Favorite Books Read in 2022

Here are my favorite books for 2022, and as usual, I’ve excluded my rereads om this list. Coming up with my 2022 favorites was easy because 37 books out of 84 were rereads. Anyway, here’s the list:

1. I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb – I’m ashamed to say that prior to reading this book, I really had no idea about Malala except that she’s a Nobel Peace Prize awardee. I picked this book on a whim after encountering her name a few times in my students’ English textbook. I’m thankful for my curiosity because that led me to one of the best books that I’ve ever read in my entire life. Overall, the book was bold, genuine, engaging, and well-written. I admit that I immediately bought a copy of her documentary movie the soonest I finished reading this.
   
   
   
2. Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker – This is a story about a family plagued with schizophrenia. The only thing I knew about schizophrenia was that it’s connected to having multiple personality and being bipolar, but reading this book made me aware of the misconceptions I had with the disease. I couldn’t imagine the pain and hurt everyone had suffered because of this disease.
   
   
   
3. The Bombay Prince (Perveen Mistry #3) by Sujata Massey – I love this!!! I bought the hardback version after reading this book! I swear, this series just keeps getting better!
   
   
   
4. Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal – Welp, I have here a classic written in the 1880s. Every Filipino has read this book in high school, but I don’t think it was appreciated enough by students. I, for one, am guilty of this. I’ve only appreciated it when I read it as an adult. Also, this book depressed me a little because it was very evident that the social and economic problems back then are still persistent up to this day. Also, I’ve read a lot of reviews that El Filibusterismo, this book’s sequel and another fantastic book, is better. However, I personally enjoyed Noli Me Tángere much more and had evoked more emotions in me as a reader than El Fili.
   
   
   
5. The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn – Out of the five books in the series, this and book 1 are my absolute favorites. There’s something about these books that made me want to root for the couples.
   
   
   
6. Spy x Family #1-5 by Tatsuya Endo – I breezed through these manga volumes because they’re that entertaining.
   
   
   
7. The Satapur Moonstone (Perveen Mistry #2) by Sujata Massey – Besides the plot, there’s a sub-plot about Perveen and another character that began in this book. That sub-plot made me anticipate and book 3 more.
   
   
   
8. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi – Honestly, I’ve had this book since 2017 (I think), but it’s only in 2022 when I chose this as my book for the Holy Week. Why did I wait all these years to read this, I have no idea. I love this. It’s not your usual preachy type of book. Religion was dealt scientifically and logically in this book, and that gave it a refreshing point of view.
   
   
   
9. An Offer from a Gentleman (Bridgertons #3) by Julia Quinn – While not the best and being the weakest among my favorites, I am putting this here because it’s Bridgerton’s take on Cinderella, and it was a fun read.

Favorite Books Read in 2021

I know that this post is six months late, but it’s here now!
As always, I’m excluding rereads in this list. Books 1-5 in the list are definitely the best out of the bunch. I’ve tried condensing the list a bit more, but I couldn’t decide which books to remove. So here’s my favorite books of 2021.

1. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – I’m actually in the same age group as of the protagonist in this book, and I’ve definitely related to her many “What ifs…?” in her life. Fun fact, the reason why I decided to move to another country is because I had the same “What if…?” question for myself, and I knew I’d regret it if I hadn’t tried living abroad. So yeah, while this book is classified as fantasy/mental health/science fiction, the overall premise still is anchored in reality.
   
   
   
2. Orwell Collection (1984 and Animal Farm) – Had I read the actual book, I might have DNFed the 1984 part because it was quite verbose and I would’ve suffered from information overload. I’m grateful that I chose the audiobook version narrated by Stephen Fry because his narration kept me engaged and made the story really come to life. It’s scary to think how the events in 1984 could still be seen in today’s society. Some are in a smaller scale, while others are in a larger scale. The brainwashing, the tampering on documents, the lies… such events really spoke volumes to me.
   
   
   
3. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – Hands down, this is probably one of the best books I’ve read in my entire life. Period. There is not a single lull moment in this book, even during Grace’s alone chapters. Everything was action-packed and somewhat emotional. I can’t believe how this made me mushy. Yeah, mushy is how I describe his relationship with Rocky.
   
   
   
4. Winnie the Pooh series by A.A. Milne – Never in a million years did I think that I’m going to love this series so much. Beautiful, beautiful book. It’s a children’s book series, but it made me smile, laugh, roll my eyes, relate to the characters, and even cry a little at the ending. Definitely appreciated this way more as an adult reader. 
   
   
   
5. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King – Horror is not my genre. I rarely read horror books (except for children’s books “Goosebumps”), but I have three Stephen King audiobooks in my Audible library for quite some time now. Why I bought them, I had no idea, but they’re there. Well, surprise, surprise! I actually liked it! It’s way too engaging. It made me think and sympathize with the characters. It also made me fear for their lives. So yeah, this is great piece of work.
   
