Favorite read of the year
Year 2022. So far-I’m 21 books in, not counting reading and rereading my own drafts of Year One as I continue to work with my editors in preparation for its mid-2023 release.
Below is a list of all the books I’ve lived through this year, along with (extremely) brief reviews. Do we have any in common?
A Fall of Marigolds: I started this book last year but finished in January 2022. I’m partial to immigration history so I liked it for all its thorough research of the Ellis Island.
The Septembers of Shiraz: I got this book in a Secret Santa type book exchange and it took my breath away. Highly recommend for those with interest in history and Iranian revolution.
Woman No. 17: a trip of a book! Great especially for mothers with children with special needs because it is raw in its honestly about such relationships. Almost painfully so. Really made me look in the mirror.
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes: the biggest disappointment of the year for me (well, book-wise, anyway). I had such high hopes based on reviews but it fell so achingly flat. Everything about it was predictable, and all characters one-dimensional and undeveloped. Do not recommend.
Rodham: a very neat concept! Take a real (and huge!) person, and imagine if they’d taken a different path in life. Mind blown! Recommend for its gutsiness.
The Lost Daughter: painfully good. I had to read it in short bursts because swallowing so much genuine and relatable emotion was uncomfortable. Highly recommend to mother’s of daughters.
Signs of Survival: this is middle school appropriate and I picked it up at a school Scholastic Book Fair. A tale of two sisters living through the Holocaust alone, without parents, and one of the sisters is deaf. It’s a great introduction on the subject as it’s not terribly graphic for younger readers. Great lesson in resiliency.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: fascinating read, written by a Nobel Prize Winner. Probably my first by a Polish author. Highly recommend. Wonderful humor and absurdism.
The Personal Librarian: what a fascinating story! Just a jewel among historical fiction novels. So wonderfully researched! Both respect and authenticity were palpable. Recommend.
I Must Betray You: Highly recommend to anyone with an interest in what went on behind the Iron Curtain. I had no idea that Romania had it this bad! Technically, this is a YA novel but it’s too good for adults not to read it due to genre designation alone.
All’s Well: Chronic pain and Shakespeare! What a gripping, enthralling read. Everything about it is just so masterful! Definitely my top read of the year. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys an expertly written psychological thriller.
The House Across the Lake: I used to be Riley Sager fan but this was a disappointment (his last one too, unfortunately). The storyline is no longer original (with so many books with traumatized, unreliable female narrators) and the paranormal resolution felt like a copout. Riley Sager has done better.
The Sentence: I really wanted to love this book but it didn’t happen. There were parts of it that I downright loved but, overall, there was just too much going on. It simply couldn’t make up its mind as to what it wanted to be. Additionally, I feel like marketing got in the way on this one: it was sold as a story about a haunted book store. That’s not what we got, though
Lilac Girls: another historical fiction for me this year. What a story! Again, real people as inspiration, treated with much respect by the author. If you have an interest in WWII history, you’ll appreciate this book.
Shmutz: it’s not my first novel about a young girl in an ultra orthodox Jewish community rebelling, but this one is different. Very different. A very unique coming of age story. Recommend.
Run Time: After reading 56 Days, I am Ms. Howards’s number 1 fan! This was a fun trip.
When No One is Watching: this had some gripping Get Out vibes but then veered too far into the grotesque, even given the genre.
There are Jews in my House: close second for the favorite read of the year for me. Short stories are hard to write so when you find a good set, you do a little dance. If you enjoy immigrant lit, check this out. I loved this collection so much, I am reading one of the author’s novels right now.
All That I Am: Anna Funder’s Stasiland is one of the most formative books of my life (seriously), and this novel has been on my radar for a while. I’m glad I finally read it. I’ve read a considerable amount about WWII but I’ve never read anything about the brave resistance by exiles. All based on real events and real people! Recommend if you have an interest in historical fiction and the history of WWII.
Suburban Hell: I mean, I wanted an easy read, and I got an easy read. Fairly mindless but good entertainment.
The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem: very different from other novels I usually read, but I was very much into it. It’s kind of a saga, maybe even a soap opera, but very engaging and entertaining. I loved the character development and the slow revelation of perspectives. Nothing in life is black and white and the author here did a pretty good job of capturing the grays.
Currently, I’m reading Still Here: A Novel, and listening to The Cabin at the End of the World. I’m not sure if I’ll sneak these in right under the wire as 2022 comes to a close but so far, I like both. Will share more…potentially in my next round up.
What are some of your favorites this year? Anything you’d recommend?