Books - It's the end of 2022 and I consumed 100 books this year

2022 is my good 'book-consumption' year.

I read & listened to 100 books. Before you start judging whether my ‘greedy’ consumption this year is good or not (as people looove to mention quality over quantity every time I mentioned how many books I finished each year). 

In 2022 :

1. I didn’t socialize, so I had extra time (same as all the years before, lol)
2. I didn’t binge-watch movies & series as much this year, so I had the extra time
3. I borrowed a lot of books from my friends, so I had the pressure to read instead of keeping other people’s books for long
4. I tried to make it my habit to read every night (I’ll be sitting on my bed by 8 pm, trying to read, no longer in front of my computer after a long day of work)
5. I listen to an audiobook during cooking and sometimes while working
6. 1 year = 365 days, so roughly 1 book around every 3 days, which is fairly manageable.

If you are an avid reader, you will understand how hard it is to find a ‘GREAT’ fiction that you will want to reread over and over again, if you are lucky you might find 1 in every 30 books, so in order to find more great books that suit your exact taste, you had to read a lot, there is no other way. People can recommend books, but good for them doesn’t usually be good for you. Was it a high-quality reading/listening experience? - Not all, of course. But among those 100 books, I found at least 15 books that I might reread for a slower reading experience, but many of them that I won’t want to reread - ever.

Back in 2018, I read 114 books, so this isn't my first time. But in 2018, I consumed a lot of non-fiction books and I didn't write down about each book. So I tend to forget which book is which. I wanted to make a change from that past experience, and I wanted to remember the things that I learned from each book. That's why I created the Notion book club :

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What do I do to read better?

1. I have my Notion book club to write my thoughts, ideas, personal arguments, analysis, and yes, perhaps reviews (for me, I feel like reviews are very subjective so I usually don’t focus on that).
2. By having to keep track of my reading/listening experience, I have to stop and put myself into a thinking mode, then I have to sit to do some light research and then write about it. It’s like a personal practice to learn how to think and hone my writing skill.
3. I also have a commonplace book where I write things that capture my interest, words that I don’t understand, or lovely quotes that I want to reread later

My good book list this year :

1. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
2. Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
3. The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves
4. I Remain in Darkness by Annie Ernaux
5. Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
6. The Invisible Life by Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
7. The Song of Achilles by Madelline Miller
8. The Unseen Body by Jonathan Reisman
9. How to Make Disease Disappear by Dr Rangan Chatterjee
10. Non-fiction books by Ann Patchett & Rachel Cusk

Books that make me stop & think :

• Huge-gap relationship, the age of consent, abusive relationship - Consent by Vanessa Springora, My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth, The Enchanter by Vladimir Nabokov
• Mental health - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man by Vladimir Nabokov, The Upstair House by Julia Fine
• New ideas - The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister - the idea to store memories in smell, Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens - POV of a ghost falling in love with a writer, Meet me in another Life by Catriona Silvey - Deja Vu, stuck in the unconscious mind
• Why did I cry ? - The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
• Good entertaining story-telling: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Story of Achilles by Madelline Miller, Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman, The Story of Gilgamesh by Yiyun Li, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab
• On long marriage, separation - The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greves, Aftermath by Rachel Cusk, The Good Mother by Sue Miller, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
• The Life in the 1900s - Anne of the Green Gable series
• Losing & grief - I Remain in Darkness by Annie Ernaux, Farewell Ghost by Nadia Terranova
• Motherhood, post-partum depression, parenting - Black Milk by Elif Shafak, I’ll Show Myself Out by Jessi Klein, The Highly Sensitive Parent by Elaine N Aron, The Good Mother by Sue Miller, The Upstair House by Julia Fine
• Friendship - Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett, The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
• On health - The Unseen body by Jonathan Reisman & How to Make Disease Disappear by Dr Rangan Chatterjee
• What gives a bad taste? - The Maidens by Alex Michaelides, A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

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All the page covers in my Book Club Notion were done by me, each and every one of them (look at the whole year's dedication !), I am so proud for reaching the end of 2022 with one thing that I promised I do throughout the year. The writing was a pain - I DIDN'T KNOW WRITING MY OWN OPINION IS A SET OF SKILL ONE NEEDS TO LEARN :F There are books that I didn't write anything in - those are the books that didn't leave any thoughts that I want to remember or it was so dull I just don't want to write anything about.

