January 2022

  • I haven’t updated in a very long time, but my husband keeps insisting that I do, so here we go!
  • I’m 26 weeks pregnant as of today (Jan 13th, 2022) with our first girl, which we’ll be calling Olivia.
  • I also got married in December 2021 in a very small (like, 12 people small) wedding ceremony which we loved.
  • My first trimester of pregnancy was rough, which made it a lot harder to get anything done, including my reading goals (22/50).
  • Here’s a list of the books I would like to read this year, and why:

    Fiction

    This year I feel like reading classic fiction. Oftentimes classics scare me, but I think I could enjoy some on this list. I’m also open to not finishing them or leaving them for later if I’m not keen. I’m going to try not to force myself to finish an unappealing book, which is something I have done in the past in the hopes I would like it in the end (that rarely happens).

  1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brönte
    I’ve already read Anne’s two older and more famous sisters, Charlotte and Emily, but I’ve heard some really exciting things about this novel and I look forward to reading it this year!
  2. Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro
    I don’t love everything that Ishiguro writes, but I have loved a couple of his novels very much, especially Never let me go. In this book he goes back to sci-fi and features an Artificial Intelligence as a narrator, which could be fascinating.
  3. Great expectations or A tale of two cities, Charles Dickens
    I can’t believe I’ve got to this point, but I’m almost 34 years ago, hold an English Degree and have never read a Dickens novel. Not one. I did try many years ago, so he might just not be the right author for me, but maybe I’m a big enough girl now and can finally finish one of his books. We’ll see.
  4. Forbidden Colors, Yukio Mishima
    I purchased this in a Spanish translation many years ago and it’s remained unread. I will try to take it to the UK with me this time around and see if I finally get around to reading it.
  5. Notre-Dame de Paris, Victor Hugo
    Listen, I’m making no promises other than I will try to read this. I will. And that will be enough.
  6. The grapes of wrath, John Steinbeck
    I read East of Eden back in 2020 and was astonished by how good it actually was, so I look forward to reading this one this year.
  7. The razor’s edge, William Somerset Maugham
    I read another book by Somerset Maugham a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so I’m keen to read this one this year.
  8. Wives and Daughters, Elizabeth Gaskell
    Gaskell is another XIX century British author that I haven’t got around to reading yet!
  9. Gone with the wind, Margaret Mitchell
    Apparently a very readable and absorbing modern classic. Can’t wait!
  10. Anne of Green Gables #2, Lucy Maud Montgomery
    The second instalment of Anne’s adventures in Avonlea! I read the first book in 2021 in the midsts of my first trimester of pregnancy and it was such a soothing book!
  11. The count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
    Another highly readable classic that I truly look forward to!
  12. Les Liaisons dangereuses, Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
    Such an early and cheeky book to read ;)
  13. The World According to Garp, John Irving
    I haven’t read an Irving novel in years, and yet I recall really enjoying his writing back when I was reading novels by him. I don’t know what happened there - could this be the year I finally read The world according to Garp?
  14. Greenbanks, Dorothy Whipple
    What can I say, I read one Whipple a year. She’s one of my favourite authors by far. I tried to read this one in 2021 but wasn’t feeling well enough to hold the heavy book in my hands :(
  15. Nana, Émile Zola
    I bought this book too many years ago, I’m pretty sure I was still in high school. Never read it; never even tried. I’m interested again after watching a great review on it.
  16. Alone in Berlin, Hans Fallada
    I bought this for my mom a few years ago; she loved it. So now I’d like to read it myself!
  17. Patria, Fernando Aramburu
    I think this is the only Spanish book on the list. I randomly found a copy at a cafe where they were giving it away, so it could be a good year to give it a go.
  18. Bullies like Me, Lindy Zart
    The only YA fiction on this list, but this one looks very compelling and it was on my list of books I’d like to read at some point.

Non-Fiction

I will be having a baby in April - is trying to read non-fiction maybe too ambitious? Probably, but just in case I feel like it, here we go:

  1. The Anthropocene Reviewed, John Green
    I think this could be a cute compilation of essays, nothing to deep but nice and thought-provoking at the same time.
  2. Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, Robert M. Sapolsky
    This… I know this is not going to happen this year. This is a dense, heavy book with a lot of complex information. But just throwing it in here as part of my wishlist.
  3. Orient Express: El tren de Europa, Mauricio Wiesenthal
    Wiesenthal has become one of my husband’s favourite authors and we already have a copy of this book at home, so I’d like to read it this year.
  4. The sound of paper, Julia Cameron
    I read The Artist’s Way a few years ago and I’m keen to read another book on creative writing by Julia Cameron. I bought this copy second-hand on a whim and maybe it’s time to actually read it.
  5. Creativity, INC., Ed Catmull
    This book about Pixar and the man that started it all has received great reviews from readers, including my husband.
  6. Ways of seeing, John Berger
    A short, beautiful book about art and ways of ‘looking’ at it, full of photos and metaphor.
  7. The timeless way of building, Christopher Alexander
    I’ve been meaning to read this book for a few years, especially since I’ve heard it makes a lot of sense to Product Designers (even though it’s really about architecture).

Pregnancy and child rearing books

There will probably some books related to pregnancy and looking after a baby, but I don’t know what those books will be yet!