2022 – The Year in Books

Grab a cup of tea and settle down for the annual year in books review – we could be here a while.

Alrighty, 2022 in books. It was a year with mostly hits and just a few disappointments. 

According to Goodreads, last year I read 96 books. That’s them below with the most recently read on top. I’ve included a few cookbooks that I read from cover to cover for the stories.

Some I’ve listened to as audiobooks, some were paperbacks from the library, some I read on my kindle or iPad, and some were purchased.

Any new series?

Absolutely. 

• Julia Chapman’s Dales Detective series
• S.J. Bennett’s Queen Elizabeth mysteries

Additions to favourite series?

• The Twist of a Knife  – by Anthony Horowitz
• The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
• A new Phryne Fisher, Murder in Williamstown, by Kerry Greenwood

Series I missed this year?

Nope. All good, although I am yet to read the latest Rebus by Ian Rankin.

Revisiting the classics…

2022 was very much about the classics as our book club read our way through Jane Austen’s novels:

• Persuasion
• Pride and Prejudice
• Sense and Sensibility
• Mansfield Park
• Northanger Abbey
• Emma

I also read Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.

Thanks for the recommendation…

I rely on my book blogger friend Debbish for additions to my to-be-read pile, and she certainly didn’t let me down in 2022. Special thanks for book recommendations also to my stunning fellow book club members and thanks also to everyone who has linked up or contributed through comments in What’s On Your Bookshelf. You’ve all contributed in some way to my TBR pile.

Any books adapted into a movie?

Yes – plenty by Jane Austen, but also PD James’s Death Comes To Pemberley, and John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas which was made as Christmas With The Kranks. As an aside, despite popular opinion to the contrary I very much enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of Persuasion.

Genre-hopping?

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been reading more non-fiction than I had previously. This year was no different. My aim was to read 12 non-fiction books and I nailed that.

Food memoir was covered with Felicity Cloake’s Red Sauce Brown Sauce; while Jack Whitehall’s How To Survive Family Holidays, and Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat both made me giggle. (And yes, I’m well aware of the controversy re Clarkson but I read this early in the year and am not going to be all revisionist about it.)

Thanks to Dr. Michael Mosley and Kate Humble I also read about how tiny habits can transform your life and the choice to live more simply. I read about how Bronte and Austen can change your life, England in the time of Jane Austen, and some more about Jane Austen’s life. I also learnt about the history of Christmas, the curious history of London, London pubs, and the highest pub in England.

Craft books read?

No.

Any business books?

Unfortunately yes, for the day job – Multipliers by Liz Wiseman.

What about cookbooks?

Of course… This year I borrowed some from the library, but others found their way quite accidentally into my virtual shopping cart. Sarah and Adventure Spaniel each bought me cookbooks for my birthday, Mother’s Day, and Christmas. There were too many to mention on this list.

The two books I cooked most from in 2022, however, were:

Both are excellent for mid-week inspiration – so good that I bought Sarah copies of them for Christmas…and only partly so there’s a copy in Hervey Bay for when I’m staying up there with her.

The one that I enjoyed reading the most, however, was The Year of Miracles by Ella Risbridger.

It’s a story about loss, love, grief, love, and finding pleasure and joy in little moments. A beautiful story and a fitting sequel to Midnight Chicken.

Festive Reads

As always I read only festive-themed books in December. To be honest, this year there were a couple of misses with one book coming this close to being a did not finish (A Christmas Cracker, by Trisha Ashley). Unless there are a lot of new offerings I suspect I’ll struggle a tad next year…

One book that isn’t on the above list, but that I did read was Christmas at Mannus Ridge, by me… coming next year…

2023 Book-related resolutions?

I actually intend to read less this year – and write more, although I said that last year too.

I have books on my bookshelf – both physical and virtual – that are crying out for attention and yet last year (and the year before and the year before that and…you get the idea) spent the equivalent of a very good holiday on books. I intend to work my way through some of these this year. And yes, I said all of this last year too! 

Stand-out reads?

In order of the month I read them, here are my favourite reads. Some months it was tough keeping it to just one…so I didn’t.

Your turn…

Deb, Donna, Sue and I would love you to share what you’ve been reading…the linky is below.

Dates for the Diary:

the link for What’s On Your Bookshelf (WOYBS) is open on the third Friday of each month at 8 am (AEST) – that makes it sometime on the third Thursday of each month if you’re in the northern hemisphere…

• January 19/20,

• February 16/17,

• March 16/17,

• April 20/21

• May 18/19,

• June 15/16,

• July 20/21,

• August 17/18

• September 14/15,

• October 19/20,

• November 16/17

• December 14/15.

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