#read 2022

[lotus-pages]

2022 reads ⋆ the cruel prince by holly black ♡

“most of all, i hate you because i think of you. often. it's disgusting and i can't stop.”

for my honest reaction and rating, check out my goodreads.

[bruiselikeviolets]

read in 2022: the diviners by libba bray

Why does anyone do anything? Belief. A belief that they are right and just in their actions. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, because he believed that God had commanded it. To kill your son is unthinkable. A crime. But if you are acting in the belief that your God, your supreme deity whom you must obey, has demanded it of you, is it still a crime?

[booksandwords]

When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney

Read time: 6 Days Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

The Quote: Once upon a time, there were women who ruled the world. Six of them—Merneith, Nerferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret and Cleopatra—climbed the highest the wielded the most significant power: not as manipulators of their menfolk but as heads of state. Each started as a queen—a mere sexual vessel of their king—but each became chief decision-maker, five of them served as king outright. — Kara Cooney

When Women Ruled the World is perhaps unsurprisingly divided into six sections, one for each of the six queens, an introduction and a conclusion (both of which are on a theme). The six queens are Merneith, Nerferusobek, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Tawosret and Cleopatra. There are other women of power noted some are queens others are just women in positions of power in the Egyptian system. These include Neithotep, Tetisheri and Ahmes-Nefertari. The Queen/ King's Horus names are included and explained, all of them are interesting. Nefertiti and Hatshepsut's particularly so. A suggestion for those new to academic non-fiction, if you have an interest in the added detail provided by the notes, try using a second bookmark. But the narrative style used by Kara Cooney means you can skip them with ease. Same are added commentary, some are simply sources and some are where to look for more information.

🤎 Merneith — Queen of Blood (ca 3000-2890 B.C.) Merneith is the first of the six queens ruling as a regent for her son, Den during the 1st dynasty. Her entry acts as an overview of the kingship in ancient Egypt and the role of the Queen in it. Merneith provides something of a fascinating study in brutal strength and the things one must do to survive. Little is truly known of her really but I like the way this is written. The style empowers her and allows her ferocity to shine. As much as this is about the women Den himself is interesting, The First King of Upper and Lower Egypt. Den must have greatly respected Merneith burying her in a tomb fit for a king though with fewer human sacrifices (nothing to do with gender everything to do with afterlife necessity).

💚 Nerferusobek — The Last Woman Standing (1777-1773 B.C.) Nerferusobek has one of the best name meanings, beauty of Sobek. "Named for the fierce god of the Nile inundation, a deity of aggressive sexuality and violent fecundity." (p.77). Her crowned names are Beloved of Re; Daughter of the Powerful One; Mistress of the Two Lands; Stable of Appearances. This entry continues the discussion on succession discussing royal reproduction practices, including harems and a quite interesting section on incest (all neat logic no ick factor). There is an insightful and logical comment on harems that I quite appreciated. Her subtitle comes from why she was even sitting on the Horus Throne, Nerferusobek was the last royal of the 12th Dynasty, a product of incest (probably) causing sterility. She perhaps willingly but perhaps reluctantly took the throne to steady the ship. She had little to gain and was little threat to the status quo, with no chance of a male heir. Her short reign allows the board to be reset and allowed all the major power players to get their viable sons into position for the start of the next dynasty. Nerferusobek is almost the exact opposite of her female predecessor, it is easy to admire her patience and intelligence.

💛 Hatshepsut — Queen of Public Relations (1473-1458 B.C.) "Hatshepsut broke all the rules."(p.99) is the first line of this section and it is the perfect summation of her rule. Let's start with the pronunciation of her name as included by Kara Cooney Hat-shep-suit. One of the cutest moments in this section is what the young princes were called... nestlings look it made me smile okay. There was an interesting moment for me. The extremely young pharaoh, the two-year-old on the throne, could only happen in ancient Egypt with its focus on mythos and god-kings. Anywhere else would be civil war. Cooney has a great reading on Hatshepsut's potential romantic attachments. They weren't needed for her to maintain power, there was little place in the historical record for them. I did like the section on Hatshepsut and one day I will get around to reading Cooney's Hatshepsut work but not today. This is the longest section of the six, unsurprising really, Cooney wrote The Woman Who Would Be King dedicated entirely to Hatshepsut. As that book does exist there is less discussion and commentary in the notes they are nearly entirely sources. In some ways, I would consider her the opposite side of the coin to Merneith. Where Merneith held her position with strategic blood and violence Hatshepsut used ideology and human relations. Especially ideology.

