2022: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2022, my second full year of remote working, I managed to surpass my previous records by completing a whopping 55 books, an increase of one book over last year and my second consecutive year completing the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  I surpassed last year’s total with a mere three days remaining in 2022.  I read (or listened) to 19,328 pages, by far my highest total of all time and only the third time I’ve passed 10,000.

Of those books, fifteen were non-fiction and, of the remaining 40 novels, only two were tied to a TV show, either as the source material or as a tie-in.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer, with 44 e-books and three audiobooks.  I continued to take advantage of my library card, which helped me procure 37 of the books I consumed throughout the year.

A little more than half of the books I read this year were by authors I had read before. The 31 authors that I read for the first this year were:

Adam Nedeff Kelsey McKinney Simone St. James Laura Dave
Jeff Warren Carlye Adler Matt Paxton Jordan Michael Smith
Alyssa Milano Alex Finlay Taylor Jenkins Reid Emily Ratajkowski
Samantha Downing Dave Grohl Mary Lynn Rajskub Stephanie Perkins
Michael Schur Joseph Henrich V.E. Schwab Brianna Madia
Jimmy Piersall Richard Whittingham Richard Osman Colleen Hoover
Jenette McCurdy Sally Rooney Josh Malerman Alice Sebold
Katie Mack Penn Jillette Elin Hilderbrand Nita Prose

Alex Finlay, Simone St. James, Karin Slaughter, Megan Goldin, Jeffery Deaver, and Richard Osman were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2022.

16 of the books I read were released this year, while only two of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1953.

Continue reading →

Book 29 (of 52) – Fame-ish

Fame-ish: My Life at the Edge of Stardom – Mary Lynn Rajskub

Actress and comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, with her recently released memoir Fame-ish, tells tales and anecdotes from her 30-year Hollywood career and personal life.  Perhaps best known as analyst Chloe O’Brian in 24, Rajskub seems to inhabit that character’s main personality trait, being awkwardly grumpy, but in a good way.

Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t have even bought this book had she not been offering signed copies through her website.  I am nothing if not a sucker for a signed hard cover.  Coming in at just over 200 pages, this was a pretty quick read.  Rajskub comes off as a decent-enough human who has made some questionable decisions in her time, especially when it comes to relationships.  I don’t know how if I’d want to live in her world, but it was an interesting place to visit for an afternoon or two.