This year I read 120 books, which sounds like “too many” if you are my husband but sounds fine to a reader because THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST. Of course, I have several things on my side, including chronic insomnia, the ability to claim that I have to hide under a tree and read for professional reasons, a book club to pick for and a book shop filled with books that want to go home with me.
Picking my favorite book of the year is always hard because I might only mostly like it the first time I read it but then find that it becomes a comfort read I return to, or maybe there was a book I loved and now I look at the cover and go…”Did I read that?” My favorite books change over and over but I think the ones I read in 2022 that I go back to over and over are The Maid, Kaikeyi and What Moves the Dead.
What book did you love the most last year? What did I miss that I have to read?
MY YEAR IN BOOKS :
The Black Company by Glen Cook
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin really stuck with me after reading.
I think my favorite was “Ejaculate Responsibly” which I think should be taught in every junior high health class. Second was actually “Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny” by Holly Madison about the madness of living in the Playboy mansion.
Best book I read this year was our book club selection, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had never read this classic and I loved it.
Ooh I just finished all three Lore Olympus books over New Years and I LOVED them. I see a bunch here I missed that I need to order immediately.
My favorite book last year was The Final Strife, by Saara Al-Arifi . It was so good!
http://jessicasettergren.com/2022/11/17/review-the-final-strife-by-saara-el-arifi/
Not sure if it was last year or the one before, but Still Life by Sarah Winman has stayed with me. It made me feel alive, with all the joy and sadness. It was a great adventure, a romance and a lovely story. I should reread it.
Ugh! Such a deliciously difficult question. In no particular order:
Love Songs of W.E.B du Bois
Kaikeyi
Hide
Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Girls I’ve Been
Into the Narrowdark
Book Eaters
Black Cake
Fairy Tale
The Maid was my absolute favorite book last year. It was like someone opened my head and scooped everything out and put it in book form.
Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. Actually every book by Grady Hendrix, but Horrorstör gave me panic attacks. I had to put it down and walk away for a while.
Also, 120 is the equivalent of 2 by non readers. Pity them.
Book 3 of the Scholomance Series, “The Golden Enclaves” by Naomi Novik, but really the entire series. A beautifully executed dark wizarding school book that is anti-privilege and anti-class and a bit anti-capitalist to boot.
Ooh I loved The Golden Enclaves!! The writing is so great and the twists I never saw coming! I really enjoy a book that surprises me. Most of the time I can pick apart where a book is going and I’m pretty spot on about what’s going to happen next especially if its a duology/triology or longer. (The only book I know of where the mc gets killed off is the Divergent series) *SPOILER ALERT*–but its been out for years sooo… I don’t feel too bad about spoiling that. My Husband told me once that all books and movies have the same basic plots, they start out with the mc, then theres a fight or something they have to overcome but they fail, and then they work on themselves/with a group to solve the problem and at the end they become victorious because we all love our happy endings. –Only a few books have caught me by surprise. Prison Healer’s twist caught me by surprise too which was like OMG and i had to go buy the next 2 books to keep going. Anyways i’m rambling now–Have a good day!
Hard to pick just one, but The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, The Brass Queen, and the Veronica Speedwell series were all GREAT!!
My favorite book was Katee Robert’s Electric Idol. I’ve been obsessed with the Cupid and Psyche mythos since I was young. This book… it just is divine. I reread it after making my reading goal of 65 books and got into reread season.
I highly recommend it.
Mindtouch (The Dreamhealers Book 1) by M.C.A. Hogarth
Sign Here, The Woman in the Library, Mrs. March, and The Maid were the absolute best reads this year. So nothing you haven’t already read. I’m still waiting to read Just Like Home, The Hacienda, and I’m Glad My Mom Died. Every time I plan to check them out I find several other quickie reads. Or I’m reading odd things to pull together a winter reading bag o’ books for work. Or I’m desperately trying to finish a craft project with a deadline and my leisure time is all sew sew sew.
I really loved The Sentence by Louis Erdrich. Every page, every chapter was absolutely captivating and a beautiful story (while also heartbreaking) but current amid the pandemic and the George Floyd protests.