For her countrymen there was no longer any point referring to her as "queen." That title was only used for women subservient to their sovereign. — Kara Cooney (p.84)

🧡 Nefertiti — More Than Just a Pretty Face (1338-1336 B.C.) Ideology was also important in Nefertiti's reign. Nefertiti was actually treated as an equal to her husband during his reign. An equal female to his male god. (Because yes he was a 🤡) What is clear is that in any other time, any other place, her husband, the completely bonkers Akhenaten would likely have faced regicide. There isn't a consensus that she even ruled alone, if she did she ruled with her daughter taking the role of Queen, the feminine role to her masculine. So much of everything around her is dependent on which school of Egyptology you belong to. It can be difficult. Was she ever a King in her own right? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Nefertiti is... complicated. It had to make many comments on her. So much of Nefertiti's reign in her own right is a matter of superposition. But I'm not even sure I knew that I ever knew the potential connection between King Tut and Nefertiti.

💙 Tawosret — The Survivor (1188-1186 B.C) Tawosret comes from a very different period of Egyptian history. She was needed by Egypt but not welcome. Women were greatly distrusted in any position of power. She is a mixture of all the previous queens except maybe Nefertiti. It all starts with a discussion of how times had changed in Egypt and the Ramesside period. Her crowned names are Daughter of Re, Beloved of Amun; Mighty Lady, Chosen of Mut; Strong Bull, Beloved of Ma'at; Founder of Egypt, who vanquishes foreign countries. Using the title Chosen of Mut is a brilliant ideological move, ditto Beloved of Ma'at. Mut was a mother goddess, her name means mother, she's a primordial deity. Ma'at was a deity tied to balance and justice, a key to the processes of entering the afterlife. All these women knew how to manipulate the greek pantheon for their own power. There is a lovely quote in here about human society and feminine rule. "Many of history's women could rise to power only within extraordinary crisis and, when the immediate predicament had abated, were unceremoniously pushed aside. Indeed, the catastrophe itself was usually blamed on the woman's rue, a Catch-22 if there ever was one." (p.240). Tawosret feels like something akin to one of the British succession crises (there have been three), but one, in particular, ended with a queen on a throne decided from a piece of genetics.

💜Cleopatra — Drama Queen (51-0 B.C.) If you are going to know any of the Queens it will definitely be Cleopatra. Cleopatra was a true power player, a power player that would likely succeed even in the modern-day, maybe more so in the modern-day. Sex is power and she was totally unafraid to use it but that is far, far from all she was. Cleopatra was also strategic, intelligent and openly ambitious. Even if you know Cleopatra you will likely find information in here you don't know. For example, Cleopatra was in Rome when Ceaser was assassinated or the import of Ceaserion. There was an amusing moment for me when I realised Cleopatra essentially bought Mark Antony, she wanted his power for some form of legitimacy, he needed money to pursue his military campaigning. Cleopatra's section ends with a quick section on what happened to her children. While her sons were killed her daughter, Kleopatra Selene was married to a Roman ally and well. She went on to become a queen and clearly inherited her mother's intelligence. What I didn't know was that Kleopatra Selene and Juba II's son was killed by Caligula just for being descended from Marc Antony and Cleopatra.

I did enjoy this. I enjoyed learning about new powerful women. Women who used power in different ways to maintain the stability of their Egypt and their position. There is some well-written background included too, like the way an heir was chosen and reproductive practices. I had completely missed in all my time reading about ancient Egypt the connection between Nefertiti and Tut. I do appreciate the use of the modern to help readers understand, Trump, Clinton, the Saudi Royal family and just general or universal expectations moments experienced by women.

Let me justify the rating. While I was reading this wasn't a 3-star book. But it feels more like a 3.5-star book upon reflection, I'm rounding down. Cleopatra's section let me down a little. I was confused for quite a bit of it, to be honest, it was a bit of a slog to get through. In the previous paragraph, I mentioned the moments experienced by women, that is also a bit of a flaw. This feels like it is squarely aimed at women. And perhaps relying too much on female experience and contemporary references.

[date-prisa-estamos-leyendo]

Estaba más allá de todo, porque estaba cerca de la muerte.

