Some of the books I've read this year

  • Well... a slightly random thread, but here are some books that I read in 2022.

    Even though there are some books that I forgot most of what the heck was happening.

    Some of the books are Nordic.

    It's a very long thread, so I put titles, so that if you are impatient, you can read only about the books that you are interested in reading about.

    This thread might flop though...


    The Christmas Mystery

    A book that was the first book I finished reading in 2022, was Julemysteriet (or The Christmas Mystery as it is called in English) by Jostein Gaarder.

    Well... I don't know if some of you are familiar with Sophie's World, but it is the same author.

    But The Christmas Mystery was kind of weird...

    I tried read that book as an "advent calendar" kind of book. (It has 24 chapters and I think it was supposed to be read like that)

    And I don't think I would want to read that book again because it was so weird and a bit disappointing.


    A Silent Voice

    I also read some volumes of A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima this year.

    I haven't watched the movie though and I think I probably should.

    I kind of enjoyed reading it.

    Even though one part of me wishes that it wasn't a romance, and these two were just friends. But I think that was just me.


    Lille Virgil

    There is this book that I once read as a child and wanted to read it again, which was Lille Virgil by Ole Lund Kirkegaard.

    I remember that I used to find one part funny, where the main character and his friends wonder where babies come from and one of the boys talks about how he has seen a horse giving birth and then one of them asks "So we all come from horses?"

    I still find that part kind of funny.

    The book kind of felt like a collection of short stories with the same characters and it also didn't quite have an ending. Maybe this has a bit to do with the fact that this was the author's first book.


    Pigen Fra Det Hvide Skib

    Then I also read Pigen Fra Det Hvide Skib by Mich Vraa and Jesper Bugge Kold.

    I don't usually read books that has two authors, and I was wondering who wrote what and stuff.

    I don't think this book has been translated into any other language than Danish.

    That book is a historical novel that takes place on the ship Jutlandia. Not sure how many people outside of the kingdom of Denmark have heard about that ship, but during the Korean War, it was used as a hospital ship. And in this historical novel, it also takes place in Korea.

    One thing that I noticed in this story was that one character seemed to have Choi as a given name. Well... I'm pretty sure that Choi is not a given name.


    The Bonesetter's Daughter

    I also read The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan.

    When I read that book, I was a bit reminded of the movie Turning Red, even though I haven't watched that movie. Because it is about a daughter-mother relationship. The book was released in 2001 and Turning Red takes place in 2002. The book is based on the author's relationship with her mother and Turning Red is based on the director's personal experience.

    I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed Turning Red, but maybe they would like that book too. But only if that person is an adult because it contains stuff that is inappropriate for children.

    I kind of liked the book or at least I'm felt like I was pretty interested in where the story was going. (I think many books that I read made me think "Ooh, I wonder what happens next." But I'm sure that this is how books are supposed to be like.)

    There was a scene in this book that I found weird and kind of uncomfortable, and I was literally thinking "what the fudge?", when I read it. But it was a flashback, where the main character was 11 or something and lived somewhere and she has a crush on her neighbour, who lives with his girlfriend. And she goes to the visit the neighbour and watches a movie with them or something and then she goes to the bathroom and sits on a dirty toilet seat and after sitting there, she begins thinking that she is pregnant with her neighbour's baby... I thought that thing was so weird. BTW I might have gotten the details wrong though.

    I found the part about the main character's mother's past interesting to read.

    I am kind of interested in reading another book by Amy Tan, which is The Joy Luck Club.


    Those-Not-So-Sweet-Boys

    I also read some volumes of a manga called Those-Not-So-Sweet-Boys by Yoko Nogiri.

    I don't remember much from this manga, but it felt like a typical shoujo manga to me.

    Like one of the not-so-sweet-boys being kind of cold towards the main charcater at first and this main character not being the sharpest tool in the shelf.

    I did like it though.


    Rannvá

    I once got recommended a book called Rannvá by Dagmar Joensen-Næs.

    And I actually didn't expect that I was going to like this book that much.

    For me, this was my favourite book of this year.

    Heck, I think if that book got translated into English, I would recommend it.

