Yellow Wallpaper

 I read 61 books in 2022; 44 were by women, 15 were by men, and 2 had multiple authors of multiple genders. 11 were nonfiction, 2 were poetry, and 48 were fiction. This year I also read 4 books in Spanish and 3 books that were translated in English from other languages.  Although I don't think I want to set some reading goals or take on a particular reading challenge, next year I would like to read more works in translation and more books of poetry. I'd also like to get back into reading more Mormon nonfiction books since I haven't done that as much during the last few years. In no particular order, here are my favorite books from this year: Fiction:  Seven Days in June by Tia Williams The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb Picnic in the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Eleusis by R. de la Lanza True Biz by Sara Novic The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd Sea of Tranquility by Emi

Vanishing Edge by Claire Kells I think this is the first book in a new mystery series, and I plan on reading at least the next one. I did not figure the mystery out until the very end and I had a great time reading this book. The pacing is good, the protagonist is relatable, and it almost convinced me to do more hiking and camping because of the descriptions of the setting. The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee This book was a little dense and slow to read, but filled with a bunch of interesting insights that helped me see things in a new way. It connected well with other books I've read recently about history and racism. The author's arguments are compelling and well-supported by the data and I recommend giving it a read. 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard I guess that after two years of COVID pandemic it's not surprising that there will now be novels using it as a plot device. This one jumped around quite a bit betwee

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this blog, and perhaps anyone who used to is wondering if it has finally died (like most blogs I used to read). 2021 was a momentous year that blew up my life completely and I'm still trying to put everything back together and figure out new routines and things. In the fall of 2020 I started a new position at work and the kids went back to school on a weird schedule because of the pandemic--and I thought that would be it as far as disruptions went. Then the year went on and Covid quarantines and protocols kept disrupting things. And we had a house fire in May that destroyed Little Dude's bedroom and caused enough damage that we couldn't live there for two months while they removed everything from the house, cleaned it, and moved it back in. I am enjoying the new paint on the walls, but I'm still sad that my good carpet got replaced with an inferior product. And then in the fall S-Boogie moved away to college and the other two