#favorite books of 2022

[annabellelux]

Favorite Books of 2022📚

I had so much fun doing this for 2021–so I’m back at it with a list of my favorite books of 2022!

I’m not going to lie to you, I didn’t have a great reading year. I read significantly less than last year and a lot more mindless books since this year I was overwhelmed with graduating law school, taking (and passing!!!) the bar exam, and starting a full time job at a busy (but amazing) law firm. BUT I did find some diamonds in the rough:

Without further ado, the 5 books I read this year that I would ABSOLUTELY recommend under the cut:

5. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

a bunch of sociopaths cross paths and the result is lots of murder

the characters were all amoral and all SO INTERESTING

i weirdly have a crush on the MC. i want whatever she wants, even if that’s blood on her hands. like i don’t care how many people she’s killed she’s hot 

lots of twists and turns you don’t see coming. the one halfway through the book absolutely FLOORED me 

lots of really good Plotting from literally every character

the improbability of some of the coincidences is made real by the authenticity of the characters. like (hopefully) no one actually relates to them but you get them and why they’re so amoral 

the last line took my breath away

read when you wanna believe you could get away with murder 

4. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

fantasy You’ve Got Mail with a sunshine undertaker and a grumpy demi-god 

enemies to lovers!!! you know that I’m always here for that 

Hart is so fucking morose that I physically cannot. King of angst. He’s so lonely and prickly but also a sweetheart 

Mercy has got true eldest daughter syndrome and I, for one, get it 

the relationship progression was perfection!!! the book keeps the tension really really well 

the cafe scene was so heart-breaking. you will get that lurching feeling in your gut when you read it

I actually loved all the side plots. there’s a LOT going on in this book but it all weaves together really well 

there’s this interesting juxtaposition between a kinda terrifying world and the mundane reality of small-town life. it’s weirdly heavy and light-hearted at the same time??? 

this book is doing a lot but i loved everything it did 

read when you want your small town romance to have a bit of blood & magic in it

3. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

two women pretend casual will work for them. however, they are absolutely useless sapphics. so you know where this is going

Delilah is honestly a whole fucking mood. queen of peaking AFTER high school 

Claire is a sweet angel. I would have fallen in love with her too tbh

honestly i would kill for Delilah’s experience of having her step-sister (who she hates)’s best friend unknowingly hitting on her in the bar and not recognizing her. it’s icon moves 

but seriously Claire and Delilah are adorable. and hot 

my parents were having a party while i was upstairs in my bedroom listening to this audiobook. I was washing my face in the bathroom hallway listening to a SEX SCENE, and a 50 year old woman came up to use my bathroom. i cannot describe in words what we felt in that moment.

despite that mortifying context, the sex scenes were passionate and hot and well-written

there’s really good girl group representation here that i’m super into. the friendship is just as strong as the romance here, which I LOVE

i haven’t gotten to book 2 yet but this is gunna be a sapphic trilogy!! gods bless

read when you wanna feel sapphic euphoria 

2. Book Lovers by Emily Henry 

two colleagues who previously disliked one another keep running into each other in the small town they’re in for the summer and find out they’re actually the same person  

the prologue is so hilarious and genius and well-written that i knew instantly this book would be a favorite of the year

Nora is the Hallmark Christmas Movie Villain Girlfriend. The foil to the doe-eyed, small town girl that always gets the guy. She’s the one who keeps getting DUMPED by that guy. And honestly? I’ve ALWAYS related more to that girl. Seeing her get her happy ending is what I needed for my own career driven, type A soul

Charlie is a brooding book lover. Need I say more? (I was in love within 50 pages)

childfree rep!!! not at all common in romance books, and i love to see it 

miscommunication actually well-done. it all feels reasonable given the circumstances  and doesn’t make you want to punch them. rare 

i really, really enjoy Emily Henry’s adult romances. they’ve just got a depth to them that romances can easily lack. and her Emily  metaphors REALLY get me. she’s an instant-tbr author for me now 

read when you want to feel the mortifying ordeal of being known 

1. Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

A bisexual disaster goes on a reality television show to re-date her ex in order to destroy him, but ends up falling in love with her ex-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend

John Tucker Must Die but make it sapphic 

A little bit of Charm Offensive vibes (which was a 2021 top favorite!) 

Maya’s revenge plot is so fucking poorly planned but hilarious

Skye’s mommy issues and refusal to open herself hit a little too close to home but in the best way 

Jordy is such a perfect awful ex. It was so much fun to pray on his downfall 

Isaac is my hero. I will not elaborate if you know you know 

After Perfect on Paper, I knew Sophie could write GOOD bisexual rep. This book confirms that she knows what she’s about — she gave me not ONE but TWO amazing bisexuals. 

Reading this will make you laugh and blush and blast Taylor Swift songs on repeat 

Read when you wanna light your ex’s house on fire and then make out at red lights with a hot girl in the getaway car

And that's the best five out of the 110 books I read. See you in 2023 (hopefully with a top ten!) Cheers to another year of reading too much!