Los peligros de fumar en la cama, Mariana Enríquez.

[foxounderscorecube]

They/Them/Their: A Guide to Nonbinary and Genderqueer Identities - Eris Young

4 ⭐

This is a pretty good overview of the various complexities of non-binary genders and their implications at this point in time.

Being a non-binary person who tries to keep somewhat on top of the current queer discourse, a lot of the information in here wasn't especially new to me in itself, but it was still interesting and informative. The writing style is academic, but terminology is explained well and I feel like it's probably still accessible for most people.

I feel like, if you're questioning your gender, or if you want to get your head around non-binary genders to better understand others, this is worth reading. It also contains a lot of references and resources, which is good!

[elusivemellifluence]

Read 2022

We've reached the wonderful time of year where I make graphs analysing my reading habits like I'm some sort of science experiment.

In 2022 I read 102 books / 30,760 pages.

Keep reading for much, much more detail.

(My charts look less spiffy this year because I switched to a different chart making tool. This one doesn't let me customise colours. But the prettier options I found had the infuriating habit of just leaving out the data labels if a chart got unwieldy, and did not have an option I could select for "if you can't fit them on the chart itself, use a key". I picked function over aesthetic.)

First, and I can't believe I never thought to do this before, here is a graph of my total books over each year since I started tracking.

My lowest book count so far this year. But to be fair, I also wrote over 50,000 words of fic and started learning Mandarin Chinese. Plus my mum died and I could barely read for weeks.

And here is a similar graph of my total pagecounts.

The Books

The majority of my reading (62%) was in the form of ebooks, followed by paperbacks, audiobooks and hardbacks. It's pretty much the exact same proportion as last year.

This year most of the books I read were my own (70%), with the rest borrowed from the library. It was a more even split last year.

The longest book I read was The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee at 592 pages. The shortest was The Future God of Love by Dilman Dila at 55 pages. The average length was 301 pages.

This is my average book length over the years. Not a whole lot of variation, but this year was the lowest so far at 301 and 2015 was the highest at 356.

The oldest book I read was The Art of War by Sun Tzu, originally published around 450BC. The most recent was The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, published 23 September 2022. Most of the books I read were from the 2020s and 2010s.

My average rating was 3.9/5. There were 15 five star books, which is fewer than last year, and the lowest rating was a single 2. There's a much bigger gap this time between the number of four star books (57) and three star books (22). I was trying to move away from the mindset that DNF (did not finish) is the ultimate sign of disdain, because it made me feel kind of obligated to finish a lot of solidly average books because I didn't actually hate them. This year there were a bunch of books where I was like "I could keep reading this and it probably won't be bad. Or, I could stop reading right now and probably not regret it." Often, I did, and so I ended up with a lower proportion of 3 star reads.

The vast majority of books were new reads, not rereads.

My favourite genre is (as always) fantasy, followed by historical fiction, science fiction, nonfiction and romance, with a few mystery, horror and contemporary, and a handful of magic realism, literary fiction and thriller.

I read mostly adult books (72), and some young adult (21) and children's (9). I also read some baby/toddler books for babies/toddlers I know, but didn't record them for my stats. I really liked Sometimes Cake by Edwina Wyatt and I'm Not Cute! by Jonathon Allen.

It's my second year keeping track of the original language my books were written in, with a vague goal of 'some translated works'. 95 of the books were written in English, but I also read some translated from Japanese, Chinese, Portugese, Spanish and Swedish.

The Authors

Most of the authors (63) were cis women. I said last year that I'd aim to read more by trans and nonbinary authors but didn't end up doing that. I'll give it another go next year.

(The key couldn't quite fit in the stupid image, Ukraine should be listed after Hungary (also with 1 author))

The American hegemony is evident as always, but hey, this time it's just barely over 50%, that's something! And Australia was the second most common nationality, which is nice for me as an Aussie.

In my fifth year of aiming to read two authors of colour for every white author, that ratio is still going strong.

The Protagonists

Like with the authors, the majority of protagonists were cis women. Also like with the authors, I was aiming for a higher proportion of trans/nonbinary characters this year and didn't end up getting there. (I did read some short story anthologies with lots of trans characters, but that doesn't show up in the stats because short stories collections have too many characters to count for these purposes.) Oh well, I'll try again next year.

