![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
year in books 2022
happy new year! i'm late in doing this because i'm busy and just had lot of stressful things i need to see about, but i had to make time for doing it because it's become tradition. as always, this is a little all over the place, and i'm sure i get incoherent and make a lot of typos. that's probably tradition too at this point.
so first, here's my huge spreadsheet with all my 2022 reads. i generated some charts that i'll stick in at the bottom for fun visuals. i usually also link goodreads' year in review thing, but their numbers are off because they don't have page counts for all the books, and it wasn't able to include a book i beta read for a friend, so i'll just add in a few questions below.
Number Of Books You Read: 330. as always, disclaimer that lots of those are short. 89 of them are less than 200 pages. but also i don't have a life, all i do is read. ✌️🏿
Number of Pages Read: 95,262 pages
Average Book Length: 288 pages
My Average Book Rating: 3.41 stars
Number of Re-Reads: 24. way more than usual!
Genre You Read The Most From: as always, contemporary romance, with 107 books.
Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2022?
last year, i had a number of favourites but a clear winner. this year, it was even easier to pick my best. i only had two full 5 star reads, and the first was something that i read pretty early in the year (my only other non-reread 5 star was my last book of the year). even then, i was certain that nothing would top this. i don't do 5 star predictions and i don't go into many books with expectations of any kind, but even before i finished the first chapter, i knew that this would be something special. and i was right. this made me feel so many things, kinda blew me away. and okay, do i feel a little silly that the book i'm talking about like it changed my life is actually devil wears prada fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off? MAYBE SO. but i still really fucking loved it. the lily and the crown. i loved everything about this so fucking completely. sci-fi romance about a lonely young botanist who falls for her new slave/assistant, a mysterious older woman who's not quite what she seems. do not @ me. i'm still jenny slate screaming on a couch about this one.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
legends & lattes. i liked this, but the way everyone was gagging over it, i expected to love it? and i didn't. like i said, i hardly ever go into books with any sort of expectations, but the way this was pitched (low stakes fantasy, coffee shop, very cute, lots of found family, f/f romance) made me think it would be perfect for me and i did let myself get excited. and it was really nice? but not amazing. i feel like it scored a solid 6.5 in all categories, but not a single 10. maybe if i'd heard nothing about this, i'd have had more success with it. also, not trying to be mean, but i have to wonder: all the girlies who keep saying that all the f/f they read is too ~soft and sweet~, are they all just reading this? lol. i was also VERY sad that i didn't love the devil you know like i expected i would. the first book in the series, hell's belle, is one of my favourites of the year, because even if it has a lot of my writing pet peeves, it was really creative and action packed and fun and had SUCH a good (relatively) slow burn romance. i was so excited to see where the second book took things? said second book ended up being boring and tiresome and frustrating as hell, with none of the charm i expected. i was pretty let down.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
a lesson in vengeance. i really really enjoyed lee's feverwake duology; i don't read a lot of YA anymore but those books really got to me, last year or whevever it is i read them. i thought a witchy sapphic mystery would be just the thing from this author. but i was, sadly, unpleasantly surprised by the turns this took. and truly, even though my kneejerk reaction in the moment was to toss this book across the room, it really wasn't bad? it just zigged in a pivotal moment where i was expecting a zag. and i really don't want to frame what the book did as a flaw, because it definitely wasn't. it was just unpleasant, not what i wanted, and definitely not what i needed. i'll still read their other books! for surprising in a good way, there’s learn the rules. i DNF'd a couple books from this author before; not for any huge reason, but just because the writing and characters reeeeeally were not my jam. but i got this one free during a pride promo, and on impulse tried it immediately, thinking i'd just put it down if it was a bust like the others. but then i finished this in less than a day, which is pretty rare for me with books i have to read with my eyes. it was SO GOOD, i sped through it. even though it was more on the erotica side, the friends to lovers romance between the guys was just SO strong, so believable, and it's an interrogation of kink in a way i really like. i was very pleasantly surprised; finishing the series is high on my list of priorities for this month.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
for once, i don't think i have an answer for this. a lot of the books i loved this year would only appeal to very specific audiences, and i'm loathe to recommend things too widely if i don't know that people in my circle will actually enjoy it. like, i love age gaps and obsession, and understandably, not everyone digs those things. if we're reaching, i think my review for the murder of roger ackroyd might have convinced a goodreads friend to read it? at least i hope so. it's probably my favourite christie mystery so far; really satisfying. honestly, if you're into that kind of old time detective/sidekick mystery, the kind that gives you clues, and you as the reader can play along, i'd really rec this. this was the book where i really started liking poirot.
5. Best series you started in 2022? Best Sequel of 2022? Best Series Ender of 2022?
best starter: hell's belle. as aforementioned, it sadly, didn't live up to that great start, but i still can't get over how much i loved this paranormal/action romance. it had a lot of themes and tropes that i really love, a certain paranormal creature i go nuts for, and a love interest who made me SWOON. best sequel: when the tiger came down the mountain. the first book in this series, about a travelling cleric who collects stories, had so many elements i love, but the way it came together didn't work for me. THIS, on the other hand, read like it was completely tailor made for me. i love stories within stories, i love self-referential stuff, i loved the tigers and all their interjections. this is not a romance, but the romance in this made me [meme of person shaking something like a ragdoll]. falling in love with your food needs to be a new romance subgenre. i need to reread this soon, because i do think it might move from 4.5 to 5 stars. best ender: a warrior's tale. i put off finishing this series for EIGHT YEARS and now that i have i want to sob in relief because i loved it so much. coming of age, warrior/apprentice, simple but LOVELY writing, one of the few books that prioritises motherhood but talks about it in a way that DOESN'T feel alienating to me, a woman without a single motherly bone in her body. it's something i get really sensitive about, haha, so i notice it a lot in books. and certain things happen in this book, and characters react to certain things in ways that just... again, this was something that literally felt like it was written FOR me. #bless
6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2022?