   
   
6. 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman – A lot of the things written here are mainly for couples, but they’re still applicable to every type of relationship there is. Reading this made me think of myself and of the people around me and how each of us express our love and appreciation towards each other differently.
   
   
   
7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald – I’ve seen the movie version starring Brad Pitt when it came out in cinemas. This is a short book, and I see myself rereading this in the future.
   
   
   
8. The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit – This is a children’s book. It’s fantastical, weird, and magical all at the same time. It was a bit scary in some parts, too.
   
   
   
9. Sweet Talk by Cara Bastone – This is a feel good romance audiobook. I love me some non-toxic love story without the overconfident and snarky female character and the overly macho and rich dude. It’s a perfect listen for reading slumps.
   
   
   
10. The Way of the Househusband series by Kousuke Ono – I started with the Netflix anime adaptation. I liked it, and I wanted more.
    
    
    
11. The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec – Out of all the books in this list, this is probably the one that shouldn’t be here. Some parts bored me to tears, but the last few chapters redeemed this book for me.
    
    
    
12. The Stand-in by Lily Chu – Like Sweet Talk, this is also a feel good romance audiobook. The story is light-hearted and cute, too.
    
    
    
13. Arsenic and Adobo by Lia Manansala – This was written by a Filipino American. It’s not a perfect book, but I love Pinoy representation in books! It’s also well-written, so this book deserves to be here.
    
    
    
14. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – I read this because I had learned that this was going to be adapted into a movie. Well, I did enjoy liking this book so much that I read it again immediately after finishing it just to catch the clues that I’d miss the first time. As of making this post (June 2022), I have already seen the movie version, and to say that it was a disappointment is an understatement.
    
    
    
15. The Baby-sitters Club books 1-4 by Ann M. Martin – Cute children’s book!

January-March Fav Books Wrap Up

The title says it all!

I can’t seem to find time to do monthly posts anymore, so I’ll just lump them together in a single post.

There are so many good books out there that it’ll be a shame not to share my favorites.

Now on to the list!

• 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman – The book focuses more on couples, but the main points are applicable to all types of relationships.
• Harry Potter series (books 2-7) by J.K. Rowling – Why only from The Chamber of Secrets? Well it’s because I finished The Sorcerer’s Stone way back in December 2020. This is a series that gets better as time passes by, and somehow, I always discover new things on every reread.
• Dry by Neil Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman – This is some heavy stuff. It’s YA dystopian at its finest.
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – One of the best books I’ve ever read! The protagonist and I are on the same age bracket, and I can relate to her predicaments in life especially that “WHAT IF…” question. It’s special for me because my decision of moving to a new country was also prompted by that “WHAT IF…”
• To Sir Phillip, with Love (Bridgertons book #5) by Julia Quinn – I’m pretty sure that this won’t be just a one-time read. Stories similar to this are best read for those lazy days and reading slump moments.
• A Little Princess by Frances Hudgson Burnett – I enjoyed this a lot! Prior to this year, I think that I only read this book once in my life way back in elementary school. The only thing that didn’t sit well with me was the trespassing at night to “help” Sara.
• The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles – I had a hard time getting into the story, but I eventually ended up liking it.
• The Distance Between Us by Kasie West – This is a reread and always a wonderful book to listen to on lazy days.

Favorite Books Read in 2020

What I like about my reading experience in 2020 is that I seemed to have branched out a bit from my comfort zone. First, I read a few nonfiction books, and some even ended to be among my favorites of the year. Second, I rediscovered the joy of reading classic books. I’m still a bit picky about choosing which classics to read, but I’m proud to say that I love the ones I’ve chosen the past year.

Now, on to the list!

Top 10 books (not including rereads):

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – Yes, this is my number 1 book for 2020! The more I get to know Anne, the more I see myself in her. I might be a little bit biased because of this, but I truly enjoyed every bit of this book.
2. Mythos by Stephen Fry
3. Heroes by Stephen Fry
4. Open Book by Jessica Simpson
5. A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa
6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hudgson Burnett
7. The Original Folk and Fairytales of the Brothers Grimm by The Grimm Brothers
8. Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan
9. Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson
10. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore

December 2020 Book Wrap Up

I think December 2020 is one of the toughest months in my life, and so I can’t believe that I’ve read this much last month. Admittedly, most of them are audiobooks, but I also made time to actually read. As I’m writing this entry (January 14, 2021), I don’t think I’d be in a proper state to be just sitting down reading because I’d be too distracted mentally. This is why I’m thankful for the existence of audiobooks.

