Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2022


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

I thought this topic would be an easy one, but it turned out to be a little tricky! I found many wonderful books last year, but my list of all-time favourites continues to shift over time.

Feel free to read my full reviews if you wish, but I also condensed my favorite thing about each book into one sentence each in this post (mostly). That, too, was much harder than it seemed at first.

 

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden (My Review)

What I Loved About It: The spooky setting was fabulous.

 

White silhouettes of two buildings and two people against a red background. The person on the left has the numbers 2022 next to them and is peering over the edge of their building. The person on the right has the numbers 2023 next to them and is holding up their arm to warn the 2022 person to stop. My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood (My Review)

What I Loved About It: The main character was delightfully hard to figure out. Was she a good guy or a bad guy? How about her mother? I’m still not entirely sure!

 

Voices in the Wind by Joshua Scribner (My Review)

What I Loved About It: Tornadoes frighten me, but this tale made me see them in an entirely new light.

 

The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood (My Review)

What I Loved About It: The main character was blissfully unaware of his deepest character flaws, and that made his adventure much more dangerous than it should have been.

 

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (My Review)

What I Loved About It: The peacefulness and low stakes of the main character’s mission made this a comfort read for me.

 

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (My Review)

What I Loved About It: I loved catching up with the characters I met in A Psalm for the Wild-Built again.

 

Samantha, 25, on October 31 by Adam Bertocci (My Review)

What I Loved About It: The protagonist had a crappy retail job and yearned for more which made her feel much more real to me than someone who has it all figured out in life.

 

Vespasian Moon’s Fabulous Autumn Carnival by Berthold Gambrel (My Review)

What I Loved About It: At least half of the characters felt untrustworthy at any given moment, but all of them seemed like super interesting folks to hang out with.

 

A photo of a glowing analog clock that’s about to strike midnight. It is surrounded by glowing white lights and white and blue fireworks against a black sky.

The Story of Sigurd the Dragonslayer by Liam G Martin (My Review)

What I Loved About It: It’s always cool to reimagine origin stories for famous characters.

 

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher (My Review)

What I Loved About It: Wholesome horror is hard to find, but this book flirted with that idea in some delightful ways.

 

May 2023 be a fantastic reading year for all of us.

119 Comments

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119 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Books of 2022

  1. I’ve seen many raves for Becky Chambers. Looks like you had some great reads in 2022.

  2. I enjoyed A Psalm for the Wild-Built a lot.

  3. Becky Chambers is on my list. Happy New Year, and happy reading!

    My Top Ten

  4. I have to read Becky Chambers this year. I just have to …

    Happy New Year Lydia!

  5. These look so interesting and I’m glad you loved them! Hope your 2023 is full of new favorites!

  6. Great list, Lydia. I definitely agree that condensing the list of favourites down was pretty hard! I really enjoyed A Psalm for the Wild-Built too and agree with your one-sentence review. I can’t wait to meet these characters again in the sequel. I hope you have a great 2023!

  7. Anita@seriesbooklover

    Nettle and bone sounds good

  8. My Evil Mother sounds like a super interesting book, will look that up. And Nettle & Bone was one of my 2022 favorites as well!

  9. I read The Handmaid’s Tale many moons ago, but never picked up any other of Atwood’s books. I love short stories, I’ll have to check out My Evil Stepmother.

  10. I loved Psalm for the Wild Built and Nettle & Bone. I hadn’t heard of the books by Katherine Arden and Margaret Atwood, but since I love those authors I’ll look them up. Happy new year!

  11. I really must get round to reading the Becky Chambers Monk and Robot novellas, I have loved her other books so far.

  12. I’m really hoping to get to those Becky Chambers books this year. Great list!

  13. Becky Chambers is popular today! I’m glad you enjoyed their book and the rest of these.

  14. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Legends and Lattes (Travis Baldree), it was one of my favorites in 2022 and I think you’d really enjoy it.

  15. Becky Chambers books just don’t quite connect with me the way they do for other readers. I am kind of disappointed because everyone else loves them

    • It sucks when that happens! I have a few authors like that who I can’t get into but plenty of other people adore.

      I hope you find many books that are perfect for your tastes this year. 🙂

  16. Dead Voices is on my January TBR and Prayer for the Crown Shy made my top 10 as well! That series of books truly feels like a warm hug to me!

  17. I see two Becky Chambers books on your list. She sure is a good writer and her new series is very inventive.

    My 2022 Favorites

  18. I haven’t read any of these, but I’m glad you enjoyed so many books in 2022! I hope you enjoy just as many in 2023.

  19. A few of these are on my TBR. I’m really looking forward to reading them! I’m so glad you enjoyed these as much as you did. 😀

  20. I’m so curious about a lot of books on this list, but I love how Nettle and Bone is almost a genre of its own, kind of like a cozy horror, if that makes sense?

  21. Ooh! I don’t know how I haven’t yet come across My Evil Mother. It sounds so interesting, and I generally tend to like most Atwood books. Another one I am adding to my TBR.

  22. I’ve only read one Becky Chambers book but I’ve been wanting to read more by her as her books are so well loved. Hope you’ll have a great 2023!

  23. “Wholesome horror” is a great description for Nettle and Bone! I am NOT a horror person at all, but for me the book falls more on the dark fantasy side of things.

