Top Five Books of 2022

ahef1963: One of the most beautifully-populated, enriching, inspiring novels I've ever read.

CaschuNut: Love the combination of friendship, love, tech, and gaming, which I knew nothing about. The rich details about the elements of the games was fascinating!

CarltonC: It’s written in that seemingly simple, easy flowing prose, which guides you confidently through leaps in time and space, narrative jumps. It’s knowing and self referential, in a playful way, especially the section about an author on a book tour. But it’s a pandemic novel, because of the awareness of self isolation with a sense of a before and after, the chance and arbitrary nature of life. A good read.

knerd.knitter: This story was very fascinating. It's probably the first book I've read that addresses Covid, so that made it feel very familiar. The characters seemed very real and were well developed, which is one of my favorite things in a book. Another thing I enjoyed in this book was the use of multiple meanings of language, for example the title re-appearing many times throughout the story in different contexts with different meanings.

aethercowboy: I greatly enjoyed the imaginative nature of this story, the unreliable narrator, and the gradual unfolding of the mystery behind the labyrinth. Almost as good as Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

oceancat: by turns dark and funny and bittersweet, this is a fairy tale retelling that still feels like a fairy tale, pulling elements from so many different stories. i want to read everything t. kingfisher has written now!

CaschuNut: Possibly one of my favorites of all time. Loved the characters and the way they intertwined at the end. So amazingly creative and original.

KeithChaffee: lyrical fantasy laced with righteous anger, about what we risk when we refuse to deal with our personal and collective trauma

Aquila: A lot of series books in my top five this year, all ones where you have to read the other books first. Nona was a delight.

tardis: This was such a comforting book, I read it twice.

Laura.a: I read this book three times in 2022. That was some good pudding.

Bookmarque: a strange novel, but one that works well to encapsulate how old wrongs can haunt people for a long time.

knerd.knitter: I saved this book as my last Murakami to read because I love his longer books. This one did not disappoint! It had all the elements I expect from a Murakami book and felt familiar almost from the start. I love reading a long book that is written well and enjoyable. You begin to really feel that you know the characters and the settings. This book made me feel that I wanted it to go on forever.

oceancat: the second book in a trilogy often flags, but not so here. my only complaint is i wish these books were longer, i want to stay in the world they create

LDVoorberg: Amazing essays of her trauma and survival, in a way that is so truly humble. I talked about this book all year.

Storeetllr: As someone else said, nothing much happens, yet this coming-of-age-in-a-crucible story is compelling. I love how it handles otherness and the growth of the characters.

Laura.a: I read this book three times in 2022. That was some delicious pudding.

CarltonC: Storytelling. Jump straight in, the variation is familiar, anonymous officialdom and borders, wordplay and playfulness, changing time frames, accidentals and historical tales. That was life. Everything suspect. Nothing uncorrupt. Fun and engaging, as ever.

Capybara_99: If I counted re-reads my No. 1 would be Middlemarch. But George Saunders always lives up to the high bar he has set for his stories.

Bookmarque: not quite as perfectly executed as Needless Street, but creepy, unsettling, intricate and odd horror tale. But in a good way.

Boand: A book I thought might just be interesting enough to read, turned out to be a really engrossing biography full of ambition, loss and love. The dedication, hard slog, and gruelling journey of Dave Grohl is everywhere laced with respect and devotion for those around him.