2022, in brief

[dhampyresa]

Oh hey, I made in through 2022.


The cat remains terminally cute.



See? Terminally cute. No cure.


Storygraph tells me I finished 31 books this year, which includes comics and fiction in French and English and non-fiction in English only. I think I'd like to read at least one non-fiction book in French in 2023. Read more in French in general. I'm curious to see if my thoughts about written in French SFF vs written in English SFF hold true with a larger sample size. I'd like to read more than than one book not written originally in French or English, too.

There was only one book this year I disliked to the point that I'd happily call it the worst book I read this year: the French translation of Agustina Bazterrica's Cadáver exquisito (French title: Cadavre Exquis; English title: Tender is the Flesh). I had been told I'd be getting insightful societal commentary with body horror; I got teenage vegan edgelordy mysogynistic boringness. I wish I knew what other people saw in it.

There was only one other book I'd willingly put on a "worst books" list, but I since I don't want to do such a list and all the other books would only be there by default and undeservedly, I'm not going to.

Have a bunch of "Best Books" instead.

Best Fiction (English): Vespertine, by Margaret Rogerson. Hands down, no context. It's been a while since I read a book in one sitting and I'm currently ~60% of the way into a reread. This book is "Joan of Arc meets Venom". My favourite bbok I read this year, no questions.


Other books read in this category, in alphabetical order(ish):
An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson
The Cruel Prince & The Wicked King & the Queen of Nothing, by Holly Black
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, by Axie Oh
Legendborn, by Traci Deonn
The Nightingale and the Rose, by Oscar Wilde
Pickman's Model & The Cats of Ulthar, H. P. Lovecraft
Sofi and the Bone Song, by Adrienne Tooley
Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson
These Hollow Vows & These Twisted Bonds, by Lexi Ryan
Uprooted, by Naomi Novik
We Sold Our Souls, by Grady Hendrix
Wilder Girls, by Rory Powers


Best Fiction (French): Peine-Ombre, by Ariel Holzl. I thought this spot would go to Estelle Faye's L'arpenteuse de rêves, but I apparently finished it in 2023 so Peine-Ombre goes from close second to first, congrats. I discovered Ariel Holzl by reading temps mort earlier in the year, in my quest to read More FrenchTM. This book is "Shadow mage goes on roadtrip to the places where the gods died".

Other books in this category, in alphabetical order(ish): None. Just those two (and Agustina Bazterrica's Cadáver exquisito I guess), apparently.


Best Comic read in French but originally written in English: These comics were originally written and published in English but I read them in French because I only realised they existed from seeing them at the library. All three are also some measure of cosmic horror, because I like what I like.

Best: Locke & Key: the Golden Age, by Joe Hill (words) and Gabriel Rodriguez (art). This is a collection of short stories set from late 19th century to late 1920s in the Locke & Key universe, followed by a much longer (about half the book iirc) story about a Locke woman travelling to Hell to save her brother. This story is, for some reason that escapes me, a crossover with Gaiman's Sandman. The worldbuilding works... as best as could be hope for, under the circumstances. Story's great and art is magnificent, thought.

Other books read in this category, in alphabetical order(ish):
Plunge, by Joe Hill (words) and Stuart Immonen (art)
Caliban, by Garth Ennis (words) and Facundo Percio (art)


Best Comic frenc: Cadavre Exquis, by Pénélope Bagieu (words & art), by default. The only other book here is Georges et la mort by Guinin (words & art) and that one should go on the worst list. Disappointed by this category. More French comics next year! (I feel like I read more but i just forgot to track them, oops)


I read only one comic written in English in English, ND Stevenson's The weight of them (words & art).


I also only read one not written in English originally comic in English: Wale Star The Gyeongseong Mermaid, by Na Yoonhee (words & art). It's about freedom fighters during the Japanese occupation of Korea and (loosely) follows the plot of The Little Mermaid, and it's very very good.It's free on webtoon.


Best "prescriptive" non-fiction, ie a "how to" book: How to keep house while drowning, by KC Davis. I needed to read this. I can definitely see myself rereading this in future.

Other books read in this category, in alphabetical order(ish):
The Life-Changing magic of Tidying Up, by Mari Kondo


Best "descriptive" non-fiction: Smoke gets in your Eyes and other lessons from the crematory by Caitlin Doughty. Fascinating inside look at the US funerary industry by a member of it who disagrees with its principles.

Other books read in this category, in alphabetical order(ish):
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, by Amanda Montell


Anyway, if anyone wants more details on any of them please ask. There are a few I want to talk more about, but not now, and I might forget (memory whomst).


I gave blood twice (anemia ;_;) and co-ran sunflower_auction with yuuago (which, sadly, will need to run again this year and I hope I'm in health enough to do so). I mentionned these two things to my therapist as objectively good things I had done and she said she was happy for/proud of me for recognising that because I couldn't/wouldn't have done so when I started seeing her. Turns out is in fact both possible to achieve and reasonable to want a good grade in therapy!


Also schneefink stayed at my place for a bit and dealt me a grievous emotional blow by subjecting be to the last 10 episodes of The Magnus Archives s4 it was very nice.

Comments

[dhampyresa]

thank you so much!