I’m excited to bring you my list of my top ten favorite books of 2022. Making top ten book lists is a tradition of mine dating all the way back to 1999! In the early years, I just e-mailed my list to a small group of friends and family - then added more and more recipients over the years, then started posting to facebook, then on this blog, and a few years ago I started a bookstagram account and started posting my list on there too! So clearly more and more people have seen my list as the years went on.
And it’s not just the audience that has increased - so has the amount of books I read a year. Back in 1999, I read just 53 books, which means my top 10 represented almost 20% of books I read that year. Well, this year I read an astounding 217 books, which means my top ten represents less than 5% of the books I read this year! No wonder this list was so darn hard to narrow down! I had three books this year which I gave 5 stars to, so those were automatic selections for this list. But I also had 20 books which I awarded 4.5 stars. So to choose between those, it was a combination of how the books affected me, how much they have stayed with me, and how much I have recommended them to other people, and a little dash of gut feeling. And just like last year, choosing the final book was the most painful part!
As a reminder, these are books I read in a particular year, not necessarily books which were published that year - though most of these were in fact published in 2022.
Without further ado, my ten most favorite of the year, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name:
The Light Pirate - Lily Brooks- Dalton
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
A Little Hope - Ethan Joella
Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka
The Matchmaker’s Gift - Lynda Cohen Loigman
Count the Ways - Joyce Maynard
Nora Goes Off Script - Annabel Monaghan
This Time Tomorrow - Emma Straub
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill - One of my three 5 star books this year. This book is set in the 1950s and 60s in a world just like our own - except that some women have been spontaneously transforming into dragons. No one talks about it and the government tries to cover it up, but our protagonist, Alex, first saw it happen when she was just 4 years old. The book is told as the older Alex reminiscing about her childhood and how it was affected by the dragonning, interspersed with bits of news articles and scholarly writing about it. I know some people will hear dragons and think “nope, I’m not a fantasy reader, this book is not for me,” but I implore you to give it a chance! We’re not talking about a book where fae and elves are romping in magical woods (not that there’s anything wrong with that; I like those books too.) Rather, it is very much grounded in reality and with powerful emotions and messages - think of the dragons as metaphors. It’s a book about rage and joy, about love and fear, about sexism and feminism, about truth and lies, about trauma and healing, about being different and belonging, and above all, about family. And it is truly a masterpiece and one which will sit with me for a long, long time.
The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton - Wow, this book! I don’t want to say too much about the plot because I don’t want to spoil it, but I guess I would classify it as part of the relatively new genre of climate fiction. It takes place in the not too distant future in Florida, where rising waters and increasingly intense storms threaten the area. Each section of the book jumps forward in time, as conditions get increasingly bad and more dystopian. But it’s so much more than that too - a beautifully written, literary, character-driven story. It was a tiny bit of a slow starter for me, but then I was totally hooked and totally engrossed. Warning, it’s definitely a heartbreaking one - I cried multiple times, including the sobbing at the end that’s often the mark of a great book for me, and it was also scary because the climate change stuff feels so realistic and eerily plausible. If you liked Charlotte McConaghey’s Migrations and/or Once There Were Wolves, or California by Edan Lepucki, or even Where the Crawdads Sing, then give this one a try. It’s also a great discussion book; I can see why the Good Morning America Book Club picked this as their December pick. One of my last reads of the year, this one threw me into a tizzy because I loved it so much I thought it belonged on this list - but having just read it, could I trust that it wasn’t just recency bias? But I decided to throw caution to the wind and just go with it because I feel like it will indeed stick with me.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - The publisher describes this novel as being about a female chemist named Elizabeth Zott in the 1950s and 60s who sort of accidentally becomes the host of a cooking show - and while that’s true, that just doesn’t really capture all of what this book is - a charming and marvelous character novel which made me feel all the emotions - from laughing at the things characters said, inspired by the book’s feminist message, angry at the sexism and misogyny Elizabeth experiences, sad at some tragic things that happened, all the way back to happy at this great story. Elizabeth is an indelible character, but the book is full of other wonderful quirky characters too, including one of the best dog characters ever.
