Goodbye 2022 🎇 An Annual Wrapup

“Morrigan frowned. She sometimes felt that her true knack had nothing to do with being a Wundersmith. That it was, in fact, her remarkable ability to assume the worst. It came, of course, from a lifetime of believing she was cursed, and it seemed to be stitched into the very fabric of her being, even now. Telling her not to worry about bad things happening around her was like telling Hawthorne not to get excited about dragons, or Jupiter not to be ginger.” ― Jessica Townsend, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

Hello fellow bookworms 🎇 It’s time for one of my favorite posts: recapping the entire year in terms of what has happened. I like looking back and reflecting on the year that has passed, it gives me some kind of closure and gets me ready to embrace the new year!  I’m not going to sugarcoat it … this was one of my worst years, even worse than 2018. Still, I’m trying to also highlight the positive events and see the good parts of the year!

Check out the previous years 🎇

• 2017 Wrapup 💗 2017 Recap & 2018 Goals
• 2018 Wrapup 💗 Goodbye 2018 🎇 feat. fave quotes & getting personal
• 2019 Wrapup 💗 Goodbye 2019 🎇 An Annual Wrapup
• 2020 Wrapup 💗 Goodbye 2020 🎇 An Annual Wrapup feat. my favorite quotes
• 2021 Wrapup 💗 Goodbye 2021 🎇 An Annual Wrapup feat. my favorite quotes

Index 🎇

1. Non-Bookish Favorites (TV Shows & Movies)
2. Blogging & Bookish Life
3. Personal Life
4. 2023 Resolutions & 2022 Wrapup

“The heart wants what it wants – And what it wants can change.” ― Danie Stirling, Crumbs

Top TV-Shows 💕

This time I did a separate post for my Top TV Shows 💗

Top Movies 💕

• Little Women
• Rise of the Guardians
• Inside the Mind of a Cat
• Do Revenge
• Nightbooks
• Hilda and the Mountain King

Top Songs 💕

“War has always followed libraries, my apprentice. History has made no effort to hide that truth from us. Look at Rome; look at the Crusades. Vanquishing an enemy and taking his books was just as strategic as taking his cannons. Books are knowledge weaponized. And what weapons you cannot steal, you must burn.” ― A.J. Hackwith, The Library of the Unwritten

Highlights 💕

➽ Reading 200 books in a year! 📚
➽ Joining the Books Out of the Blue Discord 🥰
➽ Reading more Adult Books & Genres outside of my comfort zone 💗
➽ Tackling my Owned TBR 📚
➽ Participating in many lovely Readathons 💕
➽ Participating in an Advent Calendar Blog Event 🎄
➽ Finding many favorite new books 📖

Book-wise this was a good year for me!! I managed to read 200 books, which will probably not happen again! Reading was definitely my lifeline this year and I discovered so many amazing books, both from new to me and favorite authors 💕 I also had much fun participating in Readathons, with my favorites being the Magical Readathon and #ClearUrSht Readathon. Generally, I smashed my reading goals and worked on my Owned TBR and reading books outside of my comfort zone! I’m not super active on Discord, but I joined a Bookish Server this year and I love it! The atmosphere is welcoming and comfortable, so I don’t feel overwhelmed like I usually do. There are fun things like Bingo Boards and Book Club picks that were definite highlights this year 💕

Low Points 😔

➽ Overambitious TBRs & Stressing myself out 🙈
➽ The slow doom of Twitter 🐦

The only person stressing myself out … is me 🙈 While I loved my reading this year, I noticed that I had too ambitious reading plans. “Too many books, too little time” inspired me to make huge TBRs that I couldn’t 100% keep up with and that began to stress me halfway through the month. I don’t regret how much I read last year, but in 2023, I want to make smaller, more dedicated TBRs. I can still read as much as I want, but starting the month with a huge list isn’t sustainable. The other annoying thing this year was the slow decline and eventual doom of Twitter 😅 Elon Musk ended up running it into the ground. I’m both sad this is happening, as Twitter is my main social media platform and the best way of promoting my posts. I’ll stay until the very end, but it’s making me angry how one manchild can ruin an entire platform for so many people!

