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End of Year Reading Roundup and 2022 Summary
Similarly to what happened in the month of June, I did not read enough in the Autumn months to warrant an entire post, so I decided to wait until Winter also passed through to then combine my reading experiences from both seasons into an end of the year summary. And viola! Here we are!
Books Read: 4
Star Average: 3
My end of year reading ventures were quite banal, to be entirely honest. The only form of true excitement came in the form of finally getting my hands on "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy. I grew up watching iCarly and had heard rumours in adulthood of the trials and tribulations Jennette had faced both on set and in her life beyond. However, the full story was never truly known until she released her memoir just this year. While not a five star read in my eyes (I think it is quite obvious when somebody has never written before and while it didn't take away from my reading experience, I was expecting just a tiny something extra in the writing that wasn't there) Jennette's story was both heart wrenching and inspiring. "I'm Glad My Mom Died" was definitely one of my highlight books of 2022.
I also read "Who On Earth is Tom Baker?", "The Doctor's Who's Who" and Kidnapped by The Pirate in this time. I found Tom Baker's autobiography awfully baffling in many regards, with more fallic imagery than I was expecting. However, it was still enjoyable in many ways, if not purely for how Tom Baker's humour reminds me of my father's. The Doctor's Who's Who was a bitter disappointment, unfortunately. Kidnapped By The Pirate was a comedy Christmas gift from my best friend Niamh and, while I have read much better smut in my years, was certainly an amusing read, and a great change of pace.
So, where does that leave me in regards to the goals I set myself at the beginning of 2022? I believe I surpassed most, and only failed in one. That one being that I can't shake the importance of numbers from my head. I wanted to not care about how much I was reading, convince myself that it didn't matter if I read more than I did in 2021, but it wasn't possible. At least not yet. Maybe this year will be the year, maybe it won't be. I guess we'll see. We shan't focus on that too much, though. Instead, let's look at my success:
I most definitely read more non-fiction, as I wished to have done. "Diary of A Young Girl" by Anne Frank; "Know My Name" by Chanel Miller; "Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography" by Elisabeth Sladen and "I'm Glad My Mom Died" by Jennette McCurdy were stand outs for me. I want to continue this pattern in 2023, if I can, because I find autobiographies particularly fascinating and quite often I devour them in only a few sittings. I also stopped book hoarding, which was another goal on my list. I donated a large portion of my books to Marie Curie earlier in the year and intend to keep donating whenever I notice my shelves getting a bit too full. Not everything can be kept, no matter how much I wish it to be so.
My final goal was to make more time for writing, which brings me very excitedly to my biggest achievement of 2022: I finished my first book since the publishing of The Seven. I have many things I need to get in order before my manuscript gets anywhere near publication but I think this feat makes it quite evident that I smashed that particular goal into pieces. I love writing, and never envision a time where I will not be writing, and making time for it is something I need to continue doing in 2023. It's hard, mainly due to mental blocks and lack of inspiration, but I'll get there. I have faith in myself. Kind of.
2022 Summary
Favourite Book/ Highest Rated: Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank. This book touched me so deeply I travelled to Amsterdam to visit The Secret Annexe for myself. I think it is extremely important for everybody to read this book to see and try to understand what Anne's family, and so many more, were put through during World War 2. The young girl had more wisdom in her pinkie finger than I could dare to hope to have in my entire body as a full grown adult. I only hope that she found peace in her passing.
Least Favourite Book/Lowest Rated: November 9 by Colleen Hoover. I don't want to talk about this garbage excuse of a book a second more than I have to. Just don't go near it, trust me. Toxicity and abuse is woven into the words and treated like its romantic. Do not recommend one bit.
Five Star Reads:
Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandals and Shipwrecks by Mackensie Lee
Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography by Elisabeth Sladen
Doctor Who: The Widow's Curse by Dan McDaid; Jonathan Morris; Ian Edginton; et al.
Doctor Who: The Cruel Sea by Robert Shearman; Gareth Roberts; Scott Gray; et al.
I look forward to the reading year ahead. As I write these words, I've already read two books, both of which I finished in single sittings. I can't promise such a pace to continue, but it is an encouraging start to what will hopefully be a fruitful year for both my reading and writing ventures.
As always, The Seven is available through Amazon, now a Kindle exclusive and free to those who have Kindle Unlimited. It can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B9L969B7/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_QB5YMZ10PB0BYT100ZF6
You can also find my full reviews for the books I read, and the ratings I have given them on my Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7149130.Erin_Curran
I wish you all a happy and healthy 2023 full of opportunity and joy!
Keep Creating,
Erin
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