Another year, another list. I am so pleased with my year of reading, but can you tell I have a difficult time narrowing my favorites down to a Top Ten list? I decided to include the 4.5-star reads since they are so close to perfection.
While I didn't reach my Goodreads goal of 75 books, averaging more than one book a week is pretty good for me. With travel and my husband's health scare, it's a wonder I got that many read.
Here are the fun stats:
Total Books Read: 60
Print Books: 43
ebooks: 1
Audio Books: 16
Female Authors: 47
Male Authors: 13
New-To-Me-Authors: 23
Fiction: 49
Nonfiction: 11
General Fiction: 28
Classics: 1
Poetry: 1
Historical Fiction: 7
Horror: 2
Travel/Food: 2
Science Fiction/Fantasy: 1
Mystery/Thrillers: 10
Childrens: 1
Memoir: 8
Rereads: 5
ARCs: 6
Borrowed: 4
Gift: 1
From My Stacks: 49
Total Pages Read: 14,460
Total Hours Listened: 180 hours and 11 minutes
Ratings:
5 stars: 10
4.5 stars: 10
4 stars: 15
3.5 stars: 5
3 stars: 16
2 stars: 4
Top Picks of 2022 (in no particular order):
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (5/5)
Taste by Stanley Tucci (5/5)
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (5/5)
The Absolutist by John Boyne (5/5)
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher (5/5)
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson (5/5)
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (5/5)
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker (5/5)
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett (5/5)
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell (5/5)
The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve (4.5/5)
Water Like Stone by Deborah Crombie (4.5/5)
Setting Free the Kites by Alex George (4.5/5)
Monogamy by Sue Miller (4.5/5)
A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson (4.5/5)
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (4.5/5)
Sailing by Starlight by Rod Scher (4.5/5)
House Lessons: Renovating a Life by Erica Bauermeister (4.5/5)
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett (4.5/5)
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (4.5/5)
My plans for 2023 include reading several of the "chunksters" on my shelves, as well as taking part in my favorite reading challenges (20 Books of Summer & Nonfiction November). I have acquired quite a few new books this past year, many of which were on several bloggers' "Best Of" lists for 2021 & 2022. We'll see just how many I can get to!
Find my complete 2022 list (with links to all reviews) here.
Find my previous Year End Surveys and Top Pick lists here.
I just got a copy of We Begin at the End and am really looking forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteHelen, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I still think about the characters...
DeleteYeah you had a good reading year. Several on your list I'd like to get to: of course Rod's book (my husband liked it a lot), Mary Lawson's novel, The Shell Seekers, and Damnation Spring look especially good. I'm a bit slow to the start of this year. This move & house selling has got me ... busy. Happy reading in 2023! Cheers.
ReplyDeleteSusan, looking back on each month's summaries, I feel like 2022 was one of my best years of reading. So many wonderful books! The books you mentioned that you would like to read are all so wonderful. My book group is reading Damnation Spring, so I'll get to reread it before that discussion. I would also love to reread A Town Called Solace. It's fairly quick, and I came to care about the main characters. Rod's book is one I could easily read a second time. It's very compelling!
DeleteI'm sure you are filled with all sorts of stress with the move and selling the house. Hope you can escape into some good books!
You have so many titles I have enjoyed as well as titles I am planning for 2023. GREAT list!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tina. I hope 2023 is just as good with regard to good books!
DeleteWith all that you had going on it's wonderful that you had such a great reading year! Very curious to hear about your chunkster project! I have some on my shelf but they are the last ones I think about reaching for! I'm so glad to see a Jodi Picoult book that got 4.5 stars on your list. The last one I read by her was such a disappointment but I'll have to look for this one instead. She's a bit hit or miss for me.
ReplyDeleteIliana, I'm really quite pleased with how many great books I read this past year. As far as the chunkster project, I'm currently reading two books with over 600 pages. I have about eight more (which are probably that large) that I'd like to read this year. We'll see if I have the stamina to devote so much time to them. I may go from a 60 book per year stat to a dozen or so. That would feel very odd.
DeleteI've read and loved so many of these! Quite a few others I want to read, hopefully this year. Picoult's novel is on my kindle thanks to a daily deal... haven't read her in years. I'd like to read Damnation Spring and We Begin at the End soon, too!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, Picoult's book was so good, and so creative. It's one that's worthy of a book group discussion. Damnation Spring was simply outstanding. My book group is discussing it later in the year, so I'll happily give it a second reading. I can see reading We Begin at the End more than once, too. You're in for some good reading!
ReplyDeleteYay! I own a copy of Damnation Spring! Maybe, JoAnn and I will read it at the same time.
ReplyDeleteCare, I hope you & JoAnn both read and enjoy this novel as much as I did! I'm looking forward to reading it again for my book group discussion in November. That's so far off that it won't feel too familiar.
DeleteIt looks like you had a great reading year, Les! I have heard such good things about Four Winds. I am glad to see you enjoyed it. Good luck with your reading goals this year! I would like to get to some of my chunksters this year too.
ReplyDeleteThe Four Winds is such a great story, Wendy! If you've read and enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath, you might enjoy Hannah's book.
DeleteIt has been years since I read an Anita Shreve book, and she used to be at the top of my list. I need to look for this book, I think.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had such a good reading year, Les.
Deb, it was such a good book. It's usually hit-or-miss for me with Shreve's books, so I was very happy that I enjoyed this one so well. I'm hoping to read more of her earlier books that I missed when they were first published.
Delete2023 is going to be more about quality than quantity, I think. It's the year of BIG books for me!
Would you believe, I haven't read any of these. I am interested in Taste, tho.
ReplyDeleteHarvee, Taste was very good in print, and I hear that the audibook is also worthwhile. I adore Stanley Tucci!
Delete