My Year in Books: Amber

The Library’s Social Media Team loves to read. Cliché, right? So, we want to share some of our favorite books we have read in 2022. Several of us also did a GoodReads Challenge, and you can check out our reading habits there. This series will highlight the Social Media Team’s year in books. You might want to read some of our recommendations or join a GoodReads Challenge of your own in 2023.

Without further ado, I will share my year in books. My reading tastes tend to gravitate toward Young Adult, Middle Grade, and historical fiction. However, you might also see some professional reading on my GoodReads list. I will also say the Library’s Staff Book Club helps me branch out to other genres as well.

As of December 21, I read 76 books and 16, 423 pages. My shortest book was A Boy Named Isamu which was 31 pages. The longest book I read was A Court of Silver Flames which was over 700 pages. You can see all the books I read on my GoodReads page. My number of books was up from last year, so my goal for 2023 will be to read more than 76 books. Let’s say 77, just to be on the safe side.

It is hard to pick only 5 favorite books, but I’ll try. My favorite books in no specific order were…

Starfish by Lisa Fipps: This was actually the first book I read in 2022 based on a recommendation by Melissa, the Library Director. Starfish is a verse novel about a middle school girl in Dallas who is overweight. This novel tugged at my heartstrings for more than one reason. First, she lives in Texas, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit homesick for my home state. Second, Ellie, the main character, is so real and honest in how she is struggling. She struggles with the typical middle school things like friendship, but she also struggles with her weight and a mother who is constantly judging her for it. I appreciated the way Fipps’ handles the bullying by emphasizing you can respond to others in a better way than how they are treating you. Fipps’ also shows that sometimes bullies are bullying because they are trying to feel better about themselves. The verse novel format makes for a quick but powerful read.

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney: Whitney walks through how to pray using the Psalms. So many books like this make praying Scripture seem daunting, but Whitney makes it accessible. He outlines simple steps for using the Psalms as a guide for your prayer. He also made prayer struggles relatable; we all struggle with prayer sometimes. It is easy to get distracted while we pray. However, Whitney showed how using each verse in a Psalm can keep us on track. Each day you can pick a Psalm but use the calendar to help you pick rather than randomly trying to find one; so, on January 1, pray Psalm 1. His writing style and steps for praying the Bible made me feel confident that I could do it.

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom: I recommended this a couple months ago after book club, so this is a short recommendation. Ten Boom both encouraged and convicted me in her biography about her time during World War II. She had faith to trust God to provide for her in such a hard and tragic time. However, she was also honest in admitting where she doubted as well. Her stories of the miracles of God brought a different perspective to World War II that we don’t often see in novels about this time.

Captain Skidmark Dances with Destiny by Jennifer Irwin: This one didn’t make it to my GoodReads list because it isn’t going to be out until April 2023. I received the advanced reader copy from School Library Journal Day of Dialog and I really enjoyed it. The title made me a little nervous, but after reading it I can say it is a fitting title. Will is an 8^th grader who doesn’t fit in, especially not on the hockey rink. When he stumbles into a dance class and finds he really enjoys it, he must decide what to do. Irwin fills this novel with funny but embarrassing moments that actually made me chuckle. I would recommend this to those middle school boys who are reluctant readers.

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll: This was an award-winning book and deservingly so. McNicoll writes about a neurodivergent girl who decides to fight for the witches that were burned at the stake in her small Scottish town for being different. McNicoll showed how autistic people struggle in typical classrooms and situations not because something is wrong, but because their processing is different. I enjoyed the way McNicoll incorporated witch trials into current times and how people who are different, although not burned at the stake, are often treated as outcasts. The writing style provided new and authentic perspective on how an autistic person interacts with the world.

Happy Reading!

Amber Wessies’ reviews reflect her personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university.