Anyhow, the one book that gave me the experience to remember in 2022 was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. It took me 1.5 months to finish it - a book that makes me feel so much. Thank you, Hanya for writing such a masterpiece. One day I will want to reread it again, in the meantime, I'm waiting for my preorder copy of To Paradise early next year.

Thank you 2022, to finding more good books next year! ⚘

Check out my Year in Books compilation (Goodreads). If I were at school and there was another reading competition, I would probably win this again ❤

Compilation Post : End of the Year 2022

A 2022 compilation :

1. On health :

Remember in 2021 I had severe anxiety that I collapsed? Well, it took around 6-8 months for the anxiety to clear up. Even after that, I started having chronic pain for another half of the year, which I think was related to anxiety. I spent thousands to recover/manage/heal. 

But I learned a lot. It taught me resilience, it taught me to understand that some things need to be experienced, it taught me humility, it reminded me of the shortness of life, and it taught me to have more backup plans than I already have.

But I'm well now, and my health in 2022 was better.

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2. On finance :

We struggled throughout the year, it was a slow year, financially. As a freelancer, there are months with no money and there are months with doubled/tripled from what I usually get. But all in all, we struggled a lot this year, which led to a decision to make a change in my career.

Note: I spent a lot of my savings surviving and recovering in 2022, so I wish to earn more in 2023 to financially recover and prepare for the future. 

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3. On projects, career, and work :

In Nov, I started working full-time again. This decision was made out of necessity and although I was the one that made the decision, I'm actually still very disappointed with this. But we have to be ready for the economic downturn, we need to have enough to survive without having to struggle on a monthly basis kan. This is the sacrifice that I need to make.

It has been 2 months and I'm adapting well. We are still working full-time remotely in the comfort of our own house. We got connected through Slack and Zoom, we have office lunch every month and weekly get-togethers for a seminar/talk, all online. They actually make an effort to connect us together even though we are separated by countries. 

They offer a good salary, enough annual leaves, 3 months maternity leaves, birthday day off, flexible-work time, trust us as a fully responsible adult (I mean, we are fully remote and all work are manageable), work-life balance, no OT needed, etc etc etc. All the things I wanted in a work environment.

I work as a designer/illustrator where I can use my skills in different projects. It's a remote office where all are treated like an adult and I like it. 

I also did several more projects with Noko this year and most of the things came out before Christmas.

In mid-Dec, I joined Comic Fiesta but it was not as fun. 

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4. On Sofi :

I waited for 2 years and 8 months to hear her call me "mami". She finally started learning to talk 3 months before she turned 3. Soon she started to catch up, she mimicked us and 6 months later she can even use up to 4 words in a sentence. 

It wasn't just her time yet and we waited ever so patiently :F

She is also potty-trained and no longer uses nappy except at night time. She stops drinking milk lying down, she wants me to read her books every night, and she refuses to nap during the afternoon. She started her 1-week trial at a kindergarden in Nov as well. 

A lot of major changes. 

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5. On passion :

I consumed more than 100 books this year.

Letting myself nerd out and doing research on books and writers feels so good (I usually write something in the early morning before Sofi gets up). I learned something from reviewing these books, I decided on certain matters that I was not sure about before, and I discovered things about myself that I didn't know.

It is so good to still like something so passionately even after 30 years. Also, it feels good to nerd up and write about books with invisible audiences. 

1. The Book of Goose by Yi Yun Li 
2. Gilgamesh by Yi Yun Li 
3. Briefly, a Delicious Life by Nell Stevens 
4. Black Milk by Elif Shafak 
5. The Song of Achilles by Madelline Miller 
6. The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 
7. The Prince and the Dress Maker by Jen Wang
8. The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

At this point in my life (mid-30s), I'm beginning to enjoy reading classic literature, and fiction with beautiful prose and calm slower vibes. Life is already too messed up, I just want to read/listen to something soothing for my mind. 

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Things I'm excited about :

1. The book I pre-ordered in Nov for my upcoming birthday month: is the paperback version of To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. 
2. The Last of Us series will be out in mid-January, but it's on HBO Max.
3. I am waiting for the time to watch The House of Dragon - because I've been so busy for the past couple of months.
4. I'm also extending my stay at Disney Hotstar to finish up Andor - and write something about it because I'm inspired. Fun fact: I waited for a year+ to wait for the release of Andor. (DONE)
5. The home massage session on my birthday, I pre-booked on Sentuh App :F
6.  Getting my Kindle back and reading Hamnet (I bought it in Aug). I expected it to be returned to me in Dec, but I guess getting it returned wasn't in her main plans.