My Year in Books 2022

I made several resolutions at the start of my year of reading. How do I feel about those choices in December? I feel great.

A sample of my reading year:

Compared to the past three years, this year I’ve read less books, but reading more wasn’t the goal. As I’ve mentioned before, reading is work to me — and I don’t mean that as a negative. I don’t see reading, while being a Filipino author writing romance, as work that I’m forced to do. I’m still Filipino and a romance author when I read, so there’s no reading that doesn’t at all affect those parts of me.

Even when I read a different genre, or I consume media that isn’t a book, I understand something about that genre/medium that may have a parallel in mine, or I pick up a feeling/emotion/truth that will be useful in romance writing. I’m just like this now, so it makes sense to me to tailor my reading year in a way that satisfies me (as a reader and a person in the world of publishing).

So how did I do across different “resolutions”?

Read more Filipino authors. Filipino authors whose books I did not edit or help publish made up 32% of my year. I’ve read more, but I edited or helped publish some of the books, so they’re not counted as “choices.” I’m happy with this percentage by the way, and will likely maintain it.

Read more Southeast Asian authors. I have a separate post about this. It’s also 32% of my reading year, and I’d like to bump that up next year.

Is it possible to read zero books with [redacted]? For reasons, I won’t discuss this last resolution in detail, but will say that it was still 18% of my reading year (so I did not read zero of [that thing]). As far as ambitious goals go, I’ll still congratulate myself on this, and resolve to get that percentage closer to zero next year. (Realistically there are reasons for [redacted] to be part of my reading but 5% is probably a more fair allocation and still an ambitious target.)

Here are all the books I finished reading.

1. 4-Eyes: An Online Malaysian Love Story by haiyatothesky
2. Noelle the First by Nicole Falls
3. Her Pretend Christmas Date by Jackie Lau
4. The Ballad of Citra Sidek and Her Terrible Taste in Men by Ellie Purnama
5. Breathless by Beverly Jenkins
6. KSL by Chencia C. Higgins
7. Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
8. Love Is All Around: An Alta Holiday Anthology by Carla de Guzman, Suzette de Borja, and Bianca Mori 
9. Bibliolepsy by Gina Apostol
10. The Five-Day Reunion by Mona Shroff
11. Sing Me to Sleep by RM Virtues
12. So Yabang by Zara Irigo
13. Cherishing the Goddess by Lucy Eden
14. A Match Made in Lipa by Carla de Guzman
15. Going Public by Hudson Lin
16. Aunty Lee’s Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu
17. Her Favorite Rebound by Jackie Lau
18. Watch Me by Liz Lincoln
19. My Quarantine Diary by Ines Bautista-Yao
20. Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending by Jodi McAlister
21. She Said Yes by Tasha L. Harrison
22. The Children of Bathala Volume One by Arnold Arre
23. Cafe con Lychee by Emery Lee
24. Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis
25. Take Two by Kaith C. Cimafranca
26. Someone Like Me by Julissa Arce
27. Love to Meet You by Jay E. Tria
28. Black Love Matters edited by Jessica P. Pryde
29. Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
30. Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta
31. Grand Theft N.Y.E. by Katrina Jackson
32. Kick at the Darkness by Suleikha Snyder
33. Husband Material by Alexis Hall
34. Ruby Fever by Ilona Andrews
35. Collision Course by Christina C. Jones
36. Controlled Chaos by Christina C. Jones
37. Close Contact by Christina C. Jones
38. To Catch A Raven by Beverly Jenkins 
39. Mango Cake and Murder by Christy Murphy
40. Crossword by qixing
41. Set on You by Amy Lea
42. An Illicit Seduction by Chencia C. Higgins
43. Apple Pies and Alibis by Christy Murphy
44. Letters to a Young Brown Girl by Barbara Jane Reyes
45. Some Bali to Love by Carla de Guzman
46. f*ck around and find out by Nicole Falls
47. Tarantadong Kalbo vol. 2 by Kevin Raymundo
48. A Career in Books by Kate Gavino
49. Man vs Ipis Volume 1 by AJ Bacar
50. Compromised into a Scandalous Marriage by Lydia San Andres
51. The Austrian and the Asian by Eden Baylee
52. One Floor Up Volume 1 by Lady Storykeeper
53. Live for Love by Saquina Karla C. Guiam
54. Sabbatical by Katrina Jackson
55. How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa
56. Match with the Demon by Chace Verity
57. Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

My Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2022/3862800

Tags: minareadthisin2022

Mina V. Esguerra