Mind, Matter, and Me

Starting this by being transparent: I don’t go out a lot at school or stay out late for that matter.

Those of you who know my habits at school and in life in general know this to be the truth. But let me tell you why.

Because I would rather be at home reading a book in bed under my weighted blanket. That to me is the ideal night. It’s not so much because I want to be alone. I would absolutely love it if someone came and sat on the couch with me one night and we read or if someone came and hung out in my weighted blanket with me. It just that doesn’t appeal to many people in college. And I get it. A lot of the time I wish I were different and I wish that was what I wanted to be doing. But it’s not. I like to read. I like to have the world opened up to me and meet (most times fictional) people I know will teach me something new about life and perspectives. I like books. Scratch that, I LOVE books.

This year… I read 55 books. That is an absurd about of books. My Goodreads wrapped told me I read 21,510 pages. My eyes do be tired.

My goal for the year was to read 50 books. Then once I hit that in November, I said let’s make it an average of one book a week, so I read 52 books. And then I read 3 more books just for the story telling.

I am so proud of myself. Reading isn’t always something I liked. It isn’t something I would have imagined myself ever falling in love with. But I did. And that to me is such a reminder of the beauty of life. I didn’t know I needed reading in my life but the universe did. The universe knew I needed characters and stories that made me look at love, friendship, grief, marriage, mental illness, religion, loss, family, education, and life differently. My perspectives have changed. I have changed. And I am so grateful for it all.

I loved every book I read this year. So I would love to share.

Here are all the books I read in 2022:

If I had to pull some of my favorites, here they would be (in no order because that would be so cruel to myself):

1. Beartown
2. Educated
3. The People We Keep
4. Know My Name
5. The Kiss Quotient
6. The Nightingale
7. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
8. Lessons in Chemistry
9. Im Glad My Mom Died

I have also compiled a list of my favorite quotes from some of these books. It turned out to be 14 pages long in a google document…. Whoopsies! I made a link where if you click it, you should be able to view the document. (If the link doesn’t work please someone let me know). If you’re curious what things I could possibly be learning from 55 books, click the link:)

Link to 2022 Book Quotes

My favorite quotes are highlighted in blue. Maybe you can learn something about me from the quotes I thought worthy enough to save, and maybe even more from my highlighted ones.

Thank you to books for giving me solace. Thank you books for being an outlet that allows me to feel like I am prioritizing myself. I am grateful to you, all mighty book universe.

Comment or reach out with your favorite book reads of this year!! I am looking for books to read in the new year.

Your reading machine,

Me