Reading Challenge: Becky's Twenty-Two in 2022

 

The end of a year means one thing. Time to check in on my reading challenge! I continued my recent trend (began in 2020) of matching the number of books I read to the year.

 

I am proud to announce that I did, in fact, read twenty-two books in 2022. 

 

This year, however, you will notice that I ended with reading some shorter stories. That was because life happened.

But I did it. It totally counts, audiobooks, short stories or not. I make up my own rules!

 

 

Here are a few stats from my reading journey in 2022:

 

And guess what? I am challenging myself to reading twenty-three books in 2023. (As the number in my challenge increases, be prepared for more children's books and short stories. #sorrynotsorry)

Becky's Twenty-Two in 2022 

JANUARY

1. Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: I’m starting this year continuing my Beverly Cleary Reread. This particular story is a little more dated than some of her others but still charming.

 

2. Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

Notes and Favorites: "This is the middle of my life. I think of it as a place, like the middle of the river, the middle of a bridge, halfway across, halfway over. I'm supposed to have accumulated things by now: possessions, responsibilities, achievements, experience and wisdom. I'm supposed to be a person of substance."

 

FEBRUARY

3. Ellen Tebbits by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: I remember really enjoying this story when I was a kid. I think I related to Ellen's experiences in ballet class.

 

MARCH

4. Otis Spofford by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: Just like his teacher predicts, Otis does get his “comeuppance” in the end . . . kind of . . . 

 

APRIL

I finished nothing this month. I have no excuse. It just didn't happen.

 

MAY

5. Mitch and Amy by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: I always loved stories where the narrator describes the character (especially female characters) as having a freckled face . . . for obvious reasons.

 

6. Socks by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: This is such a cute story, written through the eyes of Socks, a cat.

 

JUNE

7. Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: Child Becky related to this story (about a little girl who is mostly well-behaved but "contrary" when forced into certain tasks) with every fiber of her being.

 

8. Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Notes and Favorites: “If a song plants an idea or a feeling in a mind, it has already changed the world."

 

9. Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris

Notes and Favorites: You can’t beat Sedaris’ advice to college graduates. For example, “Be yourself . . . unless you are an asshole.” Even with heavier topics such as the death of his abusive father and the COVID pandemic, his essays are still laugh-out-loud funny.

 

10. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Notes and Favorites: As much as I loved the TV show, I never read the Little House books as a kid. I added this book to my queue after watching the PBS American Masters on Wilder. 

 

 

JULY

11. Don't Forget Me by Shirley Bahlmann

Notes and Favorites: I may or may not have gotten hired as an Audiobook narrator this summer, meaning I unexpectedly was able to add one more book to my challenge.

 

12. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

Notes and Favorites: I have read a lot of Margaret Atwood. She is one of my favorite authors. But this one wrecked me, such a poignant and heart-wrenching story about family and war and growing old. It's got an air of mystery to boot, a definite plus for me, raised on Murder She Wrote and Columbo.

 

13. Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol by Steve Jones

Notes and Favorites: So I had to read this after watching Pistol. Oi!

 

AUGUST

14. The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

Notes and Favorites: "Never trust a candy house." I loved this one as much as A Visit From the Goon Squad. "Time is a goon."

 

15. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: The chapter on the school Christmas program is priceless.

 

SEPTEMBER

16. Henry and Beezus by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: It was so fun to revisit the characters Beezus and Ramona.

 

 

OCTOBER

17. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

Notes and Favorites: Even though I have read this one a few times, I just had to revisit it one more time before Halloween this year.

 

18. Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

Notes and Favorites: It's not quite as creepy as Sleepy Hollow, but it's still a fun, strange tale, perfect reread for Halloween.

 

NOVEMBER

19. Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary

Notes and Favorites: Living in the Northwest, I enjoyed the salmon fishing chapters at the end of the book.

 

20. Circe by Madeline Miller

Notes and Favorites: This was a beautiful mythological retelling from Circe's perspective. I especially loved her relationship with Penelope, a female connection in a patriarchal society.

 

DECEMBER

21. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Notes and Favorites: This was from a series of classic Christmas stories read by Dateline's Keith Morrison. (Yes, it's as awesome as it sounds.) It also included the original Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Twas the Night Before Christmas. I love how music is the catalyst for the Grinch's change of heart.

 

22. I Knew It Would Be You by Shirley Bahlmann

Notes and Favorites: I may or may not have gotten hired as an Audiobook narrator this summer, as I said earlier. It just so happens there was a sequel.

 

For the latest blog updates, visit and "like" Rebecca Turner-Duggan.