for this question i try to stick to authors that i read from more than once, since it seems unfair to determine favourites based on only one book. with that stipulation, i have to mention alison cochrun. the charm offensive was super cute and sweet, full of cinnamon rolls. and god, i loved kiss her once for me even more. her characters are so simple and real, and i like the way she talks about mental health, and her romances just make my heart so full. smiling at nothing, literally kicking my feet in bed kind of happy. this year, i also read isabel murray for the first time, and her romances are so unique. the merman one read like an alien romance, it was so unorthodox. and her romcom was actually funny. definitely will be reading more from her. i could also mention roslyn sinclair here, but i don't want to bring her up for every answer, lol.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
i wouldn't say litfic is out of my comfort zone, but i definitely don't read much of it these days. with that in mind: the death of vivek oji. talk about a punch to the fucking solar plexus. i don't seek out books that make me cry, and i never will, and when so many recommendations for this book talk about how sad it is, it made me hesitant. i mean, it's in the title. but god, this was hand-to-throat beautiful. haunting, with beautiful language, amazing characters, heartbreaking circumstances. also in the literary fiction vein, just above my head (which coincidentally also has to deal with the death of a black queer person and the resultant grief of those left behind). i've always been able to appreciate beautiful writing for its own sake, but baldwin's writing has this added... power? that sounds trite but idk what other word to put to it. i always feel laid low by his prose. again, i really don't seek out sad books; i don't WANT to feel uncomfortable and sad when i read. but i'm so glad i read this.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
the guest list. i didn't actually like this one very much, but it easily gets the 'compulsively readable' stamp. exquisite was another book that had me glued to it, and i couldn't put it down until i finished it. and i really liked this one; it was weird and twisty and psychosexual in a way i tend to dig. sorry about me, etc. neither of them really qualify as action-packed though; i don't think i read any book that could fit that label in 2022.
9. Book You Read In 2022 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
definitely the empress of salt and fortune. i thought it was good, but not amazing, but after the sequel, when the tiger came down the mountain, ended up being one of my favourites, i really want to revisit the first book, see if i've changed my mind on it. the third book is out now too. and of course, i reread the locked tomb every year.
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2022?
i love answering this question; going through all the covers of the year is always fun! the one that sticks out the most from memory is waif.
really arresting art, gives off such creepy vibes. i wasn't going to buy this one, because the premise didn't sound like totally my jam, but i just kept coming back to it because of the pretty cover. so i did eventually buy it... sadly the book itself was pretty average lmao. lots of runners up, because i'm indecisive: a lesson in vengeance; the deep; a cup of salt tears; briefly, a delicious life; dragon queens; legends and lattes.
11. Most memorable character of 2022?
saloninus from the devil you know. this made me remember that i read two books of that name in 2022, haha. this is a fantasy by k.j. parker about a devil who shows up to make a deal to buy a guy's soul, realises that the guy is his fave philosopher, goes ahead with the deal anyway. and the philosopher, saloninus, immediately starts getting Up To Something. they're both shitty people, and saloninus especially is insufferable, but god this book was fascinating and clever and he was certainly very memorable. i also became fucking OBSESSED with qanwa shuthmili from the thousand eyes. i loved her in the first book, and in the sequel, she was transcendent. she's so loyal, so ride or die, so in love with csorwe, and she does certain things and reacts to certain events in ways that really cemented my love for her. i love a queer girl who is Not Normal about her love interest.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2022?
our wives under the sea by julia armfield. it takes a lot to do certain things, like she does in her writing, and still have me come out on the other side really liking the book? this was gorgeous, lyrical, sometimes made me feel like i was suffocating. the atmosphere especially was really well-conveyed, in an eerie but beautiful way, amidst all the grief and weirdness and discussion about love and relationships and loneliness. i don't know, i was just really taken with the writing, and i really need to read more from her. i also gotta mention nothing burns as bright as you. i don't go into a lot of YA expecting to be impressed, but this was lovely, poetry in the best sense. lyrical, but brutal. took me back to being a lovelorn teenager.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2022?
one day i do hope to read a book that changes my life in a way that leaps out at me when it comes time to answer this question, haha. until then, pastoral made me think about my hatred for omniscient POV, and why i DIDN'T hate the omniscient POV in this book. this isn't the first time i've started thinking about this, and i need to think about it some more, but i really do find that in litfic and classics, head-hopping doesn't bother me as much as it does in other genres. this book was rife with head-hopping, and random POVs i didn't think we needed, but i still liked it so much. super mellow, really good atmosphere, a lot of insightful language. and i wouldn't call rat park thought-provoking, exactly, but it broke the mould in ways that made me really happy. i'm so tired of seeing addicts talked about in derogatory ways in fiction (almost ANY kind of fiction) and i really loved that this book took a close but very sympathetic look at addiction and the main character's struggles in getting well.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2022 to finally read?
life of pi. i've heard about this for years, mostly because of the movie, and i've had vague desires to read it and see what it's about for myself. despite this being so popular, i had little idea of what it was about, and i hadn't been spoiled for anything. which i was really glad for, because i liked this so much more than i expected. i can see why it's popular. and again, i gotta mention a hero's tale, which i finally read 8 years after i read the first 2 books. i wanted to reread those them before continuing, and i kept putting it off bc i was scared i wouldn't like the conclusion? i needn't have worried.
15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2022?
from water from wine. it's a passage that's unremarkable on its own but this story is an epilogue to the lily and the crown, and taken after everything they've been through, and given that this is the first time we're getting assistant's POV... it made me scream. i think it's great when women are unhealthily obsessed with each other actually.
like what is this cavewoman nonsense? what's next, is she gonna throw her over her shoulder?? maybe. and i would love it.
