(no subject)

[skygiants]

I tried an experiment this year in keeping track of all media that I was experiencing and not just the books ... this was useful in reminding me what I have consumed but also I am massively behind on booklogging alone aand this just made me feel even more sheepish about everything else I was not writing up, so you guys are still just getting the books and can find out about television or films or theater if and when the fancy strikes.

Anyway! Here is my annual books read list for 2022!

As usual, an asterisk denotes a reread.

Books
1. The Bridgetower Sonata: Sonata Mulattica, Emmanual Dongala
2. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad, M.T. Anderson
3. Antigonick, Anne Carson
4. The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman
5. A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts From the First Century to 1969, Noam Sienna
6. Death in Captivity, Michael Gilbert
7. A Snake Falls To Earth, Darcie Little Badger
8. Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake
9. She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan
10. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Volume 1, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
11. Making 'The Black Jacobins': C.L.R. James and the Drama of History, Rachel Douglas
12. The Color of Distance, Amy Thompson
13. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina, Zoraida Córdova
14. Beyond a Boundary, C.L.R. James
15. The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Volume 1, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
16. The Conductors, Nicole Glover
17. Light from Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki
18. Black Rainbow, Barbara Michaels
19. Lizard Music, Daniel Pinkwater*
20. Mendoza in Hollywood, Kage Baker*
21. The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, Edmund de Waal
22. Six Months in Mexico, Nellie Bly
23. The Magicians of Caprona, Diana Wynne Jones
24. The Golden Age of Murder: The Mystery of the Writers Who Invented the Modern Detective Story, Edward Martin
25. Tales of the City Room, Elizabeth Garver Jordan
26. The Afterward, E.K. Johnston
27. The Last Hawk, Elizabeth E. Wein
28. The Tentacles/Spin the Web Tight, Dana Lyon
29. Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie*
30. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Shing-Shong
31. Ask a Policeman, John Rhode, Helen Simpson, Gladys Mitchell, Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Milward Kennedy
32. Green for Danger, Christianna Brand
33. Tramps and Vagabonds, Aster Glenn Gray
34. These Burning Stars, Bethany Jacobs
35. The Chosen, Chaim Potok*
36. The Wife in the Attic, Rose Lerner
37. Uncommon Charm, Emily Bergslien and Kat Weaver
38. Dead Collections, Isaac Fellman
39. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
40. Let The Mountains Be My Grave, Francesca Tacchi
41. Dooku: Jedi Lost, Cavan Scott
42. The Thousand Eyes, A.K. Larkwood
43. The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer, Janelle Monáe et al
44. The Once and Future King, T.H. White*
45. The Species Imperative Trilogy, Julie Czerneda
46. Dybbuk And Other Tales of the Supernatural, Tony Kushner and Joachim Neugroschel
47. Agent Sonya: Moscow's Most Daring Wartime Spy, Ben McIntyre
48. Terminal Boredom, Izumi Suzuki
49. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, John Le Carré
50. The Idylls of the Queen, Phyllis Ann Karr*
51. Pacific Fire, Greg van Eekhout
52. We Ride Upon Sticks, Quan Barry
53. Sword Dance, A.J. Demas
54. Convergence, Sharon Green
55. The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
56. Smiley's People, John Le Carré
57. The Shadow of Kyoshi, F.C. Yee
58. Unwritten Rules, K.D. Casey
59. The Murders of Molly Southborne, Tade Thompson
60. Saffron Alley, A.J. Demas
61. The Survival of Molly Southborne, Tade Thompson
62. Strong Wine, A.J. Demas
63. Several People Are Typing, Calvin Kasulke
64. Dangerous Persuasion, Phyllis Ann Karr
65. Old Lives and New: Soviet Immigrants in Israel and America, Edith Rogovin Frankel
66. The Flight of the Heron, D.K. Broster
67. A Fair Barbarian, Frances Hodgson Burnett
68. Sailor's Delight, Rose Lerner
69. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
70. Invitation to Camelot, ed. Parke Godwin
71. One True Outcome, KD Casey
72. An Unladylike Profession: Women War Correspondents in World War I, Chris Dubbs
73. Unraveller, Frances Hardinge
74. A Garter as a Lesser Gift, Aster Glenn Gray
75. At Amberleaf Fair, Phyllis Ann Karr
76. Ocean's Echo, Everina Maxwell
77. Dracula (Daily), Bram Stoker, ed. Matt Kirkland
78. The Real Boy, Anne Ursu
79. Moon of Crusted Snow, Waubgeshig Rice
80. As the Tide Came Flowing In, Sonya Taaffe
81. Josephus: A Historical Romance, Lion Feuchtwanger
82. A Restless Truth, Freya Marske
83. Travel Light, Naomi Mitchison
84. Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir*
85. Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
86. Not Good for Maidens, Tori Bovalini
87. Siren Queen, Nghi Vo
88. The Squire's Tale, Gerald Morris
89. Scandals of Classic Hollywood, Anne Helen Peterson
90. The Homeward Bounders, Diana Wynne Jones*
91. The Marvellous Land of Oz, L. Frank Baum*
92. The Road to Oz, L. Frank Baum*
93. When the Angels Left the Old Country, Sacha Lamb
94. Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo
95. Cracks in the Iron Closet: Travels in Gay and Lesbian Russia, David Tuller

