Hi hello, happy new year, I have been quiet for a while, but I am still here!
I know I am late to the party with the “New Year Reflections” post, but I am nothing if not a procrastinator, so here we are.
2022 was…a doozy, phew. I went through a lot of stuff–some of it negative, but a lot of it positive. I was going to write (ie: I wrote it like 6 times and then trashed it in every instance) a whole long thing, but ultimately decided against it (as much as I love a Livejournal-esque tirade, none of the interesting stuff would be new or exciting to most of the people who read this lol).
So, instead. a succinct summation of my 2022:
I read 75 books. Mostly I forgot to update this newsletter about them (woops)! You can friend me on Goodreads if you haven’t yet/are interested in the collated list.
I got Covid twice. One of those times was def from going on a date with a mediocre man. Thanks, universe, I learned my lesson.
I got promoted, and then excelled in my new role (I hate capitalism and the fact that I have to work to survive, but I like to be proud of what I do if I gotta do it anyway until we dismantle society and move into a socialist utopia).
I broke up with my partner of 5 years, moved out of our apartment, lived alone for the first time, and thought a lot about the fact that sometimes you can feel lonelier with somebody else than when you are literally alone. I had a lot of complicated/patriarchy fueled feelings about being single again at a time when most of my peers are in LTRs, are married/engaged, are having babies, etc (regardless of whether I ultimately desire those things for myself or not, the whole experience of suddenly having to start over in this way was bizarre and alienating!!!) I spent a lot of time crying on the floor with my cat licking my hair while listening to sad girl music playlists.
I started saying yes to most things. I stepped out of my comfort zone.
I was surprised by the people who were and were not there for me.
After a period of time, I started going on dates with new people (obviously for the first time in 5+ years) and was honestly surprised that it was an overwhelmingly positive experience (I admit this begrudgingly) which, yes, stroked my ego–-but also taught me some interesting lessons about myself and introduced me to some cool new people, even if they were not romantically right for me. Eventually/recently I started ~officially~ dating someone new (it is cute and nice and going well and that is all I am prepared to share at this juncture lol).
I went back to therapy and finally worked out a cocktail of medication that stabilizes my brain without any wonky side effects. I started feeling a lot better than I have ever before in my adult life.
I visited three countries, including taking a solo European vacation for my birthday.
I got a new tattoo, I got a new piercing (am I 18 again?)
I saw a lot of live music after two years of not.
I did a little writing, a lot of crafting, and really leaned into my “I may look young but definitely have more in common with your grandmother than you realize” personality—and stopped being embarrassed about it.
In general I feel pretty content and am looking forward to lots of things for 2023, including writing here more (I have seen several Substack folks hint at a trend of using these newsletters more like the Blog of ye olden dates which frankly THRILLS ME so watch out for my emotional ramblings coming soon to an inbox near you).
ANYWAY!!!!
It’s been a long time since I did a book post despite reading a lot of pretty good stuff recently. I read a lot of cool stuff last year, and maybe I will write some belated reviews of the ones I really loved, but I decided to compile a brief and LATE “Top books of 2022” post for anyone who is interested–despite the fact that these will come as a shock to approximately no one, and you have all surely heard me screaming about these books already if we have talked about books at all in the last year. Alas, for the official record:
My top 5 books of 2022
A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay
A surprise to absolutely no one! Listen, I I know I have already talked about this book one billion times, but it was literally so good. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I read it. It was definitely my favorite book of last year and has joined the ranks of favorite books ever, which I do not say lightly. I realize that this is not going to be for everyone, but was absolutely for me. I simply refuse to entertain alternate opinions on this one.
Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
Also have talked about this one a bunch, but it was a fun read reminiscent of the 90s/early 00s slasher movies that I love and grew up on(Scream, Halloween, etc). It is definitely campy and kind of silly, but if you are in the mood for that (I often am), it really hits the spot. I also read the sequel which, tbh, I did not love as much—imo it suffered from the classic “sequel not as good as the original” trope that befalls many slashers, but I will still probably read more by this author. I would low key (high key) love to see a movie made outta this one.
It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror
I don’t read a ton of nonfiction these days but this one hits the exact intersection of my interests. Every single essay in this collection is, ugh, chefs kiss. If you are into horror movies and queer stuff then I highly recommend this read.
Little Eve, by Catriona Ward
I read three books by this author in 2022 and loved them all, but if I had to pick just one I guess it would be Little Eve. Really, I am only choosing one because I didn’t want 60% of my “top” list to be the same author, haha–tbh I loved all three of her books equally and for different reasons. I would recommend this one if you love cult stories, Sundial if you’re into sci-fi horror, and Needless Street if you’re into a psychological thriller. I really don’t think Catriona could disappoint me at this point, and I look forward to seeing more from her.
Mapping the Interior, by Stephen Graham Jones
This was literally the LAST book I read in 2022. I finished it on December 31. It is a lil guy–only about 100 pages–but man, it wrecked me. It is in some ways horror, in some ways a coming-of-age story, and in all ways a gut-punch. The supernatural elements here are spooky, but they serve to amplify the horrors of real life—which is where the actual "horror” of this novella lies, imo. This author is quickly becoming another fave for me (I remain iffy on his most popular book but everything else I’ve loved so???)
Miscellaneous other things because why not???
For some added fun, I am going to pretend that anyone cares about what I do in my boring day-to-day, and list some additional things I have been consuming and recommend:
SOUP - listen, I have no idea how I have lived my entire life in the northeastern united states and still am such a crybaby about the winter but...I am who I am (I am also vehemently opposed to the oh so popular NYC-to-LA pipeline so I guess I’m stuck dealing with The Elements). I love soup when it is cold and dreary, and I have been basically surviving off of these two soup recipes for the last month or so:
Lemon Chickpea Orzo soup (Simple Veganista)
Tomato and White Bean Soup With Lots of Garlic (NYT Cooking)
They are both vegan (I do not add the cream in the tomato soup obviously, though I imagine that it is tasty for y’all who do dairy!), use ingredients which are incredibly inexpensive, and are so easy a child (or an adult with the cooking skills of a child, aka me) can make them, so yay!!
TV - Ginny and Georgia on netflix (try as I might, I cannot tear myself away from a teen dramas), a new season of The Circle (I also cannot tear myself away from trashy reality TV), and restarted Buffy again (this needs no explantion, I assume).
Yoga- I remain obsessed with Yoga with Adriene and have been doing her 30 day challenge this month. I am no good at yoga and spend a lot of time wobbling all over the mat, but it is okay because it still feels nice and makes my body happy and also, Adriene is literally so soothing? Like?? I would listen to this woman talk forever (which is maybe creepy, but I stand by it).
Because next month is FEBRUARY and that means VALENTINES DAY, I am planning to read a bunch of dumb romance and will report on how good/bad/cheesy/tear-inducing that is. I have a few options on deck, but if anyone has anything particularly good or bad or queer to recommend, lemme know!
Ok thats it, love y’all etc
-Amy