A bit behind but the “Light from Uncommon Stars” has stuck with me.
Louise Penny’s latest Three Pines/Inspector Armand Gamache Cozy Mystery was probably my favorite book this year. Murder mixed with familiar characters, a small village, and lots of really good food create books I return to over and over again.
The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill
The Girl From Guernica by Karen Robards (historical novel). Loved this one (and I’ve read so many books this, and every year, I only ‘remember’ something if they are truly good books! ;o)
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
I’m going to read it a second time, which I only do with very few books.
The Girl from Guernica – by Karen Robards. Loved this! (And, I read so much and have read so much that I can only “remember” if something is really good!).
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I read it twice in October; it’s just incredible 😍
The Book of Speculation by Erika Sawyer. Very unique story. I don’t even know how to describe it. A history lesson about carnival folk? A book about people who love books so much its almost a religion? A soft, slow love story? A horror murder mystery? Read it twice and may have to read it again soon.
Once upon a time in france
Try Nettle & Bone T Kingfisher
The Last House on Needless Street, by Catriona Ward. Haunting and beautifully written, with an interesting twist.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
“Know My Name” by Chanel Miller. Most people know Chanel Miller as the woman Brock Turner raped. She is so much more than that, and this book is outstanding. A must read for every woman and every man.
The Winners: A Novel (Beartown Series) by Fredrik Backman.
I’ve yet to read a book of his that I don’t like. The Beartown Series is VERY different from A Man Called Ove (which is a MUST read) but still excellent. I adore his characters and often have to stop reading because I know something is coming that will break my heart.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
A modernized David Copperfield
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas.
I think I’m going to have to add Ejaculate Responsibly to my reading list…
Top 3: (some of these are old … I’m slow on the upkeep)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (kicking myself that I didn’t read it sooner)
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
The Maid by Nita Prose
Other Great Books:
My Mess is a Bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett (VEEP and Succession writer!)
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Paper Palace by Miranda Heller
Finding Freedom by Erin French
The World’s Worst Assistant by Sona Movsesian (Conan’s Assistant!)
Dava Shastri’s Last Day, and Code Name Helene. I can’t wait to read more this year!
My top three favorites were The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, The Last House on Needless St by Catriona Ward, and Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar.
Sea of Tranquility, Emily St John Mandel
Broken, Jenny Lawson
One Two Three, Laurie Frankel
The Invitation, Lucy Foley
I liked “you exist to much ” by Zaina Arafat & Mayflies by Andrew O Hagen
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Project Hail Mary
I know these are really mainstream, but they are absolutely worth a read. Beautiful in so many ways.
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl – recommend the audiobook as he narrates and is so terrific. The stories are hilarious!
Remarkably Bright creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – also audiobook. Michael Urie is one of the narrators, providing the voice of Marcellus the octopus and he sounds like Brain for the ‘Pinky and the Brain’ cartoon and it’s just delightful. 😀
I don’t think we have the same taste in books. But my favorite was Lessons in Chemistry.
MY 2022 BOOKS
The Family by Naomi Krupitsky
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
it was amazing
The Maid by Nita Prose
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
Bring Your Baggage and Don’t Pack Light by Helen Ellis
The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont
Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso
The Love of my Life by Rosie Walsh
The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
it was amazing
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
Marrying the Ketchups by Jennifer Close
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris & Mrs Harris Goes to New York by Paul Gallico
Broken by Jenny Lawson
Rough Draft by Katy Tur
The Last Pirate by Tony Dokoupil
The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle
The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers
it was amazing
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
If you tell by Gregg Olsen was pretty amazing. It’s a little intense but worth the read. It’s a true story of 3 girls abused by their mother and some of the horrible things she made them do and how they persevere. Guest list by Lucy Foley was a good thriller/who dunnit.
I’ve been on a biography kick lately, so my faves from 2022 include:
Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine by Olivia Campbell
Wise Gals: The Spies Who Built the CIA and Changed the Future of Espionage
by Nathalia Holt
…and a book by an obscure celebrity I’m sure you’ve never heard of ;oD
Still Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune was fantastic and heartwarming.
The Measure…. That one has stuck with me this year!
