I love December as a month to pause and reflect on the year that’s been. Being a voracious reader, I thought I would share my ten favorite books of 2022. Since I read everything from classics to new releases, the publication dates on these will vary dramatically, but I hope you find a new book or an old favorite here.
(Click through the images to see all of the books, and scroll down to read more about why I recommend these titles!)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
My sister has begun to read more and more Japanese literature in translation, and after finishing this book and glowing about it, she managed to convince first my fiancé and then me to read it. A simple concept about the most modest of time travel, it is at once a cozy and completely devastating book that had me—someone who never cries while reading—sobbing on a train back to London after a conference.
The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman
This is the first of two of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books that I read this year, and I’m so impressed with not only how the mysteries have developed but also how his deep affection for his characters is. I always want to hang out with the Thursday Murder Club gang, and I couldn’t be happier that we will be getting more of them in the years to come.
I will admit to being completely persuadable when it comes to a great cover. The edition of A Helping Hand that I bought at my local Waterstones has a great handbag on the cover of it that manages to look stylish and unsettling at once. What I found when I read this book I’d never heard of before was akin to a British Shirley Jackson novel: at once completely domestic and utterly creepy. I loved it.
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Between the title and the fact that I’m not a big celebrity memoir reader (despite two landing on this list), I was going to give this book that seemed to be absolutely everywhere on social media a miss. Then my sister and brother-in-law read and raved about it, and I’m so glad they did. This book is harrowing, difficult, and filled with trigger warnings. However, it’s also wonderfully written and completely compelling and will make anyone who reads it think twice about glamorizing Hollywood and the life of a child actor, in particular.
The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
I’ve been reading less historical fiction this year because I’ve been writing so much. However, I couldn’t go without mentioning one of the best books that came out in 2022. Madeline Martin has a real talent for capturing the feel of a place because she puts in an incredible amount of on the ground and in the books research. (Madeline is a friend so I’ve been able to ask her about this.) The Librarian Spy is expertly crafted and, with part of the story set in Lisbon, tells the story of a different aspect of World War 2.
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
As promised, there are two Richard Osman books on this list. I have no regrets about this. While I liked The Thursday Murder Club, I thought his sophomore offering was a stronger mystery that delved deeper into the lives of those characters I mentioned enjoying so much. From purely a puzzle standpoint, I think that this is his strongest mystery so far.
The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
I am a sucker for a weaving, multiple POV whodunnit centered around the mad glamorous chaos of a Nantucket wedding. (I didn’t know this about myself before reading The Perfect Couple but I do now.) This was the perfect end of summer read for me.
My fiancé took a flier on this book, picking it up for me as a gift from Foyles. That is a very romantic gesture to a reader—although the book itself, which focuses on a brutal murder where you already know whodunnit, is far from romantic. I loved the tensely wrought story of what happens after a murder. An underappreciated British noir.
Full disclosure, this was a strong recommendation by my mother that I should have listened to far sooner. If I was forced to choose a favorite book from this year, Still Life would certainly be a serious contender. This historical novel explores joy, art, loss while telling an almost fairy tale-like story of English expat life in Italy after the war. I will admit that this book took a little while to open up for me, but if you are willing to put your faith in it, it begins to reveal itself after the first 100 pages.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
I am firmly on the side of the wave of recent Stanley Tucci appreciation, and I picked up this book after watching the first season of Searching for Italy. I found this memoir that is peppered with recipes perfectly charming. Although there are some moments of name dropping (self-deprecatingly called out in the parenthetical), the book really is about family and culture, as well as the ways that an appreciation of and love for food can tie us to those in our lives, past and present.