In 2022 I finished 27 books. Of these, 14 were audiobooks. It was a nice year for reading in the languages I am learning: 5 books were in Italian and 3 were in French. Three audiobooks were in Italian, and I can now listen to books of average sophistication in that language.

Idioms aside, this year was once again not the greatest in terms of books for me. As highlights I’ll mention:

Transpatagônia, Highlands, and Transmongólia by Guilherme Cavallari. These are 3 different books, each one about a multi-month expedition undertaken by the author in recent years. They are only available in Portuguese . What makes these books stand out in their genre is probably borne out of the fact that Cavallari has always been a serious reader as well as a traveler. He can write, and he goes beyond day-to-day descriptions by interweaving historical and geographical details into the narrative. In “Highlands” Cavallari is going through major personal challenges, with sickness and death in his family, and he touchingly describes his emotions along the journey.

Dog Man by Martin Buser. Martin Buser is a musher: someone who raises, trains, and races sled dogs. In this memoir he chronicles a budding love for mushing in his youth in Switzerland, his move to Alaska with the dream of winning the Iditarod, and his life’s path to becoming a legend of the sport and a true Alaskan.

I keep track of my reading on Goodreads, will be happy to friend you there.