Hasta la ByeBye, 2022: These were the Books

I read a lot of books in 2022: Goodreads says that I read 43. I had planned on completing 50 books, but there was a period in the winter when my brain fog was too bad to read. Not nice, scleroderma, not nice! Anyway, I am back up and reading at a steady clip again, and I’ve been mulling over what were the best books of 2022 for me. You know, the books that you enthusiastically give a 5 star rating to and then you head off to Amazon to see what else this author has written. Anyway, after thinking it over, here are the books that I liked the best:

I just loved, loved, loved these books. I think that I posted about some of them during the year:

I’ve noticed that there are some threads of commonality between these books. Animals as integral characters in the story, people connected over space and time with each other, learning one’s worth and being true to yourself, being brave in the face of adversity, friendship and love, and finally, the power of science. Altogether, a pretty good year of reading.

I literally am unable to pick my personal best book of the year from these favorites, but I have to admit that the one that I thought about the most (so much that I wrote an entire post about it) would be Lessons in Chemistry. I seriously liked Remarkably Bright Creatures for the entertainment value, and I still think about the things that I learned in The Song of the Cell.

Well, that was 2022.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Hannah and the CoalBear: Happy Caturday

Hi. I’m Matao.

I’ve been helping the Mother of Cats knit lots and lots of chemo hats.

This was a great week! The weather has been nice and sunny and the Mother of Cats has been sitting out on her deck listening to her audiobook while she knits. Hannah and I have been watching all the stuff in the yard through the windows.

There is a squirrel with the world’s fluffiest tail that hangs out in the back yard. We love the squirrel!!
But the best watching ever is out the back window…
Because there is a baby bunny hanging out in the back yard for us to watch!!
and it is the cutest little bunny ever!!

Happy Caturday, everyone!

I have to get back to helping the Mother of Cats knit these hats!!

Notes from the Mother of Cats:

I’ve been reading the best book ever while knitting outside and watching the wildlife in the back yard. One of the main characters is an octopus, and I just fell in love with him right away. I seriously, seriously recommend this book!

This was a perfect book to listen to as an audiobook. Engaging characters, well told story, happy ending.

Years ago, another biology teacher told me about an octopus that would break out of his tank to go snack on crayfish from another tank in the lab. Yep. They gave been known to do this. Very smart, able to squish through very small openings, octopuses are kind of the stuff of legend. In this book, the octopus is also a wanderer with an incredible memory who becomes a pivotal character in the lives of the people who know him. I wanted the book to go on and now I am on the hunt for another easy to listen to books to keep me company while knitting outside with the wildlife.