Fabian {Councillor}'s Reviews > 2022 on Goodreads

I haven't done of these in a while. But I really want to use this space nevertheless to talk a bit about my year with books and also give a bit of a life update to those who have known me for a while.

In fact, the last time I used the Year on Goodreads feature was back in 2017. Even then, I complained already about a slow year reading-wise where I didn't get to spend as much time reading books as I would have liked to. In the years since, things haven't changed much, and my yield in terms of actually reading all the books I'm buying is ludicrous at best, considering that I now have close to one hundred unread books waiting at home on my book shelves. At least, I managed to restrict my spending habits this year and bought a lot less books, even though I still haven't taught myself to actually read the books I'm buying.

... I'm sure that sounds completely strange and totally unfamiliar to all of you. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

But a little more to my reading slumps. As it turns out, the last few years have taught me that the best way to get myself to read is ... not to have too many obligations waiting for me. Which is why my reading diary on Goodreads looks so random: sometimes, I get to finish five books in five days, and then suddenly there are two or three months without any finished book at all. Whether it's having to write a paper for university or having lots of workload at work, things like those usually prevent me from building up the motivation to pick up a book, and often have me deciding to turn on my laptop or TV and watch a movie instead. (Which I do tons of, actually, as you can see on my Letterboxd page). Over the years, writing movie reviews has become maybe even more of a pleasure to me than writing book reviews, but since it all started with books for me, those will always have a special place in my heart. Plus, Goodreads has had some really crappy updates to its UI in recent years, and the last update was almost enough to drive me off the website once and for all with how much it reduced the functionality of the website in terms of how I used it before.

In 2022, I managed to squeeze in a lot more reading time again than in previous years, and Goodreads tells me I have read forty books this past year (although, for the sake of honesty, subtracting short stories and the likes leaves it at a number closer to twenty). Still, a book every two weeks on average is a good turnout for me, at this point. I don't know whether I will be able to continue this trend for next year, since I am currently in the process of applying for an internship in the early half of the year and will then (probably) spend the latter half of the year writing my master thesis, not to mention that I have to increasingly take care of my father who, at the age of sixty, has been experiencing cognitive problems for a couple of months now (which we all hope will not turn out to be dementia, but no medical examinations have brought a conclusive diagnosis yet), which obviously takes up a lot of time and energy. On the more positive side of things, I have a wonderful and supportive boyfriend, with whom I have now been together for almost six years. All the audiobooks I am logging (this year, the entire Lord of the Rings series and a bit of George R.R. Martin as well as a few odd audiobooks in-between), we are listening to together in the evenings, oftentimes while building LEGO sets or working out or stuff like that.

I haven't talked yet about any of the books I have been reading this year, but that's mostly because only a few have really stood out to me, such as Louise May Alcott's Little Women, Alice Oseman's Heartstopper: Volume One series or the writings of H.P .Lovecraft, who I sincerely hope to be able to get a lot more into over the next year. A lot of the top-voted write-ups on the 2022 on Goodreads page include a ton of interesting recommendations, however, so take a look at those if you want to get some recs.

I feel like this has been a somewhat pessimistic reflection on the past year and on what's coming in 2023 for me, but it really isn't. I'm in a really good place mentally, am really happy with some important life decisions I have committed to in the past, and am looking forward to the future with a lot of positivity, all while valuing the time I do decide to spend with a good book in the evenings very much.

I'm looking forward to reading everyone's year-in-reviews, because even when I miss a lot of the updates and reviews you all post here, it gives me a chance to catch up and also gather some fantastic recommendations. Thank you all for making Goodreads a wonderful place, visiting which always feels a bit like coming home and meeting old friends again.