Hello and happy Wednesday!
How has your reading gone this year? Are you someone who likes to read a lot? Just a book here and there?
I’ve always really enjoyed reading, and last year, I was introduced to Goodreads, where you can track the books that you read, review them (and read other reviews), add books to your to-read list, and even set yearly goals on how many books you want to read.
Last year, not knowing how many books I typically read in a year, I set a goal of 50 books. To my surprise, I actually read 54! That success encouraged me enough that I decided to set my goal for 2022 at 55 books and see what happened.
Well, I’m closing out the year with a grand total of 27 books.
It’s not exactly what I hoped or planned for, but I’ve still gotten to read a lot of good books this year and I’m happy about that! I shared a bunch of my favorites in this post, and throughout the Five Fall Favorites blog event back in October (you can find my final post here).
I started off the year strong, going through a couple of series, and working my way through some standalones I’ve meant to read for a while. But pretty much from June on, my reading has been very sporadic.
While I had hoped that reading would be a good activity for when migraines hit and I was stuck in bed for hours, it didn’t work out that way. I couldn’t get my eyes or mind to focus on any book long enough.
Then when I wasn’t in bed, I was catching up on work, cleaning, time with loved ones, and all sorts of other things I’d fallen behind in while sick. So reading kind of fell by the wayside the second half of this year. And that’s okay. Life happens in stages, and while I hope the next stage contains a bit more reading, I’m thankful for what I got to in 2022.
I recently changed my Goodreads goal to 27 books (at the time I’d only read 26, so I still challenged myself to one more), instead of leaving it at 55, so if you check out my Goodreads page, that’s why it looks like I’m more accomplished than I actually was, haha. I’d rather see that I succeeded at reading 27 than that I failed at reading 55.
So although I’ve talked about some of my favorite reads from 2022 in other posts already, today I wanted to share the full list of the books I read this year. I’d love to know if you’ve read any of them and what your opinion was!
Here is the list of books I’ve read in 2022:
( * = A favorite!)
(DNR = do not recommend/will not be re-reading)
Fiction
1. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
2. The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner
3. The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner
4. The Kill Order (Maze Runner prequel) by James Dashner
5. The Fever Code (Maze Runner prequel) by James Dashner
6. Shards of Sky by E. C. Colton
7. The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers
8. A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes (*)
9. The Selection by Kiera Cass
10. The Elite (The Selection #2) by Kiera Cass
11. Thirst (Book #1) by Jill Williamson
12. Hunger (Book #2) by Jill Williamson
13. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
14. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (* – but I’m biased due to childhood memories)
15. Wishtress by Nadine Brandes (* – favorite fiction read of the year!)
16. Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (*)
17. The River At Night by Erica Ferencik (DNR – very mature content and distasteful)
Non-Fiction
1. Here I Am Again, Lord by Carole Mayhall
2. Just Enough Light For the Step I’m On by Stormie O’Martian
3. Not Yet Married by Marshall Segal
4. The Bruised Reed by Richard Sibbes (*)
5. City On Our Knees by TobyMac
6. The Sacred Search by Gary Thomas (*)
7. A Little Book on Christian Life by John Calvin
8. A Lifting Up For the Downcast by William Bridge (*)
9. Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel by Stephanie Morrill, Jill Williamson, & Shannon Dittemore (*)
10. Why, God? Calming Words for Chaotic Times by Charles R. Swindoll
To summarize, I read a lot of fiction books in series as I found it easier to keep momentum by going from one connected story to another. But I also dove into some amazing standalones, both new and old favorites! And for non-fiction, it seems the common themes were encouragement, relationships and dating, and writing…pretty much sums up my year, haha.
Here’s hoping 2023 is full of more great reads! And if you have any recommendations, let me know . . . .
What did YOU read this year? What were some of your favorites? Were there any reads you didn’t enjoy? I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to comment below and let me know what reading adventures you were up to in 2022!
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It’s so hard to do anything with a migraine – even when the pain is under control, brain fog and other symptoms make focusing a challenge. I don’t know what format you usually read with, but I found that a front-lit ereader (like Kindle Paperwhite) is a lot easier on my eyes and head than one that is backlit (like a Fire or iPad). It may not help once an attack has started, but when I was reading constantly, I had fewer migraine attacks when I used a front-lit screen than a back-lit one.
Thanks for sharing your list! My favorite book this year was The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip by Sara Brunsvold.
Yes, it is. The brain fog is so hard to shake! That’s very helpful to know about the Kindle Paperwhite, thank you! I usually read physical books, but have been wondering whether reading on a device would be any easier on the eyes. I appreciate the insight!
I’ve never heard of The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs. Kip but just the title sounds very intriguing! Thanks for the recommendation!