‘Tis the damn season for end of the year lists! I usually post all of these on my IG stories but then I remembered I started a newsletter this year where I can write as much as I want about all of my 2022 picks instead. Love that for me.
2022 was…mostly bad for me if I’m keeping things 100. But as always, I turned to books, movies, and music to either distract me, help me process my feelings and experiences, or to comfort me in times when I needed it. I also re-discovered my love for writing this year and how it helps me more than almost anything else. Even though starting this newsletter was my favorite thing I’ve done this year, it had some not so great side effects too. It was extremely cathartic for me to get back to writing in some capacity, but I also learned that my relationship with writing in a public setting needed to change if I wanted to continue in a way that was still fun, and more importantly, still good for my mental health.
Since I billed this as a BTS-oriented newsletter, the inevitable announcement of BTS’ military service seemed like the most natural way to hit pause on this since I was looking for a way to end it anyway. I did take a much-needed break from writing for several months, but then I found myself missing it and missing the conversations with ARMYs and other people I met through this newsletter over the summer. Kinda sucks that I gained so many new readers after my last post and then just ghosted lol. It needed to be done, trust. But thank you for still being here! I don’t really know if or when or how I will end up using this platform in 2023, but it still exists and it feels too dramatic to shelve it entirely. This space is ultimately for me and if I want to write about other stuff in the future, I will. I hope you ARMYs stick around though, because I will most likely weave Bangtan into anything else I talk about. I just can’t help it.
Without further ado, these are my personal favorite books, movies, and music of 2022. I also included other notable works by Asian creators to stay on theme with this newsletter’s mission statement, bring attention to their work, and hopefully diversify your own 2023 to-read/watch/listen to lists.
BOOKS
*favorites I read this year, not just 2022 releases!*
“I found the idea of an aesthetic life to be tremendously compelling. It was the first time I had heard of an organizing principle or goal you could have for your life, other than making money and having kids. Nobody ever said that that was their organizing principle, but I had often noticed it, when I was growing up: the way adults acted as though trying to go anywhere or achieve anything was a frivolous dream, a luxury, compared to the real work of having kids and making money to pay for the kids” -Elif Batuman, Either/Or
Either/Or by Elif Batuman- This is for sure my #1 favorite of the year. I read and enjoyed The Idiot last year, but in a rare move, the sequel was even better. My most marked-up book of the year, which for me is a tell-tale sign that it was my favorite one. I think it resonated with me so much because it is a book about writing. We get to revisit the mind of hilarious, intelligent Selin as she discovers her love of writing in her sophomore year at Harvard, among other discoveries and lessons learned about love and life as a young woman.
Just By Looking At Him by Ryan O’Connell- Talked a bit more about this one here, but I can now officially say it was the funniest book I read this year.
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton- I am notoriously bad at reading classics and make it a goal every year to read at least a few of them so I can cross more titles off of my “I’m embarrassed I haven’t read this yet” list. Undine Spragg is THAT bitch. Sofia, we are all anxiously awaiting your TV adaptation!!!
The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir- Nothing I love more than a devastating book about angry women.
Assembly by Natasha Brown- Read this in one sitting. Packs a punch for a teeny lil book.
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin- My third favorite James Baldwin I’ve read so far (after If Beale Street Could Talk and The Fire Next Time), but it is still nearly perfect so that is not a dig by any means!
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan- Perhaps the most impressive writer I discovered this year. Reading it felt like a puzzle I was scrambling to piece together and by the end I was so satisfied!
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante- To give you an idea of how I was doing mentally this year, I simply could not bring myself to finish the Neapolitan Novels because they are devastating. Beautiful, but devastating. Back in May I attempted to continue with Those Who Leave And Those Who Stay. I made it two pages in and said NOPE, not today! I am determined to finish in 2023. This second book was fantastic and I have no doubts the rest of the quartet will be just as impressive.
The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen- Billed as Copenhagen’s answer to Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels so yeah it obviously rules.
Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It by Kaitlyn Tiffany- What more is there to say?!?
Honorable mentions by Asian authors:
Time Is A Mother by Ocean Vuong- I am not a big poetry girl but I AM a big fan of Ocean’s work and I will devour every single thing he puts out into the world.
Little Rabbit by Alyssa Songsiridej- Talked a bit more about this one here too. A sexy little thing.
Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou- A wild and hilarious satire about a Taiwanese American woman confronting her relationships with white institutions and white men. It’s a little too real!!!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin- The book on literally everyone’s 2022 lists. Incredibly fun, beautiful, and imaginative.
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean- Listen, it’s not great. But we are all entitled to enjoy a cheesy YA romance novel every once in a while! This one was billed as The Princess Diaries meets Crazy Rich Asians so naturally I had to read it. Cute! Probably won’t read the sequel but would watch a movie adaptation in a heartbeat.
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha- A story about four young women living in Seoul, Korea, touching on everything from female resilience to social hierarchies to impossible beauty standards to K-pop! An interesting look at life in contemporary Korea that went a little deeper and darker than I expected.
Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu- A beautiful memoir by a second generation Taiwanese immigrant about friendship, grief, and coming-of-age in America by way of discovering and devouring art that speaks to you in your formative years. I connected with this one as a child of immigrants as well, as we are all sort of left to our own devices to discover and learn about American pop culture.
On BTS: Pop Music, Fandom, and Sincerity by Lenika Cruz- Lenika’s writing on BTS for The Atlantic started in 2019 when she too discovered their power watching their performance on Saturday Night Live. She has since written enough about them to release a little collection of essays as a love letter to our favorite Bangtan Boys. Thank you for your service, ARMY general! *insert salute emoji* ARMYs- you can pre-order your copy here!
