Category / 2022

by Sharlene

Favorite Reads of 2022

I wanted to take a look at some of my favorite reads of the year. I had a wonderful year of reading. I hope you did too. 

Nonfiction

I managed to read 29 nonfiction books this year, and these were my favorites:

Dopesick by Beth Macy

You Can’t Be Serious by Kal Penn

Winter Pasture by Li Juan

Made in China by Anna Qu

Savor by Fatima Ali 

We Were Dreamers by Simu Liu

Diagnosis by Lisa Sanders

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

The Book of Eels by Patrik Svensson

Speculative Fiction

Here are my favourite speculative fiction reads of 2022. 

Here we have:
⭐️ Amari and the Night Brothers – B.B. Alston 
⭐️ Kaiju Preservation Society – John Scalzi
⭐️ The Starfarers Quartet – Vonda N. McIntyre
⭐️ Sea of Tranquility – Emily St John Mandel
⭐️ Hunt the Stars – Jessie Mihalik 
⭐️ The Book Eaters – Sunyi Dean
⭐️ A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik
⭐️ The Last Graduate – Naomi Novik 
⭐️ The Golden Enclaves – Naomi Novik

With these books, I escaped to parallel worlds and other universes, braving mals and kaiju, meeting telepaths and magicians. What a whirlwind year of reading fantasy and science fiction! 

Translated Books

These were my favourite translated books. I read 37 translated books this year, and featured two already in the section on nonfiction reads. 

Here are my favourites, which happen to all be written by women: 

🔹 The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong
🔹 Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong
🔹 The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim
🔹 The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North
🔹 Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto, translated by Asa Yoneda 

Remarkable Reads

These are the rest of the books that stuck to me, whether because of unforgettable characters, setting, plot, beautiful writing or a combination of all.

▪️Afterparties: Stories by Anthony Veasna So
▪️Joan is Okay by Weike Wang
▪️Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall 
▪️Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
▪️Himawari House by Harmony Becker 
▪️XOXO by Axie Oh 
▪️Mika in Real Life by Emiko Jean
▪️If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
▪️When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill 
▪️The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh 
▪️Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
▪️Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

by Sharlene

It’s Monday (December 26)

Ok so it’s Tuesday now. I forgot it was Monday yesterday! All those celebratory days just threw me off. I hope you had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it, and if you are on vacation, hope it’s been a lovely one. We are having a rather rainy week, with rain forecasted for most of the week. Otherwise, we haven’t really been affected by the horrendous weather that most of the country has been seeing. Hope you are warm and safe wherever you live.

Some things last week:

We usually do a big Christmas Eve dinner, and even when it’s just the four of us, I still cook a small ham and all the sides that go along with it. We had pineapple and honey glazed ham with a pineapple sauce, hasselback potatoes, sweet potato casserole, roasted carrots and Brussels sprouts. I also made a bûche de Noel with meringue mushrooms.

Made a Minecraft axolotl and creeper for the kids

Also, before Christmas, we tried out a newish Korean-Chinese eatery. I liked the jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup). The kids say their jjajangmyeon was good too.
We took a sunset walk along the marshlands, which is a wildlife refuge.
And had also visited the Mission Santa Clara. Fourth graders in Santa Clara do a project on the California Missions. Coincidentally, the 9yo was assigned the same mission as his older brother was. And it’s only about 20 minutes drive from us, so we went to take some photos for his report.

Currently…

Reading:

The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren

Watching:

Run BTS. This is a variety show of sorts that stars, well, BTS. They’ve been doing it for years but it was only recently uploaded onto Youtube (previously it was on Vlive).

Listening:

Hooked by Sutton Foster

Eating and Drinking:

A slice of Yule log cake and tea.

Cooking:

Tonight, we’re having hotpot, it’s just the right weather for it. Yesterday, we had picked up some thinly sliced beef and pork from the Asian supermarket. Also, some bokchoy, cabbage, beech and oyster mushrooms.

