2022 Wrap-Up

 Hello Interwebs!

After a long hiatus I am back on the blog. The end of November ended with new jobs for both me and my husband, then we had an impromptu trip to see our folks, our kid got sick, I got sick, my husband got sick and then it was time for the holidays so we're skipping all the things to bring you instead the official wrap-up for 2022. 

I had a goal to read 52 books in 2022 and I ended up reading 114 books! Some were short and graphic novels or manga, some were audiobooks but I totally believe that reading is reading no matter what you're into. 

• 56% of my books were less than 300 pages, 41% were 300-499 pages, and 4% were over 500 pages. 
• 83% were fiction and 17% were nonfiction
• Top Genres
• 42 Horror
• 25 LGBTQIA+
• 21 Fantasy
• 18 Young Adult
• 17 Thrillers
• 15 Romance
• 15 Mystery
• 15 Manga
• 12 Contemporary
• 11 Graphic Novels
• Average Rating 4.27 stars out of 5

Then I have the worst books I read in 2022. I didn't read a lot of books that were truly bad but I did have some doozies. I have a list of 9 books that are rated three stars and lower. Six of these books are 3 stars, one is a 2.5 star, one is a 2 star and one is a one star book (I changed this rating after some thought on the matter). So from best of the worst to the absolute worst I give you the worst books of 2022. 

1. Halloween Fiend by CV Hunt: I read this in October and it's not a bad book, it was just lackluster and stalled in the middle of it. As short as it was...I think it could've been shorter but still not unenjoyable. I gave this a 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
2. Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins: this is a thriller from April. This book promised rich people drama and a isolated mystery and while it had both, the thriller aspects were really not fleshed out very well. That being said the rich people drama did no disappoint and I still enjoyed it enough. This was also a 3 star read. 
   
   
   
3. A Jane Austen Christmas by Carlo Devito: this is a nonfiction book I read in December about Christmas traditions in the regency and how Jane Austen spent her Christmases. This was short but also boring so 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
4. Riverman: An American Odyssey by Ben McGrath: this was a book recommended by the Outside magazine book club immediately after I joined when they did a special event with Cheryl Strayed for the anniversary of Wild. This book was fine but super boring, especially for a story about a mysterious man who traveled the waterways in a canoe. I don't remember hardly anything at all about this book really: 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
5. Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell: this was a literati book club pick in August and I'd read I am, I am, I am by the same author earlier in the year and loved it. This was boring and I had a hard time following the storyline and exactly none of the characters were likeable or sympathetic. I didn't care about any of them or what happened to them. 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
6. Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon: this is a romance/erotica about a blue alien on an ice planet and a human woman. This book was short, smutty and ultimately boring. Will not continue with the series but not 100% mad I read it but definitely not worth the hype. 3/5 stars. 
   
   
   
7. The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury: this is a young adult Halloween story and I really didn't care for this. This book felt very white focused and all the moments in other cultural practices tied to Halloween ended up feeling very "othered". I gave this a 2.5 star rating and the whole book made me feel a little ick.
   
   
   
8. Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester: this book was so disappointing. I loved the premise and it was a book I was so excited about being released in 2022. I ended up really disliking this. The relationship between mother and daughter was lackluster, the monster not fleshed out well, the story was rushed and felt incomplete. I don't think this book would've been quite so bad if I hadn't been so disappointed in it. 2/5 stars. 
   
   
   
9. Nine Lives by Peter Swanson: this is it, the worst book I read in 2022. This is a thriller that is a retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie but this book was done so poorly, it spoils the entirety of the Agatha Christie novel early on and gives you no character development, no reason you should care about anyone-none of the victims, the killer, the original story, nothing. It was boring and it was obvious and I didn't care one bit about any of it. Save yourself some time and do not pick this book up. I think this book will put Swanson on my do not read author list. 1/5 stars.
   
   
   

Next we have the much more fun grouping, my FAVORITE books of 2022. While I didn't read a bunch of really bad books I did read a bunch of books that I absolutely loved. I have a list of ten books that were all 5 star reads and are my best books of 2022. From worst of the best to the best of the best here they are. 

1. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: this is a cozy fantasy that my husband and I listened to in the care when we went to the valley. This is about an Orc who decides she's done adventuring and instead opens a coffee shop. Once she starts her endeavor she attracts a band of a different sort to help her in her endeavor. I loved this book it's such a feel good cozy kind of book that makes you want to curl up with a book and a hot drink in a cozy Starbucks somewhere.
   
   
   
2. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: this is a romance about a grad student who ends up in a fake dating relationship with a doctoral advisor at her university that becomes a real relationship. I love me some fake dating and I loved Adam and Olive so much. This was such a great book and I loved it. 
   
   
   
3. Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. This is a thriller about two men in Georgia: one white, one black, who's sons were married to each other before their murders so the fathers join forces to figure out what happened to them and to get justice for their sons. This book was so good. The relationship between the two men and their relationship with their estranged sons and their ways of making amends for those shortcomings was so great. 
   
   
   
4. Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix: this is one of two nonfiction books on this list. This is all about the rise of horror fiction in the publishing industry and the different phases publishing went through. This book was so great. It was informative but also funny and interesting. I highly recommend. 
   
   
   
5. Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake: this is a queer romance about Delilah Green who has returned to her hometown to be the photographer for her step-sister's wedding and one of her step-sister's friends who is a single mother who owns a bookshop. This was my favorite romance of the year and I preordered the sequel almost immediately. 
   
   
   
6. Goddess of Filth by V Castro: this is a horror book that I read in October and discovered a new author. This is kind of like The Craft but in the séance held by these teenage girls one ends up a vessel for a Central American goddess who punishes sinners. I loved this book so much and I am excited to read more from her. 
   
   
   
7. Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare: I finally read this YA slasher about a town where during a party in a cornfield the town's 'mascot' Frendo walks among them slaughtering teens. This is everything I love in a slasher and I almost immediately read the sequel. I also follow the author on TikTok and I highly recommend that as well. 
   
   
   
8. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner: this is the other nonfiction on this list. This is a memoir by a Korean-American woman (who grew up in my neck of the woods) and her discovery of herself through food and the loss of her mother and her complicated relationship with her own ancestry. This book is breathtaking and heartbreaking and I binged the audiobook and highly recommend it. 
   
   
   
9. What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher: this is the only book I've ever won in a Goodreads giveaway and I loved it so much. This is a retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe and I really thought this would be the best book I read this year and I am so excited to keep reading from her. 
   
   
   
10. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney: this is a thriller and another retelling of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie just like my worst book of the year oddly enough. This is about the Darker family who have come to the grandmother's isolated house on Halloween Eve for the grandmother's birthday and as the clock strikes midnight the first member of the family si found dead and one more person dies every hour counting down to when they can escape the island. The plot twist in this was amazing and this was just great. 
    
    
    

I also have two honorable mentions which are also five stars but are rereads so I didn't put them on my list. 

• Simon Snow Trilogy by Rainbow Rowell (Carry On, Wayward Son, Anyway the Wind Blows): Any Way the Wind Blows was a first time read but the trilogy itself was a reread and I absolutely love this trilogy and this world and this will always be one of my big comfort reads. 
  
  
  
• Beartown by Fredrik Backman: I listened to this on audible since the final book in the trilogy came out and I loved this book just as much on the reread/relisten. 
  
  
  

So finally I have my goals from the beginning of the year, let's see how we did. 

1. Read at least 12 nonfiction books this year (about 1 a month): I read a total of 14 nonfiction books, mostly memoirs still but I really enjoyed them. 
2. Listen to more audiobooks: I listened to 24 audiobooks this year which is really great for me. I'm hoping to listen to more in 2023. 
3. Read more of my backlist instead of just new. I have a kindle unlimited subscription which I read 4 books straight off that (and more that I read digitally using that that I also owned as a hardcopy book). I also got 20 books from the library either physically, digitally or audio. And I read 34 books that I owned prior to 2022 (this does not include books I borrowed either from the library or Libby or a friend). 
4. Blog more consistently. We all know this is a fail. 

So that's everything about 2022. I'm hoping as always that 2023 is a better year in every way. 

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Richelle