MOVIES
Screenshot from Letterboxd. *some of these technically have a 2021 release date but did not have a wider release until 2022 nor did I watch them until this year so I will allow it!*
After Yang dir. by Kogonada- Stunning. Fell in love with Kogonada’s debut feature film Columbus and his second venture is even better. A beautiful story set in a serene sci-fi future about a family grieving the loss of a dearly beloved android companion. Despite the story having sci-fi futuristic elements (usually not my jam), it is a tender domestic drama (very much my jam) that left me in tears.
Fire Island dir. by Andrew Ahn- The best romcom in recent years. I love everyone in it and everything about it and it is endlessly rewatchable.
RRR dir. by S. S. Rajamouli- I literally watched this last night and I am so happy I did. A goddamn BLAST. I wish it had a theatrical release near me because I was laughing and screaming and gasping the whole three-hour run time and it would have been so fun to be seated with a full audience hootin’ and hollerin’ together.
Turning Red dir. by Domee Shi- Again, what more can I say about this movie?! Fangirls unite. Meilin Lee is my homegirl for life.
Everything Everywhere All At Once dir. by Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert- easily the frontrunner for everybody’s best picture of 2022. Michelle Yeoh for best actress or we ride at dawn.
At this point it is worth noting that the five best movies of the year (I rated them all 5/5 stars!) were directed by Asian creators, about characters and their experiences as Asian people, and starred Asian actors!!! Funny how that works huh!!! Okay moving on to some other favorites:
Girl Picture (Tytöt tytöt tytöt) dir. by Ali Haapasalo- So happy I bought a ticket for this at Sundance on a whim. It ruuuuules. Girl power and Finnish pop music- what’s not to love?!
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande dir. by Sophie Hyde- Talked at length about this one here. “Empirically sexy” movie!
Nope dir. by Jordan Peele- Daniel Kaluuya is my favorite actor of our generation, Steven Yeun is my onscreen boyfriend, and Keke Palmer deserves this moment in the spotlight and better have more opportunities in the future. A trifecta of talent! And obviously Jordan Peele is so good at what he does too.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On dir. by Dean Fleischer-Camp- WHOMST among us didn’t quote Marcel’s Youtube videos back in the day?
TÁR dir. by Todd Field- All I can say is CATE. BLANCHETT.
If you want these ratings and reviews in real time, follow me on Letterboxd! I am literally always plugging this app because it is fun and would be 10x more fun if all of my movie-loving friends actually used it!
2022 MUSIC
Including several different lists here for the fun of it! The first is my Top 10 songs of the year which I talk a bit more about in my friend Kev’s annual music zine RN. Stay tuned for the 2022 issue to drop! You can read past issues here.
TOP 10 SONGS
“This Hell”- Rina Sawayama
“Run BTS”- BTS
“Sometimes”- MUNA
“Free”- Florence + The Machine
“Don’t Forget”- Sky Ferriera
“Darl+ing”- SEVENTEEN
“Sunset”- Caroline Polachek
“Talking to Yourself”- Carly Rae Jepsen
“Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga
“make me feel so…”(feat. Daði Freyr)- Montaigne, Daði Freyr
K-POP HONORABLE MENTIONS
I know RM’s songs may not technically be considered part of the K-pop genre but of course all of the many solo projects by my beloved Tannies this year deserve recognition!
“HOT”- SEVENTEEN
“Future”- j-hope
“Forg_tful” (with Kim Sawol)- RM, Kim Sawol
“SEXY NUKIM” (feat. RM)- Balming Tiger, Omega Sapien, bj wnjn, Mudd the student, RM
“The Astronaut”- JIN
“Left and Right” (feat. Jung Kook)- Charlie Puth, Jung Kook, BTS
“NANANA”- GOT7
“Talk that Talk”- TWICE
“MANIAC”- Stray Kids
“Good Boy Gone Bad”- TOMORROW X TOGETHER
“Yeah Yeah Yeah”- BLACKPINK
“ANTIFRAGILE”- LE SSERAFIM
“Hype Boy”- NewJeans
“Yet to Come”- BTS (the song I cried to the most this year, congrats boys!)
TOP ALBUM
Hold the Girl by Rina Sawayama- lol that’s the whole list actually. Albums are always hard for me to rank because I rarely listen to albums all the way through enough times to definitively label one as a favorite. I certainly loved more than one song from the artists listed above, but I wouldn’t say I found myself listening to their albums completely more than a handful of times. However, Rina wins because it really is a no skips album for me. After BTS, she was my most played artist of the year. My #1 pop girlie and I will continue to spread the gospel of her pop prowess!
I would love to know what your favorites of 2022 are too! Did you read any of these books or watch any of these movies too and want to discuss? Was your Spotify Wrapped everything you hoped it would be? What are your reading goals for 2023? Most anticipated movie releases in the new year? Feel free to leave a comment or slide into my DMs @alyannapadilla if you want to share your answers and chat because I would truly love nothing more! Here’s hoping 2023 brings even more wonderful books, movies, and music to challenge us, learn from, dance to, help us get through the day, and expand our horizons and tastes. Happy New Year!
Turning Red spoke to me on so many levels. It wasn't just about fangirls. But as a fellow Asian gal from Toronto, it was just nice to see my city in a story like that :')
Have to say I too have an “I’m embarrassed I haven’t read this yet” list. So I'm in the same boat in 2023. As always, love seeing your recs for the year.