Comics/Webtoons/Graphic Novels
1-2. Tiger, Tiger, Books 1-2, Petra Erika Nordlund
3. Klezmer, Volume 1, Joann Sfar*
4. Omniscient Readers Viewpoint, Chapter 0-88, Shing-Shong
5. Surviving Romance, Season 1, Lee Yone

Some new-to-me and unexpected favorites this year included Symphony for the City of the Dead, Death in Captivity, The Color of Distance, We Ride Upon Sticks, and ... if it must be admitted .... Omniscient Readers Viewpoint; I also of course had a lot of expected favorites as there was really no world in which I was not going to love the new Hardinge or the new Riverlands or When the Angels Left the Old Country and also several of my friends put out extremely good books.

As always I have great ambitions of catching up on many of the things that I have not posted about, but the list is long and life is short so if you would particularly like me to opine on anything let me know!

Comments

[osprey_archer]

Isn't Symphony for the City of the Dead so amazing? I listened to it on audiobook years ago and it remains my standard for the heights to which an audiobook can aspire. Also if I ever fulfill my plan to read more about classical music, I'll definitely be doing it in audiobook in the hopes that the audio will include snippets of the music in question, as Symphony for the City of the Dead did.

I for one hope that you'll review Green for Danger, because I just know that any Christianna Brand must be delightfully batshit. Also curious to hear your thoughts on Nellie Bly's Six Months in Mexico and Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Fair Barbarian.

[ceitfianna]

I read Symphony for the City of the Dead a few years ago and its amazing. I can see how it would only be enhanced as an audiobook.

[skygiants]

I think I first heard about it from you, so thank you again for writing it up! I'm not an audiobook person but I did find myself while reading so fascinated by the music discussions that I ended up putting Shostakovich on in the background for various tasks for about a week afterwards ...

I do want to write posts about all these things so I will attempt to put them on the high-priority list! Green for Danger is indeed EXTREMELY WILD and EXTREMELY COMPELLING.

[ceitfianna]

I just finished When the Angels Left the Old Country yesterday and wow, great book. I'm looking forward to the new Hardinge and currently deep in the newest Victoria Goddard.

[skygiants]

Isn't it phenomenal?! What a treat for the last week of the year for me!

[ambyr]

Interested in your Killers of the Flower Moon thoughts!

[sovay]

Interested in your Killers of the Flower Moon thoughts!

Same!

[skygiants]

I will try to prioritize this one for a post but the short version is that I thought it was really interesting but also danced along the edges of true crime in ways that make it difficult for me to write about, as that is a genre that I don't particularly like but also haven't read enough of to frame an intelligent commentary about what this book is and isn't doing with it.

[shati]

That was a part of why I started and never finished it, although the fact that I tried it as an audio book was definitely another part and I keep meaning to try again in print.

[skygiants]

As I said to sovay, I feel a bit hampered in writing about it because it was tremendously readable and I do think it is conveying interesting and important information and yet I have certain immediate reactions to true-crime style serial killer narratives that I think are perhaps not fair in this case? Hard to say!

[imbir]

I'd like the flashlight of opinion to fall on Dead Collections, please. I don't think you've read The Breath of the Sun? There are a few things about it that I think would really appeal to you.

Also, I was pretty surprised to see The Big Sleep on this list and would like to know what you thought of it.

[skygiants]

It's been six months or so and I'm still trying to frame an opinion about Dead Collections! The trouble I think is that Fellman and I are having very different experiences of the same career in ways that are both very recognizable and very foreignizing.

I haven't read The Breath of the Sun but I do keep meaning to and really should!