Top Favorite Posts of the Year 💕

1. Did I read the books I hauled in 2021? 📚 Place your bets now
2. #OOCZ Recs: Historical Fiction 📚 Back to the Past! 💗
3. Series Review: Nevermoor, Wundersmith & Hollowpox 💕 The Best MG Fantasy Series
4. How many of my Anticipated 2021 Releases did I actually read? 📚
5. 2022 Quarter Year Crisis Tag 📚 Reading Goals, Favorites & more 👀
6. My Favorite Mangas 💕 feat. What’s On My TBR
7. Books with Summer Vibes ☀️ Travel, Growth & Adventure
8. The Oldest Books on my TBR 📚 To All the Books I haven’t read yet 👀
9. Reading for 24 Hours 💫 feat. Book Lovers & Crumbs #magicalallnighter
10. Books I’m excited to read because of other bloggers ❤️
11. Review: The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas ☀️ Buzzwords & Who’s your Godly Parent Quiz
12. Spooky Book Recs 👻 If You Liked This … You’ll Like That
13. MidnighTS Book Tag 🌙 Meet me at Midnight 💕
14. Books I didn’t get around to this year 📚 2022 releases, sequels & Arcs
15. Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard 🌲 Creepy Forests, Monsters & Small-Towns

“You have these lines you won’t cross. But then you cross them. And suddenly you possess the very dangerous information that you can break the rule and the world won’t instantly come to an end. You’ve taken a big, black, bold line and you’ve made it a little bit gray. And now every time you cross it again, it just gets grayer and grayer until one day you look around and you think, There was a line here once, I think.” ― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six

Highlights 💕

➽ Good Internship Experience! 📘
➽ Signing up for sports courses at my university 🏃🏻
➽ Contacting the university’s counseling services to help with my anxiety 🌷
➽ Using the Career Center to learn more about job applications 🧾
➽ Finishing my last exams … forever 😱
➽ Lots of snow this December ❄️
➽ Getting my 2nd COVID Booster in December 🎉

One big surprise was how much I enjoyed my internship! I was super nervous about this 3-month internship, but it turned out great! My colleagues and the entire team were super nice and welcoming. I also ended up enjoying my actual work (all about health management and work-life balance) a lot more compared to my previous internship! Everyone was so laid back and I felt very at ease, so I’m still keeping in contact with the team! 🥰 My internship took up most of the summer, but for the next semester I signed up for some sports courses, and I decided to give my uni’s counseling services a shot. It was scary, but I had a first meeting with them in December and I hope it can help me manage my anxiety better! I’m proud that I went and hope it can help some more until I graduate! Generally, I tried to take make the most of what little time I have left at Uni by using their different opportunities for learning!

Low Points 😔

➽ The Virus 😷
➽ Master Thesis Frustration 😡
➽ Bad Mental Health 😅

The low points remain similar to last year, yet felt more severe. I like to be upfront about these things, but understand if you want to skip this heavier section. The parts expand, so you can click on them if you want or continue to the looking ahead section!

Part 1: The Virus [CW’s: Talk of COVID, health issues & anxiety]

I got COVID back in March. Luckily it was a mild case, but I had some issues with a more intense heartbeat that worried me. Two EKG’s came up negative, but the doctor said it’s possible that the virus took a toll on my cardiovascular system, which is a scary thought. I also had to adjust my medication because it wasn’t the right dose anymore. My parents sadly also got sick in October and I very narrowly avoided getting it again. I didn’t talk about this here, but they had a more severe case compared to me and still feel some of the effects.

My mental health has been the worst this year, specifically my anxiety. Part of it is because the precautions and mask mandates were heavily lifted despite high cases. I’m still wearing my mask, but don’t feel comfortable in public spaces anymore. My social anxiety has been worse than ever before. I’m disappointed at the German government and media, as they have heavily pushed the ‘COVID is over’ rhetoric and not properly communicated the long-term effects of COVID. There’s now talk of ending ALL of the precautions here, which scares me, as there’s no evidence that the variants are reaching a harmless level and masks have been proven to reduce transmission and protect people. Sadly, I feel like COVID is increasingly trivialized here, despite it being a serious health risk. I’m feeling more hopeless that we’ll ever reach a point where COVID has actually become harmless, especially as our government seems to have decided that the response is to ignore COVID and push the responsibility and risk factors on the general public.

I’ve been feeling increasingly alone with my worries about the pandemic. I still wanted to talk about it here, as this is the main reason why I have been feeling so anxious this year. I’m grateful to anyone still wearing a mask and would like to kindly appeal to anyone else to consider wearing them again, especially in public spaces. Thank you for reading this huge paragraph, it was cathartic to write and I appreciate you taking the time to follow along!

Part 2: The Thesis [CW’s: Talk about academic frustration, anxiety & lots of ranting]

I’ve talked about this in every wrapup since August, as there have been some heavy delays with my Master’s thesis due to my supervisor 🙈  I was finished with my internship and all exams, so after a short summer break, I was ready to begin working. The issue: my supervisor kept promising first meetings and told me plans that didn’t come to pass (such as beginning recruiting in September … when it’ll likely happen in JANUARY 2023 😡) It took until November for things to finally kick off and by then I had wasted so much time not doing anything, as I couldn’t work on my thesis at all!! I was getting more irritated, as I had planned to use the entire semester to finish my thesis. My supervisor promised that it would still work out, but by now it looks like I won’t be finishing in time. I cannot do 6 months of work in half the time, as I was supposed to be finished in March and we still haven’t done the official application. I refuse to work myself to the bone because the professor kept pushing back meetings.