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2022?
shortest: water into wine, at 11 pages, approximately. it was just a little epilogue. i read the version that's still on ao3, which is vastly superior to the cleaned up, published version, and also a bit longer. assistant is unhinged. see above. i love her. longest: lord of chaos, at 1,056 pages. if you're wondering if it had to be that long, the answer is a vehement NO. robert jordan shut da fuck up! robert jordan get a better editor! robert jordan stop telling me every single bit of minutiae and giving me every single point of view! (i know i should stop talking about this man like he's alive, but when i do, i just imagine we're having a spirited but respectful ouija board convo.)
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
patricia wants to cuddle. not shocking in terms of the plot, which is pretty simple and straightforward. but i think i went into this expecting more abstract and satirical horror, and though it was def. satirical in some ways, it got violent and gory in ways i really did not see coming. the latter half was definitely shocking. i don't know, i guess i was just expecting this to go in a certain way, and It Did Not, lol. also, doomsday book. another case where the plot of the book wasn't that shocking, but my expectations and the fact that i had a certain idea of the trajectory of the book made certain things really surprising to me. this wasn't totally my jam, and it made me so so sad, but i do really want to read more classic scifi now.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
little known fact: heterosexuality can in fact be beautiful and the straights will have to thank lan/nynaeve for giving them all their rights back. THEY'RE PERFECT AND I"M OBSESSED WITH THEM. i'm less than lukewarm about the actual wheel of time books and i think jordan was unfortunately the annoying kind of misogynist who THINKS he's a feminist when actually he can't write women to save his life but. he has his moments of brilliance. lan/nynaeve is the realest. i love annoying prissy bitchy women and the stoic men who simp for them. and obviously assistant/ari from the lily and the crown. sorry about me but everything about them is ideal, i want to transform their relationship into gum and chew on it for the rest of my life. honourable mentions: gideon/harrow from the locked tomb, ho thi thao/dieu from when the tiger came down the mountain, erin/cassie from mistakes were made, jerry/alec from any old diamonds.
19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
melanie and ms. justineau the girl with all the gifts. i loved them so completely. pure pure love amidst the profane, the kind of love that makes you able to fight against your very nature. it's just very sweet and heart-wrenching to me that melanie has this INTENSE big-sister friend crush on ms. justineau and loves her so much, and constantly has to fight back the urge to rip her to shreds and eat her. :')
20. Favourite Book You Read in 2022 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
any old diamonds by k.j. charles! i always love her historical romances. from the blurb, i thought i would love this (jewel thieves, heists, fake friendship/fake relationship, fucky power dynamics) and it's been on my virutal shelf for years not. i'm so glad i finally read it, because i did indeed love it. it's a new favourite of hers for me now. i don't always love scoundrels, but a scoundrel like jerry crozier? my heart. also haley cass has cemented herself as one of my favourite authors with in the long run. i've given every single one of her books 4.5 stars, which isn't something i can say for many other authors, no matter the genre. her romances just have that chef's kiss quality that i assume stems from the fact that she used to write fic. this one was a brother's best friend romance with two women in their 40s, and i adored it.
21. Best Book You Read In 2022 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
meryl wilsner's debut seemed to be kind of a universal dud; i saw a lot of reviews talking about the progression of the romance and the way the third act conflict was handled, and it seemed very specifically like stuff that gets on my nerves/i would not like. so i had zero plans to read it, or their sophomore novel, mistakes were made. but then i saw it getting a lot of buzz, saw sooooo many people liking it, everyone calling it the MILF book. and look, i'm easy. i like a lil age gap. best friend's mom? gimme. and i ate! this! up! haha i loved it so much, they're so precious and messy and wonderful. i don't want to read about characters who are gagging to get an a+ in therapy; i wanna read about bitches who make mistakes!!! (zing.) and they really did feel like fully realised characters who were completely made for each other. additionally, i LOVED the way the conflicts were handled, so idk, maybe i will go back and read wilsner's debut after all.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2022?
2022 was the year of butch baddies named jacqueline! first jacq from from hell's belle and second jack from kiss her once for me. i love strong women who get super soft for their love interest, and they were both really capable and allowed to be vulnerable in their own ways. jacq in particular has something going for her that always makes me wild, because i'm a simple bitch. i just love this one specific paranormal creature!!! also assistant, from the lily and the crown. listen, the visual of a butcher meryl streep with that kind of dominant personality? i'm weak.
23. Best 2022 debut you read?
how high we go in the dark. i don't think this is nagamtsu's writing debut, but i'm pretty sure it was his debut novel? and it was so excellent. a scifi story of a plague spreading across earth, told in different short stories looking at different characters, spanning decades. it was so creative, and i loved aspects of society he chose to highlight. i cannot believe a story about a pig made me cry but there you go. also the way things linked together from story to story was so clever, and breathtaking by the end.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
dawn has a really interesting premise. i know i can count on ms. butler to make her aliens alien, and not just purple humans or whatever. i really liked the gender stuff, even though it seemed kinda rigid, and the way the oankali were described in appearance. the worldbuilding behind the entire race and their purpose and journey was really interesting. the mercieshas a superbly vivid setting/atmosphere; just seeing the cover of the book makes me think of windy cliffs, rocky seas, grey mornings, and the small, lonely town.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
kith & kin. this year i became even more obsessed with critical role than before. i watch the show every thursday, and when LOVM came out i watched it like three times?? so i was excited to buy this and consume it, and i genuinely had the best time with it. it was narrated by robbie, liam and laura. and look, i listen to a lot of audiobooks. most of my reads are done via audio; it's how i read so much. so i listen to a lot of great performances, but there's something about this that was just SUPERB. i know it's because i already have a huge wealth of affection for the characters and actors, but listening to this just made me so happy. i love vex and vax's relationship; they love each other sooooo much! even though this got sad and serious, i read it with a huge smile. also spy familyis just as fun and wacky and adorable as everyone says. the art style is sooooo good; the artist does a great job of communicating humour. anya is my best friend; that kid is so fucking funny.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2022?
