A Year of Reading: 2022

Goodreads, as is their tradition, have curated a list of all the books I read across 2022. The total number runs to 72 books, give or take a couple of titles that didn’t log properly, with another 10 books that I started across the year still “in progress” at the end. That’s a big of a slow year for me, but more than I thought, especially given I worked full-time for the first time ever through the bulk of 2022. The learning curve—and figuring how to use my time judiciously—proved to be a challenge.

With that said, lets talk the highlights.

2022 was a year where the bulk of the new-to-me authors I picked up were romance-oriented, partially because Romance is my comfort reading and partially because Smart Bitches, Trashy Books and the Hot As F$ck Romance newsletter fed a continual supply of interesting reads my way. Big recommendations on this front are Penny Reid’s WINSTON BROTHERS books, Kris Ripper’s BOOK BOYFRIEND, Ruby Barrett’s THE ROMANCE RECIPE. The most oddly disappointing book of the year was Lucy Parker’s BATTLE ROYAL, but that’s mostly because it was good and her prior works I’ve encountered were outstanding, so it suffered in comparison.

My Spec Fic read of the year was definitely Gareth Powell’s ACK-ACK MACAQUE, a maximalist SF trilogy with a very odd premise that just hit all my buttons as a reader. Enjoyed Django Wexler’s HARD REBOOT a lot as well, and I’m mystified as to why Xiran Jay Zhao’s IRON WIDOW isn’t logged (it’s also great). Also missing from my Goodreads log: Travis Baldree’s LEGENDS & LATTES, which was a low-keys salve during some very stressful weeks.

Oliber Burkeman’s FOUR THOUSAND WEEKS and Giblin/Doctrow’s CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM were the best of the non-fiction reading, although the Nohelty and Leonelle series on GET YOUR BOOK SELLING… captured a lot of conversations I wish indies had more often in a really accessible way. I don’t know that they needed to be eleventy billion different books, especially given the series wasn’t finished before it was kick-started for new editions, but books on Events, Selling on your Website, and Kickstarter are all good reading if you’re in the self-publishing or small press space.

And I *did* end up backing the Kickstarter, despite my reservations about their business model where all the books feel like lead magnets.

Mark Forster’s SECRETS OF PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE is probably my productivity book of the year. I didn’t expect it–I didn’t think it was that impactful–but it’s had the greatest impact on my day-to-day habits and tactics.

Finally, special mention goes out to the Chad Dundas edited THE TERRITORIES, which is such a niche book that it’s ridiculous that it actually exists. Short version: Dundas and his cohorts have created a shared world featuring a set of fictional 80s wrestling territories and the stars who move between them. There’s a very small group of people who see that and scream “goddammit, take my money,” but I’m definitely in that group. The anthology is hit-and-miss in terms of quality, but when it’s on fire, it’s really on fire. Worth it for the two outstanding novellas, and I have no regrets about buying it.