What Our Books Reveal About Us

A look at 2022 in books

Before we begin…

Think about the books you’ve read in 2022. Imagine them all around you, covers closed, titles on top. What do they tell you about the year you’ve just lived? What do they say about your state of mind, stage of life, your desires? If it’s easier, imagine a friend coming upon you, surrounded by these books, looking at each one and then at you. What would they say the books reflected about you? Would they be surprised? 

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Looking Back At What We Read

It’s time for our annual look back at the books we’ve read and what they say, if anything, about us. Last year, I realized that most of the books I’ve read since I started keeping lists in 2017, are all driven by the need to escape from the world or the desire to learn how to live in it. That remains true for me this year but as I glance over the list of 53 books, I see that there is more, some of it troubling, some it surprising. 

Here is a link to my list: Betsy’s Reads 2022

I struggled more to read. I have read nine fewer books than I had read by this time last year. It’s still a good list but as I glance over the titles on it, I feel that same sense of moving in slow motion. I remember more open times when I simply did something else. I remember spending more time sitting in front of my computer trying to write a book instead of reading one. 

I was a reader without a plan and perhaps one with masochistic tendencies. There are books on my list that I never really planned to read but just happened to be handy, often stacked up in my Kindle where I’d forgotten about them until I needed something before bed. Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart, My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent were among them. Both left me furious about the time I gave them. They were masterfully written but stories that made me hate the world. So now I wonder why I kept reading? Am I so compulsive that I must finish or is it a testament to the authors’ skill that I would keep going in spite of my frustration or, in some cases, revulsion? 

I’m thinking a lot about being a woman of a certain age. See the wonderful nonfiction collection of essays by Sandra Butler, The Kitchen is Closed and Other Benefits of Being Old. Then there are the novels and collections by Anne Elliott Dark and Tessa Hadley that awed me with their prose and characters, most of them women who came of age more or less when I did in a world I recognize. Oddly, Bernd Heinrich’s Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death, falls into this category. As I read about how the death of an animal feeds the life of others and that the “undertakers” of the natural world perform essential life-sustaining jobs if we let them, I gained a new measure of peace about death in general and my own in particular. 

I do better when I get out of my reading rut. As much as I am drawn to characters I recognize and a world I recognize, branching out paid off. All the graphic novels on this list left a lasting impression on me. I discovered a new way of “slow” reading as I took in the dialog, narration, and pictures. The experience was full and rich and I want more. Ditto for finally getting around to Octavia Butler and Ted Chiang whose imagination and storytelling showed me the future, the past, and opened my eyes to what is right in front of me now. 

I must be getting ready to write a novella. I’ve read several this year (Giovanni’s Room, On Chesil Beach, The Member of the Wedding (re-read), and two by Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These and Foster. I’ve also read a book on the form itself, Writing the Novella by Sharon Oard Warner. This may be the best form to try given the glacial pace of my writing. Also: I want to try writing a Sherlock Holmes novella.   

I do well when I listen to my friends. Most of the books I loved this year came during conversations with a neighbor, or friends who know me and what I like, and from my ever expanding group of Bookstacker friends here on Substack.

Up Next

I know that my year will begin with Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I plan to close out this year and enter next year with Ed Yong’s An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the World Around Us. I will certainly read Barbara Kingsolver’s newest novel, Demon Copperhead, a modern take on David Copperfield in Appalachia. After that my TBR is TBD. I know this: I want to be more intentional about my reading next year. I’ve rarely targeted books and prioritized them but this year I will make a stab at it. At least half the books I read will meet certain criteria which I’ll happily share when I’ve figured them all out. I know that I want to read more nonfiction, more graphic novels, more work by Native authors, more translations, more work that challenges me rather than comforts me. I also know that I need to leave space for serendipity. 

Do you have targets or goals you’ve set for your reading in the coming year? What are your must-reads for the coming year or are their simply genres or categories of writing you hope to explore?

Spark Reads 2022: The Books That Will Stay With Us

Thanks to all who shared their top 3-5 (or sometimes more) books from 2022. Once again, this list reflects depth, variety, and a passion for reading. They can all be found in our list Spark Reads 2022 on Bookshop.org or by clicking on the photo below. 

I added mine to yours. They are listed below, some with links to the Spark issues they inspired where you’ll quickly understand why they made it to the top of my list for 2022. 

• A Gentleman from Moscow - Amor Towles – A sumptuous, old-fashioned, novel that you can sink into for days

• In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss - Amy Bloom – An up-close look at what it means to help a loved one die

• The Stories of Your Life - Ted Chiang – A masterclass in structure and story-telling and love

• Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – Friends, love, and the game that threatens all of it. This is an insightful and entertaining read. 

• Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death by Bernd Heinrich – A look at how nature’s “undertakers” help turn death into life

• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan – a jewel of a story about a single act in one man’s ordinary life that changes everything. 

What’s in your book stack?

Here’s what’s in Sandra de Helen’s stack. She’s been waiting for most of these books to arrive from the library. Now that they’ve arrived, they make up her TBR list for the end of this year and the beginning of next. Feast your eyes:

What are you reading or want to read these days? Share away. Send a photo of the stack of books that you’ve got going with a few words about how they came to you. We’ll feature your book stack in upcoming issues of Spark ( send photos to elizabethmarro@substack.com).

Welcome New Subscribers!

Welcome to all of you who joined us in the last week and thank you so much for subscribing. If you would like to check out past issues, here’s a quick link to the archives. Be sure to check out our Resources for Readers and Writers too. And help us spread the word by sharing Spark with your friends. Here’s a button to make that easy:

Thank you and Happy New Year

That’s it for this week and for the year. Spark will be back in your inbox on Saturday, January 7, 2023. I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday and new year. If you’d lilke to help get us off to a great start, send in a photo of your book stack or a moment of Zen. And of course, always let me know how you are and what you’re reading. If there’s an idea, book, or question you’d like to see in an upcoming issue of Spark, let us know!

Happy New Year From All Of Us But Mostly Frida

And remember, If you like what you see or it resonates with you, please share Spark with a friend and take a minute to click the heart ❤️ below - it helps more folks to find us!

Ciao for now. 

Gratefully,

Betsy

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through on any of the books mentioned here and make a purchase.

P.S. And now, your moment of Zen…Skylight

Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”

What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.

Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone  -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed.