2022 reading journal⤴

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

read

heard a bit of the adaptation on BBC radio 4 last year, picked it back up for book club. a good new year's pick and an engaging read. reached me at a good time for this kind of message.

the discussion surrounding depression is complex, and I don't think this book is interested in that kind of complexity. but I do think it offers an accesible way of conceptualizing how much both our choices and our perspective can shape our lives.

additionally—I just started a creative writing program, and this book is a great introduction to structuring chapters. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the chapters are all titled (gosh do I miss chapter titles) and though they are short, many of them end on cliffhanger or moment of suspense. it is easy for chapters to feel somewhat arbitrary, or just representative of a change in time/place. Matt Haig's chapters end with anticipation for the next. it seems simple, but this is the real art of the page-turner.

There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura translated by Polly Barton

read

started in may 2021 and was enjoying it, but reading slowly; didn't finish before my loan had to go back to the library. picked it back up in january. finally finished it in february!

as you might have guessed from how long it took me to finish, this book didn't have a firm grasp on me. but as the jobs took our protagonist into increasingly absurd situations, I became increasingly interested. how interesting something appears stems from how much attention we pay to it. our protagonist, being who she is, can't help but get overly involved, and so even the most seemingly mundane jobs can become strange and wonderful adventures.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

read

read this in fits and starts, never disappearing into it. an enjoyable, complex read. it builds layers of complexity as we go, watching the twins grow up, then their girls. and that's how life goes, starting off simple even when it's hard, then getting complicated even when it's good.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

read

thanks to sarah, I am reading another science book. one a year seems like a reasonable number! but for real, this book appeals to my sensibilities as a storyteller and does what I think all great books do: gives me a new lens through which to look at the world. a lens which can sharpen our focus on gratitude, reciprocity, and empathy.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

read

after three book club picks that dealt with some heavy stuff (suicidal ideation, racism and colourism, the lingering impacts of colonialism), we have opted for a lighter read. so off I go, into a land of hobbits, dwarves, trolls, dragons, and adventure.

the mixed reaction to this book in our club meeting was amusing. I enjoyed it, for superficial reasons, and that's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for in this month's pick.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

read

A re-read of my favourite Jane Austen novel thus far (having read Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, and half of Pride and Prejudice).

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

read

I am on a mission to read and write more short stories this year. there is a vein of fantasy, sensuality, and horror running through Machado's work that I find totally delicious.

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino

read

essays about internet culture, modern life, and the lies which distort our view of our lives.

Good Riddance by Elinor Lipman

read

cute, contemporary rom-com involving a much-annotated yearbook, a nosy documentarian, and a charming next door neighbour. sweet.

Doctor Who: All Flesh is Grass by Una McCormack

read

in true wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey fashion, I picked up this novel at the library on a whim along with a couple other Doctor Who books, only to realize that is part of the big transmedia Time Lord Victorious storyline, and the second novel to boot. lol. anyway, you've got the Tenth Doctor trying to defeat death, the Eighth Doctor paired up with Daleks, and the Ninth Doctor in league with vampires. also an Ood assassin.

this made me want to go back to the Fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane novel I was writing.

The Future for Curious People by Gregory Sherl

read

on the shelf, next to Robin Sloan's novel Sourdough (which I read in 2020 and loved), was this book with a charming title and intruiging summary: "What if you could know your romantic future? What if an envisionist could enter the name of your prospective mate into a computer that would show you a film of your future life together?"

friends, I was so thoroughly charmed by this book 💚 this is a book that believes in true love. not naively, but earnestly. it is quirky and whimsical and though I know it was just a coincidence of surname, it absolutely belongs on a shelf next to Sourdough.

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey (narrated by Xe Sands)

read

I listened to this audiobook on a recommendation from my brother, and it, uh, surprised me. the pitch is solid: a non-magical private investigator is called in to investigate a gruesome murder at the magical academy where her sister teaches. but the actual unraveling of that mystery takes us to some dark places. like, this book takes trauma seriously.

it's a slight spoiler to say—but this is not a book interested in giving you a happy ending. but I guess...when did a P.I. ever get a happy ending?

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

read

a book I hadn't read since grade six. it holds up! the pace is great, the characters are well drawn, the imagining of the gods to suit the 21^st century is probably part of the reason I grew up to love American Gods.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

read

I have a fondness for epistolary novels. this was no exception. some of the discussion in book club surrounded whether or not we enjoy stories where most of the primary action is related to you after the fact. I love this mode of storytelling. thumbs up from me.

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

read

I am the right age to have grown up watching Jennette on screen. she's not that much older than me. even setting aside the various pressures of being a child performer, re-evaluating your childhood and your relationship with your parents once you become an adult can be deeply painful and complicated. but you have to own your story.

Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

read

second in the Percy Jackson series. since we read the first in book club, I thought I'd continue. Sea of Monsters does a good job continuing the story, raising the stakes, and introducing new elements. not sure I'll continue the series, but it's still an enjoyable one.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

read

haven't read this one in years; great to revisit it. made me want to revisit the film. I love both for different reasons. the story of the film is a bit more conventional, some of the nuances ironed out, but does have a humour and romantic charm all its own. but I love those nuances in the book. I love how the witch simply fades into an old woman, I love Una's royal haughtiness, I love Yvaine's harshness and loneliness. I love the ending.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

read

book club 2022 coasted to an easy finish with this Christmas classic, still a pleasure to read after 180 years.

The Ex Hex by Erin Stirling (narrated by Caitlin Davies)

read

selected on a whim when I needed to clean the house. a breezy, magical, sexy sort of read. thoroughly enjoyable.

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (narrated by the author)

read

an endorsement from Carmen Maria Machado is good enough for me. I challenged myself this year to write about pleasure, and found it dizzingly complicated. I'm interested in why and how we deny and allow ourselves pleasure, something explored in this book through food and sexuality. content warning for some fairly intense disordered eating stuff. Rachel's obsessive food tracking in the first few chapters was comforting and upsetting in equal measure, intense and all-consuming in a way I'm only too familiar with.

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

read

my first Salley Rooney novel (I read her short story "Mr Salary" just a couple weeks previously). has me thinking about narrative distance. very, very unlike my style of writing. compelling. took me a long time to finish, but the last third particularly brought things together in a satisfying way.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

read

had the pleasure of hearing Iain Reid speak to my creative writing program. watched the trailer for the film and then decided I wanted to read the book first.

“Every story is made up. Even the real ones.”

yeah, you're gonna want to read this one twice. there's a reason Kaufman did the film adaptation.