Best Book of 2022

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

OK, I’m going to take this in chunks (per my usual). I read three terrific novels published this year:

• The Latinist by Mark Prins
• Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
• The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

But I also abandoned four highly-praised novels published this year.

The Swimmers is on my TBR for '23. I've not read an Otsuka I did not love.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

The Swimmers is on my TBR for '23. I've not read an Otsuka I did not love.

I have you to thank for Siren Queen.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

I have you to thank for Siren Queen.

And it's not even her best work. The Chosen and the Beautiful was an excellent Fitzgerald pastiche, but she really shines in her Singing Hills novellas.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

And it's not even her best work. The Chosen and the Beautiful was an excellent Fitzgerald pastiche, but she really shines in her Singing Hills novellas.

I didn’t love The Chosen and the Beautiful; I thought it overly derivative and not sufficiently creative and the fantasy element wasn’t as organic as it was in Queen. I have yet to read Singing Hills.

[Dazrin]

I only have 2 standouts from the new to me books I read this year. Neither of which were published this year. I've also got a short story that was though.

The first is a novella that won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 2016 (and a Locus Award finalist). The two following novellas were also Hugo and Locus Award nominees too. It was a fantastic read from a perspective I haven't experienced before and certainly the first of many of her books that I will read:
Binti by Nnedi Okafor

The second is one I've praised before in the What Are You Reading thread. It was first published in the late 1950s in Hong Kong and has become a very beloved wuxia classic. (Wuxia is "martial heroes" a stylized take on martial arts adventures. The movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon may be the best known wuxia film in the US.) It has been adapted for film 4 times (with a couple sequels) and for television in 5 different series. It's also been turned into a comic and a video game. I listened to this as an audiobook and really appreciated that format. More familiarity with pronunciations would have been needed for me to enjoy this in print.
The Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong

Since I asked about books published this year. I only read three books that were published this year (and several short stories). The books were good but nothing stood out. Of the short stories, Family Cooking by AnaMaria Curtis was excellent. I listened to it on the LeVar Burton reads podcast but the link will take you to Uncanny Magazine where it was first published.

[astrangerhere]

I'm going to buckle down and drop my 4 and 5 star reads into PubMeeple (a ranking engine) to sort out my #3-10 books.

My number 1 and 2 are:

1. The Selected Letters of Willa Cather edited by Janis Stout and Andrew Jewell
2. My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland

I think this is the first time ever that both my one and two are nonfiction.

Books to be sorted into some kind of order:

• Perhaps the Stars (recommended by my wife)
• Motor Girl Omnibus (recommended by my wife)
• This Is How You Lose the Time War (re-read)
• Lady Susan (re-read)
• Return of the Soldier, The (re-read)
• Mamo, Vol. 1 (recommended by my wife)
• Winesburg, Ohio (re-read)
• Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
• Jasmine Throne, The (recommended by my wife)
• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
• One of Ours (re-read)
• Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I read some pretty good books this year. Probably the book that absorbed me most was 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I avoided it for years because I don't care for alternate history. That was a mistake. Great book.

I'd also say The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, though that was a reread, so feels like cheating. If you've not read The Big Sleep, you really should.

Runner up would be The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

Books published in 2022, I read Why We Did It by Tim Miller. It was a good book. But as mentioned, also made me mad.

And The Einsteins of Vista Point by Ben Guterson. A YA book, but I met the author and tried the book. Really enjoyed it.

Raymond Chandler is great. I have been collecting some used copies of his books and hope to get through all of them soon. I have also been doing some King re-reading, including Dark tower series

[Dazrin]

For most anticipated books of 2023, it looks like November is going to be the month for me.
Murderbot 7: System Collapse by Martha Wells
Skyward 4: Defiant by Brandon Sanderson

Orphan X 8: The Last Orphan by Gregg Hurwitz comes out in February. Those have been entertaining although the last few in the series haven't grabbed me as much as the earlier ones.

