A Year in Books: 2022

Happy New Year! Almost!

It's that very special time of year where I collect all the books I read this year and recommend my top ten favorites. This year's top 10 list was heavy on nonfiction, which I find myself drawn to more and more. I still like a good fantasy, but I keep finding all the best stories are true. As always I am looking for recommendations, fiction or otherwise! I've read 950 books since I started keeping track in 2011 so next year I'm on track to surpass the big 1000 :O

Total: 73 books, 40 nonfiction / 33 fiction

1. Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes

I want Natalie Haynes to write about everything. This exploration of women in the Greek myths captivated me from the first page. She takes us from those viewed in a positive light like Helen to those viewed in a negative light like Medusa (are there really any villains here?) and every shade of moral grey in between. I learned so much and I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

2. Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield

This is Simon Garfield's third appearance on my annual Top Ten list and I don't see that stopping anytime soon. When I saw this subtitle I felt as though it had been written just for me. I'm a huge font nerd (Georgia is the best no contest) and read this trivia filled romp through the history of typeface with delight. Serifs vs sans, face off.

3. Live Among the Savages by Shirley Jackson

I don't think I'm alone in associating Shirley Jackson with her chilling short stories that often feature evil in everyday settings. I read "The Lottery" in middle school and am still not over it. But I had no idea she'd written a couple of semiautobiographical books about raising her children in the middle of the 20th century that are full of comedy, heart, and relatability. No frights, except for the terror of raising children and wondering what to do when the furnace won't start. Lovely.

4. I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Woooooooooof this is a tough read. One of the stars of iCarly opens up about everything. Trigger warnings for everything: Eating disorders, emotional abuse, sexual assault, really, really, really horrible parenting. I think we should abolish children acting on television, tbh. It's really well written, but skip if you're in an emotionally vulnerable place. I hope Jennette McCurdy is having a good day, god knows she deserves it.

5. Travels With George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

I haven't read any of Nathaniel Philbrick's other historical books. Maybe I'm worried I'll be let down. But this was an excellent introduction and he's on my list for the future. He and his wife (and their dog) follow the path George Washington took after he was elected president and visited the thirteen original colonies. Philbrick mixes past and present day tales and tries to find connections between the two. You know what they say, the more things change....

6. American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin

Well this was a wild ride. I had been vaguely aware of Patty Hearst and associated her name with Stockholm Syndrome but I had no idea of the full goings on. It is frankly ridiculous that she was (spoiler alert) reintegrated into polite society with no more than a slight slap on the wrist but that's having a rich family for ya! This reads like a thriller.

7. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire 

There are only two fiction books on this list and they're both dark with elements of horror. Maybe next year's fiction will be lighter? When girls like Alice come back from Wonderland, how are they supposed to function in the "real world"? They go to a boarding school to help them accept their loss. But someone has started killing them....  This is a short read but an excellent job of world building.

8. The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A Arthur by Scott S Greenberger

I've said it before but in my presidential biography reading I often like best learning about the ones I knew very little about. While it's a tragedy (and an avoidable one at that) that James A Garfield died in office, Chester Arthur shocked everyone by rising above his corrupt background and following the encouragement of a letter writing spinster who told him she believed he could do better. 

9. Reprieve by James Han Mattson

A hands on, no holds barred haunted house with a charismatic CEO. A dead teenager. A trial. I will say that the ending felt a bit rushed to me, but the creepy atmosphere leading up to it for the rest of the book is spot on.

10. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

There have been a spate of the "I took a 23 and Me test and my life got turned upside down" books in the last few years, and I'm sure that craze isn't over yet. Whether through infidelity, adoption, or donor sperm, many people have learned secrets that never would have been revealed without DNA testing. Dani Shapiro ponders what makes a family in this bittersweet memoir.

Honorable Mentions: 

Just the Funny Parts by Nell Scovell (nonfiction)

Something to Live For by Richard Roper (fiction)

And now, all the rest! As always, recommendations are bolded and rereads are marked with *** and books are listed alphabetically by author.

