On the Shelf: What I Read in 2022

Wow, that went fast! Hello from the beginning of a new year. I just returned from a long-anticipated trip to Jordan and am still saying goodbye to all those things I left unfinished in 2022. 


Last year, Goodreads informs me I read 57 books. I actually think it was a few more than that but I forgot to record the paperbacks before I gave them away or it was a craft book that I didn't read cover to cover. So we'll just call it 57.  

As always, I read mostly in the crime and thriller genre (33 by my count), with notable forays into contemporary fiction (some could be classified as women's fiction) and fantasy/sci-fi. Some books counted in several categories (Aaranovitch's Whispers Underground is both a detective story and a fantasy novel, for example.)

Looking at author diversity again, as I did last year, most books (38) were by women authors and 27 were non-US.

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I just re-read my blog post from last year, when I said that I wanted to read more Hispanic or Latino voices, but I did not successfully add enough to my TBR, I guess. I will look for more authors there and also more Czech authors in translation (My first book of 2023 is Katerina Tuckova's harrowing Gerta). 

In terms of format, almost all of the books I read last year were ebooks. I don't think I finished a single audiobook (or maybe one and forgot to count it on Goodreads? Yikes. More for 2023!) I did pick up a crop of second-hand paperbacks while we were visiting my in-laws in Australia in August and that's where I found the two novels by Balli Kaur Jaswal and the one true-crime nonfiction book A Murder without Motive: The Killing of Rebecca Ryle by Martin McKenzie-Murray.

I came back from Ireland with two souvenirs: whiskey and COVID

Uncharacteristically, I spent a *lot* of time this year reading two books that I didn't enjoy that much but that I wanted to finish as an educational experience: Ulysses by James Joyce, which I decided to finally give a shot at since it was the centenary last year when I traveled to Ireland, and the 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories collection from 2015. Also uncharacteristically, I am "cheating" at this challenge because I am still reading that goddamn Ulysses. (I get about two pages done every night before falling asleep) but decided to count it as finished anyway because I am emotionally DONE with it. I'm afraid to look at how many percent left in the ebook I have to go. 

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There were a few quick, snappy reads, too, by Lucy Foley and Liane Moriarty. And the longest book I read, by pages, Empire of Gold, the final installment in the Daevabad trilogy by SA Chakraborty, certainly didn't feel like a long read. In addition to that one, I continued with a few other series: Australian author Jane Harper's Force of Nature, a follow-up to The Dry using the same investigator character; two of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels; my ThrillerFest pal Colleen Winter's second book, The Disruptors; another friend, Jasmine Silvera's, witchy, sexy, Prague-set Conjuring Moonlight; and Elizabeth George's latest in the Lynley series, Something to Hide. Aaranovitch's novel I mentioned above is also part of a series, as is the best-selling Thursday Murder Club and I may pick up more in those lines later, though I don't think I'll follow the other House of the Seasons novels by Jenn J McLeod.

What did you read this year?

The Books

Crime Fiction (Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Dark)

*in no particular order*

Bath Haus by PJ Vernon. Excellent thriller writing, from the very first scene in a gay men's hookup spot through the ritzy lifestyles of DC to the twisty ending. 

We Lie Here by Rachel Howzell Hall. Perhaps my favorite reading experience from 2022. A domestic thriller, this gets in deep to family secrets. I am probably going to auto-buy this author from now on. I've eaten up everything she's produced lately.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Fun and fast.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard. The first book I've read that's completely set during the pandemic. It follows two Irish strangers who become romantically involved on the eve of the COVID lockdown and move in together. And then there's a twist.

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara. Kids living in poverty in India try to solve the disappearance of their school classmates. So good, so sad, and so well written.

Something to Hide by Elizabeth George. If you've read the other TWENTY mammoth Lynley novels, c'mon, you're reading this doorstop too.

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P Manansala. Don't read this book hungry! Very fun cozy mystery (a category I haven't been reading much of lately) set in a restaurant run by a Filipino-American family.

My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa. Delightfully dark. I was disappointed when I got to the end only because I wanted to keep reading. This, as was the case for many books I've read in the past few years, was a recommendation from the Unlikeable Female Characters podcast. The podcast is on hiatus for the moment (sadly!) but I recommend browsing their backlist for other recommendations and author interviews. 

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier. Also wickedly fun. Hillier is also becoming one of my recent favorites.

The Finalist by Joan Long. Joan and I are both members of Sisters in Crime and I was excited to read her debut this year after corresponding with her over the years. If you liked the concept of a mystery set on an exclusive island, such as the recent movie Glass Onion, or Rachel Howzell Hall's They All Fall Down, you might want to check out this one! 

