My Favorite Books of 2022
With the year wrapping up (where did it go?!), it’s time to look back fondly, and maybe not too fondly, at the books we’ve read this year. I was fortunate enough to read 94 books this year. I can’t wait to get started on a new batch of books for 2023. Here is my list of the best/worst books I read this year. Hope you enjoy it, and don’t forget to comment below with your favorite/least favorite books you’ve read this year!
BEST
I read quite a few good books this year. Ones that I couldn’t put down and ones that I thought about long after the book ended. Some characters felt like friends that I missed. Without further ado, here are the top five best books that I read in 2022. (in no particular order)
1) Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
Loved the NXIVM docuseries on HBO? Do you want to dive deep into how Keith Raniere got these women to brand themselves for him? This book is for you! It was extremely well-researched. I went down a cult rabbit hole last year and felt like I had read everything there is to know about the psychology of cults and the different cult leaders. Montell takes an even deeper dive into what constitutes a cult. This was one I couldn't put down.
2) The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I by Lindsey Fitzharris
I usually avoid books on history (snooze fest), but this one surprised me. It's about the start of plastic surgery during World War I. It's unbelievable what these doctors could do with such little technology. If you're interested in the beginning of plastic surgery, I highly recommend this one. Brace yourself for some gruesome before and after pictures, though.
3) Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is a book I recently read within the last few weeks, and WOW! I sometimes struggle reading translated books because something gets lost in translation. I picked this book up at a bookstore in New Zealand and thought I’d give it a shot. I was sucked in from page one and transported to a small, cozy coffee shop in Japan. This sweet little book made me think about the deep meanings of the people in my life and how they each play a particular part. I went out and purchased two more of Kawaguchi’s books (thank you, Barnes and Noble 50% off sale) set in this world and cannot wait to read them. Next time I see a translated book, I will think twice before putting it back on the shelf.
4) Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy
McConaghy has a way of creating characters that are so raw and real. They feel like people from your family or the town you live in. I missed them as soon as I closed the book. Her book Migrations was one of my favorite books of the year I read it, and it had the same effects on me. I can’t wait to see what McConaghy writes next.
5) Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
I stumbled upon this book while searching for something light to read on Goodreads. After reading a series of good novels, I had expected it to be a good palate cleanser. I ended up underlining so many beautiful prose. It has the profound meaning of letting people be themselves and taking people for who they are. Expected a simple palate cleaner, and I got one of my favorite books of the year.
6) The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest by Mark Synnott
Put a good book about Mount Everest in front of me, and I’ll finish it in a matter of days. For some reason, people climbing this 29,000-foot hunk of rock in the sky fascinates the hell out of me. The climber obviously lived to write this book, but I became convinced they weren’t going to make it to the top, instead sliding down, hitting every rock on their way down to the bottom, where they would get covered by an avalanche, never to be seen again. I spend at least every two minutes of the five minutes I read searching for images on Google, getting a good grasp on where they are. Honestly, I’m kind of an Everest expert by now. It’s still on my bucket list to climb to base camp someday (sorry, Mom).
7) Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin’s Russia by Joshua Yaffa
I know nothing about Russia’s politics or history. I picked up this one to be semi-educated on what is going on in Ukraine. Russia is scary, and Putin is a maniac. It is very well researched and kept me captive the whole time. Highly recommend!
8) How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
I recommended this to a friend with a one-year-old child, and he was horrified by the children getting killed. I felt bad. So maybe don’t read this if you’re about to or have a small child. If you don’t, this one is for you! I’m soooo completely over post-apocalyptic books. They are overdone and don’t bring anything new to the table. This one, however, is really switching up the post-apocalyptic scene. It’s told in different stories from different people’s perspectives through the years after the end of the apocalypse. The ending is also a little bananas.
9) Hello, Molly!: A Memoir by Molly Shannon
Oh dear, Molly Shannon, what did we do to deserve you?! She’s been lighting up the screen (in Santa Claus 2, she was the best part of that movie), and now we have her book to savor. This was an absolute delight to read.
10) I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
*Applause, applause, applause* I was fortunate enough to see Yong on his book tour for this book a few years ago and I decided this year was the year I was ripping off the bandage and finally reading it. It was great. He’s such a talented writer (see the “Holiday Roundup” post where I obsessively talk about this book and his new book). Big Ed Yong fan here!
Worst
Luckily, I have read more books that I liked, or at least thought were entertaining, than books I loathed this year. Here’s the list of the worst books I’ve read this year. (in no particular order)
1) In the Defense of Witches: The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial by Mona Chollet, Sophie R. Lewis
Well, first off, it’s a translated book… I know, I know, I said I would stop hating on the translated books, but come on! This book wasn’t even about witches.
2) I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins
Maybe it's because I'm not a mother, but I cannot stand books about the main character being a mother and hating her life. Yeah, no shit, you aren't going to get to take a nap and travel when you want to while simultaneously losing a part of who you were before becoming a mother. It's hard for me to sympathize with them, leading to a very dull book. If you're a mother, maybe you'd like it.
3) Falling by T.J. Newman
The first 20 pages are a wild ride, and the last 284 are 284 individual hellacious trips on the It’s a Small World ride. This would have worked as a short story-a very, very short story.
4) Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett
I will admit that hating this book was entirely my fault. I’m not a massive fan of books without plots. I was warned after looking at the reviews that it was 289 pages of aimless wandering. Sometimes these types of books can be good if they are filled with well-developed characters and strong writing. This one didn’t have those.
5) Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell
Turns out I don’t give one iota about Anna Wintour. She’s kinda an awful person.
Happy New Year!
"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." -When You Were Mine by Michael Robotham
