How Was The First Half Of Your Reading Year? (7/3/22)

[Marc]

We're 6 months into 2022, so how has your reading year been?
Surprises, disappointments, favorite reads so far, changes in priorities for the rest of the year... ?

Let us know!

[Bill]

My most memorable books this year have been non-fiction (Jack Lowery on the ACTUP art/activism collective Gran Fury, Peter Staley's autobiography, Glenn Frankel on the making of Midnight Cowboy).

There are some fiction highlights, in particular R.E. Katz's excellent And Then The Gray Heaven. But I usually read a lot of dark/weird/magic realist short fiction, and most of what I've come across have been disappointing.

Until Kathryn Harlan's Fruiting Bodies: Stories, that is! Easily my favorite collection this year. The best stories are on a par with the best of Kelly Link, Isabel Yap, Karin Tidbeck etc. So things are looking up.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

My favorite book of the year so far has easily been The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, but I've almost finished This Thing of Darkness by Harry Thompson and that is an excellent book.

My only surprise is that I have been able to fit in more group reads than I expected, although I don't think any in this group unfortunately.

[Kathleen]

Fast. Can't believe the year is half over!

I also read and loved The Razor's Edge this year. My other two favorites so far were The Rainbow by D.H. Lawrence and Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. And Joan Didion's essays Slouching Toward Bethlehem were very impressive.

I was dazzled by two new-to-me authors:
Denis Johnson - Train Dreams
and
Deesha Philyaw - The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

Oh, and I finally read some Langston Hughes! --The Weary Blues. Sooo good.

I want to fit in more new authors, more essays, more poetry ... And more hours in the day would be nice!

[Bretnie]

Wow, halfway through the year already!

I've read a lot more sci-fi this year with a few favorites:
* Children of Time (thanks to this group!), by Adrian Tchaikovsky
* The Space Between Worlds, Michaiah Johnson
* The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers

And a few other fiction favorites so far:
*Mr. Eternity, by Aaron Thier
*The Trees, by Percival Everett

Surprise favorite - The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - fun reads can also be good reads!

[Hugh]

I don't normally think of my reading as being planned, but in the first half of the year I read 83 books totalling 24000 pages, plus over half of the 900 page doorstop I got for Christmas that I have been dipping in and mostly out of all year and hope to finish by next Christmas. This means I am actually on schedule to read slightly less than last year, but more than 2020 - at least this should break the unsustainable trend of reading more every year since joining GoodReads.

I am about a week behind with reviewing and further behind with ranking at the moment, but the highlights so far have included Salt Lick, News of the Dead, Elena Knows, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, Seven Steeples and a reread of an all-time favourite Riddley Walker.

[Lark]

I'm aware of having read many incredible books but my attention span is such in 2022 that I need to look back at my '2022' shelf to remember what they were.

The Queens of Sarmiento Park by Camila Sosa Villada is probably my favorite novel of the year so far. Its pub day is July 14, UK only I believe.

My favorite book of any kind so far this year is the french graphic novel A Woman's Voice by Aude Mermilliod. Its English version is only available as a digital book. I strongly recommend it if you like graphic novels.

[Cheryl]

One of the most memorable and engaging books I have read this year is House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I have read books that played with formating and non-traditional narrative structure, but nothing that went as far as this. I learned the term ergodic literature. I even kept a reading journal for it with my thoughts, clues, and a few quotes, joining Johnny and Zampano in their obsession with the Navidson Record. It was a ride like I have never been on before.

I also finished the last two books in the Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin and was totally blown away with her virtuosity in storytelling, writing style, and characterizations.

Both of these reading experiences are highlights in a lifetime of reading. This has been an excellent reading year so far. Not in quantity, but some all-time stand out quality reads for me. And that is what matters most.

[Franky]

I have this big stack of books that I've been wanting to get to, so I'm trying to read some of my to-read books here in the summer while also participating in the various group reads. I was on quite a string of 4 and 5 star reads recently until this last book. But I've been enjoying this reading year so far, and finally was able to read some books that I had on my to read lists for years: Holes, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and An American Tragedy among others, all which I enjoyed.

[Joy D]

It's going very well. I have read way more than expected.

Favorites so far:

Historical fiction:
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason
The Farming of Bones by Edwidge Danticat

Science Fiction:
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Literary Fiction:
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
The Italian Teacher by Tom Rachman
The Master by Colm Tóibín

Non-Fiction:
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton

[Marc]

It feels like a very erratic reading year with lots of hits and quite a few misses. This is the second year in a row I'm trying to make sure I actually read all of the books I acquire (within the same year they are acquired; I fell short in 2021... could be a close call in 2022 but still seems manageable right now).

Ones I've given 5 stars so far in 2022:
- Maybe: A Story About the Endless Potential in All of Us by Kobi Yamada (children's)
- Jack by Marilynne Robinson
- Parenthesis by Élodie Durand (graphic memoir)
- The Door by Magda Szabó
- Time Regained by Marcel Proust
- Me & Other Writing by Marguerite Duras (essays)
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (my first time reading Baldwin in any form)

[Marc]

Cheryl wrote: "One of the most memorable and engaging books I have read this year is House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I have read books that played with formating and non-traditional narrative structure, but ..."

I thoroughly enjoyed House of Leaves and the Jemisin trilogy. Those two make for a great reading year already!

[Jennifer]

Marc wrote: "It feels like a very erratic reading year with lots of hits and quite a few misses. This is the second year in a row I'm trying to make sure I actually read all of the books I acquire (within the s..."

I really enjoyed The aDoor when I read it.

[Jennifer]

I have had another year of struggling with my reading. Its not really the books, but me and life. I am still adjusting to to changes, a new job and stuff.

[Alwynne]

Like Marc quite erratic. I've read a few books that I've found thought-provoking or informative, slogged my way through some truly dire ones notably Monica Ali's Love Marriage and Sandra Newman's The Men. But there are also a handful that made a strong impression, books or authors I will definitely revisit:

Guadalupe Nettel's Still Born

Sara Baume's Seven Steeples

Camilla Grudova's Children of Paradise

Minae Mizumura's A True Novel

Gwendolyn Brooks's Maud Martha just as brilliant as the first time I encountered it

Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Pachinko Parlour

Virginia Woolf's The Years a gloriously intricate family saga

Sara Mesa's short stories in Bad Handwriting

Thuận's Chinatown

[Robert]

It's been a consistent reading year - I returned to using the TBR jar to help choose books. The advantage is that the selection of books is eclectic. On day I'm reading a 30 page novella and the next it's a rock bio and then an adventurous novel. I like that - when I was doing mood reading, I would be stuck on the same genre.

I always DNF a lot so that hasn't changed.

I took up the backlisted challenge so that I read more classics - this is working

Also all my favourite books were mostly from indie presses which goes to show the direction my reading tastes are going. My 2022 highlights are:

Seek the Singing Fish (epoque)
Build your House Around my Body (Oneworld)
Young Mungo (Picador)
The Book of Form & Emptiness (Canongate)
The Sentence (Harper Collins)
Assembly ( Hamish Hamilton)
The Night Always Comes (Faber and Faber)
Christie Malry's Own Double Entry (Picador)
Lolly Willowes (Penguin)
The Gallow's Pole (Bluemoose)
My Cat Yugoslavia (Pushkin)
East Coast Road (Bluemoose)
Ms Ice Sandwich (Pushkin)