More protagonists were people of colour than not. That's nice. There was also one character whose race/appearance was never described, and three where the question of "is this character a person of colour?" can't really be answered in a meaningful way (a dragon, an alien and a wolf).

I'm thrilled to announce that straight protagonists are not the majority! At 44%, they're outnumbered by queer or indeterminate characters.

[kulai]

DAY 10, 11, 14 - 16, 17, 18 - 20, and 21 all-in-one post!

sorry im just getting really lazy posting it separately lol, check out the image description if you wanna know the specific prompt! xoxo

check out my twitter where i'm more active!

[mimimar]

finally completed my comic based on the song ivy by taylor swift!✿ please zoom in to read the text and see the details~

✿.✿.✿

you can get the digital zine pdf here! it includes extras like character profiles, costume design, more art of willow and ivy, zine-exclusive sketches and an illustrated guide to the symbolism of all the flowers in this comic.

you can also get prints of individual pages here!

✿.✿.✿

[stil-lindigo]

the machine.

a comic about being a 'creator' online.

creative notes:

[wanton-votaress]

So I got into an argument with one of my colleagues and they had the worst insult I’ve ever seen. While I was trying to explain that I was busy doing something else, they thought I was being lazy and decided to exclaim: “You probably want to go home and read a fantasy novel!”… um yes? Yes I do, that sounds nice thank you? Like how pathetic do you have to be to use READING as an insult? He said it like I was a witch, my guy, it seems like you’d have more luck trying to drown me, since this “burning” you’re trying to do isn’t working.

[thefallingdownthebookhole]

Top 5 Underrated Books Read in 2022

✨ Top 5 Underrated Books Read in 2022✨

In the past couple of years I have been putting together a Top 5 post for underrated books  as an end of year wrap up. (Check out the Top 5 Underrated Books Published in 2020.) It better showcases the books I adored! I read tons and usually do the ones published in the year, but I had a ton that appeared on my other lists as well (see bottom of post) I love discovering hidden gems and trying to…

[bruiselikeviolets]

read in 2022: book of night by holly black

“I am a good enough thief to steal a shadow from a tower," she told him. "I can steal back your heart.”

[booksandwords]

Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux

Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote: The elegance and beauty of flowers have not dwindled—only our knowledge of their coded meanings. I hope this book, apart from offering a view into the history of floriography, will encourage readers to look at flowers and herbs in a new way, perhaps assigning their own meanings to the blooms that inspire them most. — Jessica Roux

This book is quite hard to review. It is a simple but beautiful book that is a must for those with an interest in Victorian culture or floristry. I appreciate the whole thing, I do recommend the book if it There are many others this would appeal to too, it is gorgeously illustrated the flowers all look so soft but real. The colours are well balanced with some put on white backgrounds, some on black. The background colour depends on the flower not the meanings to them. If you want to know what the art is going to look like Roux has a tumblr blog @jessicaroux​ which is well worth looking at.

The format is simpler than it sounds but effective. Each flower profile has its common name, genus, meanings, origin (for the meaning) and pairs with... on the left-hand page and an illustration/portrait of the flower on the right. Meaning the first thing a reader sees when they open the page will naturally be the flower itself. An explanation of 'pairs with...', thus is a list of two of three flowers that when combined with that of the profile will send a specific message. For example, combining Lily and Sweet William honours an act of pure generosity, gifting Chrysanthenemum and Willow to a friend in grief or a Thistle and Pansy to show you're thinking of a friend going through a bitter separation. Included are 10 bouquets with their own occasions such as bitter ends or courting. Roux has included what flowers are in the bouquet and what to tie it with Lastly, there is an index at the end separated by meaning such as encouragement, friendship or love and romance, there are eleven categories and flowers can be in more than one category.