Last week:

I read:

Nuclear Family- Joseph Han

Saha – Cho Nam-Joo

I posted:

Joan is Okay by Weike Wang

Library Loot (December 21 to 27)

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 
by Sharlene

Joan is Okay by Weike Wang

Sunday morning breakfast of French press coffee and a spinach and kale pastry and finished an excellent read, Joan is Okay by Weike Wang.

This novel features Joan, as doctor who feels most at home when she’s at work. Her father in Shanghai died after a stroke, her mother returns to the US after 18 years, and is stranded there due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Joan is a bit of a detached, isolated person. But she’s good with that. She’s okay, she really is. It seems to bother other people, like her brother and boss, more than it bothers her. 

Joan’s struggles with being the other in America are very relatable. At one point she wonders, “What was wrong with being too Chinese? Yet it always seemed that something was.”

by Sharlene

It’s Monday (December 19, 2022)

Some things last week:

I did all the baking of the Christmas cookies and gave them out to friends and neighbours. You can read more about the different cookies I made here (including one that’s spicy, as in spicy hot).
We had breakfast for dinner last night, at a local diner that’s been around for ages.
I’m making a small amigurumi character each for the boys’ stocking stuffers. Here’s a Minecraft axolotl for the younger one. The older one gets a Minecraft creeper but I haven’t finished sewing all the parts yet! That’s the worst part of amigurumi for me, all that sewing :p

Currently…

Reading:

Dead-end memories – Banana Yoshimoto (pictured here with a Nespresso and a homemade lemon biscotti)

Watching:

The West Wing

Listening:

I still haven’t downloaded a new audiobook yet! Anything to recommend?

Eating and Drinking:

Well, that biscotti and coffee right there in that photo!

Cooking:

I’d like to make some Singapore-style chicken rice this week. Also, later today, probably a cauliflower and sausage mac and cheese.

Last week:

I read:

Joan Is Okay – Weike Wang

One Italian Summer – Rebecca Serle

I posted:

Christmas cookies #amonthoffaves #weekendcooking

Reading Challenges and Goals Check-In #amonthoffaves

Library Loot (December 14 to December 20)

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 
by Sharlene

It’s Monday (December 12, 2022)

This morning, my 9-year-old looked at the calendar and said, yay it’s Christmas next week. And my first thought was, (insert inappropriate word here), already?

Why does it feel like Thanksgiving just ended and yet Christmas is already upon us? Are you ready for Christmas? We’ve got our tree and decorations up, but I’m still scrounging around for presents 😛

Some things last week:

It was a very rainy weekend. I love rain and was so glad to see it. But that did mean that we had a stay-home weekend, except for the older son whose band class was still on.

So I used the time to make some more cookies. I’ll put up a proper post on that soon, but meanwhile here’s one “before” photo.

During a break from the rain, the husband went out to get Korean food. Among other things, we had bulgogi kimbap and kimchi budaejjigae (army stew)

Currently…

Reading:

Nuclear Family – Joseph Han

Watching:

We finished watching the last of the Hobbit movies with the kids, and they actually really enjoyed it, although the older one is always saying, “oh I don’t like to watch movies”.

Listening:

I finished Simu Liu’s We Were Dreamers, and haven’t found a new audiobook yet. Meanwhile, I’m going to recommend RM’s new album, Indigo.

Eating and Drinking:

I just had an especially wonky end-piece of the matcha checkerboard cookies. And a Nespresso.

Cooking:

I feel like making some mac and cheese this week.

Last week:

I read:

The Dark Matter of Mona Starr – Laura Lee Gulledge

We Were Dreamers – Simu Liu (audiobook)

The Dead Romantics – Ashley Poston

I posted:
(this is some kind of record for the year, posting so much like this)

Underrated Books That Deserve More Buzz #amonthoffaves

Hunt the Stars – Jessie Mihalik

Leech by Hiron Ennes

Popular Books Worth the Hype (or not) #amonthoffaves

Library Loot (December 7 to 13)

Winter Pasture by Li Juan

Moments of 2022 #amonthoffaves

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. 
by Sharlene

Moments of 2022 #amonthoffaves



A Month of Faves is hosted by GirlXOXO

#AMonthofFaves Moments of 2022. What were some of the moments this year that you are grateful for?