The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis
Those are some great titles, and I’m adding some to my Goodreads! I read 62 books last year. I loved “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” by V.E. Schwab, and “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick.
Cabin Fever. It’s about the cruise ship that set off right before Covid broke out in the world. When Covid broke out on the ship the crew faced a hellish time, and everyone was stuck on the ship for over 50 days. After reading it, I will NEVER take a cruise. NEVER.
I enjoyed everything I read through Fantastic Strangelings, but I really loved Stephen King’s ‘Fairy Tale’ that I read on my own. It was just great.
The Sign for Home by Blair Fell
You are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health… by Ken Duckworth, MD
A Heart that Works by Rob Delaney
A Man with One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell
Ostensibly a whoonunnit–not my type at all–I adored it for the odd premise and characters. Fully developed, quirky, interesting people. My favorites are Bunny McGarry (whose name does not suit), and the rich old lady whose name I can’t recall at the moment who has a workaround for swearing (because it’s not ladylike). I love her. Bare bones, the protagonist has spent years thwarting the intent of his aunt’s will. One method by which he accomplishes this is visiting the elderly and impersonating a loved one. That goes wrong in a really scary way. I’m surprised to have adored it.
And How Are You, Dr. Sacks?: A Biographical Memoir of Oliver Sacks by Lawrence Weschler,
as well as, Oliver Sacks: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations
Speaking of quirky people I wish I actually knew–What a stunningly surprising life this man of scintillating intellect lived, and what a wonderful storyteller he was:
– In an interview I’d seen years ago, he gives what turns out to be the understatement of a century, “I used to be something of a stoner.”
– Famous as a brilliant scientist, Sacks was also an avid competitive bodybuilder, some of that time on Venice Beach.
– He and his childhood best friend once collected thousands of squid, put them in jars in the friend’s basement, and…forgot.
You likely overlooked my use of the word “quirky” a couple times above. I would like to request of the literary world that there be one more recognized book genre: Quirky. My absolute favorite genre having no recognized label, it’s difficult to locate. Very likely my favorite novel in this, or any other genre, is The Last Supper Catering Company by Michaelene McElroy. The synopsis you find is so bad, and the book is so good. An offbeat girl named B. Thankful Childe-Lucknow continues her relationships with the people she loves who happen to be dead, and ends up going on a quest that brings comfort to those she encounters. And my synopsis is also bad. Just read this book. This book makes me happy. Happy is a good thing.
“Demon Copperhead” Barbara Kingsolver
Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult
The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
The Sign for Home by Blair Fells (this book is so good at sharing deaf culture and the meaning of accessibility for the deaf-blind)
The Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers
The Monk and Robot series, also by Becky Chambers
Convenience Store Woman
I did indeed enjoy “The Maid” -but I can not pick a favorite. I am wise enough to avoid keeping up with how many books I have read. I have a touch of Victor and would think I wasted time.
Loveless and The Book of Form and Emptiness
The best book I read in 2022 was Tyler Merritt’s “I Take My Coffee Black.” You may remember him from his viral “Before You Call The Cops” video a few years ago. This was his first book and is like having a chat with your best friend about things that matter, like inclusion, being a good LBGTQ ally and more. I love his theory that “proximity breeds empathy” and am working toward more “proximity” in my life this new year. Highly recommend!
My best book of ’22 was Tyler Merritt’s “I Take My Coffee Black.” You may remember him from his viral video “Before You Call The Cops” after the Central Park birdwatcher/entitled white lady episode. I love his theory that “proximity breeds empathy” and am working toward creating more “proximity” in my life this new year. Highly recommend!
My favourite book was Devotion by Hannah Kent. It was another great book from her.
Still Life – Sarah Winman
Oona Out of Order – Margarita Montimore
Kaikeyi – Vaishnavi Patel
Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman
Migrations – Charlotte McConaghy
Love & Saffron – Kim Fay
Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
Blood Sugar – Sascha Rothchild
Managing Expectations – Minnie Driver
The Change – Kirsten Miller
Other Birds – Sarah Addison Allen
Excuse Me While I Disappear – Laurie Notaro
The Fortunes of Jaded Women – Carolyn Huynh
An older trilogy-
The Riddlemaster of Hed, by Patricia McKillip. Very engaging & smart, with clear characters
The Warmth of Other Suns, by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson.