the falling in love montage. this year i felt so lucky about my YA choices, because i picked up very few of them, and most of them turned out to be winners. like this one, that made me cry MULTIPLES TIMES. i really wasn't expecting this to hit me so hard, but the way it talked about familial relationships, death and love was pitch perfect. especially like, love being beautiful not because of its longevity, but because of what you get out of it in the moment. i really liked the main character, prickly and imperfect as she was. i also shed a few tears over all this i will give to you, because books about grief are my kryptonite. alvaro is already dead when the book begins, but the author does such a great job of painting a vivid picture of him, i felt like i was mourning alongside manuel.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
the bachelor's valet. fuck smart people!!! airhead supremacy forever!!! this is an extremely charming fantasy historical about a bachelor who's in love with his valet. it's just that everyone knows it except him. this was soooo cute, so very charming, and the main character is not the sharpest tool in the shed but he's sooooo kind and wonderful and funny. (i would call him a himbo except he's not very strong shfkjds.) i want him to be the standard for all romance heroes, and i want more people to read this book. i also think times like these deserves so much more attention. it's such a sweet, slow, thoughtful romance, where an artist who's losing her sight falls for a young woman who volunteers to pose nude for her. there's a crypto currency aspect that left a bad taste in my mouth lmao, but the book was written several years ago, so i'll forgive it.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
real life. as always 'crushed my soul' is kind of an exaggeration, but this book legit made me soooo fucking sad. it's not the kind of fiction that seeks to teach a lesson or give the reader something to take away. it's just one young man, stumbling under the weight of casual societal racism and homophobia from all sides, including his well-meaning but almost maliciously clueless white friends. every single micro-aggression really got to me. when it came from antagonistic characters, yes, but especially when it came from people he cared about (people he didn't and couldn't stop caring about). it's obviously not the first book i've read that looks at racism like this, but something about the writing... ooooof. this one hit hard. everyone in this room will someday be dead is a similar book in that it made me so so sad and anxious while reading it. we're following a depressed atheist lesbian who's deeply anxious about her health while her life and lies kinda fall apart around her, and she keeps making wrong and bad decisions. i related too much. this one did have an edge of humour though, and didn't leave me quite as crushed.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2022?
briefly, a delicious life. like, it's probably kind of weird for an author to take a real factual vacation that george sand took with her real factual boyfriend chopin and use it as a backdrop where her OC, the ghost of a 14 year old girl falls, in unrequited love with sand? but i really liked it, and it didn't feel as weird or as voyeuristic as one might expect to read about real historical figures in intimate situations like that. also paul takes the form of a mortal girl, which does coming-of-age, bildungsroman in a super unique way that takes you from lesbian retreats to leather clubs and everywhere in between while striking a really thoughtful and incisive tone the entire time. this is a weird mix of really heavy and really light, but it worked. i'm not the biggest fan of stream of consciousness, but there were several passages in here that one could probably call SOC, where paul goes on these fascinating pop culture rants, and i ended up loving them all. in terms of uniqueness of form, there's unknown number, which takes the form of an IM convo, and was uploaded on twitter. i'd been hearing a lot of good things about it, and i expected to like it, but i didn't think it'd make me TEAR UP? but it 100% did.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
shattered. the author solely writes romance so i just assumed that this would be a romance between the two main characters, who are both butch women. it was not. i hardly ever read blurbs, but even if i had read the blurb for this beforehand, i would have still expected this to be a butch/butch romance. they have a sexual relationship, but don't end up together. mileage varies, because a lot of reviews say they didn't think the main characters had any chemistry? but EYE thought they did, and i was so pissed off when they both ended up with femmier women. thanks 4 nothing!!!!! i was so mad lol. and i mean i can't not mention the lord of chaos. i had planned on making my way through the entire wheel of time series this year, but events in this book (as well as some events in book 5) added up to make me so incensed after i finished it in june that i just dropped the series until like, december. lol.
Looking Ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2022 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023?
the memory librarian. i kept meaning to get to this last year, but i wanted to rewatch/relisten to the entirety of dirty computer before doing so, and getting the time for that always seemed to be a problem. but now that i have a tv and actually use my living room and am on vacation, i wanna get to it some time this month!
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2023 (non-debut)?
some desperate glory. i really really enjoyed the greenhollow duology by this author and this is said to be inspired by mass effect so... i'm intrigued!
3. 2023 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
the first bright thing. i haven't read any of the books that this is being compared to, but people who have similar tastes to me are excited about it, and the blurb seems interesting. at first i was gonna say someone you can build a nest in, which has a gay monster girl and body horror weirdness, i think, and i'm REALLY anticipating that one, but it sadly doesn't come out until 2024.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2023?
alecto the ninth. i'm super fucking excited!!!
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2023?
i think i'm going to try to read more sff series, though in the interest of not making myself wait years for sequels etc, i'm going to concentrate on finished ones. there are so many that i keep meaning to get to! i'll probably finish wheel of time this year, which, despite its many flaws and my many complaints, i'm excited to do. i also want to try to read all the unread books on my physical shelf (shouldn't be hard; it's not a lot). also, i'll always be a romance reader at heart, it's what makes me happiest, but i do kinda wanna step away from contemporary romance for a bit? we'll see. it's been my bread and butter for so long, but i want to branch out more in other subgenres (especially historical and fantasy romance, which i LOVE) while sticking to queer stuff. we'll see!
and now... CHARTS!!!
so first, here's my huge spreadsheet with all my 2022 reads. i generated some charts that i'll stick in at the bottom for fun visuals. i usually also link goodreads' year in review thing, but their numbers are off because they don't have page counts for all the books, and it wasn't able to include a book i beta read for a friend, so i'll just add in a few questions below.
Number Of Books You Read: 330. as always, disclaimer that lots of those are short. 89 of them are less than 200 pages. but also i don't have a life, all i do is read. ✌️🏿
Number of Pages Read: 95,262 pages
Average Book Length: 288 pages
My Average Book Rating: 3.41 stars
Number of Re-Reads: 24. way more than usual!
