Tag Archives: best of lists

My Fave Reads of the Year, 2022 Edition

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Hello all and welcome to the last Friday of the year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday week last week, and that you are excited for the new year and all the possibilities that might bring. The last year, or two years really, have been pretty rough, and I am really hoping that 2023 will be a bit kinder to us all. But I am… skeptical, let’s say. Still, I am trying to approach the new year with a feeling of cautious optimism. We shall see how it goes.

Before I jump into my fave reads list, I have several things in the works I want to mention. I have officially started my work as a freelance editor. And I am preparing to launch an etsy shop to sell the fluid paintings I’ve been making off-and-on for the last couple months. The first handful were all gifts to various family and friends, but I have a bunch now that are piling up in my office, so I’m hoping to sell them for just a bit – enough to clear out the space in my office and buy supplies so I can make some more. I’ll have the shop linked here probably in the first week of January for the curious.

I am also considering changing the name of the blog… though, I am still on the fence about that. As I mentioned in my About page ages ago, I chose the name “Night Forest Books” as the name of my hypothetical future bookstore. I’ve had the name in mind since AT LEAST 2016. It’s a reference to my favorite book, The Neverending Story, and the location called “Perilin, the Night Forest.” When I first chose the name I did a lot of research to make sure no other bookstore or related business had claimed the name already. I bought the .com domain for future use, and I claimed the IG name (@night.forest.books) and this blog title. However, I was nowhere near ready to actually register a business or LLC name as I knew it would be probably years before I was financially ready to start the bookstore.

Well, apparently in mid-2020 a brand new micro-press started in CANADA, and they named themselves Night Forest Press. Obviously, even if they did research on the name, they did not consider my teeny-tiny blog a problem, whether it had essentially the same name or not, and since I didn’t have an actual business registered under that name it was legally up for grabs. I could probably still get away with naming a bookstore Night Forest Books if I really wanted to (maybe, I’m not certain), but googling “Night Forest Books” right now just brings up the press website. And I had vague ambitions of maybe someday starting a press associated with the hypothetical bookstore, which would no longer be a viable option under the current name. So, I will need to find a new name for the hypothetical bookstore…

Of course, the blog name is still fine right now. However, as I said, googling for “Night Forest Books” right now does not remotely lead to my blog, which is really disheartening. Besides which, my initial thought was that the blog would be a good way to establish some recognition among readership in advance of opening the bookstore, and if the bookstore has an entirely different name from the blog that kind of defeats the purpose…

So… yeah… I’m on the fence about changing the blog name, or just letting it be and worrying about the bookstore name later. Maybe I’ll just go back to using my actual name for the blog for the time being. That might at least make it obvious in search engines again… maybe. *shrug* If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to share.

OKAY! And now the thing I’m supposed to actually be writing about today. My Favorite Reads of 2022 List!

I had a really difficult time narrowing the list down this year. (Well, ok, every year). What I have ended up with is a list of 10 books. My top 5 favorite new release fiction books, released in the calendar year of 2022, plus my top 5 favorite nonfiction books, none of which were new releases for 2022 but which were all new reads for me.

My Top 5 Fiction New Releases:

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: This book by the masterful T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is a beautiful dark fairy tale with prose that makes me weep with awe and jealousy. I wrote a full review for Nettle & Bone way back at the beginning of the year, where I predicted that it might end up being my favorite book of the year when it was all said and done, though I conceded that Nona the Ninth might easily change my mind when it was released. But lo and behold! I stand by my initial statement! I absolutely adored this book and it remains my favorite book of the year.

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske: you can find the full review of this one and the first book in the trilogy just a few weeks back. This one is a historical romance fantasy set in Edwardian England, featuring a murder mystery, lots of magic, and some very steamy sex. I loved it (and the first one, A Marvellous Light), and I’ve already re-read it once since finishing it.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir: I know I still owe you all an actual review of this one, oops… For those still in the dark (how?) this book (and series) is a mind-bending, genre-busting, space opera mixed with necromantic magic, and one of the most complex examinations of love in all its forms (including toxic and self-destructive) that I have ever read. I’ll admit that I fully expected this one to overtake Nettle & Bone as my favorite, but though I loved it immensely, it ended up slipping down to third place. Nona the Ninth, the third of the Locked Tomb series, was excellent, and mind-boggling, but of the three it is my least favorite. Nona was a delight of a character, but the first book is still by far the most FUN. So far I love them in order, lol (Gideon, then Harrow, then Nona).

