Slow reading in 2022

Last year, I read a lot and posted quarterly book lists. This year, we're in the third quarter of 2022, and I have not read a lot or shared my reading list. I guess that's what happens when the main theme of three of the first five books you read is suicide. And those were followed by Plunder, which was interesting, but slooooow. 

Until recently, I really didn't feel like I had read anything worth sharing, except for Harlem Shuffle. It's brilliant, but as I've said before: Read Colson Whitehead. Period. He is amazing. And Harlem Shuffle has a real Elmore Leonard vibe, at least for me. 

Anyway, I recently finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, which was good and also makes the perfect book-club book -- it will foster great discussions & plenty of drinking. That made me revisit my 2022 reading list, and as I looked back on the books I finished, it doesn't suck as much as I thought. Yes, there were some tough topics, but the only book that I really didn't like was Bewilderment by Richard Powers. The others have made up for it. 

Below you'll find the list of what I've read so far in 2022. Any of them (except Bewilderment) are worth a go. Harlem Shuffle and The Midnight Library are definitely the top two, but A Single Thread, The Liar's Dictionary and The Paris Hours are also excellent (the former being a little predictable, but interesting nonetheless). The buzziest on the list is probably All That She Carried, and it is a fascinating story that will make you think about history and family and much more. 

My current list still has about 20 books on it. I don't know if I'll get to them all between now and the end of the year, but I'll definitely share what I get through.

2022 Reading list (through Sept. 9)

The Dutch House/Patchett 

Apples Never Fall / Moriarty 

The Matrix / Groff 

I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye / Maisel (nonfiction)

Bewilderment / Powers 

Plunder: Napoleon's Theft of Veronese's Feast / Saltzman (nonfiction)

Harlem Shuffle / Whitehead 

The Turnout / Abbot 

The Paris Hours / George 

All That She Carried / Miles 

Olive, Again/ Strout 

A Single Thread / Chevalier 

The Liar's Dictionary / Williams 

The Other Black Girl / Harris 

Of Women and Salt / Garcia 

Crying in H Mart / Zauner (nonfiction)

The Midnight Library / Haig 

The Maidens / Michaelides 

A Man Called Ove / Backman

2021 Book List

Remember when blogging was a thing? I haven't written for entertainment purposes in a veeeery long time and, given that it's been nearly a decade (or more than a decade if you count 2020 for what it felt like it lasted), this could very well disappear when I hit "Publish." In 2021, I periodically posted on a different platform the updated list of books I had read. I thought it would be easier to write about the final 2021 list this way, then share the link on that other platform. We'll see. This could be a one-and-done, or it could be the start of something beautiful. In all, my Excel sheet says I read 42 books in 2021. The way the last couple of years have blended together, I may have forgotten one or two. For instance, I can't remember when I read Terror in the City of Champions by Tom Stanton: 2020? 2021? Who knows. I didn't start tracking library check-outs until March-ish. That's important because 95 percent of the list below came from the library. (Bookseller friends, don't hate me: I buy and give copies of the books I like to friends I think will like them.)

Anyway, my list -- complete or not -- is below. It is primarily fiction (88%), and quite diverse. Non-fiction is denoted with an *. There is a clear best & worst: Fight Night by Miriam Toewes, and Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.

I chose a lot of books based on other peoples lists (i.e. Best of 2020; Best Thrillers for a Cold Winter; you get the idea). I read some that were recommended by others. Thank you Sarah Kelbaugh, Kevin Redman, Nancy Brosnahan, Susan from the Dog Park, Ted Lasso. Please note, Kevin recommended The Bookman's Tale, not the book on the list by Kevin Redman. I don't recommend reading several books in a row by the same author, especially if you want to keep the thrill in the thrillers (coughRuthWarecough). There were a few that lived up to the hype (The Vanishing Half! The Boy in the Field! The Nickel Boys!) and a few that were disappointing (The Four Winds, The Guest List, The Pull of the Stars). There were also some really satisfying finds (The Shadow Land, Great Circle, Hamnet, Such a Fun Age). And a few authors I hadn't read before, that I want to read more of, namely Colson Whitehead, Miriam Toewes and Charlie Lovett. Here's to 2022 -- I'm already three books in.

Books Read in 2021

A Wrinkle In Time - L'Engle

Anxious People -- Backman

Bear Town - Backman

Becoming Duchess Goldblatt-Goldblatt*

Beheld-Nesbit

Earthlings -- Murata

Eight Perfect Murders-Swanson

Fight Night - Toewes

Fresh Water for Flowers - Perrin

Great Circle - Shipstead

Hamnet - O’Farrell

In a Dark, Dark Wood-Ware

Memorial-Washington

Night Came with Many Stars- Van Booy

Nine Perfect Strangers-Moriarty

One by One-Ware

Sisters - Johnson

Such a Fun Age-Reid

The Bookman's Tale - Lovett

The Boy in the Field - Livesy

The Dead are Arising-Payne*

The Four Winds -- Hannah

The Girls-Cline

The Good Lord Bird - McBride

The Guest List-Foley

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova

The Huntress-Quinn

The Last thing he told me -Dave

The Mercies-Hargrave

The Nickel Boys-Whitehead

The Other Side of Someday - Redman*

The Other Wes Moore -- Moore*

The Plot -- Korelitz

The Pull of the Stars - Donoghue

The Shadow Land-Kostova

The Third Rainbow Girl-Eisenberg*

The Turn of the Key-Ware

The Underground Railroad - Whitehead

The Vanishing Half-Bennett

Trigger Warning - Gaiman

When No One is Watching -- Cole

Where’d You Go Bernadette- Semple