Genre You Read The Most From: as always, contemporary romance, with 107 books.
Best in Books
1. Best Book You Read In 2022?
last year, i had a number of favourites but a clear winner. this year, it was even easier to pick my best. i only had two full 5 star reads, and the first was something that i read pretty early in the year (my only other non-reread 5 star was my last book of the year). even then, i was certain that nothing would top this. i don't do 5 star predictions and i don't go into many books with expectations of any kind, but even before i finished the first chapter, i knew that this would be something special. and i was right. this made me feel so many things, kinda blew me away. and okay, do i feel a little silly that the book i'm talking about like it changed my life is actually devil wears prada fanfiction with the serial numbers filed off? MAYBE SO. but i still really fucking loved it. the lily and the crown. i loved everything about this so fucking completely. sci-fi romance about a lonely young botanist who falls for her new slave/assistant, a mysterious older woman who's not quite what she seems. do not @ me. i'm still jenny slate screaming on a couch about this one.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
legends & lattes. i liked this, but the way everyone was gagging over it, i expected to love it? and i didn't. like i said, i hardly ever go into books with any sort of expectations, but the way this was pitched (low stakes fantasy, coffee shop, very cute, lots of found family, f/f romance) made me think it would be perfect for me and i did let myself get excited. and it was really nice? but not amazing. i feel like it scored a solid 6.5 in all categories, but not a single 10. maybe if i'd heard nothing about this, i'd have had more success with it. also, not trying to be mean, but i have to wonder: all the girlies who keep saying that all the f/f they read is too ~soft and sweet~, are they all just reading this? lol. i was also VERY sad that i didn't love the devil you know like i expected i would. the first book in the series, hell's belle, is one of my favourites of the year, because even if it has a lot of my writing pet peeves, it was really creative and action packed and fun and had SUCH a good (relatively) slow burn romance. i was so excited to see where the second book took things? said second book ended up being boring and tiresome and frustrating as hell, with none of the charm i expected. i was pretty let down.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
a lesson in vengeance. i really really enjoyed lee's feverwake duology; i don't read a lot of YA anymore but those books really got to me, last year or whevever it is i read them. i thought a witchy sapphic mystery would be just the thing from this author. but i was, sadly, unpleasantly surprised by the turns this took. and truly, even though my kneejerk reaction in the moment was to toss this book across the room, it really wasn't bad? it just zigged in a pivotal moment where i was expecting a zag. and i really don't want to frame what the book did as a flaw, because it definitely wasn't. it was just unpleasant, not what i wanted, and definitely not what i needed. i'll still read their other books! for surprising in a good way, there’s learn the rules. i DNF'd a couple books from this author before; not for any huge reason, but just because the writing and characters reeeeeally were not my jam. but i got this one free during a pride promo, and on impulse tried it immediately, thinking i'd just put it down if it was a bust like the others. but then i finished this in less than a day, which is pretty rare for me with books i have to read with my eyes. it was SO GOOD, i sped through it. even though it was more on the erotica side, the friends to lovers romance between the guys was just SO strong, so believable, and it's an interrogation of kink in a way i really like. i was very pleasantly surprised; finishing the series is high on my list of priorities for this month.
4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
for once, i don't think i have an answer for this. a lot of the books i loved this year would only appeal to very specific audiences, and i'm loathe to recommend things too widely if i don't know that people in my circle will actually enjoy it. like, i love age gaps and obsession, and understandably, not everyone digs those things. if we're reaching, i think my review for the murder of roger ackroyd might have convinced a goodreads friend to read it? at least i hope so. it's probably my favourite christie mystery so far; really satisfying. honestly, if you're into that kind of old time detective/sidekick mystery, the kind that gives you clues, and you as the reader can play along, i'd really rec this. this was the book where i really started liking poirot.
5. Best series you started in 2022? Best Sequel of 2022? Best Series Ender of 2022?
best starter: hell's belle. as aforementioned, it sadly, didn't live up to that great start, but i still can't get over how much i loved this paranormal/action romance. it had a lot of themes and tropes that i really love, a certain paranormal creature i go nuts for, and a love interest who made me SWOON. best sequel: when the tiger came down the mountain. the first book in this series, about a travelling cleric who collects stories, had so many elements i love, but the way it came together didn't work for me. THIS, on the other hand, read like it was completely tailor made for me. i love stories within stories, i love self-referential stuff, i loved the tigers and all their interjections. this is not a romance, but the romance in this made me [meme of person shaking something like a ragdoll]. falling in love with your food needs to be a new romance subgenre. i need to reread this soon, because i do think it might move from 4.5 to 5 stars. best ender: a warrior's tale. i put off finishing this series for EIGHT YEARS and now that i have i want to sob in relief because i loved it so much. coming of age, warrior/apprentice, simple but LOVELY writing, one of the few books that prioritises motherhood but talks about it in a way that DOESN'T feel alienating to me, a woman without a single motherly bone in her body. it's something i get really sensitive about, haha, so i notice it a lot in books. and certain things happen in this book, and characters react to certain things in ways that just... again, this was something that literally felt like it was written FOR me. #bless
