2022: A top book of the year, for sure!

Let me just say, this book lives up to the HYPE! The world building was incredible, and the backstories detailed enough without losing the reader in too much information. Rather than the [b:A Little Life|22822858|A Little Life|Hanya Yanagihara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446469353l/22822858._SY75_.jpg|42375710] vein of keeping New York totally lost in time, this novel is extremely grounded in real life. Of particular note and interest to me was the book references of 1997, including them reading [b:Galatea 2.2|23001|Galatea 2.2|Richard Powers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442696557l/23001._SY75_.jpg|1682428], but also 9/11 and Joni Mitchell songs, and of course (unfortunately), racism and homophobia.

I am not much of a gamer, but this book made me immediately want to break out the old GameBoy and see how much muscle memory I still have. I did get a few rounds of Tetris in at various points throughout the book though, which was lovely. The book does discuss one of the primary reasons why video games have never held much attraction for me: "video games don't make people violent, but maybe they falsely give you the idea that you can be a hero".

Another high point of this book: the VOCABULARY used was incredible. Four pages in, I already had to start looking words up. I love a book that teaches me new words, without needing to read alongside a dictionary to be able to understand the story at hand. The references are top notch and it was a joy to read a book that not only loved games, but loves literature AND THEATRE so much as well. Not that you couldn't get that from the title, but the double entendre of the title also referencing endless respawning in video games as well is *chef's kiss*.

2022: A beautiful, but potentially forgettable memoir.

This book has gotten a lot of press and I have seen it recommended all over the place. It was a good read, and I think it would be an excellent read for students learning about apartheid for the first time. The personal touch cannot be overstated when learning about atrocities. That being said, I don't think I learned anything new? And I also don't think that I have done a ton of research on apartheid in my life.

To be fair, this was not a historical fiction novel about apartheid or even a non-fiction account of South African history. It was a fast and interesting celebrity memoir, and that's basically what I got from it. Good luck to Trevor Noah in his next job!

2022: A beautiful memoir that is very heavy - definitely be careful with this one if you've recently / ever experienced a loss!

However, I would recommend this to anyone who recently lost a parent and is looking for a companion in that journey of grief. Schulz is raw, open, honest, and detailed in her descriptions of life after losing her father. There is an awful lot in here about finding love, but the primary feelings and takeaways that stuck with me long after finishing the memoir are all about loss.

This was so reminiscent of [b:Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life|50887097|Why Fish Don't Exist A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life|Lulu Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565526670l/50887097._SY75_.jpg|71431307] but lacked the science intrigue that Miller so expertly crafted to surround her personal journey. I loved Miller's interweaving of research and discovery, and her own story of how to categorize her life. Schulz takes a more directly personal approach, and writes as if this is her own diary. There is thought and connection and storytelling, but it's much more confined to Schulz's own life. That being said, if you enjoyed Miller's memoir, there's a strong chance you'll also enjoy Schulz's.

2022: Okay so I liked this, but it was so meandering that I was left feeling like I wasn't sure what to make of it.

The book has a lot more of an academic quality to it than I was expecting / than the marketing for it led me to believe. It was really good, don't get me wrong, but you might be spending more time reading quotes and looking at the bibliography that you expect going into it. However, it wasn't quite strong enough in its thesis for me to view it solely as an academic book. The conclusions that Odell draws are not firm; she acknowledges her privilege, but ultimately gives a shrug and says I guess it is what it is! This book is not here to convince you to break up with your phone; conversely, Odell wants us to be more mindful every second of every day. Be intentional with your choices and your time.

