Print Story Books I've Read This Year 2022
Diary
By TheophileEscargot (Fri Dec 16, 2022 at 11:59:18 AM EST) Reading (all tags)


The List
Title links to my diary, author links to Amazon.

Non-fiction

  1. A Very Political Railway by Anthony Warner
  2. How to deal with idiots (and stop being one yourself) by Maxime Rovere
  3. Richmond Park : from medieval pasture to Royal Park by Paul A. Rabbitts,
  4. Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel
  5. How to deal with idiots (and stop being one yourself) by Maxime Rovere
  6. There is no map in hell: the record-breaking run across the Lake District fells by Steve Birkinshaw,
  7. Inhibitor phase by Reynolds, Alastair
  8. The galaxy, and the ground within by Chambers, Becky
  9. Unlawful Killings by Maxime Rovere
  10. Running Until You're 100: A Guide to Lifelong Running by Jeff Galloway
  11. The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream by Charles Spencer
  12. All About Me! by Mel Brooks
  13. The Burgundians by Bart Van Loo
  14. The Brothers York by Thomas Penn
  15. The Knowledge Machine by Michael Strevens
  16. Burn: The Misunderstood Science of Metabolism by Herman Pontzer
  17. Exercised: The Science of Physical Activity, Rest and Health by Daniel Lieberman
  18. Pre-Industrial Societies by Patricia Crone
  19. Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living In by Kai Whiting, Leonidas Konstantakos
  20. It's All in Your Head: Stories from the Frontline of Psychosomatic Illness by Suzanne O'Sullivan
  21. One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown
  22. When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut
SF
  1. Inhibitor phase by Reynolds, Alastair
  2. The galaxy, and the ground within by Chambers, Becky
  3. Brief Cases by Jim Butcher
  4. Side Jobs by Jim Butcher
  5. The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
  6. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
  7. The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
  8. The Hands of the Emperor by Goddard, Victoria
  9. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
  10. The Sword in the Stone by T. H. White
  11. This Charming Man by C. K. McDonnell
  12. The Men from P.I.G and R.O.B.O.T by Harry Harrison
  13. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Non-SF fiction
  1. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
  2. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
  3. Swallows And Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Comics
  1. Justice Society of America: Black Adam and Isis by Geoff Johns
  2. Hawkeye Vol. 1: My Life As A Weapon by Matt Fraction
Graphs
Book genres:
Books by Genre 2022

Total books:
Books per years 2022

Overall picture
Another low year though very slightly up on the last one. Really a struggle to find much time to read.

Highlights
Best non-fiction: "The Knowledge Machine", really made me think about the scientific process.

Best SF: "The Last Graduate" and "The Golden Enclaves", closing a great fantasy trilogy.

Best fiction: "Detransition, baby".

Question
So as you may have noticed, it's now 20 years since I've been doing these diaries! But I have less and less time to read, there's less and less time to write them up, and fewer and fewer people read and respond to blogs. Is two decades the right time to give up?

< Industrial Magic and Light | throwing in a diary >
Books I've Read This Year 2022 | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)
Echo by Vulch (4.00 / 1) #1 Fri Dec 16, 2022 at 02:12:10 PM EST
You've got the Becky Chambers twice in non-fiction and once in SF...

I've not posted my list in a few years, though I'm still more or less logging everything in a fragmented way. The site I started years ago doesn't handle ASINs, must nag myself to fix that, Goodreads is a pain when it comes to repeat reads, and I need to find a way to feed the Calibre "last read" data it gets from my ereader on to something else. I've generally been clearing somewhere between 120 and 150 books a year, but despite retiring 3 years ago I seem to have slowed down rather than reading more. Oddly the slow down seems to coincide to my sofa disintegrating and me not replacing it, seems I want to read with my feet up as bedtime reading still happens, and so does feet up on the corner of the computer desk while a few turns of Civilization V play through.

Overlaps on the Jim Butchers which I don't remember much about, and the Novik Scholomance books which are excellent, although as James Nicoll mentions in his reviews the family size and casualty rates don't match up. The Swallows and Amazons series are lined up for the not too distant future, my mother died a year ago and was very protective about her set of the books. My siblings agreed I could have them as part of my inheritance!