    But maybe it is kind of "un-translatable" because of the fact that it uses two languages, or at least that some of the characters speak in Danish.


    The Neverending Story

    Some of you know that I read The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.

    I remember seeing that book in the library and was thinking "Well... why not read it?", even though it is a book that I thought I would never read.

    I probably thought this book was going to be scary or something. I don't think I got scared by it though.

    Way before I read the book, I was spoiled about a sad scene in it, but well... I didn't cry, when I read that scene.

    I kind of liked the illustrations and how most of the chapters started alphabetically, which I think might make it a bit hard to translate.


    Convenience Store Woman

    I once bought the book, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, which I have heard is a good book.

    I kind of liked it, even though I didn't feel like it was one of the best things I had read.

    I didn't like one of the male characters in the book that gave me incel vibes, but I don't think he was supposed to be likeable at all.


    The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

    Then I also read The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan.

    It is a book that kind of disappointed me. I expected some sweet romance, and I didn't feel like the romance was sweet enough for me.

    I really liked the cover of the Danish edition of that book, so it is a bit of a shame that I didn't like that book that much.

    I felt kind of traumatized when the main character said something weird about her roommate's eagle tattoo.

    The book has a flashback, where you read about the main character's French teacher when that teacher is younger and she falls in love with a man who makes chocolates. For me, reading about the relationship made me feel kind of uncomfortable because she was a minor and he was an adult, I think.

    The book has recipes for chocolate desserts in the last pages, which is something I didn't know about before I started reading that book. I am planning on trying some of those recipes though.



    Heaven

    A book that I bought at the same time as Convenience Store Woman, was Heaven by Mieko Kawakami.

    I once saw someone on booktube talk about this book and I decided to give that one a try.

    I expected to like it, but I didn't quite like it.

    If I can compare it to that other book that I bought, then I prefer Convenience Store Woman over that one personally.

    This book is about a boy, who has a lazy eye, and gets bullied for it.

    The main character is 14 years old, but I don't think I would recommend it to someone at that age.



    You, Me and Our Heartstrings

    Yet another book that I bought at the same time as Convenience Store Woman, was You, Me and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See.

    The book is about a girl with cerebral palsy and a boy with anxiety, who fall in love with each other. She is a violinist and he is a cellist, and they end up in a video that goes viral.

    The book is written by an author who is disabled herself and also plays the violin, like the main character.

    Well... this book made me almost cry at a part where someone writes a hate comment about her online because I ended up feeling so sorry for her. When I read that part, I was thinking "are people really this mean towards people with disabilities?"

    I personally liked that book and would probably read more of Melissa See's books



    Me on the Floor, Bleeding

    Well... a book that I didn't like so much is Här Ligger Jag Och Blöder (or as the English title is "Me on the Floor, Bleeding") by Jenny Jägerfeld.

    The book starts very bloody, where the main character accidently saws off the tip of her thumb. I'm not complaining about that part though, like when you read the synopsis, you know it is going to happen. I was still kind of shocked by the beginning.

    The thing that I didn't like about the book is the fact that it seemed to romanticize the fact that the main character, who is 17 years old, ends up in a relationship with a 20 year old. I have read some reviews about this book and no one seemed to be bothered by this, which made me wonder if I'm the only one bothered by this.

    And I found the "plot twist" kind of weird. Or at least, in the last chapters, you find out something about the mother.

    Yup. that book wasn't my cup of tea.


    The Maze Runner

    Lastly, I'm going to talk about The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

    Because of ATEEZ's Guerrilla and stuff, I had planned on reading a dystopian novel and it was this one.

    I haven't watched the movie, and I also feel like I'm a bit "late to the party" because of the fact that I haven't read that book earlier.

    I find the plot interesting, even though when I read this book, I kept thinking "What on earth is going on?"

    I'm excited about what happens in the next book in the series.




    Well.... these were some of the books that I read this year.

  • from your list I have only read a silent voice


    I agree, they are better just as friends. I think they are just trauma bound

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  • Thats a lot


    I just read 3 books and 1 of them was so shit that I couldn't finish it


    I had a 4th one but it was very tiny and half was drawings with some phrases of the author so I don't count it as book

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