After thirteen years and before logging off, I posted one final tweet to let followers know I had migrated to the Wandering Shop, a Mastodon instance. Although only a handful of friends tagged along to the fediverse, I didn’t feel lost or alone for a single minute. Thanks to the local timeline, I’ve run into so many kind people sharing what they’re passionate about, I almost forgot social media could be this wholesome.
One of my fellow Shoppers had the idea to compile a ranked list of book openers read this year. I really liked the idea and went ahead to compile my own list of 2022 book openers. I excluded short stories and story collections from the list.
The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.
A Prayer to the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers
Moon had been thrown out of a lot of groundling settlements and camps, but he hadn’t expected it from the Cordans.
The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells
The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin.
Wyrd Sisters, Terry Prachett
How can you tell the legend from the facts on these worlds that lie so many years away?
Rocannon’s World, Ursula K. Le Guin
My name is Tetley Abednego and I am the most hated girl in Garbagetown.
The Past is Red, Catherynne M. Valente
You told me, Sleep, I’ll wake you in the morning. I asked, What is morning? and you said, When everyone who fucked with me is dead.
Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir
The sun had not yet risen on the first day after the new year’s winter solstice, and it felt not at all as if an age had ended, but Balam knew better.
Fevered Star, Rebecca Roanhorse
Imagine darkness. In the darkness that faces outward from the sun a mute spirit woke.
City of Illusions, Ursula K. Le Guin
Some people are born under a lucky star, while others have their misfortune telegraphed by the position of the planets.
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Whenever I think of my mother, I picture a queen-sized bed with her lying in it, a practiced stillness filling the room.
Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi
In Teixcalaan, these things are ceaseless; star-charts and disembarkments.
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine
It’s job offer day at Evilcorp.
The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin
It was only a duck pond, out at the back of the farm. It wasn’t very big.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman
Between the deep forest and the gentle, green hills was a town with roofs the color of toasted bread.
Kiki’s Delivery Service, Eiko Kadono
In the last days of the last moonphase of Autumn a wind blew from the northern ranges through the dying forests of Askatevar, a cold wind that smelled of smoke and snow.
Planet of Exile, Ursula K. Le Guin
The Hunduns were coming. A whole herd of them, rumbling across the wilds, stirring up a dark storm of dust through the night.
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao
By the time Professor Richard Lovell found his way through Canton’s narrow alleys to the faded address in his diary, the boy was the only one in the house left alive.
Babel: An Arcane History, R.F. Kuang
SecUnits don’t care about the news. Even after I hacked my Governor Module and got access to the feeds, I never paid much attention to it.
Artificial Condition, Martha Wells
There was a wall. It did not look important.
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin
Two pieces of yesterday were in Captain Davidson’s mind when he woke, and he lay looking at them in the darkness for a while.
The Word for World is Forest, Ursula K. Le Guin
The tavern was little more than a waxed canvas tent, tilted towards the south by the wind that rushed headlong down the mountain.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain, Nghi Vo
When Sutty went back to Earth in the daytime, it was always to the village. At night, it was the Pale.
The Telling, Ursula K. Le Guin
Nobody climbed the mountain beyond the war-shrine.
Elder Race, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Nobody would meet Yadin’s eye, but that was fine.
The Dawnhounds, Sasha Stronach
I awoke to darkness. I was hungry — starving! — and in pain.
Fledgling, Octavia Butler
