2022: A Bookish Year in Review

I’m really glad I decided to write this 2022 Bookish Year in Review, because I’d kind of forgotten all the books I read this year. It feels like a new perspective to synthesize my year through the books I read, and going through the reviews I wrote reminded me of my adoration I had directly after reading. Which is one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place: it’s a very public reading journal.

After creating this list of books, I felt a bit disappointed that I didn’t read as many as I did last year. But honestly, I read a lot of easy-breezy series last year that I could consume in one or two days. It’s not about the quantity; it’s about the quality… though the majority of books I read this year fall into the middle ground in regards to rating: I only had a few favorites, but I had even less disappointments. 

All the Books I Read This Year:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

REREAD: Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter:

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You 

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy 

Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover 

Only The Good Spy Young 

Out of Sight, Out of Time 

United We Spy 

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

The Girl With No Shadow (Chocolat #2) by Joanne Harris

Chocolate: the Consuming Passion by Sandra Boynton

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams 

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

REREAD: Entwined by Heather Dixon

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Tolstoy Lied by Rachel Kadish

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Currently reading: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Favorites:

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

• Awe-inspiring
• A learning experience
• Epitome of character development

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

• Full of cynical witticisms
• Funny
• Thought-provoking (sooo many annotations)

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

• Masterful writing style: descriptive and yet subtle
• Palpable atmosphere
• Such a relatable protagonist
• Unpredictable twist

Entwined by Heather Dixon

• Unobtrusive writing style
• Compelling twist on a fairytale 
• Colorful cast of characters

Disappointments:

The Girl With No Shadow (Chocolat #2) by Joanne Harris

• Skimmed it
• One of my least favorite tropes: manipulation of children against their lovely parents

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

• Somehow creepier than I thought it would be
• Not an enjoyable reading experience