Nonfiction

• Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, & Behave -- Adam Alter
• The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History-- Katherine Ashenburg
• The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York-- David Baldwin
• Maeve's Times: In Her Own Words-- Maeve Binchy
• The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the 20th Century-- Deborah Blum
• Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West's Most Notorious Bandit-- John Boessenecker
• Too Pretty to Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee-- Dennis Brooks
• The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness-- Susannah Cahalan
• Eat the Buddha: Life & Death in a Tibetan Town-- Barbara Demick
• I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman -- Nora Ephron
• Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, & Madness From Romanov Russia-- Michael Farquhar 
• Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard -- Tom Felton (Excellent as an audiobook, narrated by the author)
• Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation -- Hannah Gadsby (Excellent as an audiobook, narrated by the author)
• When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, & Funny People-- Jim Gaffigan
• Just My Type: A Book About Fonts-- Simon Garfield
• Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, & Murder in Queer New York-- Elon Green
• The Unexpected President: The Life and Times of Chester A Arthur -- Scott S Greenberger
• Murder by the Book: The Crime That Shocked Dickens's London-- Claire Harman
• Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths -- Natalie Haynes
• Life Among the Savages-- Shirley Jackson
• Heart: A History-- Saneep Jauhar
• The Women I Think About At Night: Traveling the Paths of My Heroes-- Mia Kankimaki
• Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim & I Created Sunday in the Park With George - James Lapine
• Walking the Bowl: A True Story of Murder & Survival Among the Street Children of Lusaka -- Chris Lockhart & Daniel Mulilo Chama
• Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, & the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth -- Rachel Maddow
• I'm Glad My Mom Died-- Jennette McCurdy
• Lions of the West: Heroes & Villains of the Westward Expansion-- Robert Morgan
• The Light We Carry-- Michelle Obama
• This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey From Refugee to Congresswoman-- Ilhan Omar
• Travels With George: In Search of Washington & His Legacy-- Nathaniel Philbrick
• Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son-- Homeira Qaderi
• Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister & the Truth of Her Murder-- Rachel Rear
• Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law-- Mary Roach
• Just the Funny Parts: And a Few Hard Truths About Sneaking Into the Hollywood Boys' Club-- Nell Scovell
• Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, & Love-- Dani Shapiro
• The Fly Trap-- Fredrik Sjoberg
• Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries-- Kory Stamper
• Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, & Hope on a Reservation in Montana-- Abe Streep 
• The Year of the End: A Memoir of Marriage, Truth, & Fiction - Anne Theroux
• American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes, & Trial of Patty Hearst-- Jeffrey Toobin
• Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, & the Fight to Fit In-- Phuc Tran
• The Last Escaper: The Untold Firsthand Story of the Legendary World War II Bomber Pilot, "Cooler King," & Arch Escape Artist-- Peter Tunstall
• Instant Mom-- Nia Vardalos 
• The Fixed Stars: A Memoir-- Molly Wizenberg

Fiction

• Leave the World Behind -- Rumaan Alam (For the first time in nine years of book blogging I honestly don't know if I recommend it or not. I'm so torn. The writing was pretentious and I hated the ending but the middle was so compelling. You may love it, you may hate it; it's certainly not for everyone.)
• If Beale Street Could Talk-- James Baldwin
• The Immortalists-- Chloe Benjamin
• The Postman Always Rings Twice-- James M Cain
• The Boy on the Bridge-- MR Carey
• Highfire-- Eoin Colfer
• Absolute Certainty-- Rose Connors
• ***The Eyre Affair-- Jasper Fforde
• The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter-- Theodora Goss
• The Cactus-- Sarah Haywood
• The Perfect Girl-- Gilly Macmillan
• Reprieve-- James Han Mattson
• Every Heart a Doorway-- Seanan McGuire
• Oona Out of Order-- Margarita Montimore
• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August -- Claire North
• Noor-- Nnedi Okorafor
• Listen to the Marriage-- John Jay Osborn
• The Magician's Assistant-- Ann Patchett
• Soul Music-- Terry Pratchett
• ***The Lost Hero-- Rick Riordan
• ***The Son of Neptune-- Rick Riordan
• ***The Mark of Athena-- Rick Riordan
• Something to Live For-- Richard Roper
• Lizzie Bright & the Buckminster Boy-- Gary D Schmidt
• It's Not Like It's a Secret-- Misa Sugiura
• The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules-- Catharina Ingelman Sundberg
• Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase-- Louise Walters
• Lum-- Libby Ware