I’ve read over 500 books in 2022— here are 12 of my favorites
This year, I logged over 500 books on my Storygraph (a book tracker platform that’s just all around better than Goodreads). Some of those books were re-reads, but a lot were not and so I’ve decided to pull out a few of the books I read for the first time this year that made the most impact on me each month of 2022.
January — Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
This book got a full five stars from me in the first month of 2022. It was beautifully written and a fantastic and engaging story. I loved ever second reading this book.
February — House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2) by Sarah J. Maas
I’m sure at this point you’ve heard of Sarah J. Maas. Her books are popular on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media. This book has been long awaited ever since the first one was published 2 years ago. I loved reading this one and the twist at the end made me yell in outrage at the book.
March — Walk by Jonathan Stalls
I read a ton of books in March, but one of my favorites was Walk by Jonathan Stalls. I read this book as an ARC, and it has since been published — I highly recommend everyone read this one because it is a thoughtful book that invites the reader to look and consider how we move in the world.
April — The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
This book was just so much fun to read. This is a quick book, and the plot was unique in a way that made it feel incredibly refreshing to read a book set in the early COVID pandemic days.
May — Consumed by Aja Barber
Everyone should read this book. Barber provides a great book that explains why we need to change our consumption habits and she structures it throughout the book through “learning” and “unlearning” sections.
June — Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
This may be Kimmerer’s less well known book, but it is not any less worthwhile to read. Her writing is a joy to read and I had a joyous time reading this book and it re-kindled a love of moss and mushrooms in me again that kicked off a research binge.
July — Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
This book is an ARC coming out in 2023, but I absolutely loved reading this book. The entire book was structured in such a way that I was engaged throughout and I highly recommend what appears to be Fawcett’s first foray into adult fiction.
August — How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community by Mia Birdsong
This book is another highly recommended read and I enjoyed reading this and learning about how to better build a community. Birdsong helps the reader understand why we feel so isolated even if we are living the American dream and what we can do about it.
September — A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
If you haven’t read any of Becky Chambers’ work, I highly highly highly recommend it. The first book in this series — A Psalm for the Wild-Built is another fantastic read and both books are wonderful meditations on what our purpose might be in life.
October — Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi with Geoffrey Trousselot (Translator)
This book gets a lot of hype for a lot of good reasons and I cried reading this book. It’s a short read, but explores human grief, the desire to see your loved one one last time and human connection.
November — The Golden Enclaves (Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik
This book, this book, this book! The entire series is like a love letter to dark academia, the writing, the plot, the concept!! Novik does it again and again in this trilogy and the last book is the perfect way to wrap everything up.
December — Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
This book is a wonderful africanfuturist novel that explores what it means to be human and what it means to fight back when you aren’t sure you can even make a difference. I loved this book and Okorafor’s writing is beautiful and compelling. This was a great book to leave 2022 on for sure!
If you’ve made it this far — thanks! I’d love to hear from you what your favorite books of 2022 were, are there any you are looking forward to reading in 2023? Happy New Year everyone!
