2022 Year in Review and 2023 New Year's Resolution

Another year has come and gone.

I read and reviewed a total of 31 books this year. Not very impressive, but that's pretty much my average these days.

Year 2022 @ 31 (-14 YOY)
Year 2021 @ 45 (-5 YOY)
Year 2020 @ 50 (+4 YOY)
Year 2019 @ 46 (-16 YOY)
Year 2018 @ 62 (+10 YOY)
Year 2017 @ 52 (■ YOY)
Year 2016 @ 52 (-22 YOY)
Year 2015 @ 74 (-23 YOY)
Year 2014 @ 97

Review: Before Your Memory Fades (Before the Coffee Gets Cold #3) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

4 stars for Before Your Memory Fades (Before the Coffee Gets Cold book 3) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi.

This post is an added bonus. I definitely did not expect it. And I surely did not foresee it. Even as I started out reading this book after Christmas Day, I expect to finish reading after New Year's Day. So, I am really happy to end the year with the exact same series that kicked off my reading this year - Before the Coffee Gets Cold. It's a great wrap-up!

Even though I read book 1 Before the Coffee Gets Cold and book 2 Tales from the Cafe in the beginning of this year - twelve months ago - it is not difficult to get into the story again as the author helps to refresh on the story and characters by his storytelling.

Before your Memory Fades is very much similar to the earlier two books, in that it is also about a time-travelling cafe and a heartwarming story on four customers. The only difference is the setting. Instead of Cafe Funiculi Funicular in Tokyo, it is now Cafe Donna Donna in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Initially, I am confused when I read about this second cafe, but soon, I realise the author has it all brilliantly worked out to connect it back to book 1.

This Coffee Gets Cold series is about a strange urban legend attached to a particular seat in the cafe - it allows the person sitting in this seat to time travel, to the past or to the future. There are some strange rules to follow regarding who can pour the time-travelling coffee for the customer who decides to sit in this time-travelling chair.

One important rule while being back to the past is that, you cannot change the present, no matter how hard you try. So, one may ask "What use is the time-travelling if you cannot change the present?" But the thing is, some things change, even if the present reality does not. This book is a good reminder to us on how important the ordinary life that we take for granted is, and how much happiness can be experienced from having someone you care about by your side. Sometimes, things that are put off saying until tomorrow are never said.

Reading this book makes me miss Hokkaido. Not only that, it makes me regret giving Hakodate a miss when I visited Hokkaido back in 2018. If I had visited Hakodate then, being a tourist, I would most likely have paid a visit to this very steep street where Cafe Donna Donna was located and so would have an inkling of how the scenes in this book play out.

If you could go back in time, who would you want to meet?

Review: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

4 stars for A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

It didn't seems possible at first that I will be able to squeeze in one last reading and a book review before the year is out. I started reading A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve and somehow managed to finish the book at the stroke of midnight; Christmas Day! For that, I feel blessed to have made it.

I am pretty sure most, if not all, of you have read or heard or even watched A Christmas Carol. It is after all, a well-known classic novel by Charles Dickens. I am embarrassed to say that this is my first time reading this timeless story though I have watched the show once. But well, as the saying goes "better late than never".

This book is a celebration of human kindness. It is so well-liked that the book has become an important part of a traditional English Christmas. I hope I can start my own tradition of reading this book during the Christmas season every year henceforth.

The story is about an old mean man, Ebenezer Scrooge, who has no place in his heart for others. One freezing cold Christmas Eve, the ghost of an old friend paid him a visit and told him he will be haunted by three spirits. The first is the Ghost of Christmas Past who showed Scrooge shadows of the things that have been. The second is the Ghost of Christmas Present. The third is the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come who showed Scrooge shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before him. By visiting his past, present and future, something amazing happens within Scrooge.

This is a most apt book to read on a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. It teaches us to be happy, grateful and to be contented with time.

..And because the book I bought - from The Green Grocer bookstore while on a vacation in Melbourne, Australia - is a Puffin Classics, the adventure isn't over when I reach the final page. I love it that there are still more interesting things to discover about the author and the characters and their worlds as I continue to flip the pages - author file, who's who in A Christmas Carol, some things to think about, a Victorian Christmas and a Dickensian glossary.

Review: The Christmas Invitation by Trisha Ashley

5 stars for The Christmas Invitation by Trisha Ashley.

This is a lovely family Christmas story. It tells of Christmas being a magical time that starts with the Winter Solstice ceremony in late December, followed by community gatherings and family get-togethers.

The story centers around two main characters, Clara and Meg. It starts off with the reminiscing of the writing of a brief autobiographical note by professor-author Clara Mayhem Doome which then evolves into a first-person narrative by Meg, a 36-year-old portrait painter. Meg is down with pneumonia and been away from home for the last two months at the Farm convalescing. She receives a job offer from Clara to paint a portrait commission the moment she reaches home.

The story made an indelible impression on me. Not only is it written with a good dose of humor, but the descriptions are also cleverly put across to help readers in visualizing the scene such that the characters leap out of the pages, wholesome and vibrant. I love reading about the ancient tradition and roots, and the ceremony that takes place on the night of the Winter Solstice that involves participation of old local families and bonfire. It is not just a festive story about traditions, family Christmas and Christmas shopping - choosing a good Christmas tree, putting it up at home and decorating it with antique and vintage glass baubles - it is also a story about art and craft, of portrait painting, pots making, clay mixing, and firing kiln.

At the base of it all, The Christmas Invitation is a story about love lost and found. What I like most about this storytelling is that the author does not harp on the romance portion but spread good cheer on family relationships and traditions, and even throws in a family secret of epic proportion which feels like an added bonus.

It is not easy to find a Christmas-themed story and to enjoy reading it. I am glad to have this heartwarming and delightful story to keep me cozy during this Christmas season.

Crochet: Shawl: Sigrid Shawl (Yellow)

Action speaks louder than words. It goes to show how much I adore this Sigrid Shawl pattern that I crochet a shawl with this pattern again. My first Sigrid Shawl of pink gradient was completed in June 2021. Less than two years later, here I am, with a yellow gradient yarn cake doing pretty much everything all over again. The only exception is the tension; I ease up on the tension, and to my delight, I find it makes a whole lot of difference to how much better the shawl turns out to be.

Actually, I never expect myself to crochet with this pattern again because there are so many variations of shawl patterns available out there for me to try my hands on. But this is a really lovely pattern that is not just pleasing to the eyes but one that goes easy on the fingers and memory too as it employs mainly half double crochet and some double crochet. It took me close to eight weeks to complete this project, having started it on 1st November and completed it just today.

This Sigrid Shawl is a work of art. It is brilliantly created by My Crochetory to provide both familiarity and variety to keep the person working on it relaxed and entertained at the same time. If you are looking to crochet a shawl with a meditative stitch pattern but one that is not so repetitive as to be boring, this is the one for you.