I feel like I resurface to do a Top Ten Tuesday halfway into the year, and then at the end of the year (or beginning of the next year) just to keep track of my favorite books. I think this works just fine for me, but I kind of wish I also kept doing this. Maybe now that grad school is almost done (one more course, yay!) and I’m not as bogged down by work as usual, I can get a few more in outside of my book reviews and occasional food and fandom posts.
But, again, no promises 😀
Top 10 Books I’ve Read in 2022
Once again, this comes in no particular order.
Belladonna by Adalyn Grace – Just about one of the few book subscription books I’ve actually read on the month of its release. This was a pleasant surprise, and despite my tendency to avoid Gothic-ish books, I really loved how this was written! I’ve also been coming off of this whole “character makes a deal with Death/Darkness/A-Big-Mistake” reading spree, so it’s no surprise that this YA book fits my general mindset.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood – So HEAR ME OUT. I read The Love Hypothesis earlier in 2022, and I absolutely loved it. Then proceeded to gobble up every Ali Hazelwood novella that came out during the course of the year. Then Love on the Brain came out, and despite expecting the one-trick pony this book was going to give me, I absolutely loved this anyway. Actually, I might have loved this one a bit more than TLH, because LEVI. WARD. AND THE THINGS. HE SAID.
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber – I have probably said quite a bit already about this book in my review. But man oh man. This is probably one of my absolute favorite reads for the year, and it was also one of my absolutely most devastating reads. Oh gawd. I’m triggered just thinking about it again.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry – Alright, Emily Henry has the honor of getting two books up on my favorites list, and LET ME TELL YOU WHY. So far, when it comes to contemporary romances, she’s the one to beat when it comes to the most realistic progression of romances. It’s adorable, and edgy, and every single time I’ve read her books, there’s always something that lets me relate big time to the characters. And Nora and Charlie? Ugh, I can’t, they’re perfect for each other.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire – I should have put Every Heart a Doorway here because honestly, that was the starting point of my love affair with McGuire’s Wayward Children series. But let’s be honest here, my absolute favorite books of the series have been when Jack is involved, and this particular book is a Jack and Jill backstory, and I absolutely loved it.
Heartstopper: Volume 4 by Alice Oseman – I thought as a graphic novel, this was absolutely cute, and I will most definitely continue reading this as more is released. That said, of the four volumes I’d read so far, nothing hit me harder than the fourth one. There weren’t many issues I’d related to in the overall scheme of the graphic novel, but occasionally–the little things–there were moments where I empathized and teared up over because of how well done the situations werehandled.
Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo – This is my bias talking and I tried to prevent it, but it wasn’t stopping. I will love everything about Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse, and this graphic novel version of her Darkling short story just takes the cake.
Beach Read by Emily Henry – Okay, of the two Emily Henry books on this favorites list, Book Lovers was my favorite. BUT. This one was also absolutely relatable, and I can’t just say no to two authors and their fake-dating “research” outings.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab – Much like Bardugo, V.E. Schwab is an absolute gem and I will read and love everything she’s written. Okay, well, so far, she hasn’t steered me wrong yet, and while Addie LaRue’s life did feel like 300 years, the ending and beginning were far worth that middle trudge.
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – I can’t believe I actually read The Folk of the Air series all in 2022. This was definitely a series I absolutely adored in 2022, and the ending to this trilogy was absolute chef’s kiss. And How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories was such a good continuation of short stories. There is a spinoff novel about Oak as well, so I’m going to need to read that at some point as well.
The tricky part about having read so many books is that I got fairly picky with what I’d five-starred and which I found were perfection. But also the tricky part was that I loved quite a number of books in 2022 and it was extremely difficult to pick one book from various authors. I read so many Holly Blacks and Seanan McGuires and all of Ali Hazelwood’s stuff, for instance. It was hard to choose a favorite, to be honest.
Story and Somnomancy 