Reflecting on 2022: Reading

2022 was quite a year. I suffered through several bouts of reading and blogging slumps that greatly affected my reading, resulting in me reading less books than I’d intended — even though my goal was to read 30 books (my intention is always to read much more than my intended my goal).

Having read a combination of 35 books, comics, and picture books in a year isn’t bad, but (ugh!) in some ways I feel a little dejected, especially since most of the things read were short, quick reads. I just want to one year read a whole bunch and have most of what I read be novels, preferably from my own shelves. Who knows, maybe 2023 will be that year.

Well, one of the great things about 2022 is that my reading slump lifted by the end of the year, so now I am in prime reading mode and have already completed a book! 😊 So since the reading excitement is still coursing through me, let’s quickly (sike, it won’t be quick) look back on my reading in the past year.

ALSO SEE

ZeZee’s Favorite Reads of 2022
ZeZee’s Most Memorable Reads of 2022
ZeZee’s Most Disappointing Reads of 2022

Advertisement

2022 Reading Wrap-Up: Fourth Quarter

It seems that my reading and blogging slumps have passed, and I’m glad. It really isn’t a good feeling to lose interest in my hobbies, or to feel as if I’ve lost interest in them when what I am is just busy.

My interest in reading returned with a vigor in the fourth quarter of 2022, and I managed to read 5 novels and a novella! I’m so proud of myself. It helped that I was really interested in the majority of what I read.

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

End of Year Book Tag | 2022

Here’s a tag that I should probably do around this time every year. It’s the End of Year Book Tag that was created by booktuber Ariel Bissett.

---

ARE THERE ANY BOOKS YOU STARTED THIS YEAR THAT YOU NEED TO FINISH?

As was the case with everything that was not my job this year, I’ve been horrendous at keeping track of my reading. I usually use Goodreads to track what I’m reading and have read, but I sometimes forgot to log what I started and when. However, I’m sure I have these to wrap up:

2022 Reading Wrap-Up: Third Quarter

Another quarter of the year has ended. I was hoping to read much more books this past quarter than I actually managed to complete, but such was not the case. My slumps have passed but finding time to read has been difficult — or rather, finding the motivation to read has been difficult. It’s interesting because the lack of motivation isn’t due to being in a slump, it’s due to lack of adequate down time where I feel relaxed enough to want to read. Instead, I find myself leaning more toward silly games on my phone. 😩 I intend to make some changes this coming quarter, so we’ll see if they’ll help me find time to read.

Having read just 4 books should mean I don’t have to do this whole wrap-up thing, but I’ll go through with it anyway because it comes in handy at the end of the year.

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

---

Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag: 2022

It’s that time of year when we check in on our reading progress with these types of tags. Last week, I did the Half-Year Book Tag, and now it’s time for the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag, which was created by Chami and Ely Jayne.

---

BEST BOOK I’VE READ SO FAR

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

It’s a scifi novella about a lonely scientist at a secluded outpost on another planet who gets caught up in the affairs of the planet’s inhabitants, although he’s supposed to just observe them. I really enjoyed reading this, which I didn’t expect, and loved the way it’s written.

2022 Reading Wrap-Up: Second Quarter

The second quarter of 2022 has come to a close, and although my reading and blogging aren’t back to the levels they were at before, I’m happy I’m still going at it. As usual, I’m busy, but now I’m adjusting to a new schedule, which has thrown off my already lacking and inconsistent reading and blogging.

I didn’t read as much in the second quarter despite taking part in two reading events — the Magical Readathon and Wyrd & Wonder. I completed the Magical Readathon by focusing on short, quick reads, but I didn’t do as well on Wyrd & Wonder as I’d have liked. However, I wasn’t too worried about my performance on these events since they were both “at your pace” type of events.

Well then, here’s how I did during the second quarter

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

---

2022 Reading Wrap-Up: First Quarter

The first quarter of this year began on a shaky start. The end of 2021 was a rough one for me and that permeated the first months of 2022. My reading and blogging were poor as I tried to juggle many things at once and overcome the worst reading slump I’ve ever experienced.

As my blogging slowly picked up, so did my reading. And since I completed only one book in January and none in February, I’m surprised I managed to read as much as I did in the first quarter of 2022. The prep for the Magical Readathon certainly helped.

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

---

Reflecting on 2021: Reading

Although 2020 was a great reading year for me, I was hoping 2021 would be an even better one. But it wasn’t. Sure, I managed to pass my Goodreads reading goal of 50 books, but I only did so by reading 16 books over my goal. I was secretly hoping for much more than that.

It’s not that I was pressuring myself to read much more than 50 books. I try not to pressure myself about reading because otherwise the hobby won’t be fun anymore. It’s just that I was expecting (hoping) for a reading year that was similar to 2020, when I read 90+ things. But while I used reading to cope with 2020’s reality, I guess the stress and worries of 2021 were too much (especially when added to those carried over from 2020); so instead of reading helping me to cope, I slowly began to lose interest in the activity as a reading slump took over. The more stressful things became for me, the less I read until I wasn’t reading much at all in December. I’m just now turning back to books.

So 2021 wasn’t at all the reading year I was hoping for, but I’m still curious to see what my reading stats were for it. If you are interested in such stuff too, read on.

ALSO SEE

ZeZee’s Favorite Reads of 2021
ZeZee’s Most Memorable Reads of 2021
ZeZee’s Most Disappointing Reads of 2021

2021 Reading Wrap Up: Fourth Quarter

The last quarter of 2021 was a rough one, so I didn’t get as much done as I’d like. It’s not even done yet, but I already know that I won’t complete another book before the end of the year. There’s just too much going on, so my reading speed has been much slower than usual. Below are the few things I managed to complete this quarter.

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

---

2021 Reading Wrap Up: Third Quarter

There were many ups and downs in this year’s third quarter, and I think my reading reflects that. I didn’t read as much as I hoped and what I did pick up tended to be short and quick, like a comic book or picture book. I also rushed to participate in the Magical Readathon and turned to such short reads to make it through.

BOOKS | AUDIO | COMICS | PICTURE BOOKS

---