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Original poster

What have been your standout books of 2022?

65 replies

TattiePants · 23/12/2022 16:13

I have a ridiculously long TBR pile but always on the lookout for new book / author suggestions. I’ve had a pretty good reading year and haven’t had any complete duds. My favourites have been:

Still life - Sarah Winman
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
The Island of Missing Trees - Elif Shafak
Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
All the Broken Places - John Boyne
Hungry - Grace Dent
My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
Clothes, clothes, clothes…. - Viv Albertine

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moddinner · 18/10/2024 10:25

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AmazeAmazeAmaze · 29/12/2022 17:08

Read 102 this year (so far - still a few days left!)

Favourites included:

Im Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid
All Quiet On the Western Front by Remarque
Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Shout out to the three Taylor Jenkins Reid novels I thoroughly enjoyed equally - Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Love that her universe is peppered with the same characters.

Biggest let down of 2022 - The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Was really looking forward to this one and found it a real slog.

PritiPatelsMaker · 29/12/2022 11:22

Sorry that should have said In Order to Love.

Purpleavocado · 29/12/2022 11:13

The Wolf Den - Elodie Harper
Foster - Claire Keegan
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata
Last One at the Party - Bethany Clift
My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
The Other Black Girl - Zakiya Delila Harris
The One Hundred Year of Lenni and Margot - Marianne Cronin

Original poster

TattiePants · 29/12/2022 11:06

@CatSeany Rebecca & The Secret History are in my top 10 all time favourites.

@CoteDivoire i really enjoyed The Alice Network so I’ve added The Huntress to my TBR pile. I started A Gentleman in Moscow a couple of years ago then stopped so must finish this.

@BestIsWest Hungry is so good. I’m a similar age to GD and grew up in a working class northern town so it really resonated with me. I saw on Instagram that her dad has recently died.

@yoshiblue I’ve really enjoyed most of the books on your list so now added War Doctor to my TBR pile. If you haven’t read them already, the other 2 books in the trilogy by Lissa Evans are well worth a read.

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CatSeany · 28/12/2022 18:24

This year I enjoyed:
Captain Correlli's mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Secret History - Donna Tartt

I've had quite a lot of disappointing reads this year so I'll be looking to this post for inspiration for next year!

hopeishere · 28/12/2022 18:11

Place marking

fuzzyelbow · 28/12/2022 07:36

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Angry Women's Choir by Meg Bignell

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The Fifth Season (Broken Earth #1) by N. K. Jemisin

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Small Favors by Erin Craig

crossstitchingnana · 28/12/2022 07:36

EmmaGrundyForPM · 28/12/2022 07:14

Still Life
Lessons in Chemistry
Small.Things Like These
The Mandibles

CoteDivoire · 28/12/2022 07:12

My stand ours this year were:
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne
The Huntress - Kate Quinn

MrsDoyle351 · 28/12/2022 06:55

Place marking - some really great ideas for reading in 2023!

My one I really enjoyed recently was American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

BestIsWest · 27/12/2022 20:05

A poor year for me - I’ve really taken to reading easy stuff and rereading old favourites but I did enjoy

Hungry - Grace Dent
A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe.

PritiPatelsMaker · 27/12/2022 19:55

Mine are:

Summer by Ali Smith

Love Marriage by Monica Ali

In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park &

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell.

yoshiblue · 27/12/2022 18:23

For me (some very late to the party!)
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
Still Life - Sarah Winman
War Doctor - David Nott
Old Baggage - Lissa Evans
A Quartet In Autumn - Barbara Pym

dementedma · 27/12/2022 13:28

Think this is going to be my stand out non fiction book. Got it for Christmas and its fascinatin g,as well as beautifully produced.
The History of the World in 100 Plants by Simon Barnes

Sadik · 26/12/2022 21:22

My standouts this year are both non-fiction, (only the first published this year):
The Naked Don't Fear The Water by Matthieu Aikens (Undercover journalist travels with a friend who is an Afghan refugee from Kabul as he tries to get to Europe)
Land of a Thousand Hills by Rosamond Halsey Carr (Memoir of 50 years living in Rwanda after moving there in 1949 as a young bride, including through the end of colonialism, & the genocide)

ABlindAssassin · 26/12/2022 20:36

I just remembered another one!

Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale

wonderingpondering1 · 26/12/2022 16:32

got these for Christmas, looking forward to getting stuck in, once I finish current read (7 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle) which I’m really struggling with but don’t like giving up a book halfway through

What have been your standout books of 2022?

RoyalCorgi · 26/12/2022 10:53

Fiction
Small things like these by Claire Keegan
Bournville by Jonathan Coe
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

Non-fiction:
Regenesis by George Monbiot
And Finally by Henry Marsh
Mother’s Boy by Howard Jacobson
Free by Lea Ypi

IrishMamaMia · 26/12/2022 08:22

That sounds good :) @EineReiseDurchDieZeit

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 25/12/2022 17:23

Anyone who likes book chat and reading goals, please join us on 50 Books

Lovetotravel123 · 25/12/2022 17:06

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart as an audiobook. I think it worked particularly well in this format.

livingonpurpose · 25/12/2022 17:00

I set myself a goal of reading 50 books this year and have just finished number 82! My standouts for the year have been:

The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne
The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead
Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
The Nightingale - Kristen Hannah
A Terrible Kindness - Jo Browning Wroe
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
Still Life - Sarah Winman
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr
The Push - Ashley Audrain
Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead

Original poster

TattiePants · 24/12/2022 22:44

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit i get lots of my book inspiration from the 50 book thread. Every year I plan to take part then forget! I’m reading The Sealwoman’s Gift now and enjoying it so far. I read The Dutch House a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.

@wonderingpondering1 im also on book number 58 so need to get a move on to hit my target of 60 by the end of the year. I’ve enjoyed all the books you’ve read so will have to check out The Olive Tree.

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