In 2022, I did something new for my book-reading experience: I joined Bookstagram. It's been in my head for a long time before I officially decided to join. It was daunting, at first, because what I saw from this side of the Internet were the light-spilt books, shot from their iPhones's superior cameras, laid out on their pristine white bedsheets, with beautifully written annotations and color-coordinated sticky tabs. And I knew damn well that I wouldn't achieve—neither would my books—that level of bookstagrammability.
Anyway, I'm still glad I joined because that particular group of bookstagrammers is not the majority and it's easy to ignore them. Plus, I learned that the review captions were much more interesting to focus on. So armed with my mediocre reviews and even more mediocre picture-taking skills, I created a Bookstagram account.
That said, I still have this blog semi-active or as active as I can be and one of the traditions I have here is my yearly recap, which as time went by, became more focused on the media I consumed and, as of last year, on the books that I've read. Compared to last year's whopping 80 reads, I've clocked 65 titles this year, which is still a feat in itself—or not. I realized that numbers and counts do not matter; it's the experience of reading that does.
In general, 2022 is a great year of books for me. A lot of good titles, making it harder to name just the Top 10 (so I ranked 22) and some of these have become a lifetime favorite, that's for sure.
Additionally, this is just the definitive ranking and recap of my reads. My book reviews can be found on my Goodreads account and my aforementioned Bookstagram.
Anywho, without any more further adieu, here are my Top 22 Reads of 2022.
22. This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay
Equal parts funny and poignant, This Is Going To Hurt is definitely one of the most memorable reads I've had this year and in fact served as the standard for the other medical creative non-fics I consumed. I still haven't watched the TV adaptation, but maybe next year and before that, maybe I'll have time to reread and refresh.
21. These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
This was a difficult one to read, but so rewarding. The prose in These Violent Delights was exquisite and the tension was electrifying. It had this overall foreboding sense to it wherein you know something bad is going to happen, you just don't know when and what. I believe Hitchcockian is the term.
20. To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
This is definitely, if not the, one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it was disappointing. Well, not really, especially since it's included in here, but let's just say that it's something that I did not expect fro. her. Yanagihara's To Paradise, her third work following the love-it-or-hate-it A Little Life, was so much different and new. But her wonderful world-building and exact and memorable prose-writing were still present here. And anyway, that's what I enjoy the most with Yanagihara. (We can talk about her alleged homophobia or her inclination to tragedy-porn for a whole day but that's for another time and post.)
19. Brief Histories by Don Jaucian
Attending the book launch for Brief Histories in Escolta was one of the highlights of the year. See, that's what I've become. I've become this book-launch-attending guy. Who would've thought?! And the gayness of the event was so present in Jaucian's unapologetic collections of essays about growing up as a gay kid and thriving as a gay man. I've read some essays about queer life, but reading one—and in this case, a whole collection!—that actually reflects my own life and queerness, well, that really is something to be grateful for. Representation does matter.
18. Funeral Games by Mary Renault
I've had this trilogy for the longest time and only this year did I finally get the courage to read it. Funeral Games, which served as the closer to Renault's incredible Alexander the Great trilogy, was such a great conclusion to this famed hero's story. And it's so hauntingly (pun intended? maybe) beautiful.
17. The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
It is only recently, when I rewatched Call Me By Your Name (2017) for the nth time, when I realized that the “Hephaistion who died, Alexander's lover” mentioned in Sufjan Stevens's Mystery of Love pertains to Alexander the Great and his lover, Hephaistion. It went over my head the first hundred, thousand times I listened to it. And anyway, since I've read the trilogy, I finally learned the story between these two referenced names. However, the second book, The Persian Boy was as much about them, as it was about Bagoas, Alexander's other lover. Would Sufjan write another song featuring him? I don't know. But Renault's beautiful retelling of the story of this Persian boy and his love and adoration for Alexander was more than enough to immortalize them both.
