📚Every book I read in 2022, ranked

Plus my non-bookish, year-end favorites

Hey, readers!

Every month I share a little month in review for paid newsletter subscribers. Today, instead, I’m sharing a short year in review along with a ranking of every book I read this year.

Ranking my reads at the end of the year is a little bit of a tradition and a somewhat masochistic exercise. I fully recognize the artificiality of comparing the middle grade books that comforted me through late nights with a newborn to the emotional memoirs in which writers bared their souls to the complex literary fiction I finally made my way back to. Not to mention that every time I take a pass through my list, I can’t help but shuffle things around a little.

So, no, this isn’t a definitive ranking. And, yes, it’s a little silly. But I still like to do it! The thing I love most about this project is it makes me at least consider every single book I read in a calendar year. If I just put together a list of 10 or 20, I’d only really think about 30-40 of the 120-something books I read. Considering each one cements the books in my brain while helping me reflect on what worked and didn’t work for me in my reading life this year.

This year I learned that mysteries rarely work for me. I learned that I need romance and middle grade to break up my heavier reads, but they often aren’t memorable enough to make my favorites list. I learned that I will forgive a lot in a book if the structure is inventive and the author is trying something new. I also learned that waiting until the end of the year to marathon read new releases is a great way to make sure you read the best books that came out that year. And, perhaps most importantly, I learned that I want to slow down. There are books waffling in the middle of this list that I know would be best-of contenders if I’d been able to slow down and give them their due. I hope to bring that mindset to my reading in 2023 by picking up more paper books and maybe even returning to a few books I’ve read too quickly in recent years.

I’m excited to share this list with you, but I hope you’ll hold it as loosely as I do. And don’t be appalled if a book you love is in the 70s or 80s…or even 100s. I read a LOT of good books this year. There were only a handful or two that I didn’t enjoy at all, and I’d say the books get good FAST!

Without any further caveats, let’s get to this!

Note: Patreon subscribers at all tiers, you already have access to this list on the Patreon feed!