Brandon Sanderson also has at least 4 other books coming out next year (his Kickstarter books) that I'll probably try to read too.

At one point late last year there was a rumor about Dresden book 18, Twelve Months, coming out in 2023 but I'm not going to hold my breathe on that one. Maybe he'll pull out another surprise. That would be fun, although I'm looking forward to the next Cinder Spires book, The Olympian Affair, more than the Dresden book. It sounds like it might come out first and is getting close to finished with the first draft. If so, it might be available late next fall too.

[issybird]

I’m looking forward to The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution by Benjamin L. Carp and Stone Blind, a novelization of the Medusa myth, by Natalie Haynes. Both are coming out next month.

I’m also waiting on a book to come out next week, Herbert Corey's Great War: A Memoir of World War I by the American Reporter Who Saw It All, edited by John Maxwell Hamilton and Peter Finn.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Raymond Chandler is great. I have been collecting some used copies of his books and hope to get through all of them soon.

I read Farewell My Lovely earlier this month. I've decided to read a Chandler a month until I finish them all. He's only got 7 novels and two books of short material, so it's not much of a challenge.

I have also been doing some King re-reading, including Dark tower series

I have so much King to catch up on. In the Storygraph challenge, I already have Fairy Tale. I've also decided to read Under the Dome next year.

[issybird]

Here it is! My top ten for 2022. As usual although not always, it’s half fiction and half non.

Nonfiction:

• Machine Made: Tammany Hall and the Creation of Modern American Politics by Terry Golway
• The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori
• The Baseball 100 by Joe Posnanski
• Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes
• The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet* **

Fiction:

• Skylark by Dezső Kosztolányi
• Troubles by J.G. Farrell
• The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
• The Reprisal: A Novel by Laudomia Bonanni
• The Latinist: A Novel by Mark Prins*

*Published in 2022
**Thanks to Catlady

Usually once I look at my top ten I discern a few themes, but they’re weak at best this year. Two nonfiction are New York City history (with honorable mention to the baseball book. ) None of the novels are set in America. It shocks me that only two, one fiction, one non, were written by women. Also surprising is that I read nine of them and listened to only one, the Hardy.

Excelsior!

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I read Farewell My Lovely earlier this month. I've decided to read a Chandler a month until I finish them all. He's only got 7 novels and two books of short material, so it's not much of a challenge.



I have so much King to catch up on. In the Storygraph challenge, I already have Fairy Tale. I've also decided to read Under the Dome next year.

Yes, his book output isn't large, have most of his collected now. I don't believe I have read Farewell, My Lovely yet.

I havent' read Fairy Tale, it keeps popping up as ready to borrow in my libraries but I'm never in the mood for some reason so keep pushing it back.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Yes, his book output isn't large, have most of his collected now. I don't believe I have read Farewell, My Lovely yet.

Farewell, My Lovely is excellent, as is to be expected. But it is also very racist. It starts with a murder in a black bar, which is discussed throught the book. But then there's also a native American character that plays a large roll and that's also pretty bad.

And I'm saying this as someone who reads older books in general. Farewell, My Lovely was an uncomfortable read. But worth t.

I havent' read Fairy Tale, it keeps popping up as ready to borrow in my libraries but I'm never in the mood for some reason so keep pushing it back.

I'm using the Storygraph challenge as a way to get around to reading books I keep thinking about, but not reading.

[tm3]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Runner up would be The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

Fabulous book. Not as good as American Gods, but still fabulous.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by tm3

Fabulous book. Not as good as American Gods, but still fabulous.

I never got into Gaiman. I actually started reading The Sandman when it was a brand new comic series and gave up after the first seven. Violent Cases was... okay I guess, though I don't remember anything about it. I later read Good Omens and didn't connect with that either. Mirrormask was visually impressive, but boring. Coraline is the only thing of his that I read and immediately enjoyed.

But I've decided to give him another go. And I really did enjoy The Ocean at the End of the Lane a lot. I'll try American Gods soon.