As reading is my favorite hobby, I today want to look back at all the books I read in 2022. Namely 95. Or 22,320 pages. That was less than in the two years prior, but I gladly blame this on Josephine.
I still think that I read quite a lot. While I don’t find much time during the day, I almost always read at night before I fall asleep. I also read in the middle of the night after I have fed Josephine (luckily that doesn’t happen all the time anymore). The only problem with this is that I hardly ever reach for paper books because I don’t want to switch on the light or fall asleep with the light still on, resp.
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Since I read so many e-books, my Kindle Unlimited subscription is absolutely worth it for me. I love that I get to borrow both German and English books from there. Besides, I borrow e-books from the public library. And I love my Book of the Month subscription box. That one works also well because Rich reads most of the books I choose, too.
My two absolute favorite genres are crime novels and fantasy adventures. But I at least try to read other genres as well. My Book of the Month book is usually my best attempt here. By the way, I keep track of what I read on my Goodreads account – feel free to follow me there.
Fantasy Adventures
In 2022, I re-read all of Rick Riordan’s mythology series, as in “Percy Jackson & The Olympians”, “The Heroes of Olympus”, “The Trials of Apollo”, “The Kane Chronicles”, and “Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard”. I really love these kinds of mythology adventure novels, which also teach me a few things about the ancient gods.
A similar series that I then found was “Poseidon’s Academy” by Sarah A. Vogler. Here, the Greek gods are actually vile, so the premise is totally different than in Rick Riordan’s novels. I really enjoyed this series, too, and was devastated when I realized that the last book hadn’t been published and that I couldn’t find any information on it at all. Luckily, the writer just published it now so that I can read how the battle against the gods ends.
Rich and I both read and discussed “The Stardust Thief”. We loved the Middle Eastern setting and all the fantastic elements like jinns, even though some of the characters seemed a little flat. Nevertheless, we are excited for the sequel.
Crime & Mystery Novels
In 2021 I discovered German crime novels as my new favorite. Actually, crime novels that are all set in Northern Germany, mostly at the Northern Sea, sometimes also at the Baltic Sea. And with women as the main protagonist, i.e. detective. New series I found in 2022 were “Die Nordsee-Kommissare”, “Diederike Dirks ermittelt”, and “Kira Jensen ermittelt”.
I also enjoyed other mystery novels like “The Magnolia Palace”, “You’re invited”, or “Darling Girl”. I particularly loved the last one because it was an exciting new interpretation of Peter Pan in our present times.
All Other Books
I only read few non-fictional books, but usually love the ones I reach for. “Consider the Fork”, a history about eating, was excellent. Actually, we all enjoyed it so much that we handed it on and on until all of Rich’s family had read it. I also enjoyed “The Last Duel”, which I really wanted to read after we had seen the movie in 2021. “Give Birth Like a Feminist” gave me a lot of reassurance and confidence during my pregnancy. And “Educated” just left me in disbelief of how effed up people can be (and how important compulsory education is). In December I discovered the autobiographic “Zwischen Halbmondgeschichten und einem Meer voller Träume”, which reminded me to a big extent of my time and experience in Turkey.
After watching the first season, I read all three volumes of “The Summer I Turned Pretty”. While I found the last part terribly written, I am sure they will do a great job with the Prime series.
How much did you read in 2022?
