Best Books: 2022 Edition
I read 29 books last year! Now it’s time to pick the top five. From fifth best to best.
#5: The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)
I still stand by my claim that if one wishes to read Steinbeck, one should not start with The Grapes of Wrath (especially if you’re young and/or have a short attention span). It is sloooooooooow at the start. But once things start to pick up and everyone gets on the move, the pacing gets a lot better and it’s much easier to get invested in the characters. Also, the ending is heartbreaking.
#4: The World According to Garp (Irving)
This is not as good as A Prayer for Owen Meany (because that book’s climax is the most perfect climax I’ve ever read), but it displays Irving’s wonderful ability of creating characters that are simultaneously boring and quirky and his ability of making you care about said characters even before you realize you do.
#3: A Confederacy of Dunces (Toole)
This was probably the weirdest book I’ve read on my list. I feel like Ignatius is what Boomers think all Millennials are like (even though this was written in 1980, before the first Millennials were even born). Ignatius is obnoxious but oddly charming in a weird way, and reading about his thoughts, adventures, and how he interacts with others was entertaining.
#2: Breakfast of Champions (Vonnegut)
Vonnegut has such a specific style and sense of humor, and of all the works of his that I’ve read so far, I think both the style and humor come out best in this book. It’s also full of little illustrations drawn by Vonnegut and the whole thing has a wonderful rhythm to it as you watch Hoover go more and more insane.
#1: Lonesome Dove (McMurtry)
I mean, was there any doubt? I loved this book, yo. I think Captain Call might be one of my favorite literary characters now, haha. This is another one that starts out slowly, but I honestly didn’t notice it that much because I was immediately engaged with the characters. Check it out if you’ve never read it; you won’t be disappointed.
OH LAWD, SHE WALKIN’
(Sorry.)
Guess what time of the year it is?
If you guessed Easter, you’re an IDIOT!
If you guessed “the start of the year, which means Claudia’s going to inundate us with a bunch of walking stats that no one cares about,” you’re RIGHT!
LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Here are my walking stats for January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
Total number of walks: 365
Total mileage: 5,555.55
Total number of steps: 11,912,482
Total calories burned: 418,221
Total walking time (minutes): 80,253.19 [that’s about 55.73 days]
Average speed (mph) per walk: 3.72
5,555.55 miles is approximately the great circle distance between Fresno, California and Paris, France or between Toronto, Canada and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Also, this is a new mileage record. Let’s demolish it next year!
Music: 2022 Edition
2021 was an aberration. There were not a lot of top tier songs and no 5 Stars. This year, while there still aren’t any new 5 Stars, there are many more good songs. So picking my top five is going to be a bit harder. But let’s do it anyway!
(Cue me going through the 2022 list and going “oh GOD” when I find a song that I love but forgot came from this year)
Euphoria by Muse
I love Muse, fight me. Bellamy’s vocal range is, as always, impressive. I still think this would be a great Rock Band song.
Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths
This song found me after a very stressful semester (or, rather, a very stressful like two years) and it triggered a very cathartic hour of ugly crying. This thing speaks to me on a molecular level. And as I mentioned when I first blogged about it earlier this year, it’s RIGHT in my vocal range, so I love to sing it.
No Time for Caution by Hans Zimmer
I can’t, bro. The buildup to 2:37 is so stressful. Zimmer is so good at buildups. The first time I listened to this song (apart from, you know, watching the movie) I had my cheapo $5 headphones on and I still got the crotch tinglies.
Living On Video by Pakito
Chorus is a killer. This is a very classic “Claudia-sounding” song.
Rats by Ghost
This actually IS a Rock Band song, haha. I don’t know what specific sub-genre of metal Ghost is, but whatever it is it’s the kind I like. This is another one where the chorus is fantastic, and the “they’re still comin’ after you” part near the end adds another layer to it.
WOO!
We Do This Every Year!
As I’m sure you all remember, December 27th is the day of the New Year’s Resolutions. So let’s check out last year’s and make some new ones, eh?
A review of the 2022 resolutions:
- ACCOMPLISHED: The blogs. They’re still being written daily, but they’re currently sitting in a 236-page Word document instead of being posted on WordPress. Because I’m lazy as all hell.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Walk at least…let’s do 5,000, why not. You’ll get a more in-depth review of this on January 1st, but it has been accomplished!
- ACCOMPLISHED: Run three times weekly whenever possible. Yup! I only missed this when absolutely necessary.
- FAILED: Complete a new draft of my 2020 NaNoWriMo. I worked on this a little bit, but I was way too busy to do a completely new draft this year.
- FAILED: Win NaNoWriMo 2022. Didn’t even do it this year. I’m a loser!
- FAILED: Run a marathon. I’m still not there yet. But I’m working on it!
- ACCOMPLISHED: Continue to get blogs in a physical format. It’s a slow slog, but it’s happening!
- FAILED: I MUST WORK OUT MY ARMS! APPARENTLY NOT!
Peh. Let’s see if we can do better in 2023 with the following:
- Blog daily. As always.
- Post all backlogged blogs. It’s getting out of hand, yo!
- Walk/run 5,000+ miles. This is becoming pretty standard, too.
- Run a marathon. The fact that I’m actually training for one is a good start, I think
- Complete another complete draft of my 2020 NaNoWriMo. This is, of course, a carry-over from this year. But I need to do it.
- Write more in general. I’m not saying I’ll do NaNoWriMo 2023 because who knows how busy the fall will be, but I should be writing more. That’s the only way you get better at it, after all.
- Draw. That’s it. That’s the resolution.
ONWARD!
RESOLVE, fools!
Hello, ladies and gents. It’s tradition that I do my New Year’s Resolutions on December 27.
It is December 27.
SO LET’S DO IT
A review of the 2021 resolutions:
- ACCOMPLISHED: The blogs, as usual. Always, always.
- FAILED: Try to be more consistent with actually posting my blogs. HA. I keep making this resolution and never succeed. Says something about me, huh?
- ACCOMPLISHED: Walk at least 4,800 miles. YUP! There will be a blog on this soon.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Run twice weekly whenever possible. Yup! I actually started doing three times a week when I could, and I plan to continue this.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Keep working on my 2020 NaNoWriMo. I did! I actually have a complete (or like 99% complete) draft now. I’m going to leave it alone for a while but then come back to it.
- FAILED: Run a marathon. Nope. Still haven’t gotten my miles there.
- FAILED: Win NaNoWriMo 2021. Nope. Was still working on 2020.
- SORT OF ACCOMPLISHED: Do stuff with my writing. I’ve been working on my 2020 NaNo, does that count?
- SORT OF ACCOMPLISHED: Try once again to get my blogs in a physical format. I got a few more of these done. Still not at completion, though.
- ACCOMPLISHED: Revamp my “200 Books” list and keep reading fiction. I did this back in February!
- FAILED: Respond to all the blog comments I’ve gotten over the past several years. Ha.
- FAILED: Work out my arms. HA!
Not as good as it could have been. Let’s look ahead to 2022:
- The blogs.
- Walk at least…let’s do 5,000, why not.
- Run three times weekly whenever possible.
- Complete a new draft of my 2020 NaNoWriMo.
- Win NaNoWriMo 2022. Maybe I’ll have the draft done by then?
- Run a marathon. I’m going to be able to do it one of these days!
- Continue to get blogs in a physical format.
- I MUST WORK OUT MY ARMS!
Let’s go.
Eigenblogger 