16. Break It To Me Gently by Richard Bolisay
The original plan was to take note of the films featured in Break It To Me Gently, watch them all, and then read the book to compare notes. Bold of me to plan that because Bolisay's reviews were too good to be compared with my own sort-of film reviews. But anyway, even without watching every title mentioned, this debut of essays were still as entertaining and interesting for Bolisay's words and love of the craft alone.
15. Some Days You Can't Save Them All by Ronnie E. Baticulon
What I just said about Adam Kay's book being the standard was only applicable to an extent because Ronnie E. Baticulon's Some Days You Can't Save Them All not only leveled that standard, but also elevated it. Baticulon, in this book, opted for a more serious route and showed the grim reality of living, being sick, and dying in the Philippines.
14. Heartstopper Vol. 4 by Alice Oseman
The Heartstopper graphic novels only got better with every volume, because this latest one is currently the best among Oseman's books in the series. Love is not always butterflies and fairy tales and this was something Nick and Charlie learned in this deeply moving chapter. This being the penultimate for the series makes me excited for the final one because as I've said, it only gets better.
13. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I remember devouring The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in one sitting, it's that good. Written as a tell-all of the titular character, Taylor Jenkins Reid created this gossipy yet still affecting work about a famous/infamous actress in Old Hollywood. I rarely take Booktok's recommendations myself, but their hype for this one is so correct.
12. In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Carmen Maria Machado broke all traditions, norms, and concepts of memoir-writing in this innovative take, but still deeply personal In The Dream House. Memory is essentially non-linear and so why should a memoir be? Centering on the Dream House as both rationalized disguises and metaphors for her abusive and traumatic relationship with a former partner, Machado bared her whole heart and soul in this book and the result was simply heart-rending, all the while still remaining hopeful for the future and life outside the Dream House.
11. Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan (trans. by Labodalih Sembiring)
I really enjoyed Eka Kurniawan's Beauty is a Wound when I read it last year, but Man Tiger, which was longlisted for the then Man Booker International Prize in 2016, was so much better. For one thing, it's much shorter and for another, it was beautifully translated by Labodalih Sembiring. While I enjoyed Annie Tucker's work in Beauty is a Wound, I still found Sembiring to be the superior translator to effectively evoke the beauty, mystery, and sorrow of Kurniawan's work. This novel ran for less than 250 pages, but it was so complete and so gripping from start to finish.
10. Gun Dealers' Daughter by Gina Apostol
This is my third Apostol and my favorite one among the three (I haven't read Bibliolepsy, unfortunately.) Still filled with wordplays and puzzles only Apostol can write and justify, Gun Dealers' Daughter was scathing in its politics and brilliant in its storytelling. I read this prior to the May 2022 Presidential Election, hopeful—as Apostol was when she commented on my book review, another 2022 highlight—that the cockroach wouldn't be elected. Alas, what she wrote at the end of the book has happened again: people are still guilty of a failure of memory.
9. Nothing Deep by Richard Bolisay
Bolisay's launch for his sophomore book was the first book launch event that I attended—yes, another 2022 highlight. While his debut focused solely on reviews, Nothing Deep extended to the other facets of film. This time including interviews and profiles of actors and also a piece in the actual art of filmmaking. Although shorter than Break It To Me Gently, this book is more memorable. Plus can we talk about the cover? Gorgeous.
8. Lot by Bryan Washington
Prior this year, I wouldn't prioritize reading short story collections as I find them more taxing to read than a single-plot novel. But 2022 is the year of short story collections (as you would see soon enough) and Bryan Washington's Lot is among the best ones this year. Circling Houston with a recurring character's story and related tales, Lot was an introspective work on sexuality, race, and state of living, all told with Washington's direct, no-nonsense prose.
7. Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave
It's been years since I first watched (and sobbed and rewatched) Holding the Man (2015), but it's only this when I had finally bought the book and read it. And it was so worth it. The book is always better than the movie, that was my belief back then. I don't believe that now, I just think that it's important to read the book the movie was based on to further understand it. And in this case, reading Conigrave's memoir about his life with John only made the movie much more moving, sad, and beautiful. Cannot wait to rewatch and cry again.
