{"id":2152,"date":"2022-07-16T15:19:26","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T15:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2022-07-16T15:19:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T15:19:31","slug":"mid-year-reading-recap-favourite-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2152","title":{"rendered":"Mid Year Reading Recap + Favourite Books!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Hi Readers! More than six months of 2022 done and dusted! As you know, I did not set a particular number of books for the Reading Challenge for this year. Instead, I had five goals<\/strong><\/mark>. Of those, I was only able to somewhat achieve four. Aside from re-reading my favourite books, I have done a little bit of all the remaining four. Here\u2019s the image! And here\u2019s the link<\/a> to all the other reading challenges I prepared for you readers!<\/p>\n\n\n

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I read 52 books across 17283 pages!<\/strong><\/mark> I achieved 70% of my target in the first 6 months! The top five genres I read this year are Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novel, Mystery & Literary Fiction.<\/strong><\/mark> My most read authors for the year are Alice Oseman (5 books), Seishi Yokomizo (3 books) and Blake Crouch (3 books.)<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n

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~~NEW THINGS I EXPLORED IN BOOKS~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new genres I fell in love with this year are Science Fiction, Graphic Novels and Science Nonfiction.<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to hate reading science fiction. But, my biased opinion was because of one Stephen King book which I tried to read many years ago. Luckily, Blake Crouch<\/a> welcomed me to this world again and this time I was wonderfully fascinated by it. I read all of Blake Crouch\u2019s books, one of Andy Weir\u2019s. And naturally, I have all of Andy Weir\u2019s books on my TBR now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 52 books, 10 books were graphic novels. <\/strong><\/mark>I am going to write a post soon on why everyone needs to read graphic novels. There are just so many reasons & I love that I am loving reading them. Be it in the form of memoirs like Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi or LGBTQ+ like Heartstopper by Alice Oseman or even middle grade fantasy like The Tea Dragon Society by K O\u2019Neill. It doesn\u2019t matter because it is all just pure art. It gives you double the pleasure because words + illustrations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, similar to science fiction, I also hated nonfiction. But then when I explored the various genres within nonfiction, I knew I opened a world of potentially amazing reads with a lot of knowledge. I now typically enjoy reading nonfiction books if they revolve around science or nature or the like. I still loathe self-help nonfiction but that\u2019s common across several readers for the very same reasons. I read one nonfiction book every month, so 6 so far and 6 (or more) to go!<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, I also finally started listening to audio books this year.<\/strong><\/mark> I have listened only to 1 (Book Lovers by Emily Henry<\/a>) and another is ongoing. It is still very new to me and it\u2019s so different than reading books. I need much more concentration while listening. After listening to a few chapters, I cannot make up my mind if I am liking the plot or not. I am hoping these are newbie challenges and it will be a more happier listening experience for me as I listen to more audiobooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, check out the fun stats if how and what I read so far!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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~~HOW I READ~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

From the 52 books I read, 73% were written by female authors & 27% by male authors. I also read 27% translated books, mainly from Japanese.<\/strong><\/mark> I read the most books in June and February, least in March and May. My favourite reading month was April because I read five books which I rated at 4 or 5 stars. <\/strong><\/mark>Check out the stats below!<\/p>\n\n\n

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~~SIX MONTHS. SIX FAVOURITES~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Apart from all these fabulous statistics, I also did a \u2018Six Months. Six Favourites\u2019 post on Instagram<\/strong><\/mark>. So, I am also adding it here. These were really tough choices and I might even change them at the end of the year. These six books are only among the ones I own. I have not included digital & audio books because Instagram needs everything aesthetic after all. Here’s the link to the post on Instagram<\/a> and also if you want to follow me<\/a> there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Fiction – A Fine Balance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Fiction – The Huntress<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contemporary\/Historical Fiction – Great Circle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Fiction – The Mountains Sing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mystery – The Inugami Curse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonfiction – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks<\/p>\n\n\n