Things were looking up this December because I got a partner for working on the study and we got more information. However, the supervisor keeps making promises she doesn’t keep. Other information that was promised is delayed as well, so I don’t trust her anymore. The bad communication within the department is frustrating, but by this point, switching isn’t an option, and contacting them about this has had mixed results. I’m glad I finally meet some of the other students, so we can compare notes, but the supervision is disappointing. I have sadly heard other students having bad experiences with different departments as well. At this point, I’ll have to do an additional semester (I’m already one semester over the recommended plan) and it annoys me it’s because of things outside of my control.

Monthly Wrapups 💕

• What I’ve been up to in January ☃️ Starting off the year right with four 5-star reads
• What I’ve been up to in February 💕 Lots of Studying AND Lots of Books 😱
• What I’ve been up to in March 🌷 Semester Break with Complications
• What I’ve been up to in April 🌻 Magical Readathon, Birthday & Internship
• What I’ve been up to in May 🌸 Internship, Thesis & Lots of Books
• What I’ve been up to in June ☀️ Internship, Finding a Master Thesis & Tackling my TBR
• What I’ve been up to in July 🌊 Vacation & Heat Waves
• What I’ve been up to in August 🌻 Magical Readathon & a quiet month
• What I’ve been up to in September 🍂 The Start of Fall & Thesis Frustration
• What I’ve been up to in October 🎃 Lots of spooky content
• What I’ve been up to in November 🍃 Books, my Master’s Thesis and other Disasters

“Those were the endings I found solace in. The ones that said, Yes, you have lost something, but maybe, someday, you’ll find something too.” ― Emily Henry, Book Lovers

Next year will be a full of changes and I’m pretty nervous about that. I have to finish my thesis and go job hunting and I have no idea when or where I’ll move. All the uncertainty is getting to me, as I prefer things to be steady and not too tumultuous. I’m not too thrilled about the new year, which is sad as I like the idea of a fresh start. January will be busy, exhausting, and anxiety-inducing, so not a good way to start the new year. 2023 will be an important year for new life stages and what my future looks like, so it’s a bit of pressure. I’m definitely hoping for the best! 🎆

2022 Goals Wrapup 💕

Personal (1.5/3👍)

• Make it through my internship & get started on my Master’s Thesis ✅
• Take Time for Self Care!! 🤔
• Listen to more podcasts! ❌

Bookish (3/3 🥳)

• Read 65 Books ✅
• Branch out with my reading [e.g. read 25 Adult books] ✅
• Read 24 of my owned books [stretch goal: 40 books] ✅

2023 Goals 💕

Personal

• Finish my Master’s Thesis!!! ➽ This is my top goal for the year, as I want to be done with this thesis!! Sadly, it’ll take longer, but I’m working towards finishing this, so I can close this chapter of my life.
• Get Active ➽ I’m bad at keeping up with physical activity of any kind, but I want to pick up running again, go to my Pilates Workout on Thursdays and keep up my daily walks!
• Focus on the next stage of my life ➽ Since next year means I’ll graduate my Master’s course, it’s time for a new stage of my life. This is pretty terrifying, but I’ll have to find a suitable job and subsequently move to a different apartment in a new city. It’s a big life change, but it needs to happen this year.
• Focus on my Mental Health ➽ Since my Mental Health has been so poor this year, I want to focus more on self-care and managing my anxiety in 2023. This means taking into account offers from my university and potentially a study group.

Bookish

• Read 65 Books ➽ This is my goal every year, as it’s how many books I read for my first Goodreads Challenge.
• Make smaller, more manageable TBRs ➽ My initial TBR for the month is supposed to be no more than 6 books. I want to pick out the books I’m most excited about and not give myself too many options. If I read them, I can always choose something new!
• Read 1 nonfiction per month ➽ As part of my Out of Comfort Zone Challenge I’m aiming to read more nonfiction and one title per month sounds attainable to me!
• Incorporate sequels into my TBR ➽ I’m thinking maybe 1-2 per month, but I don’t have a strict goal here. I’d just like to make sure that I’m working on completing some series.
• Read 24 Owned Books ➽ This would be 2 owned books per month, but hopefully I can read more like I did in 2022. My focus for 2023 is to read some of the oldest titles on my TBR, as they keep gathering dust!

How was your 2022? Let’s also focus on the positive: What were your favorite moments, shows, movies, and accomplishments? 🎇 

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