A quick look through my logs doesn't trigger any more outstandings, lots of next books in series, Ben Aaronovitch, Charlie Stross, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Martha Wells and Marko Kloos among others. Wasn't overwhelmed by any of the Hugo nominees this year, I think I voted for around 3 in each of the written fiction categories and left the others off. Several rereads of older stuff triggered by reviews and Reddit, Alan Dean Foster and the early days of the Humanx Commonwealth, John Varleys Titan trilogy and Jack Vance Demon Princes.

If you don't follow tor.com, Burning Books for Pleasure and Profit is a short story by K J Parker set in the same world as 16 Ways To Defend A Walled City that you may manage to squeeze in.


Thanks! by TheophileEscargot (2.00 / 0) #3 Fri Dec 16, 2022 at 02:58:25 PM EST
Fixed the duplicate, and I'll check out that short story!
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?
[ Parent ]
I read the entries by wiredog (4.00 / 1) #2 Fri Dec 16, 2022 at 02:52:25 PM EST
Just don't have much to say, other than "Where the heck do you find the time?" I'm lucky to find the time for 8 or 10 total a year.

Earth First!
(We can strip mine the rest later.)

I appreciate the write ups by bobdole (4.00 / 2) #4 Sun Dec 18, 2022 at 01:56:16 PM EST
and have a tendency to pick up a small handful from your diaries every year. Keep it up.

On the rate, I added audio-books (subscription) to my routine. Added a few extra books per year, not the same as reading, but for simple fiction it entertains me and "keeps the numbers up".
-- The revolution will not be televised.

I should try more audiobooks by TheophileEscargot (2.00 / 0) #7 Wed Dec 21, 2022 at 12:20:04 PM EST
I used to rip library CDs to my little MP3 player but can't do that anymore... Maybe I should try audible or something.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?
[ Parent ]
The trouble with Audible by ucblockhead (4.00 / 1) #8 Wed Dec 21, 2022 at 08:56:18 PM EST
The drive to a subscription model, rather than just "buy what you want" means that you can't just dip in and out when. you want.   I had an account for a while, but got annoyed because I'd get credits banked when I wasn't driving.   I went entirely to podcasts for times I want something to take my mind off tasks that only allow audio and honestly you can find tons of stuff worth listening to.
---
[ucblockhead is] useless and subhuman
[ Parent ]
I like Libro.fm by iGrrrl (4.00 / 1) #10 Wed Dec 28, 2022 at 06:32:31 PM EST
It has a subscription (1 per month plus discounts) and good sales. I like their app. If they have it in the UK, would recommend also because the connect to indy book stores.
"I honestly pity the stupid motherfucker who tries to talk down to iGrrrl" - mrgoat
[ Parent ]
Thanks! by TheophileEscargot (2.00 / 0) #11 Thu Dec 29, 2022 at 07:27:39 AM EST
I'll check it out.
--
It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?
[ Parent ]
keep going by gzt (4.00 / 1) #5 Tue Dec 20, 2022 at 10:26:04 AM EST
never give up, never surrender.

Knowledge Machine by ni (4.00 / 1) #6 Wed Dec 21, 2022 at 10:38:48 AM EST
Thanks: this looks interesting and I'll give it a look.


"These days it seems like sometimes dreams of Italian hyper-gonadism are all a man's got to keep him going." -- CRwM
Do not stop writing these diaries. by johnny (4.00 / 1) #9 Wed Dec 28, 2022 at 01:07:14 PM EST
that is all.

She has effectively checked out. She's an un-person of her own making. So it falls to me.--ad hoc (in the hole)
I also love these diaries by iGrrrl (2.00 / 0) #12 Thu Dec 29, 2022 at 11:32:57 AM EST
I read The Knowledge Machine back to back with Zimmer's Soul Made Flesh--highly recommended if you haven't read it.

Soul Made Flesh says it's about the brain, but really traces very early experimental biology/physiology and puts it squarely in the context of British political history of the time. Reading about how they were figuring stuff out and then reading The Knowledge Machine made for an interesting juxtaposition with post-Kuhn, post-Popper contrasted with how they were trying to make real and reliable measurements, to understand the basics of physics, chemistry and biology.

AND, at the present moment, I'm reading Selections from Science and Sanity, which I bought after one of your blogs and finally managed to crack. I'm finding it very interesting to read the original of ideas I've been exposed to through other filters (Robert Anton Wilson, for example). Wouldn't have known to buy it but for you.
"I honestly pity the stupid motherfucker who tries to talk down to iGrrrl" - mrgoat

Books I've Read This Year 2022 | 12 comments (12 topical, 0 hidden)