My Reading Year

The books I liked, loved, and loathed in 2022

Last year, I began keeping a list of the books I read or listened to during that year, along with a few notes of my reactions. I completed 55 books this year, compared to 42 last year, and my reading experience was far richer.

Some books I read this year were for pleasure, others as part of my writing practice, and others still because they were popular. Popular books are often the ones I have previously avoided in my former belief that they probably aren’t good. I’d put Charles Dickens in this category for years. If so many people like him, he must be pretty ordinary, right? It turns out that David Copperfield, as narrated by Martin Jarvis, captivated me and I was blown away with Dickens’ insights into the human psyche (James Steerforth? I know that guy). However, I didn’t get very far with Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us. I just couldn’t (unfinished books are not included in my yearly total).

It's hard to reduce my year’s reading into a neat category, so I created a few to cover the range of my experience this year.

Audiobooks

Twenty-one of the books I completed this year were audiobooks. In addition to Dickens’ David Copperfield narrated by Martin Jarvis, the audiobooks I loved this year were:

·       The End of the Affair by Graham Greene, narrated by Colin Frith

·       The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty, narrated by the author

·       City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, narrated by Blair Brown

·       A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, narrated by the author

·       Trio by William Boyd, narrated by Hannah Arterton

Australian Novels

I made a point of reading more Australian authors this year and I wasn’t disappointed. I most enjoyed:

·       The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey

·       The Strays by Emily Bitto (though I couldn’t get through her most recent book, Wild Abandon)

·       Love and Virtue by Diana Reid

·       And the yet-to-be published Walk with Me by Karen Casey

Re-Read Books

I re-read many books this year, most of which I haven’t picked up in decades. Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair was one, which I enjoyed mostly for the narration. The books that I gained a new appreciation for this year were:

·       The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (I listened to the audio version narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal)

·       My Name is Lucy Barton and Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout (I re-read both of these after reading Oh William and Lucy by the Sea this year).

·       Amy & Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout because Elizabeth Strout just rocks

·       The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (I listened to the audio version narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal)

Coming-of-Age Books

I am about to embark on my third draft of my coming-of-age novel early next year, so I’ve read or listened to as many novels in this genre as possible. The Bell Jar is above and beyond my favourite in this category and I also enjoyed:

·       What’s Eating Gibert Grape by Peter Hedges

·       Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

·       We Run the Tides by Vendela Vita

Writing Inspiration

I read many books this year on writing or books to inspire my writing. The most impactful in this category were:

·       A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

·       How Fiction Works by James Wood

·       The Writer Laid Bare by Lee Kofman

Books that Left Me Cold

I’m listing here books I read to the end. I debated with myself whether to include this category, but I find it interesting to know what books people don’t like (often, they are books I love). So, here’s my meh list:

·       My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh

·       Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso

·       Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

·       Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

·       Vladimir by Julia May Jones

·       Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

My Best Reads 2022

Finally, here are the books I most enjoyed for no reason other than they stayed with me:

·       The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

·       The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty

·       Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter (thanks for the recommendation, John Simmons!)

·       A Pale View of the Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro (also recommended by John Simmons)

·       Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

·       The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

·       City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (I recommend the audiobook read by Blair Brown)

·       The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

·       Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

·       On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks

I’d love to know your best books of the year and what I should read in 2023. Please leave me a note in the comments.

Happy new year and hope to see you here again in 2023.