Anyway, enough chatter. Here is the list of books that I read in December:

• Nick and Noel’s Christmas Playlist by Codi Hall
• The Reckless Gentleman by Louise Bay
• Shine (Shine #1) by Jessica Jung
• The Best Kind of Magic (Windy City Magic #1) by Crystal Cestari
• Is There a Santa Claus? Please Tell Me the Truth by Francis Pharcellus Church (Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus)
• The Sweetest Kind of Magic (Windy City Magic #2) by Crystal Cestari
• Pirates! Scoundrels Who Shook the World (Rivals #3) by Scott McCormick

• The Fairest Kind of Love (Windy City Magic #3) by Crystal Cestari
• Eight Winter Nights by Liz Maverick
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
• Home Shopped Holiday by John Burd
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling
• A Christmas Carol by Mark Twain
• The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5) by Rick Riordan

Favorite Books:

• Shine (Shine #1) by Jessica Jung – I was only expecting to be entertained by this book, and boy I was not disappointed. Some are being too critical of this book, but this is actually perfect for those lazy days and if you want to read something very light-hearted.
• Windy City Magic series (books 1-3) by Crystal Cestari – I was so invested in this series that I legit became sad when I realized that there are only three books in the series.
• Is There a Santa Claus? Please Tell Me the Truth by Francis Pharcellus Church (Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus) – The real title is “Yes, Virginia…” However, I read the English-Japanese version, and here in Japan, they gave the book a totally different title which I think sounds more innocent. My Japanese teacher read this book to me in mixed Japanese and English, and I was just awed at how deep the message of this book was. It was actually from an editorial column. The overall tone of the book reminded me of “The Little Prince” a lot.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling – A reread.
• A Christmas Carol by Mark Twain – Another reread.
• The Tower of Nero (The Trials of Apollo #5) by Rick Riordan – I can’t believe that I’ve been following this series for five years already. I actually like this more than the original Percy Jackson series because of the more mature tone and all the drama that surrounded Apollo’s situation.

October and November 2020 Book Wrap Up

It’s not that I was busy, but I feel like I was pretty much pre-occupied these past few months. A lot of things have happened which I think somehow affected my mental health. Nevertheless, I still found time to listen to audiobooks and to slowly read “The Tower of Nero”, the last book in “The Trials of Apollo” series by Rick Riordan. I honestly don’t know how I would keep myself sane if not for books and music.

Anyway, here are the books I’ve read in October and November:

• Scythe (The Arc of Scythe #1) by Neil Shusterman
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey
• Miss Frost Saves the Sandman (Jayne Frost #3) by Kristen Painter
• Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard (Jayne Frost #5) by Kristen Painter
• Rivals 2! More Frenemies Who Changed the World (Rivals #2) by Scott McCormick

• Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
• The Wrong Gentleman by Louise Bay
• The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles #1) by Rick Riordan
• The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles #2) by Rick Riordan
• The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles #3) by Rick Riordan

Favorite Books:

• Scythe (The Arc of Scythe #1) by Neil Shusterman – This is a reread and always a favorite.
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett – I don’t remember enjoying reading it as a child, but now, I ended up liking it so much!
• The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey – It’s very raw and Mariah Carey was unapologetic with some of the things written here. Hey, it’s her story.
• Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne – This is one of those books that I would drop had I just read it, but since Tim Curry was an excellent narrator, I really enjoyed every bit of the story.
• The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan – Rick Riordan, this is such a great series. My interest towards Egyptian mythology has increased after reading the complete series.

September 2020 Book Wrap Up

I love my book choices in September, and it honestly wouldn’t have been possible if not for Audible’s new membership plan, Audible Plus. From what I know, those with monthly and annual memberships were automatically converted to Audible Plus. I’m so glad to read the classic books and other contemporaries that I wouldn’t use my credits for.

It’s a pity though that I haven’t actually read a physical book. I’ve been listening to audiobooks most of the time, if not listening to music. I find myself easily distracted this year if I’m sitting down while reading a book.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the books I read in September:

• Arabian Nights Volumes 1 and 2 (Audible exclusive) adapted by Marty Ross
• Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• One of those Flings by Lauren Blakely

• The Ghost of the Grey House Inn (Nancy Drew Diaries #13) by Carolyn Keene
• Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World: Part 1 by Scott McCormick
• The Wonderful World of Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) by L. Frank Baum
• The Princess and the Fangirl (Once Upon a Con #2) by Ashley Poston
• The Vanishing Statue (Nancy Drew Diaries #21) by Carolyn Keene

Favorite Books:

