednesday posts; thank you for those. From one reader to another: happy reading in 2023!
ReplyDeleteOur reading tastes often overlap, and some of your faves are mine, too. I did a quick scan of my Goodreads reviews to find books I gave 5 stars to that you didn't list here (though you might have read them... I didn't do check systematically). They include Horse (by Geraldine Brooks), Demon Copperhead (by Barbara Kingsolver), Great Circle (by Maggie Shipstead), Cloud Cuckoo Land (by Anthony Doerr), The Diamond Eye (by Kate Quinn), The Tea Bird of Hummingbird Lane (by Lisa See), The Island of Sea Women (also by Lisa See), True Biz (by Sara Novic), Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World (by Katharine Hayhoe), Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (by Robin Wall Kimmerer), This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (by Ann Patchett), and Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest (by Suzanne Simard). Reading is JUST THE BEST!!!
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