Some of the elements/ entries I really liked • Apple Bloosom — I liked the origin. "The apple's connection to preference comes from the fable of the Golden Apple of Discord. Eris, the goddess of discord, threw a golden apple into a wedding ceremony that she was not invited to attend. The apple was inscribed with "For the most beautiful," and Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all laid claim to it. Zeus tasked Paris of Troy with deciding between the three goddesses. He eventually chose Aphrodite after she promised him the love of the world's most beautiful woman, Helen of Sparta. Because Helen was already married to King Menelaus, Paris's preference ultimately caused the Trojan War." • Bluebell — For context as to why this one is of interest to me, my tumblr main contains this flower in it. I never knew the meaning of this flower. It has two meanings humility and faithfulness. But I really just think they are pretty. • Daffodil — It is the scientific name that is interesting here, it gives some indication of the meaning and origin... Narcissus. Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection. Daffodils bloomed on the ground where he fell. • Dandelion — Meaning or aligned with divination and fortune-telling. The origin "Dandelions are associated with wished and fortune-telling; it's customary in many Western cultures to make a wish while blowing on the dandelion's "puff," dispersing the seeds. More practically, dandelions have been used to predict the weather, as their puffs will stay closed in inclement weather and open when sunny, clear skies are on the way." • Eucalyptus — Meaning protection. Does acknowledge the Indigenous Australian uses. I like one of the pairings too, with Queen Anne's lace to wish the recipient safe travels. • Forget-Me-Not — Oh these are such cute little flowers, I like the illustration. The origin is heartbreaking though from a Germanic folktale that ends in death. • Isis — The Iris illustration looks like it's drawn on a chalkboard, white always looks good on that background. I didn't know the meanings either, valor, wisdom and faith. • Lavender — I didn't expect lavender to have a negative connotation, distrust. It's to do with asps hiding in them. • Myrtle — Potentially unexpectedly meaning love. Pair with dahlia for your one true love. I think a bit of this surprises my modern mind. • Petunia — Another pretty illustration of white flowers on a black background. Purely on a Harry Potter reference Petunia means anger and resentment, tell me that doesn't suit that character (as much as I hate to give she-who-must-not-be-named any praise). • Snapdragon — The origin to the presumption meaning for snapdragon... "Snapdragon's link to presumption may derive from a medieval fashion practice: maidens would wear snapdragons in their hair to show they were not interested in unsolicited attention from men. The flower warned young men against presumption in a subtle and elegant way." • A Bouquet for Friendship — Zinna for everlasting friendship, Apple blossom for preference, Pansy for a friend you think of often and Eucalyptus for protection and to strengthen the bond of friendship, so that it may last throughout the years fastened with a teal chiffon ribbon. • A Bouquet for Forgotten Obligations — Columbine for foolishness, Rue for regret, Anemone for forsaken love, Forget-me-not to indicate you won't forget again fastened with a green garland. • A Bouquet for Marriage — Red roses for true love, Ivy for fidelity, Myrtle for hope and love in marriage and Dahlia for commitment and eternal love fastened with a white lace bow. • A Bouquet for New Beginnings — Crocus for youthful glee, Daisy for innocence and childhood purity, Lilac for first love, Baby's breath for purity and innocence and Wheat for riches fastened with a yellow tassel

[date-prisa-estamos-leyendo]

No canta igual la primavera que el invierno. Los cuadros que pinta el otoño no se parecen a los del verano. La narración que el mismo bosque hace de su empeño incesante por ser eterno no consiente el más mínimo aburrimiento.

Los árboles te enseñarán a ver el bosque, Joaquín Araújo.

[foxounderscorecube]

Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar - Elizabeth U. Harding

4½ ⭐

Technically, this is a re-read - as a small child, I was obsessed with Kali and my mum got this for me to read to support my interest, but found it inappropriate at the time after she read through it. I vaguely remember reading it in secret anyway, albeit barely understanding most of it. I was really in awe of one particular illustration of Kali and looked at it lots, though.

Anyway, I am no longer 6 and can understand it far better now, and this was a really interesting book. It's written by a Western journalist for a Western audience, focusing on the development of and worship within the Kali temple in Dakshineswar. It discusses her most prominent saints and some of the history of her devotees and place in mythology as a whole, too, making it a fascinating introduction to the rituals and worship surrounding Kali.

The descriptions, especially of the care of Kali's image, festivals, and daily worship in Dakshineswar, are wonderfully written. It sounds chaotic and colourful and must be amazing to be a part of. Harding doesn't display the sort of patronising "othering" of the people common in books of its time and subject matter, and seems earnest and thoughtful. It's clear she adores Kali herself, and the book's exploration of the concept of God, while not the centre of its topic, is lovely.

Kali resonated with me for whatever reason when I was very young, and, well, she still does. This was a great book to learn from, and now I really hope to visit the Dakshineswar temple myself one day!

[kulai]

DAY 24: First Date

check this out on twt ! based on ch16 of "between the shadow and the soul" on ao3. ANOTHERR heavy recommendation!