Average Rating for 2022: 4.10 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Reading Goal: 33/20 | Completed: ✅ Overall, I am very happy with how much I read this year. I ended up reading 33 books, with a total yearly goal of 20. Since I started finally taking reading seriously in August, I am really happy with how the second half of the year played out for me. My average rating was 4.10, which is the ★ rating of every book I read this year divided by the total number of books I read. :) Reading Goals: 1. Read 2. Find My Reading Style 3. Pace Myself Since this is my first actual year of reading, I didn’t want to set too many goals. I just wanted to be happy & find my style. I think I was able to do this and I found so many books that I loved. Star Ratings ★ - Awful, would never recommend, this shouldn’t exist ★★ - Terrible, might be for someone but that someone isn’t me ★★★ - This book is just okay and honestly I am a little disappointed ★★★★ - Good, but it could have been infinitely better ★★★★★ - Amazing, no notes, I love this so much ★★★★★★ - I would sell my soul to read this again for the first time, my absolute favorite ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Monthly Breakdown of My 2022 Reads January: 1 book | 4★ Book of Anonymous Letters Part II - AMKA Publishing | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ February: 1 book | 5★ The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person - Frederick Joseph | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ May: 1 book | 3★ Healing Crystals: Discover the Therapeutic Powers of Crystals | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ June: 2 books | 3.5★ The Astrology Dictionary: Cosmic Knowledge from A to Z | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Crystal Clear: Reflections on Extraordinary Talismans for Everyday Life | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ July: 1 book | 4★ How to Read Tarot: A Modern Guide | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ August: 2 books | 4.5★ The Little Book of Crystals: An Inspiring Introduction to Everything you need to Know to Enhance your Life using Crystals | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ September: 7 books | 3.9★ Last Night at the Telegraph Club - Malinda Lo | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Hawthorne Legacy - Jennifer Lynn Barnes | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartstopper: Volume 1 - Alice Oseman | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ They Both Die at the End - Adam Silvera | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Women Don't Owe You Pretty - Florence Given | ⭐️⭐️ The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Carrie - Stephen King | ⭐️ October: 5 books | 4.8★ The Lighting Thief - Rick Riordan | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Good Girl's Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ November: 9 books | 4.3★ Good Girl, Bad Blood - Holly Jackson | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We Were Liars - E. Lockhart | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sixth Extinction - Elizabeth Kolbert | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sacred Hospitality - Olivie Blake | ⭐️⭐️ Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ As Good As Dead - Holly Jackson | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartstopper: Volume 2 - Alice Oseman | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartstopper: Volume 3 - Alice Oseman | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartstopper: Volume 4 - Alice Oseman | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ December: 4 books | 4★ The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Drown It Out - Tori Rios | ⭐️⭐️ Kiss Her Once For Me - Alison Cochrun ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Final Gambit - Jennifer Lynn Barnes | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Top tbr for 2022: Moonscript These Twisted Bonds Shadow and Bone Siege and Storm Ruin and Rising The Wicked King The Queen of Nothing The Goldfinch Blade Breaker Father Elijah: An Apocalypse Station Eleven Spinning Silver Fairest Son Just like last year, I stole these prompts from Lily, who I believe got it from Jamie (whose page I unfortunately can't find). Feel free to borrow it from me, but be sure to give them credit! **2022 READING STATS** Number Of Books You Read: 81 Number of Re-Reads: 4 Genre You Read The Most From: YA Fantasy Favorite book? Ugh this question. I rated 12 books 5 stars, which is nuts. I'm inclined to go with The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. I loved the heck out of this book, and I haven't stopped loving it. Most anticipated that let you down? I wrote down that my most anticipated book was Book of Night by Holly Black, which I didn't end up loving. Book you recced that they read? I FINALLYYYY got someone to read Here There Be Gerblins (many thanks to my friends and family for putting up with me constantly going off about TAZ. I finally got a good friend to listen to the actual podcast with me too. She may or may not have been trapped in the car with me for eight hours, but she's hooked now, and that's all that counts. Best series