There is Nothing as Too Many Books!

This is a library inside of the Coex Mall up in Seoul! I was amazed to say the least, but disappointed when all the books were in Korean. It was the quickest library trip for me because of that! LOL

As I figure out which aspect of living in South Korea to cover next, I am going to take time to write about my completed reading goal of 2022, including my favorite reads and recommendations. If I go off of what my Goodreads end-of-year report told me, it will say that I only read 32 books this year. I was a bit shocked to say the least since it did not add up to my numbers in my notebook, but I am not tech savvy and realized that the other books were not recognized on my year list due to a user error. (Very typical for Kait if you ask Daniel! LOL)

At the start of the year, I set my goal to 200 books, since the year before the goal was 150. By the end of New Year’s Eve, I had reached a total of 213 books! During Christmas weekend, I was able to work on my holiday library book stash, since we have a family tradition to spend Christmas Eve, and sometimes the day before, reading books most of the day with a glass of eggnog.

Homegoing and The Gospel According to Jesus Christ had to be my top two books of the year, if I had to give my answer in a heartbeat. Homegoing is a book by Yaa Gyasi that spans through several generations. It begins with two sisters in Africa when the slave trade is coming through and follows them on their separate journeys. You will need to have a tissue nearby, and I would not recommend it to anyone younger than 17-18 since it covers some sad and brutal parts of history. But it is beautiful and written in a really neat way! The other top book is The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur. This would be a book that I would love to have on hand to give to any new Christian! I have read my fair share of theology books this year, but this book was actually on the reading list for one of my college courses this past fall. It thoroughly covers the common issues that many churches and people face when the correct gospel is not being shared and preached upon. MacArthur covered the points very well and opened my eyes to issues that I had never considered before. Please, please read this book!

Some of the top authors for the year were Sally Hepworth, Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware, and Lisa See! Sally, Lisa Jewell, and Ruth are all psychological thriller authors, which is a new genre for me, and I am honestly a fan of it! They definitely aren’t as scary as horror books (which I cannot read), but they are really deep and good mysteries, with lots of twists! Lisa See was a great author to get into during my time here in South Korea because she really loves to write about Asian culture. I recommend her a lot because her writing is great and fairly clean for many books that are out there today. One of my favorite books by her is called The Island of Sea Women. It takes place in the southern Korean island called Jeju, which is known for its beautiful sights and unique culture back in the day! Women were actually the heads of the household because they were the ones who went out to deep sea dive for their food each day!