• Arabian Nights Volumes 1 and 2 (Audible exclusive) adapted by Marty Ross – I’ve always been fascinated with the different stories in the Arabian Nights, so these Audible adaptations are a heaven-sent for me. Moreover, the performances are excellent and can easily make one’s imagination work.
• Little Men by Louisa May Alcott – Okay, hands down I now realize that I like this better than the original Little Women. This book brings so much memory and imagery from the anime classic from when I watched it. I absolutely love this.
• Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World: Part 1 by Scott McCormick – Yes, it isn’t technically from a book and is an original Audible offering, but I love it just the same. It’s so interesting with a very excellent narrator.
• The Wonderful World of Wizard of Oz (Oz #1) by L. Frank Baum – I can’t believe that I actually like this! I don’t think that I’ve ever read this as a kid. I just know its basic premise, but other than that, none. I wonder how this was seen as a children’s book in the past, but for me, this book is so much more meaningful if read by an adult.

August 2020 Book Wrap Up

The following entries are all audiobooks because they’re perfect to keep me preoccupied in these times.

Almost all the books in this post are also my favorites. I say “almost” because there’s one book that I think I’ve already outgrown. It used to be in my “Favorites” folder, but I don’t know. I realized that I didn’t enjoy listening to it now. I guess no more extraordinarily rich guys falling for a commoner stories for now.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the books I finished last month:

• Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas – This is a reread, and it still remains a favorite.
• The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by the Grimm Brothers – This is the translation of the very first version of the Grimm Brothers’ tales. A lot of the stories here make no sense and repetitive. However, I still like it a lot, and I appreciate that these stories helped inspire a lot of other stories which we now know and love.
• Smut by Karina Halle – This is a reread, and I still like it. The narrators are really excellent.

• The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni – Another reread! One the best books ever!
• The British Knight by Louise Bay – The only book that I didn’t like enough and I’ve outgrown.
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata – Very queer but relatable all the same. This is a new favorite!

Note: Covers to follow!

July 2020 Book Wrap Up

It’s summer in Japan!

Today is actually my school’s closing ceremony, and so I’m stuck here in the staff room, spending my whole day deskwarming a.k.a. rotting away on my desk. So here I am again, finding time to update my blog. Coincidentally, it’s also July 31 here, so that’s pretty neat!

Here are the books I finished for this month. Oh yeah, I should mention that these three books are among my favorites as well.

• Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry – Part 2 of the original Mythos, this retains the tone of the first book. It’s still a fun and informative story about Greek heroes.
• The Afterlife of Holly Case by Cynthia Hand – It’s a reread, and I’m so glad I still enjoy it a lot.
• At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske – This is a book that I never thought would have a reread value. Well, surprise! Taking a peek at my Goodreads account showed me that I’ve read this thrice since 2017.

Printoss Review

One of the things that I like about living in Japan is being exposed to products that I wouldn’t have known existed.

Sure, there’s this possibility of me reading about these products online, but it would be expensive to have them shipped to the Philippines. If ever they’re available online, I bet that they would cost so much as compared to when buying from Japan.

Two of these products are Printoss and Baby Foot.
However, this post is solely dedicated to Printoss, an instant photo printer developed by Takara Tomy, a toy company here in Japan.

Reason for buying Printoss:
Polaroid-sized pictures are perfect for the clothespin photo hangers I recently bought to improve the photo wall in my apartment. While searching, I came across Printoss, a product that assured customers that it could take photos of a smartphone screen without using electricity and ink cartridges. All you needed was the device itself, a smartphone, and instax films from Fujifilm.

Built:
This is mainly made in plastic, and it comes with lens, shutter, and knob. It also has flaps and a window tray where you place the smartphone screen to align your desired image to the lens. There’s also a tiny mirror that reflects the image on the screen where you can preview the image before clicking on the shutter.

Image Quality:
When I used this, I followed what others have said – set the screen brightness to its highest setting to avoid underexposure. Some photos had retro feel to them – not great but not shabby either. However, a lot still were underexposed, and I felt like wasting film.

Sample Prints
Left: instax mini Link ; Right: Printoss

Ease of Use:
Printoss is easy to use. You just align the screen to the window tray, press the shutter, roll the knob clockwise to release the film, and wait for the photo to develop. I think the most challenging aspect in using this device is making sure that your smartphone stays in place. You might accidentally move the screen when pressing the shutter, so it’s important to use this device on a solid and steady surface.

Price:
It costs JPY 2,627 yen (around PHP 1,236) on Amazon Japan.
In contrast, the average price is PHP 2,238 (around JPY 4,754) in Lazada.
See the difference?

Value for Money:
For its price (if bought in Japan), I can say that this is still worth your money. If you want instant photos with some sort of retro filter to it and it’s only for your personal satisfaction, I say go and buy it. In fact, I think children would enjoy using this. The process is so simple that you might find yourself purchasing extra boxes of instax films.