…and my favourite books from that period.
Sometime in January 2022, I decided I’d take up reading again. I’d inhaled books at an incredible rate when I was in first and middle school, and then something happened to my attention span (probably my first Pokémon game, and a family PC with dial-up).
I knew I had time to read. I spend so much time watching TV or YouTube — okay, let me preface the rest of this blog with a disclaimer — I don’t believe people have to be actively productive or learning all the time, and I’m certainly not judging anyone that enjoys screentime in their time off. I just really wanted to make a change in my own life, because I adored reading as a child.
Reading is an interesting hobby, because it’s effectively a skill that has to be learned, and relearned if you take some time away from it. There’s a really good Answer In Progress video called “why you stopped reading” — I love Sabrina and the team, their videos are always well-researched and explained at an accessible level.
The aforementioned Answer In Progress video
I carved out some time in my day — I just started getting into bed an hour earlier instead of spending that time watching YouTube on the sofa.
I cracked open a Notion account and used their “reading list” database template to catalogue all my unread books, and I sorted them by the date I’d bought or been given them (best guess for some of them, to be honest). This meant that I, a hugely indecisive person, didn’t have to think about which book to pick up next.
I’m happy to read physical books or ebooks (but it does have to be an e-ink screen, not a phone or tablet), and a great source of motivation was the “X minutes left in chapter” feature on my Kindle. I set myself an initial target of reading a chapter a night, minimum, for up to an hour. I also made sure I had several very different books on the go at once, so if I didn’t feel motivated to pick up the one I’d read the night before, I could read something different and keep my streak going.
Long story short, I got addicted to reading again and I managed to read 49 books in 2022, smashing my initial goal of 12. I’m aiming for 50 again this year, and I’ve already read 18 at the time of drafting this post.
What was the point of this blog post? Oh yeah.
Links in the next section take you to the book summary on The StoryGraph, my favourite book tracking website.
Best fiction books of the year
The Last Dance, by Martin L. Shoemaker
It’s no secret that I’m a sci-fi fan, as you can tell by my profile picture. This novel is a science fiction mystery, with a young woman investigating mutiny on a space vessel that gravity-slingshots between Earth and Mars. I loved how based in reality the science was; Marianne Dyson, formerly of NASA, consulted on this book. This one was a free Amazon First Reads copy and I was pleasantly surprised by it — I’ve since grabbed the sequel for 99p and added it to my to-read list.
Bit Rot: Stories + Essays, by Douglas Coupland
Coupland is my all-time favourite contemporary author, and I hadn’t read any of his books for a while. This one is a compilation of shorter essays and flash fiction style stories and I thoroughly enjoyed the rollercoaster ride of subjects in the book. He’s definitely not for everyone, but I think he’s highly intelligent and entertaining. I’m really looking forward to reading Binge and The Extreme Self later this year when I get to them.
It’s also no secret that I’m a big fan of Japan! Banana Yoshimoto writes about extraordinary people with very ordinary outlooks on life. I love her imagination and very straightforward, honest writing style. I actually read three of Yoshimoto’s books this year, and this one was my favourite. When I finished the book, I just sat with my thoughts quietly, for quite a long time. It definitely evoked a strong emotional reaction in me, but I couldn’t tell you what that emotion was. Please check it out if you fancy something outside your normal reading preferences.
Best non-fiction books of the year
This was the first non-fiction book I read in 2022, and coincidentally one of my close friends (also trying to get back into reading) also read this and rated it very highly. It explains how the geography and climate of continents and countries affect their political, trade and military movements, which are aspects I’d barely ever thought about. Looking forward to reading Marshall’s next book.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge
This was a fantastic read. I discovered that the author is British, which helped me contextualise structural racism in the cultural and political environment I’m familiar with, and taught me a lot about history in Britain that absolutely needs to be taught in schools. Do not be put off by the title; it’s purposely provocative, only so you’ll be drawn into this carefully written and highly educational book.
How to Break Up with Your Phone, by Catherine Price
I’m going to write another post about this, so I won’t dwell on it for too long, but if you believe you spend too much time on your phone and want to make a change, this is the book for you. It’s not a long read, and the first half of the book is broken up into small chapters about the psychology of phones and apps, especially social media and similar content, and how they’re designed to steal and keep our attention. The second half is a practical and realistic 30-day plan for cutting down your smartphone usage and being more mindful about it.
Finally, I ploughed through quite a lot of Trek novels. 11 of the 49 books I read in 2022! I can safely say my most read authors of the year were Dayton Ward and David Mack, but my heart forever belongs to Dr Una McCormack and her depictions of Cardassia and its people.
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