One of the best parts of this book are the references - from [a:John Muir|5297|John Muir|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1398092241p2/5297.jpg] to [a:Jia Tolentino|17276202|Jia Tolentino|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1558457852p2/17276202.jpg] to [a:Robin Wall Kimmerer|49921|Robin Wall Kimmerer|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1441041257p2/49921.jpg] to [a:David Foster Wallace|4339|David Foster Wallace|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1615507112p2/4339.jpg] this book notes several authors that I've read over the past couple of years. I feel extremely confident that I can take the other books referenced that I haven't read yet and prioritize them on my TBR (most notably, I want to get my hands on Rebecca Solnit's [b:A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster|6444492|A Paradise Built in Hell The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster|Rebecca Solnit|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347471802l/6444492._SY75_.jpg|6634525] ASAP). I love when reading a book makes me feel connected, like the author and I have shared the same reading list at some point.

Odell talks about going on "reading retreats" which I wholeheartedly also endorse, and actually, I should get on setting one of those up for the upcoming winter season.... Also, it was very fun reading about her exploring the Elkhorn Slough during her retreat, as I just left Monterey and spent all of last year doing just the same exploration! It was also great reading about all of this while I was on vacation - specifically, I was sitting in a park in Vienna reading about how beneficial spending time in nature is. I definitely feel like I have a lot of takeaways from this book, primarily about how to carve out more time for one's actually desired activities.

2022: Big, big fan of this novel.

I enjoyed [b:Girl at War|23209971|Girl at War|Sara Nović|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414348859l/23209971._SX50_.jpg|42753077] by Nović and started following her on Twitter shortly after reading her first novel. I've learned a lot about navigating a hearing world as a Deaf person from her tweets, so I was thrilled when she announced that her next book would take place at a Deaf school. If you were a fan of Deaf U on Netflix (but maybe want something a little less reality-tv-esque) this book would be perfect for you.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel, which was awesome because when the characters are signing, you listen to the narrator speaking the translation over the sound of the author signing the text. ASL can be quite a loud language, between the sounds that hands naturally make and the emphasis placed on the words with breath and facial expressions. It was a treat to be able to experience the story in this way, and I would highly recommend this version of the book.

I know quite a bit of the history of the development of ASL (thanks to some Deaf friends growing up and a number of school projects) but I had never heard of BASL (Black American Sign Language). I was thrilled to discover that in this book, and am always pleased when novels teach me things and expand my horizons. How frustrating that I had never come across this before, despite my active research into the lives of the Deaf community, and what a confirmation that racism is still alive and well (not that there was any doubt there).

The most moving part of the whole book was the list of schools for the Deaf that have been closed at the end. Devastating! I learned so much reading this book. Also, it's 2022 - who the fuck doesn't believe that Deaf people are just speaking another language?! Thanks to Nović for putting a part of her life on display for us to learn from and enjoy experiencing.

2022: It wasn't *bad* but it also wasn't *good*

I randomly bought this book in a shop in Bratislava, Slovakia because it was in English and I recognized it and I needed a book for the train ride home. Maybe I am heartless, but this book didn't do it for me. It was a cute little story, but I didn't feel like it went anywhere. The answers to the questions that the characters were trying to solve were logical conclusions and didn't really impress me as much as the internet would have led me to believe. Maybe this was just further confirmation that I really don't love short stories!

However, this might be the first book in a long time that would satisfy my mother's desire for me to recommend a book to her that's "not too sad" and "has a happy ending". I do have a tendency to gravitate to the dramatic and important and devastating novels. This one was much lighter and pleasant in my opinion (despite actually a number of people dying in the story lol). Also, I did want to try and read more books in translation this year, and this book definitely satisfied that.

2022: I literally knew nothing about this book going into it and you probably don't either.

I would be hard pressed to find a more random assortment of situations that led to the creation of this book. Johnson is a veteran who starts a non-profit that works to relocate Iraqis to the United States. When he gets too stressed/frustrated with that Sisyphean task, he decides to devote his entire live to solving an unsolved crime that happened in another country involving a community that he knows nothing about. What?!

That all being said, it's a good story - it's frustratingly without a satisfying conclusion, but that's the risk you take when you write about true crime. This story is also without personal injury at the heart of it; it was refreshing to read a true crime novel that wasn't about murder or a devastating injury that was still incredibly interesting. I was invested, but it was just *so random* the whole time!