opener/sequel/ender you read in 2022? Opener: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston Sequel: Defend the Dawn by Brigid Kemmerer Ender: Bound and Determined by Grace A. Johnson Book you'd be most likely to re-read? Definitely The Blacktongue Thief. I'm already thinking about it. Also I read it in January, which was like 5000 years ago I think. Favorite quote from this year? "He pauses once more, and with what remains of himself, says, "There was a last time I held you in my arms and I didn't even know it."" In the Wild Light "God lets us see Him all the time. He looks like Hazel and Rachel and Harlan and babies and etc. You should of known that already." Last Days of Summer Shortest & Longest books read? Shortest: They're Made Out of Meat by Terry Bisson (help) Longest: Bound and Determined by Grace A. Johnson How'd you do on your reading expectations from 2022? Highest Priority Book: Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell, which of course I didn't get to 😒 Most Anticipated Book: Shadow and Bone trilogy, which did not disappoint. Most Anticipated NEW book: Book of Night by Holly Black. Meh. Most Anticipated Sequel/Series Ender: These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan. This was just as much fun as the first one - lived up to the hype! Reading/blogging goals from 2022: I had high hopes for my reading goals, which were definitely realized; 81 books in a year is absolutely wild to me. I wanted to do more work on my personal blog too, which ultimately went well. I'm up to 129 posts as of today, and will have 130 by tonight :) I didn't get any "Reading While Catholic" posts up, but they're still in the works. From this standpoint it was definitely a good year! Favorite post you wrote in 2022? I managed to write reviews for nearly every book I read in 2022! I definitely missed a few, but this is all pretty new to me, so I'm well pleased. I had a ton of fun writing the review for Defy the Night, but it's pretty whack as far as reviews go. The same applies for my review of Amari and the Night Brothers, but again, I had fun doing it. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2022? 129 content warning posts! So excited!! I have 43 subscribers right now, but I'm really hoping to get my site out there to the people who need it. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year? I want most of all to finish some Reading While Catholic posts (aka, longer, critical posts about films/movies/shows), but I have to somehow get over my own feelings of inadequacy to actually write them 🙄 I have several lined up that I want to do, but I feel like I'm frantically trying to read all the fiction I want. This darn full-time-job thing really gets in the way of reading for fun and doing research in addition. I'm hoping to relax a bit more in that regard, and rely more on the Holy Spirit to guide this project; I've done okay, but obviously not my best. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love? Of course I'm going to link to my review for Blacktongue Thief because I'm a spaz. Please read this book (unless you're under 18). Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year? I way overshot my Goodreads challenge, which was so exciting to see. Take that, that year where I didn't even read 50 books! Never again! I also tried doing the 52 book club challenge, and got 38/52, which wasn't bad considering I wasn't paying attention to it until about July, and even then kept getting distracted by other things. I had the same problem with the TBR Toppler yearly challenge through Challenge Corner. We'll not speak of that one. It was fun though, and I'm using a similar format to help guide my tbr a bit for 2023. Looking Ahead Questions 1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2022 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023? Gotta be The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. This was recommended to me two years ago now by a very dear friend, and it's still sitting on my shelf. 2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2023 (non-debut)? The Chalice of the Gods I NEED IT NOW 3. 2023 Debut You Are Most Anticipating? As of now, The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E.M. Anderson. It sounds positively delightful. 4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2023? The Chalice of the Gods goes here too. I weirdly haven't read any of the first books from 2022 that are getting sequels in 2023. 5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2023? I'm hoping to read more Catholic/Christian fiction. It's something I'm really passionate about, but have weirdly not read much of it. Accessing it is definitely an issue unfortunately, and I have a strict "only buy books you really love" policy which usually means I don't buy books I haven't read, or that are written by authors I don't already love (of which there are, like, 3?). I've been requesting things at my library, but I recently moved to a pretty small city with pretty minimal access to things, and it's been taking a while. Alas. Also, I have a new "Only Read 3 Books at a Time" rule that I'm planning on keeping to. It's worked wonders for my sanity. Off to 2023 - I have some reading to do 😎

