This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on December 23rd, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.
Hey, look! We've just about made it to the end of 2022!
This will be my final newsletter of the year—I plan to take next week off, and will catch up with you in January. Enjoy your holidays and your break!
Since I basically did my own year-in-review a few weeks ago, in my newsletter about gratitude, I thought this week's installment would be a perfect spot for me to list my favorite books I read this year. I keep a reading log every year, and I love gathering the stats on what I've read! Before I jump into my faves, here's a bit of data.
As of the moment I'm writing this, I have finished 111 books this year. I am currently reading one, so I anticipate my total for the year being at least 112. I DNF-ed (Did Not Finish) one book I started. The 112 books on my list are all chapter books or longer—but it's important to note that I read a number of early chapter books with my daughter that are not reflected on my personal log.
The age breakdown on my list:
11 chapter books
9 middle-grade books
13 young adult novels
79 books for adults
One reading goal I have for 2023 is to read more middle-grade stories, in anticipation of my own middle-grade debut with The Thirteenth Circle in early 2024!
The genre breakdown (keeping in mind that some books blur boundaries):
21 contemporary stories (realistic fiction)
13 fantasy stories
70 romance novels (contemporary and historical)
2 novels-in-verse
3 historical novels (not historical romance)
1 nonfiction book
1 mystery
1 historical/contemporary/sci-fi
Yes, 70 is a lot of romance novels! But those really have been my comfort reads lately. Gotta love books where everything is guaranteed to work out in the end. Plus, they mostly come in series, in which case I have to read five or six in a row to see everyone paired up! ;)
My goals as far as genre in 2023 are to read more nonfiction, as well as to read more books that aren't straightforward contemporary stories. More sci-fi! More mysteries! Etc.
One other stat I track: 87 of the books I read this year were borrowed from the library. Hooray for the Brooklyn Public Library! The rest I own, either as ebooks or physical books.
And now, without further ado...here are ten books I read and loved in 2022! I highly recommend each and every one of these titles.
Adult Contemporary/Literary Fiction
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Adult Romance
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Adult Mystery
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Young Adult Fiction
Lawless Spaces by Corey Ann Haydu
An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan
Middle-Grade Fiction
The Mythics: Marina and the Kraken by Lauren Magaziner
The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd
(Honorable mention: Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr)
What were your favorite reads of 2022? Did I miss anything you absolutely loved? Help me jump-start my reading list for 2023 by sharing your recommendations! My Libby app is ready for action.
Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!
~Kathryn
What I'm:
Reading: I'm almost done with Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd, which I shared on my Instagram but didn't officially recommend here. It's an absolutely wonderful middle-grade story about a girl with osteogenesis imperfecta, aka "brittle-bone disease," starting at her local public middle school after years of home-schooling. At the same time, a magical wish-granting hummingbird is rumored to be returning to her small Tennessee town. If Olive can find the hummingbird before anyone else, will her wish come true? Natalie Lloyd writes such gentle, heart-warming, magical books, and even though this isn't a holiday story, per se, it's perfect for the holiday season.
Watching: I'm in the mood for Christmas movies! We recently watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Elf with the kiddo. I try to watch White Christmas every holiday season. What are your favorite holiday movies, the ones you return to year after year after year?
Eating: Since I am the primary stocking stuffer at my house, I buy a lot of chocolate at this time of year. Too much chocolate, one might say. (I can't help it! If the bags of Lindt truffles are buy one, get one free, I have to, right?)
Loving: I got to observe my kiddo's after-school gymnastics class this week, and it was such a joy to watch her trying and enjoying all the moves!