One by One by Ruth Ware. Great setting in an Alpine chalet – guests of a work retreat are trapped inside with a killer.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware. One of her earlier books and a bit different to her later style. I found this one stayed with me for a while after I closed the book.

The Body Man by Eric P Bishop. I met Eric at ThrillerFest, along with Colleen Winter. So excited to read his first book, a political thriller set in DC and dealing with taut international secrets and laconic federal agents.

Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett. Another fellow Sisters in Crime member. I just devoured this book. Kellye writes thrillers that include a fun spark of humor along with the urgency needed in the genre.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper. Set in the Australian bush. This, and The Hike, below, have similar premises and I enjoyed them both.

Dead End Girls by Wendy Heard. Perhaps the only young adult title I read this year? Definitely a satisfying read for adults too, about two teenagers trying to pull off their own disappearance. Wendy is one of the Unlikeable Female Characters podcasters and I have *loved* each of her recent novels.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Also a cozy mystery, this one set in a retirement community, and very fun. 

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Kismet by Amina Akhtar. Watch those ravens! Perhaps this can be categorized as social horror?

Her Dark Lies by JT Ellison

Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia. My favorite part of this was the wintery, outdoorsy setting. 

Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Ripley's Game & Ripley Underground by Patricia Highsmith

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. If Kismet can't be defined as horror, then this is possibly the only horror novel I read this year? I have been watching a lot more horror on TV though, so I may incorporate more in my reading list for 2023.

Have You Seen Me? by Kate White

A Murder Without Motive: The Killing of Rebecca Ryle (Nonfiction) by Martin McKenzie-Murray

Descent by Tim Johnston. As I said before with The Current, I love his writing.

The Quarry Girls by Jess Laurey. This was set in the 90s and is inspired by real events. 

Over Her Dead Body by Susan Walter

The Hike by Susi Holliday

Cold River by Liz Adair

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Literary/General Fiction

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. I have now finished all the books I can get my hands on by this author. Hope she's publishing more soon!

Ulysses by James Joyce. Ugh. Will I ever truly finish?

Dava Shastri's Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti. This was a touching book with a lot more edge than I had expected. I would recommend it if you like a bit of near-future sci-fi in your family tales. 

Simmering Season by Jenn J McLeod

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi. I read this when I was woozy with COVID and so need to go back and re-read.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I love how this author, like Moriarty above, mixes in wry humor and *almost* absurdist scenarios.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. This is a beautiful novel set in Perth, about two families who share a house over a few decades. This is the second book I've read by this author (The Riders was the first) and I really like the edge of mystical paired with the nearly humdrum realism of many scenes.

100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, edited by Lorrie Moore & Heidi Pitlor. I read this because I wanted to work on more short stories but I nearly stopped several times in the middle. Many of these stories felt completely joyless to me and not even that artful. Maybe it was me. I'll move on to a few other anthologies I have collected.

Mild spoiler for Inland. Photo by Beth Green (2022)

Historical
The Widow Killer by Pavel Kohout. I found this paperback of the English translation in a dusty second-hand store in Nevada but it's set right here in Prague. It's a police procedural about a serial killer during the end of World War II.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I am so late to the party on this one. Beautiful.

Inland by Téa Obreht. Not what I expected when I picked this one up, but I’m glad I read it.
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Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Disruptors by Colleen Winter. Excellent second piece in this series. Looking forward to the third book!

Conjuring Moonlight by Jasmine Silvera. More please!

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey. Probably my second favorite reading experience this year, but I don't think all readers are going to enjoy it. Could this also be social horror? Possibly.

Meet me in Another Life by Catriona Silvey. I really liked this concept of strangers who keep meeting and re-meeting through many lives. Much of it was touching.

The Empire of Gold by SA Chakraborty. Sad the series ended, but I enjoyed this last installment.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. A necessary read if you like stories about androids, and a beautifully written and quite nostalgic one.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett. 

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This was so atmospheric! As with the other book I have read from this author (Mexican Gothic) I wanted to stay in the world after I finished the last page. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab. Also very touching. 

Whispers Underground by Ben Araronovitch. Witty and fun.

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Currently Reading
Like Me by Haley Phelan (ebook)

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo (audiobook; the author is another of the Unlikeable Female Characters podcasters)

Next up? Not sure!

I have Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day and Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney on hold at the library and a bunch of thrift store paperbacks I collected last summer.

Any other recommendations?