A Little Hope by Ethan Joella - This beautifully written book takes place over about a year in a town in Connecticut, told from the perspective of a number of different but interrelated characters - husbands and wives, coworkers, exes, etc. Some we only see one chapter from their point of view, some several, but they all recur in other people’s chapters though each chapter, and this initially threw me, yet I had no trouble keeping track of who was who and became so emotionally invested in all of them. Indeed, I feel like I could have read a whole book about any of them - and it was so well done that I almost feel like I did since each character was brought more vividly to life in their short sections than some authors do in an entire book. And oh the emotions this book made me feel! Yes, like the title says, it gives you a little hope, but there’s a lot of really sad stuff in the book as well and it gave me all the feelings - and lots of crying. So well written, it’s hard to believe it was a debut! This came out in 2021 but I only got to it this year, and then I also read Joella’s 2022 novel A Quiet Life which I also adored. It was also 4.5 stars to me but I liked this one just a smidge more - but I HIGHLY recommend both!
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka - My first five star book of this year, this one has really stayed with me and I imagine it always will. In a word - this book is amazing. Don’t be afraid of the title - this book is not what you think. It’s a novel centered around a serial killer on death row on the day of his execution - but yet it is not at all what you might think of when you hear that description. It’s not gory or a mystery or thriller, and nor is it a book taking a political stance on the death penalty. Instead, it is an incredible character study and just a beautifully written novel. It alternates the day of execution POV of the murderer told in the very unusual second person, and his own flashback memories, with chapters through time from the perspectives of different women who came into contact with him during his life, which really are more about illuminating them as people than they are about him. I found all the characters fascinating and real-feeling, and the book is incredibly compelling in a can’t put it down way, even though there definitely are some disturbing parts. But it is also incredibly thought-provoking and made me feel so many emotions. I read this with my virtual book club, and not only did we have an amazing discussion, I think every single one of us gave it 5 stars, which literally never even comes close to happening in a group of 13 readers with very diverse tastes.
The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman - An absolutely delightful dual time period historical fiction/family saga with just a touch of magical realism and a little romance. It starts in 1910, when young girl Sara is traveling with her family to the US to settle on the Lower East Side, and discovers she has a gift to see when two people are a perfect match for each other. Much to the dismay of the traditional older male matchmakers of the community, she just can’t help using her gift to bring people together. Her story alternates with that of her granddaughter Abby in 1994, who is early in her career as a divorce lawyer. When her beloved grandma Sara dies, she finds out more about Sara’s past as a matchmaker - and much to her shock, discovers she just might have the gift herself. I loved everything about this book! I love dual time period historical fiction, especially ones like this book where the more modern day story is just as compelling as the historical one. And the book did a wonderful job of bringing the Lower East Side of the early 20th century to life. Plus as a Jewish New Yorker myself, how could I not love this book and its Jewish representation? Most historical fiction that involves Jews is about the Holocaust, and as important as that topic is, it’s just so refreshing to read a book that is about the more ordinary day to day Jewish life in America. Loved seeing the little love stories of all the past and eventually present day matches as well. Such a charming and heartwarming book!
Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard - This lovely novel covers decades in the life of main character Eleanor, from her teens through marriage and life with three young kids all the way through her 50s, and in such an intimate and emotional way. It’s a book that is often sad, but breaks your heart in the most beautiful way, with the most vivid and memorable characters, and gorgeous and poignant writing. It was a bit on the long side for a quiet domestic drama, but I couldn’t put it down. Given that I’d never read her before, I missed this one when it came out last year, but several of my trusted reading friends read it this year and raved about it so I picked it up on their recommendation, and they were absolutely right. It was just such an emotional read and the characters felt so real.