6. Favourite new author you discovered in 2022?
for this question i try to stick to authors that i read from more than once, since it seems unfair to determine favourites based on only one book. with that stipulation, i have to mention alison cochrun. the charm offensive was super cute and sweet, full of cinnamon rolls. and god, i loved kiss her once for me even more. her characters are so simple and real, and i like the way she talks about mental health, and her romances just make my heart so full. smiling at nothing, literally kicking my feet in bed kind of happy. this year, i also read isabel murray for the first time, and her romances are so unique. the merman one read like an alien romance, it was so unorthodox. and her romcom was actually funny. definitely will be reading more from her. i could also mention roslyn sinclair here, but i don't want to bring her up for every answer, lol.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
i wouldn't say litfic is out of my comfort zone, but i definitely don't read much of it these days. with that in mind: the death of vivek oji. talk about a punch to the fucking solar plexus. i don't seek out books that make me cry, and i never will, and when so many recommendations for this book talk about how sad it is, it made me hesitant. i mean, it's in the title. but god, this was hand-to-throat beautiful. haunting, with beautiful language, amazing characters, heartbreaking circumstances. also in the literary fiction vein, just above my head (which coincidentally also has to deal with the death of a black queer person and the resultant grief of those left behind). i've always been able to appreciate beautiful writing for its own sake, but baldwin's writing has this added... power? that sounds trite but idk what other word to put to it. i always feel laid low by his prose. again, i really don't seek out sad books; i don't WANT to feel uncomfortable and sad when i read. but i'm so glad i read this.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
the guest list. i didn't actually like this one very much, but it easily gets the 'compulsively readable' stamp. exquisite was another book that had me glued to it, and i couldn't put it down until i finished it. and i really liked this one; it was weird and twisty and psychosexual in a way i tend to dig. sorry about me, etc. neither of them really qualify as action-packed though; i don't think i read any book that could fit that label in 2022.
9. Book You Read In 2022 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
definitely the empress of salt and fortune. i thought it was good, but not amazing, but after the sequel, when the tiger came down the mountain, ended up being one of my favourites, i really want to revisit the first book, see if i've changed my mind on it. the third book is out now too. and of course, i reread the locked tomb every year.
10. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2022?
i love answering this question; going through all the covers of the year is always fun! the one that sticks out the most from memory is waif.
really arresting art, gives off such creepy vibes. i wasn't going to buy this one, because the premise didn't sound like totally my jam, but i just kept coming back to it because of the pretty cover. so i did eventually buy it... sadly the book itself was pretty average lmao. lots of runners up, because i'm indecisive: a lesson in vengeance; the deep; a cup of salt tears; briefly, a delicious life; dragon queens; legends and lattes.
11. Most memorable character of 2022?
saloninus from the devil you know. this made me remember that i read two books of that name in 2022, haha. this is a fantasy by k.j. parker about a devil who shows up to make a deal to buy a guy's soul, realises that the guy is his fave philosopher, goes ahead with the deal anyway. and the philosopher, saloninus, immediately starts getting Up To Something. they're both shitty people, and saloninus especially is insufferable, but god this book was fascinating and clever and he was certainly very memorable. i also became fucking OBSESSED with qanwa shuthmili from the thousand eyes. i loved her in the first book, and in the sequel, she was transcendent. she's so loyal, so ride or die, so in love with csorwe, and she does certain things and reacts to certain events in ways that really cemented my love for her. i love a queer girl who is Not Normal about her love interest.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2022?
our wives under the sea by julia armfield. it takes a lot to do certain things, like she does in her writing, and still have me come out on the other side really liking the book? this was gorgeous, lyrical, sometimes made me feel like i was suffocating. the atmosphere especially was really well-conveyed, in an eerie but beautiful way, amidst all the grief and weirdness and discussion about love and relationships and loneliness. i don't know, i was just really taken with the writing, and i really need to read more from her. i also gotta mention nothing burns as bright as you. i don't go into a lot of YA expecting to be impressed, but this was lovely, poetry in the best sense. lyrical, but brutal. took me back to being a lovelorn teenager.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2022?
one day i do hope to read a book that changes my life in a way that leaps out at me when it comes time to answer this question, haha. until then, pastoral made me think about my hatred for omniscient POV, and why i DIDN'T hate the omniscient POV in this book. this isn't the first time i've started thinking about this, and i need to think about it some more, but i really do find that in litfic and classics, head-hopping doesn't bother me as much as it does in other genres. this book was rife with head-hopping, and random POVs i didn't think we needed, but i still liked it so much. super mellow, really good atmosphere, a lot of insightful language. and i wouldn't call rat park thought-provoking, exactly, but it broke the mould in ways that made me really happy. i'm so tired of seeing addicts talked about in derogatory ways in fiction (almost ANY kind of fiction) and i really loved that this book took a close but very sympathetic look at addiction and the main character's struggles in getting well.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2022 to finally read?
life of pi. i've heard about this for years, mostly because of the movie, and i've had vague desires to read it and see what it's about for myself. despite this being so popular, i had little idea of what it was about, and i hadn't been spoiled for anything. which i was really glad for, because i liked this so much more than i expected. i can see why it's popular. and again, i gotta mention a hero's tale, which i finally read 8 years after i read the first 2 books. i wanted to reread those them before continuing, and i kept putting it off bc i was scared i wouldn't like the conclusion? i needn't have worried.
15. Favourite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2022?
from water from wine. it's a passage that's unremarkable on its own but this story is an epilogue to the lily and the crown, and taken after everything they've been through, and given that this is the first time we're getting assistant's POV... it made me scream. i think it's great when women are unhealthily obsessed with each other actually.
I will never let you go.
I told you that, too. You didn't really believe me then, and I'm sure that you still don't. I've never denied you anything before. But in moments like this, when we are so wholly together, I know that I will never allow you to be parted from me, because you are the only thing I cannot lose. And if you left--if you tried to leave--there is no place in the Empire I would leave untouched, no metropolis or scrubby outpost I would not turn inside-out, no world I would not rip apart, to find you. I would hunt you with my last breath.
And when I found you, I'd bring you back to me, and welcome you home as gently as if you'd just returned from a stroll. Because just as you are the only person I can't lose, you are the only person I can't hurt. I've hurt you before. I know what it's like. I cannot do it again.
like what is this cavewoman nonsense? what's next, is she gonna throw her over her shoulder?? maybe. and i would love it.
