The Stripe

Everything I Read in 2022, Ranked by Genre.

Everything I Read in 2022, Ranked by Genre

This year, I read 87 books. Last year it was 80, the year before (pandemic) it was 96, and the year before that it was 83. I never set reading goals but it’s always interesting to see how the year shakes out. I wasn’t sure if I would net out higher or lower than last year. This year had its stressors (the process of buying my house was very stressy, I escaped into my thrillers!) My reading patterns were ultimately pretty similar to last year. Lots of thrillers and mysteries, per ush. Maybe a little less romance as I am no longer doing the podcast and that was Becca’s genre.

The books I enjoyed the most were of the more literary nature. If I had to pick a favorite book from the whole year it would be Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr. I still think about it – a masterpiece! How many books did you read last year? And what was your favorite?

PS – If you want longer reviews of any of these books, just search The Library. They’re also each reviewed in my monthly reading lists. And if you are looking to read more this year, read this post: How to Read More Books.

PPS – A reminder that this is all subjective. There were books considered great works that I just didn’t enjoy. I am not a literary critic, just a person who likes to read and share my opinions.

PPPS – Check out everything I read in 2021!

Everything I Read in 2022

My Favorite Non-Fiction from This Year.

As with last year, I chose not to rank these – it’s impossible to rank them, they were all really enjoyable!

My Favorite Thrillers and Suspense from This Year.
  1. Notes on an Execution, by Danya Kukafka
  2. The Maid, by Nita Prose
  3. All These Dangerous Things, by Stacy Willingham
  4. Hidden Pictures, by Jason Rekulak
  5. All Her Little Secrets, by Wanda M. Morris
  6. The Good Sister, by Sally Hepworth
  7. The Lies I Tell, by Julie Clark
  8. Things We Do In The Dark, by Jennifer Hillier
  9. The Cage, by Bonnie Kistler
  10. A Flicker in the Dark, by Stacy Willingham
  11. When We Were Bright and Beautiful, by Jillian Medoff
  12. Stone Cold Fox, by Rachel Koller Croft
  13. The Counselors, by Jessica Goodman
  14. She Regrets Nothing, by Andrea Dunlop
  15. The Prisoner, by B.A. Parris
  16. Nothing More to Tell, by Karen M. McManus
  17. Can’t Look Away, by Carola T. Lovering
  18. Beautiful Little Fools, by Jillian Cantor
  19. The Younger Wife, by Sally Hepworth
  20. In My Dreams, I Hold a Knife, by Ashley Winstead
  21. Stay Awake, by Megan Goldin
  22. The It Girl by Ruth Ware
  23. Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
  24. Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
  25. The Lion’s Den, by Katherine St John
  26. The Paris Apartment, by Lucy Foley
  27. You’re Invited, by Amanda Jayatissa
  28. Dear Child, by Romy Hausmann
  29. Like a Sister, by Kellye Garrett
  30. The Soulmate, by Sally Hepworth
  31. Everything We Didn’t Say, by Nicole Baart
  32. Reckless Girls, by Rachel Hawkins
  33. The Last Housewife, by Ashley Winstead
  34. First Born, by Will Dean
  35. The Love of my Life, by Rosie Walsh
  36. The Club, by Ellery Lloyd
  37. The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris
  38. When She Returned, by Lucinda Berry
  39. Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten
  40. Good Rich People, by Eliza Jane Brazier
  41. The Dilemma, by B.A. Paris
My Favorite Light Reads from This Year.

This also includes YA!

  1. Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
  2. Book Lovers, by Emily Henry
  3. Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez
  4. Gilt, by Jamie Brenner
  5. Meant to Be, by Emily Giffin
  6. Silver Girl, by Elin Hilderbrand
  7. Anon, Pls. by DeuxMoi and Jessica Goodman
  8. Rivals, by Katharine McGee
  9. Counterfeit, by Kirsten Chen
  10. Sister Stardust, by Jane Green
  11. Cover Story, by Susan Rigetti
  12. Castles in Their Bones, by Laura Sebastian
  13. Meant to Be Mine, Hannah Orenstein
  14. City of Likes, by Jenny Mollen
  15. The Lifestyle, by Taylor Hahn
  16. Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
My Favorite More Serious Fiction from This Year.

This includes Historical Fiction as I didn’t know where to put those!

  1. Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
  2. Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson
  3. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
  4. The Rabbit Hutch, by Tess Gunty
  5. The Dutch House, by Ann Patchett
  6. Violeta, by Isabel Allende
  7. Tell Me How to Be, by Neel Patel
  8. Mad Honey, by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
  9. A Hundred Summers, by Beatriz Williams
  10. The School for Good Mothers, by Jessamine Chan
  11. The Christie Affair, by Nina de Gramont 
  12. All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Matthews
  13. Aesthetica, by Allie Rowbottom
  14. NSFW by Isabel Kaplan
  15. A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
  16. Mouth to Mouth, by Antoine Wilson
  17. The Birdcatcher, by Gayl Jones
  18. A Very Nice Girl, by Imogen Cripp

TELL ME YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR IN THE COMMENTS!

Leave a Comment

Leave a Comment

50 Comments

  1. Heidi:

    I am so grateful for your book posts!
    My favorites of ‘22 were All My Rage, Project Hail Mary, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Every Summer After, and Cantoras.
    Also finally read and loooved The Idea of You (seriously how does one ever recover from this book’s hangover?!).

