My Favorite Books of 2022

A few years ago I discovered that the best way to read more books is to set a specific reading goal. I like winning.

My goal for 2022 was 54 books (one more than last year) and I ended up reading 66. Here are my favorites from this year (you can also read my favorites from 2021 and 2020):

Top 5 Novels

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Mandel’s books take big themes and big ideas, often across space and time, and makes them small and personal. The less you know about this book the better. Just read it.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

A love story, a comedy, a tragedy, science, feminism and the most unique heroine of the year. Just an utter delight.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

A decades-spanning story of friendship, love and art, set in the world of video game creators.

The Maid by Nita Prose

A mystery where the heroine is unreliable not because she’s lying to us but because of how she perceives the world. My favorite mystery of the year.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

At one point this summer Amazon’s recommendation engine decided I exclusively wanted to read lesbian romances. The best of them was this one, which also involves my reading catnip: time travel / time loops.

Top 5 Non-Fiction

The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone by Edward Dolnick

We saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in London this spring and I immediately had to know more. The actual story is fascinating.

Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan

I’m not even that big a fan of MMFR but the story of how that movie got made is totally bonkers. Also, special bonus points for getting not one but two colons into a single book title.

The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life by A.J. Jacobs

I’m a puzzle nerd, so this book was right up my alley. You can’t go wrong with A.J. Jacobs.

On Animals by Susan Orlean

One of America’s finest essayist’s returns with various tales from the animal kingdom.

Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins

I’m a sucker for lifestyle design books.

Best Mysteries, Old Folks Home Edition

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

The delightful book three in the Thursday Murder Club series. Read the first and second books before this one.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

A group of retired lady assassins return for one last caper. Need I say more?

Best Sci-Fi

Upgrade by Blake Crouch

At this point Blake Crouch gets graded on a curve. This is not as good as his last two books (Dark Matter, Recursion) but still darned good.

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Save the Godzilla! Completely ridiculous in the best way.

Best Thrillers with Intricate Plots Where Nothing Is As It Seems

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

A woman’s husband is kidnapped while vacationing in Lisbon. Can she get him back?

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

Trying to catch a con artist.

Best Romances, Emily Henry Edition

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Look, it’s not high literature, but if you like your meets to be cute and your unrequited love to requite, Emily Henry is a winner.

Best Creepy AF Horror Ghost Thrillers

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Part of the fun of Riley Sager is not knowing if you’re reading a mystery, horror, thriller or paranormal ghost story. I’m not going to tell you which these are.

Best Thrillers About Parents Protecting Their Children At All Costs Which Might Be Too Intense For Actual Parents to Read

The Island by Adrian McKinty

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

Two full-speed take-no-prisoners thrillers that are not in any way cozy mysteries. Great stuff but you’ve been warned.

Best Books About What We See and Don’t See

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

This is a time loop mystery so of course it made my list, but it’s also a musing on what we notice and what we miss as life goes along.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

A fictionalized story told from the point of view of a woman who is losing herself to Alzheimer’s disease. Hit very close to home.

Bonus: All the new words I learned this year

One of the fun things about reading on Kindle is that I can instantly look up new (to me) words. Here are the new words I learned in 2022:

porte cochere
architrave
Canderel
petrichor
boiler suit
Ceefax
Dogsbody
belladonna
locumming
antipodean
invigilators
admixture
loggia
jobsworth
demijohns
piste
pentacles
pareo
anthropophagous
crèches
femtosecond
limerent
fantods
Dibling
oubliette
compère
cerise
chuppah
mustelids
pontifex
novitiate
astrogator
supernumerary
jukung
cannula
Mattachine
krait
oribi
klipspringer
kopjes
adiabatic
fléchettes
ludic
sinsemilla
viridescent
kenophobia
tuberose
reticle
cicerone
oneirologist
Kármán line
quangos
sheila-na-gigs
crenellated
buddleia
burghers
machicolation
pietà
abattoir
clew
subitizing
bunyips
Plantagenet
larrikin
shebeens
taramasalata
stracciatella
escritoire
lambent
longueur
hamartia
tetrapod
dybbuks
gnostic
parricidal
recrudescence
gibbet
somatically
coterminous
taramasalata
fasces
appurtenances
bosky
piebald
snood
scrying