[shipatfirstsight]

Favorite books of 2022 11/?

[roseunspindle]

Favorite Books of 2022

Dracula Daily - Partly I enjoyed the story, but also the community of reading it with many people, seeing the comments, fanart. 

[cheezitbandit]

New year, New books! I beat my goal of 40 books with 55 this year.

Obviously I loved Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. I adore The Locked Tomb series and have total brain rot 😅 I can't wait for the final installment to release in 2023 👀

I also read R. F. Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy last year. I was blown away and she's quickly become one of my favorite authors. I picked up Babel and really enjoyed it too. Definitely keeping an eye out for her future works!

She Who Became The Sun was another one of my 2022 favorites, by Shelley Parker-Chan. I was consumed by this powerful novel and can't wait to read the sequel.

Finally, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace crafted a unique, intense sci-fi world that was easy to dive into. So good.

Additional shout-outs to Nghi Vo's Empress of Salt and Fortune (novella with gorgeous storytelling), Brandon Sanderson's Elantris (closest he'll get to Beauty and the Beast I think), and Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron (super cute romance with a great plot too).

[norelationtoatticus]

✨️2022 Favorites!✨️

Slowly (very slowly) but surely getting back into reading, and these were some of my favorite reads of 2022! (Not counting picture books...most of what I read this year was picture books lol)

🐺 Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, by Meg Long

🐙 Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt

🔪 Final Girl Support Group, by Grady Hendrix

Not pictured, but also favorites:

💜 The Queer Principles of Kit Webb and The Fantastic Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (ughhh the pacing of these books just understood me on a visceral level, such perfection)

And my favorite audio book of the year:

❤ A Kiss From A Knave, by Leslie Kelly (the audio book just came out a few weeks ago, and is amazing!!)

It's funny, I typically prefer to read ebooks. But this year, trying to rebuild time for reading into my life, I found it easier to lock into a physical copy again. This year was the first time in ages I read a hardcover.

My goal for next year is just to keep it going and read a bit more!

[wickedjr89]

(via My 22 Favorite Reads of 2022)

[taylorfennersbookishworld]

2022 Wrap Up

Hey Bookdragons! The end of the year is upon us. It feels like I did so much this year and yet so little. My Mom and I went to Deadwood in June, I came back to book blogging, I went to a 1950s car festival with my family, watched 100 horror movies in 92 days, got full time at work, and adopted a dog. On a bookish note, here are 10 of my favorite books I read in 2022, in no particular order… 1.…

[bookishluna]

Favorite Books of 2022

Favorite Books of 2022

Hello and welcome to my top 5 books of 2022! While this year I read a lot less than I usually have, I still was able to find quite a few gems. I am happy to say that within my top 5 books I have a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. I also felt like it was a lot harder to just pick five books as well. I feel like this year I was a lot more picky about what I picked up and I really focused on…

[julictcapulet]

persuasion trying to emulate fleabag’s nuance and heart that was a product of phoebe waller-bridge’s dedication to creating one of the best explorations of dissociation and grief through mental illness and completely missing the mark because they only saw it as “girlboss winking at the camera every five seconds” is the exact same energy as divergent trying to emulate the hunger games’ success as a critical exploration of a society suffering through a post-apocalyptic world modeled after late-stage capitalism because they only saw it as “badass female heroine takes down this corrupt government”

[moonkissedmeli]

literally not a single soul asked

but, i'm going to share anyway. here are my favorite reads this year in no particular order:

Fiction - Novels

Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (Honestly, a masterpiece. I can't wait to devour his entire library. Read it. No notes.)

Leo Tolstoy's "Ana Karenina" (If you're looking for your next existential crisis, here ya go.)

Donna Tartt's "The Secret History" (I know I'm super late reading this and the whole world has already been in love with it for ages, now I finally know why.)

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (In all fairness, this is on my list every year).

Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" (This is also always on my list, idec. Shelly's monster may teach you a bit about being human.)

Stephen's Fry's "Mythos" (Honestly, just a super fun read. Really good starting point if you're a budding Hellenic or into ancient Greek mythology, in my opinion. As long as you take it as a starting off point for further research and understand that he has put it together to be entertaining.)

Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights" (You will never love a book so much where 97% of the characters and their actions are entirely insufferable. You might wonder why you began, but won't be able to stop and will be grateful that you didn't. Handsomely and meticulously written, as well.)

Elizabeth Kostova's "The Historian" (Historians, anthropologists, romance, and vampires. Chef's kiss.)

Madeline Miller's "Circe" (I JUST LOVE IT OKAY)

Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" (I will never take criticism about this book. No notes, lmao.)