16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2022?
shortest: water into wine, at 11 pages, approximately. it was just a little epilogue. i read the version that's still on ao3, which is vastly superior to the cleaned up, published version, and also a bit longer. assistant is unhinged. see above. i love her. longest: lord of chaos, at 1,056 pages. if you're wondering if it had to be that long, the answer is a vehement NO. robert jordan shut da fuck up! robert jordan get a better editor! robert jordan stop telling me every single bit of minutiae and giving me every single point of view! (i know i should stop talking about this man like he's alive, but when i do, i just imagine we're having a spirited but respectful ouija board convo.)
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
patricia wants to cuddle. not shocking in terms of the plot, which is pretty simple and straightforward. but i think i went into this expecting more abstract and satirical horror, and though it was def. satirical in some ways, it got violent and gory in ways i really did not see coming. the latter half was definitely shocking. i don't know, i guess i was just expecting this to go in a certain way, and It Did Not, lol. also, doomsday book. another case where the plot of the book wasn't that shocking, but my expectations and the fact that i had a certain idea of the trajectory of the book made certain things really surprising to me. this wasn't totally my jam, and it made me so so sad, but i do really want to read more classic scifi now.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
little known fact: heterosexuality can in fact be beautiful and the straights will have to thank lan/nynaeve for giving them all their rights back. THEY'RE PERFECT AND I"M OBSESSED WITH THEM. i'm less than lukewarm about the actual wheel of time books and i think jordan was unfortunately the annoying kind of misogynist who THINKS he's a feminist when actually he can't write women to save his life but. he has his moments of brilliance. lan/nynaeve is the realest. i love annoying prissy bitchy women and the stoic men who simp for them. and obviously assistant/ari from the lily and the crown. sorry about me but everything about them is ideal, i want to transform their relationship into gum and chew on it for the rest of my life. honourable mentions: gideon/harrow from the locked tomb, ho thi thao/dieu from when the tiger came down the mountain, erin/cassie from mistakes were made, jerry/alec from any old diamonds.
19. Favourite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
melanie and ms. justineau the girl with all the gifts. i loved them so completely. pure pure love amidst the profane, the kind of love that makes you able to fight against your very nature. it's just very sweet and heart-wrenching to me that melanie has this INTENSE big-sister friend crush on ms. justineau and loves her so much, and constantly has to fight back the urge to rip her to shreds and eat her. :')
20. Favourite Book You Read in 2022 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
any old diamonds by k.j. charles! i always love her historical romances. from the blurb, i thought i would love this (jewel thieves, heists, fake friendship/fake relationship, fucky power dynamics) and it's been on my virutal shelf for years not. i'm so glad i finally read it, because i did indeed love it. it's a new favourite of hers for me now. i don't always love scoundrels, but a scoundrel like jerry crozier? my heart. also haley cass has cemented herself as one of my favourite authors with in the long run. i've given every single one of her books 4.5 stars, which isn't something i can say for many other authors, no matter the genre. her romances just have that chef's kiss quality that i assume stems from the fact that she used to write fic. this one was a brother's best friend romance with two women in their 40s, and i adored it.
21. Best Book You Read In 2022 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure:
meryl wilsner's debut seemed to be kind of a universal dud; i saw a lot of reviews talking about the progression of the romance and the way the third act conflict was handled, and it seemed very specifically like stuff that gets on my nerves/i would not like. so i had zero plans to read it, or their sophomore novel, mistakes were made. but then i saw it getting a lot of buzz, saw sooooo many people liking it, everyone calling it the MILF book. and look, i'm easy. i like a lil age gap. best friend's mom? gimme. and i ate! this! up! haha i loved it so much, they're so precious and messy and wonderful. i don't want to read about characters who are gagging to get an a+ in therapy; i wanna read about bitches who make mistakes!!! (zing.) and they really did feel like fully realised characters who were completely made for each other. additionally, i LOVED the way the conflicts were handled, so idk, maybe i will go back and read wilsner's debut after all.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2022?
2022 was the year of butch baddies named jacqueline! first jacq from from hell's belle and second jack from kiss her once for me. i love strong women who get super soft for their love interest, and they were both really capable and allowed to be vulnerable in their own ways. jacq in particular has something going for her that always makes me wild, because i'm a simple bitch. i just love this one specific paranormal creature!!! also assistant, from the lily and the crown. listen, the visual of a butcher meryl streep with that kind of dominant personality? i'm weak.
23. Best 2022 debut you read?
how high we go in the dark. i don't think this is nagamtsu's writing debut, but i'm pretty sure it was his debut novel? and it was so excellent. a scifi story of a plague spreading across earth, told in different short stories looking at different characters, spanning decades. it was so creative, and i loved aspects of society he chose to highlight. i cannot believe a story about a pig made me cry but there you go. also the way things linked together from story to story was so clever, and breathtaking by the end.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
dawn has a really interesting premise. i know i can count on ms. butler to make her aliens alien, and not just purple humans or whatever. i really liked the gender stuff, even though it seemed kinda rigid, and the way the oankali were described in appearance. the worldbuilding behind the entire race and their purpose and journey was really interesting. the mercieshas a superbly vivid setting/atmosphere; just seeing the cover of the book makes me think of windy cliffs, rocky seas, grey mornings, and the small, lonely town.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
kith & kin. this year i became even more obsessed with critical role than before. i watch the show every thursday, and when LOVM came out i watched it like three times?? so i was excited to buy this and consume it, and i genuinely had the best time with it. it was narrated by robbie, liam and laura. and look, i listen to a lot of audiobooks. most of my reads are done via audio; it's how i read so much. so i listen to a lot of great performances, but there's something about this that was just SUPERB. i know it's because i already have a huge wealth of affection for the characters and actors, but listening to this just made me so happy. i love vex and vax's relationship; they love each other sooooo much! even though this got sad and serious, i read it with a huge smile. also spy familyis just as fun and wacky and adorable as everyone says. the art style is sooooo good; the artist does a great job of communicating humour. anya is my best friend; that kid is so fucking funny.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2022?