Wonderful true stories from by Blacks who left the Jim Crow south & went north during the Great Migration of the 20th Century. Compellingly told. So much both White & Black folks should learn about!
My favorite book this year was Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. I loved it. It was fascinating
I read 42 books this year, down from the days I would read 70 but up from the past few years where I struggled to read even 20 (darn eye doctors kept giving me ‘computer glasses’ when I asked for reading glasses–the focal point is different). My favorites of last year were a fictional book about a natural disaster and a historical fiction set in the Civil War, both not new releases. No titles, my book choices have gotten me scoffed at or ridiculed too often in my life. Yes, my family sucks.
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen.
American Dirt
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
“Never Broken” by Jewel is one of my favorites I read last year. I am a lifelong fan of her music, but I was not prepared for her poignant, heartfelt, raw, earnest, and sensitive writing style that lifts the veil to reveal her psyche both past and present.
Her life story is heartbreaking, but incredibly inspiring. Her story of hope, survival, and growth made me feel seen in ways I didn’t know needed to be seen.
As someone who has personally lived through childhood abuse and immense trauma in general I cannot recommend this book enough. It is a bit self help-ish fyi, but I took from it what I wanted/needed and I left what didn’t apply to me nor worked for me.
My second recommendation is an old favorite, “The Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein. I read the newer special addition with 12 new poems added to it.
I recommend reading it especially if you are stuck in a rut. Reading it again took me back to when I was young, and while flipping the pages the little weirdo inner child that still resides within me smiled and chuckled mischievously at the whimsically strange drawings and fantastically quirky stanzas.
There is something about childhood reads that re-reminds you of who you are. Silverstein has a special place in my heart. 💕Happy 2023 everyone!!
I actually misread your first sentence initially as saying that you had read *1,200* books this past year (that’s TWELVE HUNDRED BOOKS). I was absolutely astonished, because I read a lot, so on a good year I read about a book a day on average (most years I read somewhere between 250 and 400 books for the year), and I’ve never encountered anyone who has read an average of over three times as many books per year as I have (in fact, to my knowledge, I’ve never encountered anyone who reads more books in a year than I do, but really that’s just because I happen to read quite fast and love to read; no, I’m not retired–I’m actually a solopreneur, so I have to hustle). Of course, it is all a matter of perspective. I think the most important thing is to read books that you enjoy, and/or that make you think, and the number or format is far less important..
Favorite books read this past year…do re-reads count? Are you only considering books published in 2022? If NO, then YES, would you include books that are later entries in a longer series?
A few favorites which were published in 2022 (these are all part of different favorite series, and in all cases, I recommend starting with the first book in the series):
— Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (9th book of the indescribable yet amazing Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon)
— Dashing Through the Snowbirds, and Round Up the Usual Peacocks, both 30-somethingth entries in the Meg Langslow cozy murder mystery series, by Donna Andrews (the first book in the series is Murder With Peacocks; I re-read this entire series about once a year).
— Abandoned In Death, and Desperation In Death, by J.D. Robb (both 50-somethingth in the Lt. Eve Dallas detective murder mystery series; the first book in the series is Naked In Death; I especially love the audiobooks in this series, read by Susan Ericksen–I nearly always have at least one of these audiobooks checked out of the library, so I continuously cycle through this series)
— Nothing To Lose (latest in the J.P. Beaumont detective murder mystery series, by J.A. Jance, which started with Until Proven Guilty)
Those are the ones which spring to mind most readily. Happy reading!
I’m sorry, but I refuse to pick a favorite. It’s easier to pick a favorite child. Also, I literally don’t know for certain which books I finished last year. It’s a blur. Then there are the audiobooks…
These are all real books:
Amish Vampires in Space by Kerry Neitz
Zombie Bake-Off by Stephen Graham Jones
Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry
Also none of them are new.
Fresh Water for Flowers is one I always go back to.
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
A toss up between ‘The Other Emily’ by Dean Koontz and ‘The Partner’ by John Grisham.
