The Top Ten Books I Read This Year: 2022

For the last several years, I've set reading goals on Goodreads. It's worked - I kept reading and working up my goal to read thirty books in 2022. I met the goal last week and am ready to share what books I enjoyed reading the most! They are not all novels, but all good reads, nonetheless.

There is no particular order to the books.

#1 Ashton Hall - Lauren Belfer (2022)

My Goodreads rating: Five stars

Set in England, this book captured my attention because of who wrote it. I have read Belfer's other books and loved them all. The genre is historical fiction. The main characters are a mother and her neurodivergent son, who finds skeletal remains in a centuries-old Cambridge building. The mother goes on a quest to learn as much as she can about the prior inhabitants of the house. Spanning age-old settings to the modern day, the story captures one's imagination and makes you wonder what you might do given the same situation. I loved the book and will reread it in the future. It's shelved along with the other books written by Belfer in my home library. If you like stories about strong women, this book is for you. Highly recommended.

#2 Let Him Go - Larry Watson (2013)

My Goodreads rating: Three stars

I picked up this book at our local library, not knowing anything about the story or author. I enjoyed the story, which is well-told. The writing is good and the story is compelling. But, Watson chooses to not use quotes for his dialogue in this novel. While I admire his creativity and ability to go against the grain of conventional writing, the lack of the use of quotes made the novel hard to read. At times, I had to reread a passage to decide who exactly was speaking. He is a college professor and I wondered if he allows or encourages his students to write without using conventions.

In any case, the novel was a good read. There is a movie by the same name that stars Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. I'd read the novel first, but the movie was good too. I like how the novel left more to the imagination than the movie. It's an age-old struggle between families for the custody of a child.

#3 Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger (2010)

My Goodreads rating: Five stars

Again, I found this book on the shelves at our local library. I read This Tender Land by Krueger last year and enjoyed the story. He writes extremely well, in my opinion. This story is set in the Northwoods of Minnesota, a place Krueger knows well, as he lives in St. Paul. I enjoyed the characters that all seem to have secrets and the setting, as well. Krueger pulled in local history from Minnesota and Wisconsin to tell this tale about a group of unsolved murders. I've been meaning to get back to the library and check out more of his books. This novel is #10 in his series involving Cork Corcoran, who is a lawman that is part Ojibwe. There was not any need to read the stories preceding this one, as sometimes happens in series. I would highly recommend this book.

# 4 Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarity (2017)

My Goodreads Rating: Four Stars (-) should be less.

This is a readable book. The storyline is engaging. For me, however, it rang close to real life and involved people I don't really want to be around, back- biting women, cheaters, and gossip-monders. I've read several books by this author and while I get through them, I'm not really sure I enjoy them. Moriarity seems hell-bent, like another author I'll review later, on name- dropping brands, stores, and lines of products into her novels. I cannot stand this! It's like a big advertisement. If I need something to read that does not require a lot of thinking, a book along the lines of this one makes the cut. Otherwise, I try to stay away from them - no matter how popular they are. And, no, I haven't watched the television adaptation. Beach read.

#5 All The Lights Above Us - M. B. Henry (2022)

My Goodreads Rating: Four stars (+) should be more.

This is another example of a book that I read because of the author. I've followed M.B. Henry's blog for several years. She follows my blog, The Apples in the Orchard, on WordPress. We seem to enjoy each other's writing and despite a large difference in age (I'm sure I'm 30 years older), we generally have the same opinions and share some taste in books. It makes for a nice supportive blogging relationship.

I love historical fiction and this is the genre Henry's book fits in. The story focuses on five strong women and what happens to them on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. This is Henry's debut novel and she does a fabulous job with these characters as well as their individual stories. I applaud her efforts! This book has stayed with me since I read it this summer. I find myself thinking about the characters and Henry's research on the subjects that are explored in the book. WWII is a popular period of time to write about, and Henry places her novel firmly within the books that one should read on the women of that era. I'm looking forward to Henry's next book. I would highly recommend this one while you wait.