I had a great time with The Big Sleep -- I think this was actually my first time reading long-form Chandler -- but also I have a hard time separating it from the film, which I love, and from the apocryphal anecdote about the film in which they cabled Chandler asking who killed the chauffeur and he didn't have a clue, which makes me laugh so hard I don't care if it's actually true. Will probably try and write this up more broadly but it will equally likely end up being as much about the film and my teen crush on Lauren Bacall as about the book...

[starlady]

I'm trying to decide whether to put Dead Collections on my list. I've heard The Breath of the Sun is really good and I really liked The Two Doctors Górski.

[rachelmanija]

I'd love to hear about Molly Southborne and The Last Hawk.

[skygiants]

I meant for the last Molly Southborne book to be my last book read + last review (all-Molly-encompassing) of 2022 but didn't quite make it in time so instead it is quite likely to be my first of 2023!

The Last Hawk was satisfying in and of itself, and I appreciated the nuances of the heroine's relationship with her heroine [Nazi propaganda test pilot] Hanna Reitsch and her gradual disillusionment with the Nazi sacrifice machine, but tbh I'm a little disappointed every time one of these Wein fighter pilot books doesn't contain a twist as wild as lbhe tevmmyrq zragbe vf frpergyl gur ybat-ybfg cevaprff Nanfgnfvn ... she set the bar too high!

[sovay]

56. Smiley's People, John Le Carré

Am definitely curious about what you thought.

95. Cracks in the Iron Closet: Travels in Gay and Lesbian Russia, David Tuller

Ditto, although without any basis for comparison.

[skygiants]

I do want to write up Smiley's People -- I liked it a lot, I LOVED Maria Ostrakova and I'm mad that after Smiley rescues her she gets sent off to a farm and disappears for the rest of the book, I'm still thinking about the ending and will probably end up rereading at some point to attempt to pin down my opinions further -- and I will definitely be writing up Cracks in the Iron Closet which I found conceptually fascinating and informative and also deeply frustrating.

[brownbetty]

How did you find Tiger, Tiger? I have ambitions of reading it but keep being defeated by the format.

[skygiants]

I enjoyed what I read of it very much but haven't been able to keep up to date with it, I think I need to wait another month or two and then catch up all in a fell swoop. In an ideal world I would devour it in four complete print volumes but when I wait for this to happen with webcomics I never do read them at all so I have come to believe that this is not a reasonable goal to hope for ....

[chestnut_pod]

I always enjoy whatever media thoughts you choose to share here! Thanks for sharing so much of your reading year, and here's to a good one in 2023.

[skygiants]

Same to you, I always enjoy your posts tremendously and look forward to more of your thoughts in 2023 aas well!!

[hebethen]

Oh, I missed that there was a new Hardinge -- or it entered and left my consciousness so quickly that it didn't register amongst the noise -- must get on that!

[skygiants]

It's only out in the UK so far (I was able to take advantage of a very kind UK friend who sent me a copy) but I believe it comes out in the US this month!! CANNOT WAIT for everyone to get to read it, it's phenomenal >:DDD

[hebethen]

Oh hecc yes, something to look forward to then :>

[strikeslip]

well, while we're admitting things, thank you for turning me towards Omniscient Readers Viewpoint, because that sure did put a hook in my brain.

[skygiants]

IT REALLY DOES DO THAT

[sophia_sol]

I love your booklogging posts always! Tbh what I most want you to opine on from this list is the books I've never heard of that turn out to be a wild time, but that's not something I can ask for by name :P

[skygiants]

lololol I will do my best to try to keep doing that as best I can in general! (but I am eternally in awe of how well you actually manage to keep up with yours)

[sophia_sol]

haha I think my secret is that if I do not start writing up my thoughts the same day I finish a book (or sometimes....while I'm in the middle of the book), I will forget every single thing I thought about the book except a vague feeling about whether I liked it or not, so I am highly motivated to keep up! This is the reason I started booklogging in the first place - so that I would know what I thought about the books I read!

[paperback]

...Becca.

You know about Moira's Pen right?

I don't see it on the list I AM WORRIED I FAILED YOU BY MY FAILURE TO LOG IN AGAIN

[skygiants]

I DID know about it but then ... I forgot about it ... but REST ASSURED it will be on the list for this year!! 💪💪

[sandrylene]

Oooh, I'm very glad you posted this because some of the things you reviewed I missed at the time, and now very much want to put on my To Read list. Symphony for the City of the Dead sounds fascinating, in particular, and I'm psyched because I need inspiration for 2023 reading.

[skygiants]

I cannot wait to hear what you think about Symphony for the City of the Dead -- it's brutal reading but so, so good, genuinely the best nonfiction I read last year.