Blue-Skinned Gods by S. J. Sindu
Last year my wife’s goal was to read 25 books. I may have read 5. She read 120. I think that is awesome!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry and Midnight Library by Matt Haig (but that’s two years old already).
The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig were probably my top two. So good.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
I’ve been trying to use the Strangelings book club to get me back into reading – I read more of the picks last year than the year before plus 2 non-book club books! I’m going to aim for 50 books again (which technically I did read if you count picture books) but my favorites from 2022: I loved “Circus of Wonders.” I really loved the storytelling of it and felt like the quality of writing stayed pretty consistent throughout. Poor editing can really distract me while reading. “The Hacienda” was a close second (I have to check myself every time I say or write the title because I want to use “La Hacienda”). My favorite unfinished book club pick was “Keikayi” which will probably be my favorite 2022 book when I do finish reading it. I loved the two non-book club books I finished last January when my desire to read 50 was still fresh: “You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey” by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (looking forward to reading the new book too); and “How the Other Half Eats” by Priya Fielding-Singh
Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi (trans from Japanese). Deeply funny but touching as well. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/678228/diary-of-a-void-by-emi-yagi-translated-by-david-boyd-and-lucy-north/
I sure do get the whole “did I read that” syndrome. It doesn’t help when they put a new front cover on a previously released book. For several years at the library I made a habit of reading page 100 of any book I was considering. Usually I can tell from that if I’ve already read it. And if I haven’t, page 100 isn’t generally going to be a spoiler for what happens after. But since the pandemic I’ve been doing mostly Kindle and Kindle samples never go as far as page 100.
Long As The Lemon Tree Grows by Zoulfa Katouh
It was incredibly heavy, but a powerful reminder of how important hope is. Highly recommended!
Hope Fight Repeat by Karen Bernard. It’s a short read but SO heartfelt and Inspirational. Ive used it throughout the year to lift my spirit on more than one occasion. She’s a new author and a friend had it sent to me through Amazon.
If you missed JD Edwin’s “Headspace,” miss no longer. I also liked an odd little steampunk fantasy by KD Ashcomb.
I read (and loved) the four The Legend of the Condor Heroes books. It’s a famous kungfu series, which is like a wild kungfu movie, but in words. So fun.
I’d have to divide the Best honor among three books: “The Maid” by Nita Prose, “Go Tell the Bees I am Gone” by Diana Gabaldon, and the three books I read by Elly Griffiths.
My favourite would probably have to be Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (It includes a trans girl forced to run away from home, very sentient AI, the world of classical violins, deals with hell, intergalactic refugees, the feeding of ducks and much more. All beautifully woven together.)
Very honourable mention goes to The Books of the Raksura (series) by Martha Wells and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within both by Becky Chambers (in different series).
The best book I read in 2022 was Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr. Somehow he managed to retell the story of Diogenes in what we would recently describe as *across the multi-verse*. Absolutely brilliant accomplishment.
Jenny, if you haven’t read The Undertaking of Hart + Mercy yet, you absolutely 100000% need to. It’s right up your alley. Zombies, a romance, and just a really cool magic system.
The Dog Stars, by Peter Heller. Gritty and too real sometimes, but ultimately uplifting. Best book I’ve read in years.
Jenny, I read several of your recommendations this year and they were all great! Especially enjoyed The Hacienda. My other favorites for the year included:
Fiction:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
Non-fiction:
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters Most in the End by Atul Gawande
The Heroine with 1,001 Faces by Maria Tatar
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Zen of Therapy by Mark Epstein
I absolutely adored The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Long
The People We Keep by Allison Lauren
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Mickey7, The Kaiju Preservation Society, A Memory Called Empire, The Rook, Not Your Average Hot Guy, A Mirror Mended, and The Serpent in Heaven.
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, tied with Anxious People by Fredrick Backman. Closely followed by Bewilderment by Richard Powers
The Other Black Girl creeped me the heck out. In the best of ways. Other fiction favorites included Babel, Fairy Tale, and Killers of a Certain Age. I’m always jealous that you’ve gotten to read books that I’m still anxiously awaiting publication!