Last Call at the Nightingale by Katherine Schellman: here’s another one I read and reviewed pretty early in the year! It’s a historical murder mystery novel set in the 1920s, which is of course a good portion of what I love about it. And it features a disaster bi protagonist that I relate to rather strongly, lol! I read the whole thing in one sitting, just absolutely DEVOURED it. I fervently await the sequel!

The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews: I have not written a full review for this one yet, but I might try to put one together for it and its sequel later. This one is straight romance novel material, historical (Victorian setting), and absolutely lovely! I read it about a month ago and I am currently in a big Victorian-set historical romance brainrot mode. I also read the sequel to this one, The Belle of Belgrave Square. There will be a third one apparently sometime next year, so maybe I’ll do a double review for books 1 and 2 in time for the 3rd release. This book just really made me happy, with a headstrong intelligent female lead and a Indian-immigrant working-class love interest, and lots of witty banter.

My Top 5 Nonfiction Books:

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh: this is the last book that came out before Thich Nhat Hanh’s death in 2021. If you are unfamiliar with him, he was a very famous well-respected Buddhist monk who wrote many books on Buddhist, meditation, and finding peace in your own life. He gave lectures, met with world leaders, ran retreats, and generally just made the world a better place by his existence. He was/is one of the greatest heroes in my life, and I was absolutely DISTRAUGHT when he died last year. (And, shit, I am genuinely getting choked up just typing this.) This book is kind of exactly what the title suggests: a way of approaching the crises of our planet (ecological, political, systemic, personal) from a Buddhist perspective but also from a largely non-denominational place of deeply human spirituality and compassion. It made me cry at least three or four times, and the minute I finished it I threatened to buy a copy for every person I know to make them read it (if I’d had the funds, I really probably would have).

Make Your Art No Matter What by Beth Pickens: I have a soft-spot for self-improvement books, but more specifically I really love self-improvement books about living an authentic and creative life. For instance, I also liked Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (though I do find Gilbert a little too woo-woo and mystical hand-wavy at times). This book by Beth Pickens is about living life as an artist — and she defines “artist” very broadly — and offers real concrete advice on how to live that life to the best of your ability and with the most fulfillment you can manage, whether you are a full-time professional artist or someone trying to eke out a practice around a day job and family and other responsibilities. I found it incredibly insightful, down-to-earth, actionable, and really inspiring.

The Dragon Behind the Glass by Emily Voigt: I really love nonfiction books about history or science, and this one is kind of both. I picked it up on a whim and found it absolutely fascinating. It’s about the exotic fish trade, of all things! Specifically about a rare exotic fish called an arawona, which is allegedly the most expensive kind of collector/live fish in the world (most expensive fish of any kind in the world are, I think, some of the giant tuna caught/killed in Asia and sold by auction to high-end restaurants for sometimes millions of dollars). This book, and the exotic fish trade, includes: trips into the deepest barely-explored jungles of Asia and South America, run-ins with the black market and the mob, and devolves into fraud, betrayal, and even murder. It’s absolutely shocking and enormously fascinating!

1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar by Eric Burns: I think I’ve mentioned before I am a bit obsessed with the 1920s Jazz Age era? So I assume no one is surprised that I picked up this book. It is pretty much exactly what it says it is: its a history book that focused on JUST the single year of 1920, and makes an argument that the events of that single year was the catalyst and predictor for everything that came after it. One of the major events the book focuses on is the 1920 Wall Street bombing, which remained the most destructive incident of domestic terrorism until the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. (I found that section SO interesting that the Wall Street bombing eventually became the instigating event for the plot in my 1920s historical fiction work-in-progress). The whole book was really enlightening and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in American history.

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier: the subtitle for this book is “The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made.” It’s a really well-researched account written by a games journalist about the game industry, using an enormous amount of first-persons accounts and interviews. Each chapter focuses on the story of a different game, including (but not limited to) Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Stardew Valley. I’m not even a big gamer (just a dabbler), so I’m not 100% sure why I decided to pick this one to begin with, but I’m so glad I did! It was so cool to learn about how these games are developed and the kind of crazy sheningans that happen behind the scenes. (The dude who made Stardew Valley continues to blow my mind.) It’s also really fun now to watch the comedy tv show Mythic Quest on Apple+ and constantly go “that’s not how that works! That’s not how any of that works!” Lol…

So, that’s my list, for whatever it’s worth. I’d love to hear what books you read and loved this year! Please feel free to share in the comments!

5 Things to Know Me By

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If you are remotely active on Twitter, you might have seen one of the newer memes floating around, in which people list the 5 (or 7 or 10) albums (or tv shows, movies, etc) to listen to in order to understand them.

