2022: Reading in a Time of Crisis

[renay]

2022 was an election year and I am a community organizer, which really does a number on your reading!

More than that, it was a year when the fever pitch of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in my community spiked, led by our own Moms For Liberty-esque hate group, going under the moniker "Safe Books for Kids - Arkansas" on Facebook. It resulted in our city/county library's funding being slashed in half—2 mills to 1.

It turns out when you and people you love are being called groomers, abusers, and pedophiles, it really kills your ability to focus on much of anything else besides working as hard as you can to beat them back. I keep reminding myself that we were lucky they didn't go for all the funding and close the library completely. Based on 2022 voter turnout they could have done so—easily.

Politics like this doesn't leave a lot of time for reading. I piled on top of this a move to a new house. My best effort among all the happenings got me to 42 reads. Most of them were re-reads. I could have read more, but the other time was spent zoning out to games I was excited to play/replay for relaxation. This year more than ever I am grateful I long ago internalized "Reading is not a competition."

Comfort Reading

Re-reading is great because I know what's going to happen. Even when it's sad I'm not blindsided by it. Predictability is great. Re-reading books is like shrugging a familiar blanket over my lap with a cup of tea to visit with characters I know well. I know what past-me took away from those stories. I never know what present-me will get out of them, but it's always something different.

My re-reads this year were:

• All Systems Red by Martha Wells (2)
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (3)
• Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (3)
• Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (3)
• Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (2)
• Network Effect by Martha Wells (3)
• Band Sinister by KJ Charles (2)
• Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire
• Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray
• Defy the Worlds by Claudia Gray
• Defy the Fates by Claudia Gray
• A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
• The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes (2)
• The Exiled Fleet by J.S. Dewes (2)
• The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
• A Case of Possession by KJ Charles
• A Flight of Magpies by KJ Charles
• Jackdaw by KJ Charles
• Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell (2)

Martha Wells 100% saved my mental health with her Murderbot books this year. I'm already looking forward to the dopamine I'm going to get after the announcement there will be another novel next year.

Most of my reading was in audio. This was because I was often on the go, doing housework, packing, or because it was the best way to get me to sit/lie down and take an actual, legit break from work. Bodies, y'all. Turns out they need rest.

Favorites

I don't generally reread books I don't like, so I'm leaving them off the list unless I first read them this year. The books that I read for the first time this year and liked:

• The Last Watch/The Exiled Fleet by J.S. Dewes: This series came out of nowhere for me. I'm glad I didn't read the comparison blurbs about it because I would have skipped it. The Expanse meets Game of Thrones? Game of Thrones? The one where people are brutally murdered, abruptly and with little warning? BYE. There's an overly competent but starved-for-love-and-approval dude who I adored! There's a highly competent but weary woman! She's trying to find a way to deal with her complicated past and lead a ragtag crew of criminals at the ass-end of the universe. Cool alien technology indistinguishable from magic? Heck yeah! All the side characters and relationship nods were incredible. I first read these this year and then reread them recently because I loved them so much. My most beloved books all year.


• Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell: This was a politically arranged marriage story with a heavy emphasis on the political. It deals with a lot of things around domestic abuse, too, which I wasn't expecting but I thought were handled carefully enough that I was never like "yikes". The political bits were some of my favorites, but I liked the interpersonal relationships, the wholesomeness of Kiem's approach to the world, and the way Jainan grew into himself once he was no longer trapped in a place where he had no support.


• Salvation Day by Kali Wallace: Really great space horror with main characters I enjoyed a lot. The weakest part of this was the cult leader, but honestly, since he was never in the action sections, I didn't care that he felt one dimensional. It felt like the true antagonist was humanity's absolute gall that led to so many people suffering, anyway.


• A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers: This was a great follow up to the first book, which didn't strike the same chords but was still lovely. I'm not sure the point is to get the same melody in the story beats in a series like this, anyway. This story, for me, was more overtly about outward discovery and how that changes the ways and directions we look inward. I am 100% here for future adventures of Dex and Mosscap.


• Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt: This was recced to me by Jenny in a literary fiction starter pack she gave me years ago (I'm still working my way through it, Jenny! I haven't given up!). From the first half I thought I wasn't going to get on with the book. As it progressed it came together for me especially in the context of the freedom June and her sister had (very similar to the type I had growing up) and the ways in which the adults who were supposed to care the most often were too busy, jealous, or distracted by their own business failed to do so, so June finds other adults to connect with. I've read a lot of primary source documents about the AIDS crisis, too. My experience of those made June's confusion and devastation over her loss feel almost tangible once she starts trying to deal with it on her own. This type of secret keeping, family resentment, complicated feelings about relatives, and lack of communication feels so pinpoint accurate for the era. It's a really bittersweet story. Families are complicated.


• Dark Money by Jane Mayer: Marking this as a "favorite" feels weird because the content is so infuriating. Dark Money is a political and financial history of the wealthy families that have helped land us in late-stage capitalism hell. Mayer contextualizes years of behavior by billionaires and other capitalists as they sought to bend the laws of the country—and the people who make them—toward their own self-serving interests. They use law, colleges and universities, publishing, non-profits, philanthropy, and more to ensure they pay as little tax as possible even if they could never spend what they already have in their lifetimes. Mayer's survey ends before the drama of the 2016 election, which is good because I could not have handled any more dire financial history. I added 10+ books to my reading list from her notes, too. This is a critical piece of reporting/political history that will help explain why everything so often feels hopeless, especially economically.

I haven't made any reading goals since 2019 and I don't really miss them. I do miss reading and am hoping in 2023 I will have the mental energy for the longer, more in-depth SFF I've been stock-piling like a hoarding dragon. I'm really curious to know what everyone has been reading/loving in 2022, since I'm painfully out of the loop on most 2021/2022 books and stories.

Comments

[brownbetty]

I haven't heard of Dewes, before, I'm going to check those out!

[renay]

The next book isn't out yet but the cliffhanger in The Exiled Fleet isn't too bad. :)

[beatrice_otter]

I'm so sorry for the rl shit, and let's hope that 2023 goes better!

[renay]

Thanks! I have EVERYTHING crossed for a boring year. 😂