Some of my Favorites in 2022…
The Mindful Way Through Depression by Williams, Teasdale, and Segal
The Anomaly by Herve Le Telier
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
I second What Moves the Dead and add Station Eternity by Mur lafferty and One for All by Lillie Lainoff.
The latest Louise Penny book
The Huntress by Kate Quinn was very good. And if you like sci-fi, The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey.
I just read Verity by Colleen Hoover on a flight to Mexico, start to finish (5 hours). So good!
SO MANY. 🙂 But to randomly pick just one of my faves this year, “The Song That Moves the Sun” by Anna Bright was a lovely YA fantasy.
Chris Offutt, The Killing Hills. A great backwoods noir (sort of), set in the hills of Eastern Kenya. Also the sequel, Shifty’s boys, plus his three memoirs, in particular the great My Father the Pornographer.
I am non-traditional, I listen to audio books, they help me focus on whatever I am doing, working, gardening, walking, cleaning, etc. My favorites this year were: Diana Gabaldon’s Go Tell The Bees That I am Gone; Dave Grohl’s The Storyteller; Elton John’s Me. I listened to Dave’s book twice and Elton John’s 3 times, and read the actual hardcover as well!!! I relistened to the entire “Outlander” series when I finished “Go Tell the Bees…” which included that one one more time!! I am relistening to the entire “In Death” series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) right now, I’m on book 40, sad, I’m coming to the end, only 15 more to go, but I think her new one will be out somewhere in there, so that’ll be fun.
I typically read/listen to about 75 books/year. The best one this year was “Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic” by David Quammen. It was published in 2012 — talk about prescience! I generally read fiction (murder mysteries, thrillers, novels (but no chicklit)) but this nonfiction book was the best and scariest book I read in 2022. His latest is “Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat A Deadly Virus” about the coronavirus pandemic; I am waiting for it to arrive at the library.
I only read 80 last year after 101 the year before. The Maid was one of my favorites too! Along with The Sentence, Tell Me How to Be, The Girl With the Louding Voice, The Weight of Ink, and Ten Steps to Nanette. There were so many more that I liked, but those are the ones I’m still thinking about, in some of those cases almost a full year later.
I’ve been dabbling in graphic novels for adults (I’m a librarian) and I enjoyed the strange little book “A Man’s Skin”. Definitely recommend. Definitely NSFW. Also really wanted to read “Always Never” but it is too emotional for my headspace.
Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney is at the top but The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd is a close second.
I had a few five-star reads this year, out of 128 books. One I keep thinking about is The Trees by Percival Everett. In nonfiction, Empire of Pain about the Sackler family is thorough, damning and rage-inducing.
“Visiting Tom” by Michael Perry.
The Midnight Library by Mark Haig
Small Great Things by Jodi Pincoult
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It’s been awhile since I had trouble putting a book down, and this one had me offline and staying up late!
One of my favorites of 2022 was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. The whole series reads like one continuous story. Each one starts exactly where the last one ended. It’s like harry potter, but way grimmer in a fun way. The wizard kids are locked in the school and absolutely everything is trying to kill them. The writing is super tight and it has an amazing main character.
My Top 10 (in no particular order): The Maid by Nita Prose, The Paris Library by Janet Skeslin Charles, The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth, The Guide by Peter Heller, The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michelle Richardson, Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson, The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See and The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham
OMG, it seems that every body love reading.
I just read episode
I liked remarkably bright creatures
On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik. The whole series reads like one continuous story. Each one starts exactly where the last one ended. It’s like harry potter, but way grimmer in a fun way. The wizard kids are locked in the school and absolutely everything is trying to kill them. The writing is super tight and it has an amazing main character.https://www.payto5.com
“What do I talk about when I talk about running”: I’ve never been a huge Murakami fan(I’ve read a few of his works, but nothing major), but I’ve been a runner my entire life(even as much as to partake in a few marathons organised by local charities and stores like https://rununited.com/ ). It’s pretty bizzare and I, gotta say, intimate to take a peek into someone elses reasons and philosophy for running as much as they do(and Murakami runs A LOT apparently, much more than me 😀 )