Ah 2022 was well, I was going to say a lovely year, but then again it was also the year that my kids caught covid and luckily they were ok and didn’t have bad symptoms – slight fever, sore throat, cough. They also started at a brand new school campus. The school district decided to merge the Mandarin immersion program from two elementary schools to one, as well as open the school campus that had been built a few years ago in a new housing area. There’s still quite a bit of construction around the school as more condos and houses are being built. The kids are definitely appreciating their new campus!

Anyway, other than that, we did some traveling this year:

Hawaii in April

We decided to finally make a trip to the Big Island during Spring Break. It was something we’ve been wanting to do for years. The kids had never been to Hawaii before. I had been to Honolulu and Maui with my mom ages ago, before I was married. We all had a blast in Hawaii. We went snorkelling, a night swim with the manta rays, explored the Volcano National Park and saw the lava glow. Here’s my post on our trip.

Singapore in July/August

As our families live in Singapore, we often make a trip to visit them. Of course with the pandemic, we hadn’t been for a couple of years. We stayed for longer this time though this timer and it was wonderful to see our families and friends. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see my sis-in-law and her family as they were stuck in Scotland.

As usual, I ate so much amazing food in Singapore, delicious Italian food, and Thai food, and of course fantastic Singapore food. I finally wrote a post about it last week! My mom and I took the kids to a Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and I also saw Korean hiphop group Epik High.

Crater Lake and Lassen Volcanic Park (September 2022)

Another bucket list trip was Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Some 7,700 years ago, a volcano erupted and then collapsed. What now remains is a lake in its crater. It’s the deepest lake in the US and it’s beautiful. Here’s my post on the trip.

On the way back from Crater Lake, we made a stop at Lassen Volcanic Park. Another beautiful park with mountains and lakes. The main attraction here is Bumpass Hell, named after the person who found it, who alas fell into one of the hydrothermal areas and lost his leg. It has mud pools, steam geyser, sulphur and more. It’s truly an amazing sight. The trail is usually only open around July to October.

It was a super last minute decision to make this trip. On our way up north, a wildfire exploded through one of the roads we were supposed to take. The road was closed just 15-20 minutes just before we reached that turnoff and so we had to take an extra hour-long detour. But I’m just glad that we hadn’t been there any earlier!

by Sharlene

It’s Monday (December 5, 2022)

Some things last week:

We had a very rainy Saturday where it rained pretty much all day. It was a good day to make some Christmas cookies. Usually I make some earlier in the month to send to the husband’s mentor in Seattle. These are almond cookies (I used recipe one from this blog).

Picked up some Indian-style pizza for lunch

We decided to try a recently opened Japanese restaurant. I had the chirashi bowl which was quite good, although it was the cheaper one that I ordered.
And some rolls too.
A simple dinner last week with steamed egg with ground pork, stirred vegetables, cabbage and meatball soup.
Carbonara (I added the bacon to mine later), oven-roasted Brussels sprouts, and zucchini panko-crusted “fries”
Made an amigurumi purple whale ornament!

Also, it’s Spotify Wrapped time!

Currently…

Reading:

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy – Jamie Ford

Watching:

The Crown

Listening:

We Were Dreamers – Simu Liu

Eating and Drinking:

Nespresso and an almond cookie

Cooking:

Japchae maybe?

My kids were talking about quiche so I might make one. Maybe a spinach and mushroom quiche?

Last week:

I read:

Seoulmates – Susan Lee (funny enough, it’s the second Seoulmates title I’ve read this year).

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt

Savor – Fatima Ali

I posted:

Eating Singapore 2022

Library Loot (November 30 to December 6)

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. This meme started with J Kaye’s Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.