#6 Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices - by Paul Fleischman, Eric Beddows (Illustrator) - (1988)

My Goodreads Rating - Five Stars

I read this for a poetry challenge. It is a wonderful book filled with nature poetry that is for two readers. The book made me want to host a writer's circle again for students. It is joyous and reverent. The illustrations are gorgeous, too. I've had it in my Amazon cart for months. Perhaps, it's time I buy it for my own collection of poetry. If you are a classroom teacher who does a poetry unit, this would be a great addition to your toolbox. I'll read it again - that says it all - doesn't it?!

#7 Class Act - Stuart Woods (2021)

My Goodreads Rating - Five Stars (-) should have been less

To my knowledge, I've never read any of Woods' books. This surprises me as I love a good mystery. Woods passed away this summer. Therefore, Class Act was one of his last works but not THE last. This novel has all the workings of a story about mafioso. It is the 58th in a series featuring Stone Barrington, an attorney, who at times seems over his head in dealing with the NYC underworld. There are twists at the end of the novel.

I think I overrated this story due to the fame of the author and have never read his novels before. It was an easy read and a good nightly distraction. I will read more of Woods' books but they fall into a beach read category for me. Still, it's not a bad read.

#8 The Long Call - Ann Cleeves - (2019) Two Rivers Series #1

My Goodreads Rating: Four Stars

This was my first Ann Cleeves book. With The Long Call, Cleeves starts a new mystery series featuring a 40-year-old something detective, Matthew Venn, living with his husband in North Devon. He returns to a community when his father has died but doesn't really attend the funeral services, watching from afar. There is a murder, and Venn's investigations ensue.

Cleeve's writing is easy to read. Her characters are modern and well-developed. My enjoyment of this book led me to read the second in the series, The Heron's Cry, 2021, and I rated it five stars.

I've never watched the British TV series Vera or Shetland, also by Cleeves, but now that I've reminded myself of her talent, I'll check them out. I would recommend both of these books. Is there a third? (I just found out there's a book 2.5 by Cleeves in this series - I'll wait.)

#9 Verity by Colleen Hoover - (2021)

My Goodreads Rating: Four Stars (-) should have been less)

I think my Goodreads review says a lot in a few words, "a page-turner, but sick." Yes, that sums it up! I'm not a huge fan of Hoover's. She writes well and this story must have taken time to twist all together to make it as much of a mystery as it turned out to be, but...I have the same complaint about Hoover's writing as I do about Moriarity's. And that is they it is steeped in present-day popular trends, icons, businesses, status symbols, etc. I read to escape, not to relive all the things I can see as I walk down the street.

Also telling is that I haven't reached for another book by Hoover. She has lots of fans and won't miss that I'm not one of them. One of my major problems was that there wasn't one character for whom I felt affection. Not one. That's a problem for me. I usually like to be "on someone's side."

That said, if you want a gripping thriller, I can recommend this book. Just hold on tight! It has some shockers!

#10 The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris (2018)

My Goodreads Rating: Four Stars

I've since read and reviewed the second book in this series by Morris, Cilka's Journey. You can read that review, here. Let's just say that The Tattooist of Auschwitz was well-researched and well-written. The characters were engaging and the story of Lale, the tattooist, Gita - a prisoner who becomes his girlfriend, and Cilka, the friend of Gita are all memorable. But you need to be ready to read of the atrocities of war and what evil humans can perpetrate towards one another. It's very disheartening. However, hope endures through the characters in both of these books.

I would recommend reading this book before Cilka's Journey but Morris does a good job of including passages from The Tattooist so that one is not lost in the second novel. I rated Cilka's Journey five stars.

All in all, I read thirty-one books in 2022, not counting some smaller poetry books that I read along the way. Once again, I'll set a reading goal for 2023 and probably increase my reading goal again. I hope you found the reviews helpful. If you have a great book you'd recommend, please leave a note in the comments!

This article has also been published on Medium.com under my name, as the author.