the falling in love montage. this year i felt so lucky about my YA choices, because i picked up very few of them, and most of them turned out to be winners. like this one, that made me cry MULTIPLES TIMES. i really wasn't expecting this to hit me so hard, but the way it talked about familial relationships, death and love was pitch perfect. especially like, love being beautiful not because of its longevity, but because of what you get out of it in the moment. i really liked the main character, prickly and imperfect as she was. i also shed a few tears over all this i will give to you, because books about grief are my kryptonite. alvaro is already dead when the book begins, but the author does such a great job of painting a vivid picture of him, i felt like i was mourning alongside manuel.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
the bachelor's valet. fuck smart people!!! airhead supremacy forever!!! this is an extremely charming fantasy historical about a bachelor who's in love with his valet. it's just that everyone knows it except him. this was soooo cute, so very charming, and the main character is not the sharpest tool in the shed but he's sooooo kind and wonderful and funny. (i would call him a himbo except he's not very strong shfkjds.) i want him to be the standard for all romance heroes, and i want more people to read this book. i also think times like these deserves so much more attention. it's such a sweet, slow, thoughtful romance, where an artist who's losing her sight falls for a young woman who volunteers to pose nude for her. there's a crypto currency aspect that left a bad taste in my mouth lmao, but the book was written several years ago, so i'll forgive it.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
real life. as always 'crushed my soul' is kind of an exaggeration, but this book legit made me soooo fucking sad. it's not the kind of fiction that seeks to teach a lesson or give the reader something to take away. it's just one young man, stumbling under the weight of casual societal racism and homophobia from all sides, including his well-meaning but almost maliciously clueless white friends. every single micro-aggression really got to me. when it came from antagonistic characters, yes, but especially when it came from people he cared about (people he didn't and couldn't stop caring about). it's obviously not the first book i've read that looks at racism like this, but something about the writing... ooooof. this one hit hard. everyone in this room will someday be dead is a similar book in that it made me so so sad and anxious while reading it. we're following a depressed atheist lesbian who's deeply anxious about her health while her life and lies kinda fall apart around her, and she keeps making wrong and bad decisions. i related too much. this one did have an edge of humour though, and didn't leave me quite as crushed.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2022?
briefly, a delicious life. like, it's probably kind of weird for an author to take a real factual vacation that george sand took with her real factual boyfriend chopin and use it as a backdrop where her OC, the ghost of a 14 year old girl falls, in unrequited love with sand? but i really liked it, and it didn't feel as weird or as voyeuristic as one might expect to read about real historical figures in intimate situations like that. also paul takes the form of a mortal girl, which does coming-of-age, bildungsroman in a super unique way that takes you from lesbian retreats to leather clubs and everywhere in between while striking a really thoughtful and incisive tone the entire time. this is a weird mix of really heavy and really light, but it worked. i'm not the biggest fan of stream of consciousness, but there were several passages in here that one could probably call SOC, where paul goes on these fascinating pop culture rants, and i ended up loving them all. in terms of uniqueness of form, there's unknown number, which takes the form of an IM convo, and was uploaded on twitter. i'd been hearing a lot of good things about it, and i expected to like it, but i didn't think it'd make me TEAR UP? but it 100% did.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
shattered. the author solely writes romance so i just assumed that this would be a romance between the two main characters, who are both butch women. it was not. i hardly ever read blurbs, but even if i had read the blurb for this beforehand, i would have still expected this to be a butch/butch romance. they have a sexual relationship, but don't end up together. mileage varies, because a lot of reviews say they didn't think the main characters had any chemistry? but EYE thought they did, and i was so pissed off when they both ended up with femmier women. thanks 4 nothing!!!!! i was so mad lol. and i mean i can't not mention the lord of chaos. i had planned on making my way through the entire wheel of time series this year, but events in this book (as well as some events in book 5) added up to make me so incensed after i finished it in june that i just dropped the series until like, december. lol.
Looking Ahead
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2022 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2023?
the memory librarian. i kept meaning to get to this last year, but i wanted to rewatch/relisten to the entirety of dirty computer before doing so, and getting the time for that always seemed to be a problem. but now that i have a tv and actually use my living room and am on vacation, i wanna get to it some time this month!
2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2023 (non-debut)?
some desperate glory. i really really enjoyed the greenhollow duology by this author and this is said to be inspired by mass effect so... i'm intrigued!
3. 2023 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?
the first bright thing. i haven't read any of the books that this is being compared to, but people who have similar tastes to me are excited about it, and the blurb seems interesting. at first i was gonna say someone you can build a nest in, which has a gay monster girl and body horror weirdness, i think, and i'm REALLY anticipating that one, but it sadly doesn't come out until 2024.
4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2023?
alecto the ninth. i'm super fucking excited!!!
5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2023?
i think i'm going to try to read more sff series, though in the interest of not making myself wait years for sequels etc, i'm going to concentrate on finished ones. there are so many that i keep meaning to get to! i'll probably finish wheel of time this year, which, despite its many flaws and my many complaints, i'm excited to do. i also want to try to read all the unread books on my physical shelf (shouldn't be hard; it's not a lot). also, i'll always be a romance reader at heart, it's what makes me happiest, but i do kinda wanna step away from contemporary romance for a bit? we'll see. it's been my bread and butter for so long, but i want to branch out more in other subgenres (especially historical and fantasy romance, which i LOVE) while sticking to queer stuff. we'll see!
and now... CHARTS!!!
no subject
no subject
i think you'd really like how high; it's the kind of scifi that gets weird an philosophical in just the right amounts. and i can't wait to continue to xenogenesis saga!
no subject
PS: I think you've just convinced me to finally get around to rereading the first two When Women Were Warriors books so that I can read A Hero's Tale too. I've been putting it off for the same reasons so the fact that you liked the conclusion so much bodes very well on that front!
no subject
ahhhh, i really hope it's a win for you too! it went some places i didn't expect but the journey was so good. <3
no subject
akjnsjk I'm sorry I don't have anything of substance to say besides gushing... I'll come back to this post and read it more in depth later!
no subject