#2022booklist

The time has come! My favourite time of the year to reflect on a year of reading! Please enjoy the photo above as the cozy refuge that is Daunts Books in London shot on film.

A few thoughts on this year of reading. In summation, I fell quite short in my expectations of the quantity of what I wanted to read this year. Whether that be a challenging start to the year, or a very busy work season, I consumed less this year than I hope to. With all of that being said, I am quite a fan of most of the things I read this year. Please enjoy my highlights!

1: My Body by Emily Ratajkowski: An incredibly personal set of essays that explored her relationship with her body that was honest, flawed, and fascinating.

2: Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman: While long and full of words I had to look up, I thoroughly enjoyed the thoughts Nick Offerman shared about society and our relationship to the land we live on.

3: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan: A really engaging fantasy read by one of my favourite audiobook narrators. Loved the character development and the unique magical elements.

4: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty: This one of the first books I read from Reese's bookclub and I have to say, she has never disappointed me yet! A great complicated mystery with a fascinating set of female friendships.

5: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jensen Reid: I read three books but this talented author this year! She has a knack for writing glamourous books about beautiful and haunted young women that I just find so easy to get lost in.

6: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: Another TJR read that was worth the hype. I loved the unexpected story line in this.

7: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig: I very much enjoyed this unique concept for a book. This book successfully subverts expectations and you can't help but viewing life a little differently after experiencing this novel.

8: Dreams of Joy by Lisa See: An absolutely heartbreaking novel full of nuance and interesting history. I adored the layered relationships sprinkled throughout.

9: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: By far one of the best books I read this year. I'm not normally one for WW2 stories, but this story was gripping in every way. Strong women will always be my favourite to read about.

10: The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: A reread that I will never tire of. There's something so fascinating about the dynamic between Watson and Holmes that I will never not want to contemplate.

11: Night Shift by Kiare Ladner: This was one of those books that was uncomfortable to read due to unlikable characters. The people in this story were unlikeable, complicated, and illogical which pushed me out of my normal story comfort zone.

12: The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly: Just a delightful easy read about 3 generations of women navigating the world in unconventional ways.

13: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Having seen all the hype on Tik Tok over these novels, I took the plunge and have read the first three novels in this series. They have fast been devoured in my love for this world Sarah created. Perhaps why this series resonates well with me, is that it is fantasy actually written for women by women. There's so much to love in the depiction of romantic relationships actually being equal, women being just as fierce fighters as men, and the subversion of stereotypes. This was one of my reading highlights of the year!

Thanks for following along my reading journey.

You can follow along on Goodreads under the username: Laura Marazzi

From my annual book blog:

Welcome to another installation of my annual book recommendations based off what I read last year! As ever, the intention of these posts is to move away from the idea that there are books that should be read by everyone. While I read a lot, I don’t think prolific reading or reading certain books is a measure of someone’s intellect or worth. Reading is something I do because it brings me great joy, and that should be reason enough to read something. When I write these annual posts, my hope is that you will be able to find even one book in this list that will delight, amaze, or speak to you.

This year I am offering up twenty books, two trilogies, and two author recommendations out of the 120 books I read in 2022.

The right book for the right person can be transformative but finding that book can be difficult. There are so many amazing stories and authors out there and a two star read for one person is someone else’s five star read. Writing is, after all, a form of art, and art is subjective.

Within this post I hope you find at least one book that resonates, and if you find five, all the better. The only book you should read is one you want to. There need not be any other reason than that.