Tweets like this:

And this:

And this:

I have no idea who started it (who EVER knows where these things start???) but it’s a pretty fun way to share some of your favorite things.

I RT’d and responded to a few on Twitter, but I thought it might be fun to share a few such lists here on my still-new blog. So without further ado, 5 things to know me by:

5 Music Albums:

  1. Let Live and Let Ghosts by Jukebox the Ghost (just fyi: Jukebox the Ghost is my favorite band of all time and I have seen them live 4 times – the last time for free as a person on their official guest list!)
  2. Abbey Road by The Beatles (I grew up on the Beatles – my mother raised me well – and I struggled with picking one for a long time, but I think this is my favorite of their studio albums)
  3. The Cowboy Bebop Movie OST (I love anime, and I love anime music, and the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks are some of the best ever made. The movie soundtrack in particular is pure MAGIC)
  4. Break the Cycle by Staind (this album was SO IMPORTANT to me during my particularly emo moments of high school)
  5. The Essential Barbra Streisand (look, I cannot stress the importance of this singer and this album enough. During many very very long road trips, my mother and I would keep ourselves awake by singing along to this album – on cassette tape no less – at the very top of our lungs… and it also began my lifelong love for showtunes and Broadway, starting from like the age of 7 or something like that)

(Honorable Mention goes to Phoenix by The Classic Crime, which has been so important for me emo moments of the last 10 years)

5 Movies:

  1. The Labyrinth (magic, portal fantasy, fantastic music, amazing puppets and artistry, and David Bowie… need I say more???) (Also, The Dark Crystal, because DUH)
  2. The Neverending Story (Also DUH. Those 80s fantasy movies are SO VITAL to my development as a reader, a writer, and a person)
  3. Robin Hood (the Disney animated version)
  4. The Fall (the 2006 Tarsem Singh film – if you haven’t seen it, YOU NEED TO NOW)
  5. The Last Emperor (by Bernardo Bertolucci – the extended four hour version, I cry EVERY SINGLE TIME)

(Honorable mention goes to My Neighbor Totoro, which I watch a lot at night when I am depressed and/or insomniac)

5 Books:

  1. Watership Down by Richard Adams (I love this book so much I am planning to get a tattoo with a quote from it)
  2. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (ditto this one, on the tattoo thing)
  3. Dune by Frank Herbert (I read the first book in 6th grade and worked my way through the whole series by the end of 8th grade)
  4. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (I’m cheating sort of but whatever) (In 4th grade my elementary school librarian noticed that I was reading far above my grade level and gave me these books to read, and life has never been the same since then. They are an integral part of who I am and the reason I first decided I wanted to be a writer)
  5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I read this book in 5th grade and adored it, and have since taken 2 college courses on Jane Austen and written several papers on the various aspects of the books)

(With an honorable mention to Neuromancer by William Gibson and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien)

5 Musicals:

  1. Les Miserables
  2. Phantom of the Opera
  3. Rent
  4. Wicked
  5. Company

(Yes, I tend to prefer the Standards, over newer musicals… though I did really enjoy Hamilton and Hadestown!)

5 TV Shows (live action):

  1. Star Trek (all of them, don’t make me just pick one!)
  2. Doctor Who (Whovian forever!)
  3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yeah man!)
  4. Law & Order (I watched every season of the original series with my mother from the age of 9 or 10 or so, and I have had an obsession with crime dramas and murder mystery shows ever since)
  5. M*A*S*H* (still the best comedy show ever made ever)

5 Animes:

  1. Robotech (the one that started it all for me!)
  2. Sailor Moon (MOON PRISM POWER!)
  3. Dragon Ball Z (KAMEHAMEHA!)
  4. Cowboy Bebop (You’re gonna carry that weight…)
  5. Neon Genesis Evangelion (can you tell how important the CLASSICS are to me???)

(Honorable mention goes to Fairy Tail – I am currently working my way straight thru the whole series – all 328 episodes – for the third time! And also My Hero Academia, which I’m really enjoying so far, though I’m a season behind…)

5 Western Animation Shows:

  1. DuckTales (the original mostly – DISNEY AFTERNOON RULES FOREVER!, but also the new version)
  2. Futurama (god I love this show so much!)
  3. Star vs the Forces of Evil (this Disney show was SO GOOD GUYS!)
  4. Adventure Time (obviously)
  5. Over the Garden Wall (this was a 10 ep mini-series and I adore it and it is my best “comfort” watch – I watch it almost every night to fall asleep to)

So, what kinds of things would show up on YOUR “5 Things” lists??? Please share! I’d love to hear about it!