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~~TEN FAVOURITES OF THE FIRST HALF OF 2022~~<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are in no particular order, because even choosing these from the 52 books I read was hard enough! These are my book recommendations for you, across genres and geographies. I really hope you enjoy them as much as I did!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mountains Sing by Nguy\u1ec5n Phan Qu\u1ebf Mai<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recursion by Blake Crouch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Huntress by Kate Quinn<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, that is all folks. I am certain that the rest of the year will not be as amazing as the first half reading wise. Because firstly, how will I ever beat this? And secondly, there is hell of a lot of work at the orifice. So, I cannot read at all during week days. It\u2019s mid July and I have only read one big book. I can see myself maybe reading two more or less, but that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, here\u2019s hoping I will find the time and energy to keep you posted and maybe sneak in some reading time before and after work! That\u2019s all for now. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed making all the excel files, pivot tables, graphs & actually writing post! \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Until next time,<\/p>\n\n\n

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Hi Readers! More than six months of 2022 done and dusted! As you know, I did not set a particular number of books for the Reading Challenge for this year. Instead, I had five goals. Of those, I was only able to somewhat achieve four. Aside from re-reading my favourite books, I have done a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PSX_20220716_192434-01.jpg?fit=2500%2C2500&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1492,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1492","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":0},"title":"Thoughts on Reading 300 Books in My Life!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"October 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I have officially read 300 books in my lifetime!! Can I get a Hurray? I'm so stoked to achieve this number. Sometimes it feels like a BIG number, but sometimes it feels like a very small number. I keep oscillating between the two, but reading 300 books only makes me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PSX_20211017_125345__01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PSX_20211017_125345__01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PSX_20211017_125345__01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PSX_20211017_125345__01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PSX_20211017_125345__01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=11","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":1},"title":"Celebrating my Favourite Women Authors! Happy Women\u2019s History Month!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"March 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! It has been way too long, and honestly this time I have no excuses. After my month-long reading slump, I got back into it with Kristin Hannah\u2019s \u2018The Four Winds\u2019. Just the fact of being out of the slump has made me lazy & I have given up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/WHM01.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/WHM01.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/WHM01.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/WHM01.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=71","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":2},"title":"Top 5 Favourite Authors!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! How are you all? Stay home & stay safe, guys! For me, it is really difficult not to pick a new book 10 minutes after I finish the last one. But, I am giving myself a READING DETOX for a couple of days (I hope I am successful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-oTCdd5UIrxE\/Xrgqm-zQAMI\/AAAAAAAAix0\/uxEM4P8WHlAf6Qq2rKYYwBLnQopMZ9u0gCLcBGAsYHQ\/s640\/IMG_20200510_214714-01-01-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=21","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":3},"title":"2021 Reading Challenge!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"January 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers! It has been so much fun to write & share 7 posts in a row! If you haven\u2019t checked my 21 Things to do in 2021, go read it now! Maybe you will find the inspiration you need. And, now coming to my 2021 Reading Challenge! I had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Post-2B7-2BHeader.png?fit=704%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Post-2B7-2BHeader.png?fit=704%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Post-2B7-2BHeader.png?fit=704%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Post-2B7-2BHeader.png?fit=704%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=56","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":4},"title":"Update on my Reading Challenge!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Now that we are more than halfway done with 2020, I thought of updating you guys with my Reading Challenge. Here is the main first post if you want to download the image! As you know I had prepared a challenge of reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks&\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-fR8Atp9hn9k\/Wbg8tczARCI\/AAAAAAAAdy4\/x4OhWVMk_WALzEgQhnySQSThzqqcDPUrwCPcBGAYYCw\/w200-h176\/sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2422,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=2422","url_meta":{"origin":2152,"position":5},"title":"Top 12 Books of 2022 \u2013 Year in Review (Part 2)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! I am back with the second year in review post. This one is the best one because it\u2019s all about books! I didn\u2019t have specific targets for this year, because I wanted it to be stress-free. But even so, I was of course, stressed. ~~Part One: 2022 Reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mindscape Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Mindscape Reviews","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PSX_20221218_100202-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PSX_20221218_100202-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PSX_20221218_100202-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PSX_20221218_100202-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/PSX_20221218_100202-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2176,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/2176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}