This past year, I read 171 titles in exchange for reviews. I also read something like thirty books from my backlist. I did a terrible job keeping track of my backlist reading, something I’m hoping to do better at this year. All that to say that I read just about 200 books, and so many of them were great. It’s really hard to narrow that list down to just the top ten.
Note: Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.
Top Ten Best Books of 2022
Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: A gender-flipped retelling of sleeping beauty where the prince waits for a kiss to wake him, and two fierce, determined treasure hunters will stop at nothing to break his curse. Features a M/F romance and a F/F romance. I LOVED this book. It is, hands down, my favorite of the year.
Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: An island with a history of unsolved murders. A girl whose best friend and sister were both murdered on the island will stop at nothing to find out why. This book gripped me from the first page to the last. I love the ending. I didn’t at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I loved it for the risk the author took in writing it.
This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: A magic river kept a girl’s family safe in WWII Hungary. Now she must decide whether to finally take her chance to escape to safety or fight for revolution. Oh. My. Gosh. The writing in this book left me aching. The magic. And the revolution. And the characters. I love it.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: This has been a great year for me with reading novels in verse, but this one is my favorite of all. I loved the magical Prague setting. The sweet, slow burn romance. It was all beautiful and fantastic.
The Luminaries by Susan Dennard
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: I don’t know what I expected going into this book, but I was completely blown away. The forest is creepy and the small community feels so real with its prejudices and complex connections. And… ugh Jay. (I loved Winnie and Jay!)
The Prince of Nowhere by Rochelle Hassan
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: Anonymous letters lead a girl and a shapeshifting boy/crow on a journey to save their world in a mysterious place called Nowhere. This one totally blew me away. I loved Roda and Ignis so much. I’ve already got Hassan’s debut YA novel which comes out this year on my TBR!
Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads | My Review
What you need to know: The cover copy calls this one “folksy” and “fresh” and it totally is! I loved the southern feel of the town and characters, and the exploration of identity and magic in this book. I’m super excited to read more by Ash Van Otterloo.
What are your favorite books from 2022?
Take a second and think through the books you read in the last year. What are the best books of 2022 that you read? Tell me below. I would love to know what you read last year.
Did you read any of the books on my list? What did you think of them? Leave a comment and let me know!
Wow, congrats on reading 200 books! That’s impressive. I can imagine it would be very hard to pick favorites from that many.
Thank you! I suppose it’s a good problem to have. 😁
Hi Kasey, thank you for checking out my post on Tuesday. There are so many books here that sound great. I’ve been meaning to read Bone Spindle, Wingbearer, and The Luminaries. Now, I want to also read Ravenfall and The Ghosts of Rose Hill.
Of course! I love your blog. 🙂 I’m so glad you’re adding The Ghosts of Rose Hill and Ravenfall to your TBR. I hope you get a chance to read them soon.
The Luminaries is on my TBR-it’s not released in the UK until later this month!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/03/top-ten-tuesday-401/
Yay! I hope you enjoy it. I think it’s worth the wait. 😁
Okay, I obviously have been missing out on some great books because a few of these are on my TBR (that I actually own) and yet I still haven’t read them! Looks like I need to immediately get to Luminaries, Bad Things Happen, and Ravenfall!
Yes yes! They were all SO good. I hope you are able to read them soon and that you love them. 😁 Happy 2023!
I loved Cattywampus and The Bone Spindler. and I want to read The Luminaries. Natalie @ Literary Rambles
I haven’t read any of these, but there are some stunning covers here! I’m glad you enjoyed so many books of 2022, and I hope you have the same in 2023.
Thank you! I hope you have a great reading year this year, too. 🙂
I also loved Cattywumpus this year! And I really want to read the Bone Spindle cause it just sounds so cool!
Yay! I hope you get a chance to read it. It’s my favorite book of the whole year. 😁
The Ghosts of Rose Hill sounds interesting!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-books-of-2022/