My Favorite Books of 2019

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For a long time now – three or four or five years – I’ve been mostly unable to read due to a combination of severe depression, time constraints, and a touch of internet addiction. This has been excessively painful to me because books and reading is a very huge part of my identity. I have been a reader my whole life. In high school and through most of my undergrad, I could read somewhere around 4-6 books a month. That number grew smaller and smaller as I got further into grad school, and by 2015 I was reading practically zero.

I simply could not physically READ. Could not focus on the page, could not absorb the words, could not digest what I was seeing.

The thing that finally broke books back into my life, and frankly, SAVED my life, was audiobooks. I started “reading audiobooks off and on back in 2013 or 2014, but in 2019 they became my lifeline. After a years-long reading drought, I “read” 29 books in 2019 – mostly audiobooks, with a handful of ebooks and just a couple print books.

A lot of the books I read in 2019 were not new releases. They were older books I’d been planning to get to for years, but there were a few new releases in the mix. Out of all the books I read in 2019, here are my favorites in no particular order (some new, some not):

Failure Is Not An Option by Gene Kranz (published 2000) – this book is the memoir/autobiography by Gene Kranz, the head flight director of NASA during the Apollo era flights who was immortalized in the movie Apollo 13 (as portrayed by Ed Harris). This book covers Gene Kranz’s experiences from his entrance into the space program in its earliest days during the Mercury era flights, all the way through his rise to becoming one of the head flight controllers, and his eventual retirement. It is an absolutely fascinating look into one of the greatest times in human history, which is both astounding and inspiring. Of course, I’m a huge space/NASA nerd, so I might be biased.

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence by Michael Pollan (published 2018) – I am a huge fan of nonfiction books in general, and especially both biographies and books about science. This book is both – as Michael Pollan set out to write a well-researched book about the science of psychedelics and ended up writing about how personal life and experiences as well. Plus, as a person who has suffered from depression my entire life, I was especially fascinated by and invested in the topic of this book. To put it succinctly, this book blew my mind, and I have been recommending it to every person I know since I finished it.

Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan Mcguire (published 2018) – this book is the third installment in Seanan McGuire’s series of novellas called The Wayward Children series. The first book, Every Heart a Doorway, remains one of my favorite books ever. And this, the third installment, is also absolutely fantastic. Seanan McGuire captures the breathless excitement, but also the pain, inherent in portal fantasies in ways that break my heart every time. She also always portrays diverse characters such as those who are LGBTQIA, PoC, and fat (*gasp*), with enormous sensitivity, humanity, compassion, and JOY. She has two more installments (so far) that I have not gotten to yet, but they are on the TBR list for this year.

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (published 2019) – I love science fiction/fantasy novellas (like the aforementioned Wayward Children series, as well as such brilliant books as Binti and The Dream-Quest of Vellit Boe) so I knew had to read this novella, especially after seeing such glowing reviews. I mean! An epistolary novel about two kickass women spies on opposite sides of a time war who accidentally fall in love? How could anyone in the world resist such a story?! This book is written with the kind of lush poetic language that cracks your ribs open and tears your heart out with so much tenderness and beauty you don’t even mind. I can only dream of writing like this. Everyone should read it. Period.

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger (published 2019) – my favorite novel of the year, by far, was Steel Crow Saga – only Paul Krueger’s second novel in what is definitely going to be a long and glorious career. The tagline for this book was “Pokemon meets Avatar: the Last Airbender,” which was definitely the thing that first sold ME. And I can say that while the book definitely fits and lives up to this comparison, it is far more than just a mere mashup. Come for the cool pokemon-like animal-spirit partners, kickass fight scenes, and enormously hilarious snarky characters… stay for the deep, incisive, and insightful critiques of colonialism and imperialism, power and responsibility, family loyalty, guilt, and genuine atonement. Plus you get amazing LGBT characters, hilarious one-liners, a bunch of excessively nerdy anime/pop culture references, and gratuitous descriptions of adobo.

So that’s my top five favorite books I read in 2019. Not all newly published in 2019, but whatever…. *shrug*

If you’ve read any of these books, please tell me what you thought! And please feel free to share your personal favorites of 2019 in the comments! I’d love to hear what everyone else was reading last year, what touched your heart (or kicked in the face – in a good way!), what books I should have read and didn’t (I’m always looking for more books to add to the insanely-long TBR list!)