Best Books of 2022!

2022 was a stellar year of reading for me. As as type this post, I've read 112 books! Every year, I parse through the books I've read to come up with my "best of" list. Some years, it's easy. This year it was hard because I read so many wonderful books! I think my reading has been boosted by new recommendation sources. Some book recommendations have come from Nicole (Hi, Nicole!) and other bloggers like The Gilmore Guide to Books and Novel Visits. But I also get a ton of recommendations from my favorite book-related podcasts which are Sarah's Bookshelves Live (who introduced me to the 2 book bloggers above!), Currently Reading and From the Front Porch. I also belong to the Patreon community of those 3 podcasts and find the $5-7 I pay each month well worth it! 

I targeted selecting 12 favorite reads - but ultimately landed at 13 as I couldn't cull this list any further! 

Top book of 2022

Hands down, "Lessons in Chemistry" was my all-time favorite book of the year. I've recommended it widely because it's the kind of book that surely will appeal to nearly everyone. So far, everyone I know who read this book also enjoyed it. It's about a woman working in a male-dominated environment in the 1960s. She is treated abhorrently. But she persists. Trigger warnings do abound, though. Don't let the cheeky cover trick you into thinking this is "light" fiction. It has a light, humorous tone but the author is delving into HARD topics. But what I really love is that this is the debut novel of a woman in her 60s! Isn't that phenomenal? It's been picked up by Apple and will be turned into a tv show which I plan to check out. 

In no particular order, here are the other 12 best reads of 2022! 

1. All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien. I tore through this book during our Mexico vacation. A murder of an 18yo man has happened in the Vietnamese immigrant community in Sydney in the 1990s. But no one is talking. The older daughter who is a journalist comes home and takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to her brother. This is definitely a heavier read but was incredibly well-done. 

2. Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong is a book about grief. It's about a rags-to-riches half-Chinese family that builds a fashion empire in NYC. They appear to live a charmed life until one of their daughters tragically dies. The other daughter is left to sort through the pieces and discover family truths. 

3. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. Guess what, this book is about death/mortality, too! I guess that is a heavy theme in my reading this year. Lenni and Margot are an unlikely pair. Margot is 83, Lenni is 17. But they both reside on the terminal ward of a hospital. This novel is about the relationship between these 2 women. It is sad but beautiful. 

4. Notes On Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach pairs well with Kaleidoscope because the topics are so similar - a sister is dealing with the aftermath of her sister's death. It's told in second person narrative - the narrator is speaking to her sister before, during and after her untimely death. 

5. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I am a huge TJR fan. I do not know how she cranks out these books on an annual basis. I know one person that did not like this (Hi NGS!) but I found it unputdownable! It's about a tennis player that comes out of retirement to defend her grand slam record. The protagonist is incredibly unlikeable which is usually a kiss of death for a book for me, but I still loved this so much. 

6. Book Lovers by Emily Henry. This is my favorite of the 3 romances Henry has written. I loved the snappy dialogue which was reminiscent of Gilmore Girls. What I liked best is that the conflict in this novel did not stress me out and was believable. Even though romances always have happily ever after endings, the conflict sometimes really stresses me out! Can you tell I am conflict avoidant? 

7. Corrections in Ink by Keri Blakinger is a memoir about the author's time in prison after drug charges. She was an elite pairs skater that falls from grace and makes some horrible decisions in college. It was an interesting inside look at life inside a prison, especially for a female. 

8. Bomb Shelter by Mary Laura Philpott was such an endearing and relatable collection of essays from a woman who, like me, struggles with anxiety. I would hand this book to any booklover who is preparing to send a child out into the world/to college because it talks about how to let go of those you love. In Philpott's case, the letting go process is complicated by the fact that her son has a neurological disorder. 

9. How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith. We read this for book club and everyone loved it. In this book, Smith travels to various landmarks and monuments such as Monticello, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison and a Confederate Cemetery. He looks at the roots of slavery, the impact it's had on our nation, and the extent of the truth these monuments provide. Smith is a poet so the writing in this book is particularly beautiful. 

10. Fight Night by Miriam Toews was an unexpected hit for me. It's narrated by 9yo Swiv. Swiv lives with her mom and her elderly, frail grandmother. She gets into trouble at school and ends up being homeschooled by her grandmother. Swiv is so feisty and delightful, and her grandmother is equally likeable. 

11. Love and Saffron by Kim Fay is a slim epistolary novel of just 208 pages. It follows the lives of 2 women who become pen pals in the 1960s. But their relationship becomes so much more as the book unfolds. It is such a beautiful and heart-warming novel. I didn't want it to end!

12. Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka is a heavy, difficult read but worth checking out. It's about Ansel - he's a serial killer on death row and is 12 hours away from his execution. As the hours tick by, his story is told by 3 women impacted by his life: his mother, his wife's sister, and a homicide detective. Americans are kind of obsessed and intrigued with serial killers; this story hands the narrative to those impacted by the terrible actions of a terrible man.

What were some of your best reads of 2022?