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan - In this novel, single mom Nora is a screenwriter of tv romance movies, who turns her abandonment by her husband into a more serious movie script which is being made into a big screen movie - which leads her to meet Hollywood leading man Leo when a few days of filming are done on location on her property. I love mom coms and I love rom coms, so no surprise I loved this book which is both - a mom rom com perhaps? š But I didn’t just love it, I LOVED it! I loved Nora, I loved her kids who were precocious while also being realistic, I loved Leo, I loved the story which was both predictable and surprising in all the ways you would want such a book to be, and I loved all the feels it gave me! My favorite romance of the year and one I’ve recommended countless times and to countless people this year.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub - Another 5 star book for me! When the book starts, main character Alice is about to turn 40, treading water in her career and relationships and dealing with a very ill father. Then, on the eve of her 40th birthday, she wakes up back in 1996 on her 16th birthday! How did she get there, how will she get back, and what happens if she changes things are all questions you’ll have to read this book to find out! There are just so many things to love about this book. First, I love a good time travel plot and this one was just so well-done, thoughtful and deeply human and emotional. The 90s references were also spot on - I was a bit older than Alice in 1996 but every reference, from Sassy magazine to Reality Bites abs more rang true for me. Plus, the book is set in NYC and I moved to NYC in 1996 so the nostalgia factor was just so good. There were also just so many great lines in this one, I’m not one who usually highlights when reading but I found myself taking pictures of pages with some of my favorite quotes! I also loved that Alice’s journey was not just about her love life, but that her relationship with her best friend but even more so her relationship with her dad was the centerpiece of the book. And this book absolutely wrecked me emotionally - my reviews of my favorite books often mention my crying, and I finished this one with the badge of honor - a neck soaking wet with my tears! I love Emma Straub’s writing - her book Modern Lovers was one of my top 10 books of 2016, and I loved All Adults Here and The Vacationers as well, but this was definitely her best book yet!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - This terrific novel starts with Sadie and Sam meeting in a hospital when they are kids, then follows their individual lives, their friendship, and their working partnership as they design a video game and then start a video game company together. Don’t worry if you’re not a video gamer - the book is about so much more than that, with two prickly and flawed main characters that you grow to care for so much, as well as many great side characters as well. And the writing is so wonderful, literary and lyrical, that even the video game descriptions come to life in a way that I truly felt like I could picture them and wanted to play them. I didn’t find this slow although it was over 400 pages - I could not put it down even though it was a quiet literary book, I just was so invested in the characters and the world and the emotions it made me feel. And yes, I cried. The third of her books to make one of my top ten lists after The Storied Life of AJ Fikry (which was also one of my favorite 20 books of 20 years of top ten lists) and Young Jane Young, but what impresses me even more is that each one is so different! I will say this book seems to be a bit divisive; people either love it or find it too slow. Count me firmly in the love it camp!
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A few other interesting things about these books:
Genres - this list has five contemporary fiction novels (one with a bit of time travel), three historical novels (two of which have fantasy elements as well), one romance, and one climate fiction/dystopian.
Repeat authors - This list marked the second appearance by Emma Straub and the third appearance by Gabrielle Zevin. Many of the other authors were new to me or even debut novels.
Author gender - Last year male authors with over-represented on my top ten list, but this year features just one male novelist and 9 female.
Netgalley/ARCs - Two of these books I received for free from Netgalley and one I received a physical ARC from the publisher, but this did not in any way affect my opinion. Just like it didn’t affect my opinion that the publishers denied me for many of these on Netgalley. š
Publication year - Two of these books were published in 2021 (A Little Hope and Count the Ways); the rest came out in 2022.
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Note that I give all these posts the tag "Top 10," so you should be able to click on the label "Top 10" at the bottom of the post and see all my other Top 10 posts. (If you are reading this on your phone and can't see labels, you can switch to web view instead of mobile view and you should be able to see them.) And if you just want to see all my old Top 10 lists, you can also click through to my Goodreads profile - I have a separate shelf for each of my old lists.
And if you have an Instagram account and are not already doing so, you can follow my bookstagram account at https://www.instagram.com/electric_bookaloo/ where I post book-related stuff almost every single day from reviews to anticipated books to other book features. In the coming days on there, I’ll also be highlighting my other favorite books of 2022 which didn’t quite make the cut for my top ten.
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