6. The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
People talk about A Little Life a lot and not much about Yanagihara's The People in the Trees, which is a relief, actually. Because if they recoiled on the tragedy of her sophomore and most popular work, I cannot imagine what would happen if they read her debut and see where it all began. Look, for the record, I don't condone any evil deed the characters do in the books. But I still enjoy Yanagihara's works so much because of her utter commitment in telling the tale. She doesn't half-ass anything (well, maybe a little with To Paradise, jk) and she's so extreme in her character's decisions and morality—or lack thereof—it's outstanding! And her world-building, good lord! It was such a feat in The People in the Trees where she literally created a whole new world to cater to this whole new society. Yanagihara's works should come with a lot of trigger warnings, for sure, but she's really one hell of a writer.
5. Maurice by E.M. Forster
I realized that 2022 is such a good year for my reading because I've mostly left my comfort zone this year. From preferring not to read non-fiction and short story collections to actually reading and loving a lot of these, to finally reading classic titles. Classic books are daunting, I believe I'm not the only one who thinks that. They are written in English, but a different kind from centuries ago. And this year, I've read one of the most popular classic titles and it has instantly become a lifetime favorite: Maurice. As a lover of queer lit, of course I've heard of this for the longest time, but reading it now, fully relishing the beautiful, poignant story between Maurice and Clive and Alec, I'm so thankful to have finally overcome my fear of these obscure, difficult reads. Nothing is ever difficult to read, except probably Pynchon, Joyce, Foster Wallace...
4. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
Edinburgh was one of my lowest-rated books on Goodreads, but reading this memoir/essay collection by Alexander Chee makes me want to revisit the novel and admit that maybe I was wrong for rating it so low. How To Write An Autobiographical Novel is a wonder. It's so intimate in its tales and Chee was so generous to share it all. This book continued to haunt me weeks after reading it. And let me just find a copy of Edinburgh and I would surely reread it and this back-to-back.
3. The Absolutist by John Boyne
The Heart's Invisible Furies was my 2021 favorite read so it was imperative for me to read his other works. While others failed in moving me as much as Invisible Furies (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Ladder in the Sky), The Absolutist isn't one of them. This is a haunting and sorrowful book, one that I read in a sitting. I was gripped by the mystery at the beginning and was once again lulled by Boyne's remarkable dialogue- and interpersonal-relations writing. And his story-building was also so good here, piling everything up until that unfortunate denouement.
2. Real Life by Brandon Taylor
No one has captured the thrill and mediocrity, the danger and haven, and the fear and ease of being a millennial better than Brandon Taylor in Real Life. It's also a testament that one day in the life of a millennial is one day too long. He told a day in Wallace's life and it was filled with so much happening. The tension was so palpable in the book, one could feel it in every turning page. This is simply electrifying. Such an apt title, too, for what Taylor presented here was definitely real life.
Before revealing which book is my Top Read of 2022, I would just like to take this moment to say that this year is also the year of rereads. Rereading books is something that I usually do with my favorite titles, but now, I've mostly picked up titles I've shelved years earlier, thinking that I might have a much new appreciation for these. And I was right. There is magic in rediscovering and re-appreciating a book. And it's something to experience.
Anyway, back to the countdown...
1. Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
When I said 2022 is the year of short story collections, I meant it. Anthony Veasna So's enlightening and incredible collection filled with the stories of his Cambodian-American characters, Afterparties, is my best read of the year. Tales about race and sexuality and colorful Cambo characters filled this collection, but it was confident So's frenetic writing that elevated these stories to much acclaim. He was such an exciting writer to read that is why it is such a shame to have his life cut so short, for while Afterparties was his debut work, it is also his last as he passed away shortly before the official release of the book. With this he left an unfinished novel. I could only imagine what manic and absurd events would populate that book. But all the same, we still have Afterparties and with this, So's legacy lives.
2022 is such an exciting year of reading for me—from discovering the love for these genres I steer clear of before, to having new appreciation for old titles I've read years prior. I wonder what Reading in 2023 would be like. But for that, I still have a handful of TBR's and a whole lot of desire to read and read and read.
0 Comments