  24. Top ten reading lists are my fav season of the year! You’ve had a fabulous 2022 Lydia! Cheers to the new reading year! 🥂

  25. I’m intrigued by Voices in the Wind. I’ve never experienced a tornado (though they have come very close to where I live), but even when there is a chance of them in the forecast I get nervous. I think it’s even a phobia. (I don’t like thunderstorms in general.) I read your review. I’ll have to think about whether or not this one is for me. 🙂

  26. I love how you added a short line to say what you loved about each book! Terrific list!

  27. I haven’t read any from your list but I definitely have to try Becky Chambers

  28. I have got to read something by Becky Chambers. This is the second list I have read with her books on it.

    I have a hard time with coming up with a list of favorite books of the year, too, and have not done one for years, but I enjoyed it this year. It was fun to look back.

    TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery

  29. I’m glad you had a successful reading year. Now onward into 2023’s books, right?

  30. Wow! I haven’t read any of these! So…..I think I found some new authors! Thank you Lydia!📚💜

  31. Intriguing list! I’ve not read any of these, but I’ve heard of a few, and you made them all sound quite interesting.

  32. Sorry you struggled with this one a bit. I probably need to narrow down what books are favorites as opposed to really good ones since I had 56 marked favorites this year. But, sometimes the connection with the story does cause it to be a favorite!

  33. I haven’t read My Evil Mother by Margaret Atwood, but I was intrigued by your comment on it. Atwood seems to dabble in ambiguity a lot; I’m thinking especially of Alias Grace. I like your approach of including a one-sentence review of why you liked the book

  34. Some of these sound really interesting. I’ll have to check them out. Have a great week.

  35. Eleanor and I just finished Small Spaces, we are so psyched to get going on Dead Voices next.

  36. Im excited to read Nettle & Bone soon, I read The Raven and the Reindeer and love ver writing style

  37. Lovely list! I really enjoyed Becky Chambers’ series too.

  38. I really need to read Arden’s books – my coworkers rave about them.

  39. RS

    One sentence review excerpts — what a great hook! I’m glad you took the time because now these all seem great, and I’ve been clicking on all the titles to read more. Definitely going to have to check out the Samantha story.

  40. I don’t think I’ve heard of any of these, but some of them sound interesting even just in one sentence! All the best with reading in 2023!

  41. I sure have seen the Wild Built a lot in the last couple months – wonder if the universe is trying to tell me something? 🙂 Hope 2023 brings you lots of good reading.
    Terrie @ Bookshelf Journeys

  42. I’ve only read one Margaret Atwood book, I must read more of her work.

  43. Happy new year! I hope Becky Chambers will have an announcement soon about more books, I love having one of hers to look forward to.

  44. Jo

    I’ve not read any of these, but glad to see you enjoyed them!

  45. Yes! Condensing a review down to a sentence would be so hard! 🙂

  46. A good looking list.

    Have a great week!

  47. Arden’s books sound so creepy-fun! I really need to check them out already. Glad you enjoyed all these.

    Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  48. Monk & Robot, yay! I think Dead Voices was my favorite of the Small Spaces series. The setting was just perfect for it.

    My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/01/03/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-books-of-2022/

  49. I don’t think I’ve read anything by these authors but of course Margaret Atwood’s books always make a splash on social media. 🙂 Glad you found some favorites of the year and hope you enjoy a great 2023. Thanks for visiting my website this week! Appreciate this.

  50. I’d really like to read Nettle & Bone at some point. I read What Moves the Dead last year, my first by T. Kingfisher, and really enjoyed it.

  51. I love this list! I don’t think I’d heard of My Evil Mother, although I am very familiar with Margaret Atwood. That’s definitely a book I want to check out, especially since you liked it so much. I’ve seen Nettle & Bone on other lists and am definitely curious about that one. I would like to read more by Becky Chambers and both books on your list sound like ones I would enjoy. Thank you for sharing! Have a Happy New Year!

  52. Another post with Becky Chambers! I really need to read A Psalm for the Wild Robot, almost everyone has it on their best of 2022 lists. I am so reluctant to keep reading into Katherine Arden’s Small Spaces Quartet – I thought the first book was fabulous and the second book (Dead Voices) was solid, but everyone I know who has finished the series says they just get worse and worse.

    • The Monk and Robot series is excellent so far!

      I sadly must concur with what you’ve heard about the later books in the Dead Voices quartet. It was fun to see how it ended, but the quality deteriorated at the end quite a bit.

  53. Love this. I haven’t read of heard about any of these authors. I hope this reading year will be just as great for you.

  54. I know the feeling of choosing only a select few books as favorites (How am I supposed to choose favorites among 76 books I read last year?!) the ones you chose sound really interesting!

  55. I really want to try a T. Kingfisher book and Nettle & Bone sounds very intriguing!

  56. I enjoy Becky Chambers’ books but actually still need to read the ones on your list so I’m glad to see them here. I’ve seen so many great reviews for Nettle & Bone too.

  57. I’ve been seeing Becky Chambers a lot! Maybe I need to check her out. Congrats on a great reading year, and happy reading in 2023!

  58. I loved Nettle & Bone too! It was my first T. Kingfisher book, but it won’t be my last.

  59. What a great list! You’ve just reminded me that I need to catch up on the Small Spaces series! I also need to read Nettle & Bone! I absolutely love T. Kingfisher’s work. Hope you read lots of good books in 2023!

  60. This sounds like a thrilling lineup! I’m glad you enjoyed them, and loved seeing your reasons for each book.

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