Fiction - Novellas

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwitch Horror"

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Lost City"

H.P. Lovecraft's "The Festival"

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla"

Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" (Every moment of this will have you saying what the actual fuck lmao)

Non-Fiction

Viktor Frankl's "A Man's Search For Meaning" (Just saying, this is written by a Holocaust survivor who is also a psychologist. There are graphic depictions of his sufferings. Major trigger warnings and all that - but, I still highly recommend as this is a really life changing book. His message and eloquence touched me in an indescribable way.)

Walter Burkett's "Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical" (Really, I recommend this as required reading to all Hellenics and those interested in ancient Greek religion.)

Dorsey Armstrong's audiobook, "Medieval Myths & Mysteries"

Lacy Collison-Morley's "Greek and Roman Ghost Stories"

Anne Baring and Jules Cashford's "Myth of the Goddess: An Evolution of an Image"

Estelle B. Freedman's "The Essential Feminist Reader"

Alexandra Kollontai's "The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman"

Bernadotte Perrin's Translation of Plutarch's "The Parallel Lives" (Juicy Roman drama).

Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations"

Robert Graves' Translation of Suetonius' "The 12 Caesars" (Juicy Roman tea, with a hint of bias though)

[shipatfirstsight]

Favorite books of 2022 12/?

[halfagony-halfh0pe]

Persuasion (2022) was trying too hard to be Emma (2020).

[magicalyaku]

Thanks for joining me on this ride through 2022! When I started my reading spree in autumn 2021 I did not expect to find so much joy (and sometimes frustation) to motivate me to write hundreds of words about books every month. I read and write what I want and because I want to, but it's nice to know that sometimes there’s actually someone interested in what I have to say. So thank you for even the small interactions. :)

I had to edit this overview like five times because whenever I thought I was done I found another book I missed. So if I counted correctly I have read a total of 93 books (written and audio, not including manga, comics and non-fiction). That is ... a damn lot! Like 6 years combined compared to before. I also reread two of those books and while editing my novel I read it two whole times. That counts, right? (That’s why there’s 94 covers up there. Because i snuck it inbetween. Because I can. uAu) Only 14 of all these books I would categorise as non-queer. Funnily enough, 6 of those I didn’t like very much. Of the remaining 75 queer books I only found 1 book really bad and I’m picky about 2 more. Huh.

On to the award ceremony! (But don’t expect laudations. I wouldn’t shut up.)

Least favourite phrase:

... it smelled like boy.

(from: The Song that moves the Sun, Darius the Great (probably the 2nd) and the third time I already blocked from my mind (Here the Whole Time???)) That sentence came up fucking three times! Seriously. WHY?! I hate it. 8D

Favourite phrase:

But we have more important things to do than hook up.

(from: The Darkness Outside Us) I laughed so hard at this sentence. Finally someone who gets it! All stupid YA heroines should listen to this.

Favourite protagonists:

Jack Shannon (Aces Wild) and Neil Josten (All for the Game)!

Favourite covers:

Least favourite books:

A Far Wilder Magic (Allison Saft) and If You Change Your Mind (Robbie Weber)

Favourite books (no order):

The Darkness Outside Us (Eliot Schrefer)

Aces Wild: A Heist (Amanda DeWitt)

The City Beautiful (Aden Polydoros)

Every Bird a Prince (Jenn Reese)

All for the Game series: (Nora Sacavic)

I Wish You All the Best (Mason Deaver)

I Hope You Get this Message (Farah Naz Rishi)

More books I greatly enjoyed:

Both can be true (Jules Machias)

A Taste of Gold and Iron (Alexandra Rowland)

The Language of Seabirds (Will Taylor)

A Complicated Love Story Set in Space (Shaun David Hutchinson)

At the Edge of the Universe (Shaun David Hutchinson)

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World (Kevin Christopher Snipes)

Little Black Bird (Anna Kirchner)

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Axie Oh)

In Deeper Waters (F.T. Lukens)

So this is Ever After (F.T. Lukens)

All that’s Left in the World (Erik J. Brown)

.... aaaand many many more! uAu

Bonus!

At the half year point I actually counted how often the protagonists names were being used throughout those different books. I felt to lazy do to it in detail for the second half, but I can still present you my preliminery count of most used names for the protagonist, love interest and possibly best friend. These came up at least 3 times!

Will/William

Matt

Nate/Nathan

Andrew/Drew

Daniel

Lame, right? 8D My favourite name choice award goes to Rosemary and Rowan from Mirrored in Evergreen by B. Pigeon!

That’s it! Phew! Thanks the universe for books! :D

[azocscreativespace]

8-12, day 14: Cryptid

The US is a scary place...

@carryon-countdown

[goliath1357]

Top 10 Books Read in 2022

[wickedcriminal]

There's this headcanon that book Hiccup has a tiny crush on Thuggory the Meathead and I think that's adorable

Also I think the chieftains and their heirs probably put on some nice dressy clothes for the Thing so I used that as an excuse to put them in nice clothes 😌