In 2023, I need to stop pressuring myself to read (yes, I know it sounds weird). No, not being able to read 50 pages a day because I have a lot going on in my mind doesn't make me stupid. No, not being able to finish 300 pages book in a week won't cause me harm. No, not being interested in a book that I'm reading at the time and end up dnf-ing it doesn't make me weird. No, not being interested in a popular book because it doesn't suit my taste is not a big deal. This year, I need to focus on my experience in reading, not only about how much of pages or books that I can read. I need to stop making everything hard for myself since I genuinely love reading.

2022 was my best reading year so far (as of 2023). It was my most chaotic and diverse reading year, and I read the most books I ever had at the time at a total of 231 books. I began this reading year on a high note by reading many different standalone books and crossing off books from different genres. I started the year strong with great thrillers and contemporaries, then I dipped into foreign fiction and short stories/novellas. After a brief mood read through young adult fantasy, thrillers and horror, I began to read through many “first books in a series” to find my next series binge. I read a few young adult urban fantasies, some horrors, and a few young adult series, before I began two series: The Lying Game series and the Women of the Otherworld series. I finally finished Dracula and fell in love with foreign fiction, stand-alone thrillers, and stand-alone science fiction and horror. This was the first year I explored erotica, and I was surprised by how much I liked some of the entries, and how much I read within that genre. I finally read through 90% of the Final Destination media-tie in novels after spending years trying to track them down, which was satisfying just for the sake of saying that I finally read them. I dipped into extreme horror, before I jumped into erotic comics, then after a few media-tie in books, I finally finished off the Pretty Little Liars books. After loving the chick-lit mysteries of the Pretty Little Liars books, I jumped into the Gossip Girl book series, which was fun and frivolous, but ultimately disappointing. Around this time I got a new job, which helped my mental health immensely and got me out into the world again after so long of being isolated from the rest of the world. Around this time I began jumping through stand-alone stories again, mostly horror, thrillers and science-fiction. After breezing through these genres, I began reading more comic books and graphic novels, and found some amazing work by artists and writers outside of the usual Marvel and DC comic stories. Reading more graphic novels was a gateway for me to read more manga, which I haven’t read since elementary school. I was surprised to see how much I fell in love with the Bleach manga, which was an anime series I had loved growing up. I ended 2022 by reading up to Volume 39 in the Bleach manga and reignited my love for anime and manga, which felt like reconnecting with my inner child. 2022 wasn’t a perfect year, but I began feeling like a person again and my love for reading brought me to some fun and entertaining places.

2022 wrap up and 2023 goals Overall, 2022 went really well when it comes to reading. I hit my highest number of books read per year ever 104 I also read a range of different genres and learned some more about the books that I don't love quite so much. Highlights from 2022 No particular order: Saga - I read the whole graphic novel series over two sessions and loved it. A Light In The Flame - Amazing romance, well thought out characters and a great addition to the Flesh and Fire series. The Book Eaters - Complete wildcard for me, probably wouldn't have picked it up on Kindle just by the synopsis but the concept for this one was just really fun. I'm Glad My Mom Died - like everyone, I read this and loved it. Great peice of reflective writing from someone from an abusive background. Legends and Lattes - This book gets all the awards for being cute, it was so incredibly wholesome and I'm sure I'll re-read at some point. Her Majesty's Royal Coven - I take a train that goes to Hebden Bridge every day but have never been and now, because of this book it's taken on a mystical essence for me. Loved the book! Femlandia - One of my only dytopic reads of the year and it really hit the spot. Some true heart-wrenching moments in this one and the ending was pure bleak. Project Hail Mary - I'll preface this by saying that I didn't enjoy The Martian (movie or book) but Project Hail Mary just hit all the right notes. Lowest rated books in 2022 or DNF Babel - I went to a book signing for this one in Liverpool, my first ever signing so that was great fun. Sadly the book just didn't capture me, I wanted it to lean into the fantasy a little more and it just never did. House of Sky and Breath - Tell me why I was bored reading this? I ATE the first one up but this book had me wondering if my brain had fallen asleep. I don't know if it was the focus on the other characters but in my mind Crescent City #1 is a standalone. I dnf'd this but did wastch content about it on booktube, if it turns into a multiverse series with ACOTAR and TOG crossover, I'm totally out. Bunny - A fever dream, abstract kind of book. I'm the kind of person that stuggles a little with watching cartoons so this one just wasn't for me. Goals for 2023 Think twice before picking up YA. It's just not for you anymore Finish 100 books Attempt to write reviews for all of the books you read, it'll be fun to go back and see what you thought about them later on Stick to your guns when it comes to what genres you want to read.

TWENTY TWENTY TWO – goals. ☐ finish 40 books ↳ narrow down physical tbr ☐ finish all the series left unfinished in 2021 ☐ review at least 1/2 of books read ☐ do 3 themed challenges ☐ complete a 24-hour read-a-thon —————————————————— – january. TBR 1/4 1. Scum Villain's Self Saving System (Vol 1) ★★★★★ – february. TBR 3/5 1. Kingdom of the Wicked ★★☆☆☆ 2. An Enchantment of Ravens ★★★★★ 3. Ninth House ★★★★★ 4. Fortuna Sworn 5. Sorcery of Thorns

damn how is it 2022 already ;-; anyways, I intend to read at least 50 books this year :) and i made a New Years resolution to dnf more books that I don’t enjoy instead of just pushing through and torturing myself so here’s to me dnf-ing more books 🥂🥲🥲 ALSO HAPPY NEW YEAR byebye