These Were The 5 Best Books I Read In 2022
Four 5-star titles, and one exceptional 4-star.
2022 wasn’t my best reading year, but it wasn’t my worst.
It had nothing to do with the books I was reading, per se (I read 17 titles in total, the majority of which I rated 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads); I just wasn’t in the mood to read. Instead of cozying up with a book after work, I’d fiddle with my phone or watch YouTube. For a while there, I also got sucked into TikTok…
I guess you could say I was in a reading rut.
Heading into the new year, however, I’m excited to read again. I have so many books to dip into, and a variety of genres to explore, some outside my comfort zone. Consequently, this renewed zest for reading has inspired me to start incorporating book-focused posts into this newsletter, in a big way.
I’ll be kicking off a new series soon that I cannot wait for, so stay tuned for that.
For now, though, I think the best place to start is a “reading year in review” of sorts, highlighting my top five books of 2022. Four of these titles were 5-star stories, in my opinion. The fifth is an honorable mention; a 4-star title that, I think, deserves a shoutout.
So, without further ado, let’s get to the books (and, don’t worry, you won’t get any spoilers from me)!
Being Lolita: A Memoir by Alisson Wood
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
$18.93, amazon.com
I never read Lolita.
Well, I guess that’s not technically true. I started reading Lolita in 2021, but couldn’t get through it. It wasn’t because the content was disturbing (I knew, going into it, that it would be an uncomfortable read), but rather because Vladimir Nabokov’s writing is just not for me. Every page dragged, and I found myself re-reading passages over and over again because my mind would drift elsewhere mid-way down the page. So, I DNFed it (for those new to the reading realm, DNF means “do not finish”).
A friend and fellow literature major, Carlie Hoffman (whom you might know if you’re a fan of poetry - she’s brilliant, and you can find her work here), posted a photo of Being Lolita on her Instagram story one evening, and when I asked about the title, she said “Trust me. Read this.” So, I did.
Being Lolita is beautifully written, but gut-wrenching. It’s the real-life story of a young woman who fell in love with her young English teacher, Mr. North, who gives Alisson a copy of the original Lolita, describing it as a “beautiful story about love.” It’s more than a coming-of-age memoir; it’s a pointed narrative that forces a conversation about vulnerability, consent, grooming, power, and the abuse we can sometimes confuse for passion.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
$12.99, amazon.com
For whatever reason, I read this entire novel, cover to cover, thinking it was set in the 1980s. I couldn’t tell you why, but that’s the lens my psyche decided to see Lincoln’s story through. Clearly, I’m not mad about it.
Attachments reads like the rom-com we deserve but haven’t gotten in a while from cinema. It’s about Lincoln O’Neill, whose job is to monitor employee emails at a publication. At first, he feels weird about it. He’s morally conflicted. He needs this job, but it’s an obvious invasion of privacy, right? Right… until messages exchanged between Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder are flagged in the system, and they’re so entertaining he can’t help but read them.
And fall for one of the writers in the process, in true rom-com fashion.
This is the book you read if you’re looking for something light-hearted and funny. I devoured this book, and the entire time my eyes were glued to the page, it felt like I was watching a movie. Every detail is gold, but it’s the ending that really tugged at my heartstrings.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
$10, amazon.com
I won’t go too much into detail on Every Summer After by Carley Fortune. I wrote an entire newsletter post dedicated to this debut author’s gorgeous writing as soon as I read it. You can read me wax poetic about it here.
What I will say is this: I’ve gifted this book to my sister, I gave it to my mom to borrow, I’ve recommended it to everyone, and, here I am, recommending it again. Persephone Fraser and Sam Florek’s love story is one I will be hard-pressed to forget. It’s complicated. It’s sweet. It’s messy. It’s sexy (so, so sexy). And it’s going to put you in your feels.
Every single one of them.
The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrews
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
$12.99, amazon.com
I *met* Kelly Andrews via the #WritingCommunity on Twitter. Our threads overlapped a few times, and eventually, when I deleted Twitter, I followed her on Instagram. Boy, am I glad I did.
The Whispering Dark is Andrews’s debut novel, and it teeters on the brink of fantasy and paranormal. It’s the story of Delaney Meyers-Petrov and Colton Price; a deaf young woman who can hear the whispers of the dead, and a young man who once cheated death.
I messaged Andrews constantly as I read through this captivating work of fiction. I was in awe of her gorgeous writing, her character development, and how from the first chapter I loved Delaney and Colton and wanted them to be in love, too. I praised it then, and I’m praising it now.
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in dipping their toes into the fantasy/paranormal genre, as well as to fans of dark academia.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Photo courtesy of Amazon.
$5.74, amazon.com
OK. So, We Were Liars was strange, but it was the kind of strange I’m drawn to.
Both of my sisters read it. One, accidentally, confusing it for another title, and the other out of curiosity. It wasn’t a favorite of either one of them, so I’m thinking the story is of an acquired taste.
I won’t go into too much detail on this one, either, because I don’t want to give anything away. However, the story is told through the lens of Cadence Sinclair, a member of a very wealthy family whose M.O. is to appear perfect, no matter what dumpster fire is wildly ablaze behind the scenes. But when Cadence experiences something traumatic and is failing to remember what, exactly, happened that summer, she starts demanding details, and strives to uncover this secret her family so desperately wants to keep lock and key.
Somehow, I was not expecting the ending. I was stunned. I cried. I’d describe this work as part mystery, part psychological thriller. Don’t let it’s YA label deter you from picking it up. It’s deep and beautiful and heartbreaking and, I think, well worth the read.
My favorites this last few months have been Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy and The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave (which I believe is being made into a movie with Jennifer Garner as we speak). Need to check these out! Next up, you need to start a book club :)
Katie’s gift of Attachments was a good one!!! I’ve read 2 of these books and have a 3rd in my reading que. I am now starting The Choice by Nora Roberts.