2022

Well, that sure was a year. I feel like I’ve left chunks of myself behind but I do not feel the lighter for it. There were tragedies, and there were disappointments, but we’ve reached this arbitrary moment in our annual revolution and maybe it’s time to rebel, a little.

My new year’s resolutions are no different to my daily resolutions. Be healthier. Be kinder. Just. You know. Be better. (And, yes. Read more. Write more. Blog more. Work on my MSc.)

2022 had some great moments, some great music, some great books and some amazing friends, many of whom I got to see for the first time in a few years. 2023 will bring more of the same, with trips planned to new destinations and old (and to new friends and old).

I guess the purpose of this post is to shake out 2022, shake it down, empty its pockets and see what comes out.

Music is interesting, right? Some songs have good associations, some have bad associations. I fell out of love with some bands, and further in love with others. I can’t claim to having a particularly high-brow or interesting taste in music. It was a difficult year to be a BTS fan, as they are starting their mandatory military service and the first to enlist, this month, is my favourite, Kim Seokjin. Despite the uncertainties, they were very productive in the second half of the year, between performances and solo ventures. My wallet does not appreciate their prolificacy, although my heart does.
My top three albums of the year were J-Hope’s Jack in the Box, RM’s Indigo and Taylor Swift’s Midnights. In terms of individual songs, I loved The Astronaut by Jin, Blood Upon the Snow by Bear McCreary and Hozier, Beach House by Carly Rae Jepson, That That by PSY and Sugar, and Champagne Cool by Jackson Wang. I also discovered Monsta X this year, primarily through their English language album, The Dreaming which is absolutely perfect, no skips, no notes.

I am not sure if I read more books in 2022 than I did in 2021 but I think I read good books, all the same. I started a book instagram (@whelmed.blog) which helped me keep track of what I was reading and what I intended to read. The best book this year, for me, was The Winners, by Fredrik Backman. The final book in the Beartown trilogy, it broke me a little and I could not have loved it more. Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid took me by surprise, at least in part because I didn’t know it was coming out. An excellent book, though I think that Malibu Rising just about beats it. The next instalment in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series was published – Archangel’s Resurrection. It was a little different, in terms of scope, as it covers thousands of years of the lives of two archangels, Alexander and Zanaya, but it was a great instalment and, as always, I look forward to the next book.

My audiobook-listening habits haven’t really changed. I tend to listen to books I’ve read before (although I did listen to Archangel’s Resurrection de novo, so to speak) and the biggest highlight for me was The Charioteer by Mary Renault. Now, this is, without a doubt, my favourite book. I hadn’t reread it recently and I decided to give the audiobook, narrated by Joe Jameson a try. Well. It is just perfect. This is the Ralph Ross Lanyon of my heart and of my dreams. I’ve started listening to Renault’s The Last of the Wine, narrated by Barnaby Edwards, and it’s fabulous too.

I feel like I’ve watched a lot of TV this year, and I think that two of my favourite shows have been Willow and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. The big one this year, surprising precisely no one who knows me, was Rings of Power. I was really really dubious about it, before it was released. The casting didn’t make sense to me and the restrictions on what could be mentioned worried me. I have never been more pleased to be wrong. Morfydd Clark as Galadriel and Robert Aramayo as Elrond are absolutely superb. They more than do these characters justice. The way the show embellishes Dwarven culture is brilliant, and Sophie Nomvete plays Disa just as regally as one would like. I really enjoyed all the Númenorean scenes and politics and I can’t wait to see how Ar-Pharazôn evolves in the coming seasons. And, of course, Halbrand. Need I say more? I think – I know – my enjoyment of Rings of Power was enhanced by watching it with friends, whether they were Tolkien nerds like me, or relative Tolkien newbies. Thank you all, for that. You know who you are.

On a personal level, I hope that 2023 is a better one. It promises to be a little eventful, but hopefully nothing I can’t handle. So, come on, 2023. It’s time for This Year by Mountain Goats. Let’s be having you.