so it turns out, to my surprise, i read even more books in 2022 than the previous year, with a total of 57 books and read some parts of another 21ish. although to be fair i mostly read easy fiction, especially towards the end of the year. with all the burn out and stress, i sought mostly enjoyment and lighthearted stories from reading. so the count itself really shouldn't matter, although it is the most i've ever read in a year my whole life.
some years ago a colleague from russia said that on average she read about 52 books a year and that it's a normal thing in russia. i remember i was in complete awe. 52 books is like one book a week. how was that even possible? well, now i know. in the end it's a matter of habit i think. once it's become part of your daily habit instead of a once in a while thing to do, it's easier to keep picking up new books to read. and it's also because it's one of the few activities that doesn't involve a screen. after working with computer all day, looking at your phone constantly, watching movies or series on a screen, a no-screen entertainment is a good thing.
i can't really pinpoint favorite books from last year but one thing i kinda had an "epiphany" about is: female writers. i never intentionally read exclusively from certain category of writers before. and i still don't. what happened i guess was that i consecutively read books written by women without even realizing it. and somehow it struck me how emotionally and intellectually relatable they all are in different ways but there are sensitivity you get specifically because they were written in female perspective. i remember after finishing the first story from "The Woman Destroyed" by Simone de Beauvoir at 2 or 3AM in the morning, i felt this huge sense of urgency to tell my female friends about it and i want them all to read the story about how a woman navigate her life at later ages because we soon will face the same issue. and how the particular story ends beautifully is what somehow i want us all to have. it was not the first time, of course, i resonated with books written specifically because the writer is female. but i guess because of the intensity of reading several of them in a row, it made me realized how powerful they actually are.
another thing i noted was how important writing is after i read books by Annie Ernaux, one of the female writers i read. there were a lot of insightful articles written about her works, especially after her nobel win (2022 nobel prize in literature), but it really isn't that hard to get the charm of her works once we started reading them. her books are very short, very personal, honest while also not without the doubts of brittle memories. she wrote about her personal truth as it was regardless any moral judgement that may come. she made me feel like every single person have stories particular to ourselves to tell. maybe not everyone have the eloquence to write as beautifully but regardless, everyone should write their own stories and their own personal truth. if not for the public, at least for ourselves.