I ultimately would recommend this book, especially if you're looking to expand your knowledge of a totally new subject. I'm still not sure that Johnson was the most appropriate person to write this book, but also he isn't either, so it kinda evened out in the end.

2022: 10/10 would recommend the audiobook to any fan of The Good Place

I took a class in college that was a year long review of morality and ethics and a recap of a variety of thoughts about how the world works - this would be a perfect textbook for that class. It's a high level primer on philosophy that stays very secular. I listened to the audiobook, and it was voiced by members of the cast of The Good Place - it was such a joy to hear those voices participating in discussions on moral philosophy again! It's basically like you were a student of Chidi's (minus the Peeps-Chili).

If you're looking for a recap of Schur's time spent directing TGP, this might end up being too academic for you. But if you're unfamiliar with TGP at all and you're looking for a book on moral philosophy, this is probably going to be too relaxed for you.

+1 for two amazing epigraphs at the beginning of the book (from [a:Maya Angelou|3503|Maya Angelou|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1379017377p2/3503.jpg] and [a:Albert Camus|957894|Albert Camus|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1606568448p2/957894.jpg], literally perfect for this book) and another +1 for Schur using she/her pronouns to refer to anyone whose gender was slightly ambiguous. This really shouldn't be so shocking for me to hear in a pretty progressive book, but it still makes me so happy!

2022: This is a perfect example of me being able to see why other people like this book, but it just didn't do it for me.

First off, I think I did the wrong move here and I listened to the audiobook version. Based off some of my friends' reviews, I think that I might have appreciated the wordplay and some of the story more if I had been seeing the words (which is how I learn best anyway). While listening to it, especially for the first ~50 pages or so, it was like I recognized all of the words that were being said, but I could not ascribe any meaning to them.

I was thrown off whenever it switched from letters / passive storytelling to actual dialogue. Apparently there were also two different narrators for the audiobook, but I literally couldn't tell. What's the point of having two narrators if their voices are so similar that you can't tell when one begins and the other one ends?!

Here's the deal - I think this book was over my head. I'll admit it! I was not 100% sure of what was going on at any point during the book, and that is never a good feeling. I hate feeling like I am totally and completely lost in novels! I'll also say that I have a really hard time with love stories where the two people who are *dying* for each other because they are soooo in love....have never met?!

2022: Too high expectations left me feeling that this book was good, but not great.

This book had been recommended to be a lot which is nice, because it means that my brand of absolutely loving National Parks and wanting to visit all of them is going strong. However, as privileged as a comment as this is, I feel like I've been to too many of them to enjoy this book. These stories serve best to inspire travelers to go to the mountains; unfortunately, having been to most of the parks referenced in this book, it felt more like Knighton was regurgitating stories that I already learned at many visitors' centers.

The only elements that were new definitely turned me off a bit. Knighton spends a lot of time talking about his failed relationships, and searching for new love on the trail. I was okay with his recounting his various hookups throughout his year-long adventure because I thought he was going to end up with one of them by the end of the book. Spoiler alert: he does not. Instead, he spends time getting mad at Claire, and then sexualizing Jessica even though she gives zero indication that she's even interested in pursuing anything romantic, only to get upset that she already has a fiancée. Ugh!

I also was not a fan of his "well I don't know what to do, and I don't have any money, so I guess I'll plan a giant year-long trip" because that's not how it works. Also, to not have a contract in writing with CBS before starting the trip sounds like a horrible plan. I also don't feel like he was really able to truly experience any of the parks, because of the pace of his travel and the logistics involved in getting to all of them.

The biggest thumbs up that I can give include Knighton's decision to include a lot of his cameraman's backstory. But was that really his story to tell? Or should we have let Efrain write his own book? And I want to give +1 for a solid discussion of the lack of diversity in the outdoors and for including Outdoor Afro in his chapter. However, maybe it shouldn't have been in just the second to last chapter of the book and feel like it was added as an afterthought. Overall, not very impressive. Maybe I'm just sour that Knighton got to write this book before I did.