The 2022 To-Read List: December

Since one of my writing goals was to read more, I thought it would help to keep track of what I knocked off Mount Tsundoku. Here’s as good a place as any to post what I’ve read to keep me honest, and what I thought of each book immediately after finishing.

I changed how I built my to-read stacks in 2022. This year, each stack of five I built from the home shelves had to include at least two books by women, one non-fiction book, one book by an author I know personally, and one anthology (I made a conscious effort to read more short stories this year). Previously my goal was for each to-read pile to contain at least one book by a BIPOC or LGBTQ2S+ author, one book by a woman, one non-fiction book, and one book by an author I know personally. Creating these piles from my own shelves was getting tricky after the last few years, and I still plan on trying to read through books I’ve already purchased as much as possible. I added at least one book from the library by a BIPOC or LGBTQ2S+ author for every stack I built to continue trying to diversify my reading.

The library has become my go-to for keeping up on what’s going in comics, so I’m sure there’ll be a number of graphic novels (and roleplaying games I backed on Kickstarter) that jump the queue and end up in the piles from time to time as well.

Final stack of 2022! What’s a Ghoul to Do? by Victoria Laurie, Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly, Steeped to Death by Gretchen Rue, Pirating Pups edited by Rhonda Parrish, From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty.

Pathfinder Vol. 2: Of Tooth and Claw by Jim Zub, Jake Bilbao, Ivan Anaya, Sean Izaakse, Kevin Stokes: Another fun graphic novel set in Pathfinder’s world of Golarian. In general I liked the art in this volume better than volume one. I do wish that either Izaakse, or Anaya had been responsible for the art in the entire book, as their styles suited my sensibilities more.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones: A love letter to the slasher genre. I haven’t read a bad book by Jones yet, can’t wait to see what he does next.

The Grande Odalisque by Bastien Vivès, Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot: A French graphic novel translated into English. Two art thieves take on a third partner to pull off the biggest job of their careers, robbing The Louvre. Loved it. Lots of fun, and just plain funny. A caper with lots of heart underneath. Apparently the characters will return, so I’m excited to read more about them.

Final library stack of the year: Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre, SFSX Vol. 2 by Tina Horn and G. Romero Johnson, Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell, The Grande Odalisque by Bastien Vivès, Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell: A Green Lantern story introducing a rookie Lantern, Sojourner “Jo” Mullein from Earth who’s been sent to a city where emotions have been left behind as dangerous. Jemisin really nailed this on every level. One of my new favourite Green Lantern stories. Loved Campbell’s art too, stellar character designs and just frame by frame glorious. Will be looking forward to reading more comics work from these two as a team or individually.

Boss Witch by Ann Aguirre: The second book in Aguirre’s paranormal romance series. I enjoyed the narrator pairing more than I expected to, as I really liked the couple from the first book and normally I’m not a fan of rotating the established narrator in a series, but it makes sense here. Danica and Titus already had their happily ever after in Witch, Please. Really enjoyed seeing the worldbuilding for the series grow and getting to see other sides of characters I already met in the previous book.

SFSX Vol. 2: Terms of Service by Tina Horn, G. Romero Johnson: Second volume in this sex workers versus dystopian puritan future series. I think I preferred the art in volume 1, but Johnson’s work grew on me as I read the book. Looking forward to continuing the series.

Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly: First in a new Irish-themed cozy series. I might pick up more in the series if I come across them.

Steeped to Death by Gretchen Rue: A bit of a new direction for fantasy and romance author friend, Sierra Dean. I think this might be my new favourite work by her. Can’t wait to read more in the series.

Pirating Pups edited by Rhonda Parrish: Another anthology that contains a story of mine: “The Empress of Marshmallow” in this case (about an obstinate chow chow in the world of my Thunder Road novels). After the success of Swashbuckling Cats a lot of the contributors to that anthology were looking to Rhonda to keep the puns flowing with a dog-themed anthology. My favourite stories included: “What Frisky Wrought When the Wheels Fell Off the World” by E.C. Bell, “Let the Water Drink First” by V.F. LeSann, and “Artistic Appropriation” by George Jacobs.

What’s a Ghoul to Do? by Victoria Laurie: A “ghostbuster” distantly related to gunfighter Doc Holliday. Sadly, my third and final “did not finish” of the year. Just not to my taste.

Exploring Eberron by Keith Baker: New Eberron (well, new to me, at least) from the setting’s creator! Fantastic addition to the setting!

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty: Enjoyable almost travel memoir of Doughty examining death customs around the world. I think I preferred her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, but this was still a very interesting read.

And that’s another year of reading! I was thrilled to finish that final to-read stack on New Year’s Eve so I could start 2023 off with a fresh pile of books and new reading goals. Happy reading, folks!

Here’s what I read in January.

Here’s what I read in February.

Here’s what I read in March.

Here’s what I read in April.

Here’s what I read in May.

Here’s what I read in June.

Here’s what I read in July.

Here’s what I read in August.

Here’s what I read in September.

Here’s what I read in October.

Here’s what I read in November.

Check out my roundup of my 2021 reading here.