    1.6.23 Reply
  2. Olivia:

    Love all your book posts and recommendations! In 2022 I read 189 books and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was definitely my favorite!

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    • Carolina:

      This is so helpful. I love that you read so much. One of my 2023 goals is to start reading more! So this comes in handy. Have a great year Grace

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    • grace at the stripe:

      That is incredible!!!! And I loved that one too.

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  3. Kristin:

    We have similar tastes in books and I’ve read quite a few books based off of your recommendations this year. I also mostly read thrillers and mysteries with contemporary fiction thrown in as well. I wonder if you might like some mystery series? They are maybe a little more literary than a lot of the thrillers, more character development, but still have a thrilling mystery and good plotting. I really enjoy the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, and the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny. As far as stand alone thrillers, a few authors that I don’t see on your list this year that you might like are, Catherine Howard Ryan—56 Days, and Run Time were both great, and Alice Feeney—Sometimes I Lie, and Daisy Darker were very good. Thanks so much for sharing what you read!

    1.6.23 Reply
    • Sarah:

      Kristin – thank you for this! You and I sound like we have almost the same taste in books. I have often thought Grace might enjoy some mysteries as well! The Inspector Gamache series has been my happiness this past year. But, I’ve never heard of the of the Ruth Galloway series! I’m downloading the first book immediately!

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      • Kristin:

        I think you will love them! Elly Griffiths has a great sense of humor and some quirky characters. One of my favorites for sure.

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      • Rayne:

        I loved many of the same as you but definitely add Remarkably Bright Creatures to your list, such a endearing book that sounds strange if you just read the synopsis. I also enjoyed Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting for a light historical read. Lastly Nora Goes off Script for all of the 90s rom-com vibe with great characters. (Definitely a beach read!)

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    • grace at the stripe:

      Thank you for the recommendations!

      1.8.23 Reply
  4. Molly:

    Notes on an Execution and Empire of Pain were my favorites last year – so, so good! Seven Husbands and Black Cake were also up there. I have a huge TBR pile this year and with a 6 month old plus going back to work, I have a feeling I’ll be reading a lot less. On the bright side, that means I won’t feel bad putting books down if I don’t love them instead of slogging through!

    1.6.23 Reply
  5. HH:

    My top ten of the year were Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart, Sea Of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel, This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub, Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka, The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Artemis by Andy Weir, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki and The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier.

    1.6.23 Reply
  6. Marisa:

    Love seeing a reading year in review! Have lots of overlap with you aside from all the thrillers. For some reason I don’t gravitate toward them? Cloud Cuckoo Land was a book that took me a while to get into. I first started it on audiobook but realize it would be better actually reading it, and MAN I truly loved that book as well. I also stayed up until 4am reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.

    1.6.23 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      Agree, it took me a bit to get into but once I was in, I was just so in love with the book and the characters (and how beautifully the stories all wove together!)

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  7. Emily:

    Great list and way to build my TBR pile for 2023!

    1.6.23 Reply
  8. Erica:

    Super thankful you do this & for the Library! I found my last 3-4 read suggestions there. I loved Hidden Pictures. I’d say it was my favorite book this year!

    1.6.23 Reply
  9. Betty:

    Loved your 2022 list and how you broke it down by genre. And have read many on your list. My favorite of 2022 was Booth by Karen Joy Fowler. The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer and Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly were also great.

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  10. Jen:

    I read 300 books this year (I read really fast and a lot of them are trashy romances) and by far, my favorite was Lessons in Chemistry.

    1.6.23 Reply
  11. Katie:

    Grace, I NEED you to read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. Major The Hearts Invisible Furies vibes, it’s long but unputdownable!

    1.6.23 Reply
  12. m:

    I’m always impressed with your intake. My favorites this year were The Goldfinch, The Christie Affair, Behind Her Eyes, Lapvona and This Time Tomorrow.

    1.6.23 Reply
    • Annie:

      I’ve heard great things about this one as well and I generally love Barbara Kingsolver books 🙂

      1.6.23 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      Gret list!!!!!

      1.8.23 Reply
  13. Annie:

    Great suggestions on books! My favorites are generally historical fiction, memoirs, biographies, etc although I do mix in quite a few novels as well.

    My favorites in 2022 (out of the 27 that I read) were: Lobotomist’s wife, Born a Crime, Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Woman Who Smashed Codes, Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd (my favorite of the year), Reluctantly Home, Violeta, Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, and Hamnet.

    1.6.23 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      Thank you so much for the list! So many of my favs (especially Born a Crime, Violeta, and Underground Railroad). I just ordered The Lobotomist’s Wife on your rec!)

      1.8.23 Reply
  14. Lacey:

    I read 75 books and my fave was The Book Eaters. I also loved Notes on an Execution and The Change.

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  15. Martha P:

    UNLIKELY ANIMALS by Annie Hartnett! It has a little bit of everything. I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops – I honestly think anyone could love this book.

    1.6.23 Reply
  16. Ally:

    I read 39 books this year, my favorites were tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, rough draft by Katie couric, and I’m glad my mom died by Jeannette McCurdy!

    1.6.23 Reply
  17. Daiana:

    Printing & sharing <3

    1.7.23 Reply
  18. Camila:

    This list is worth everything! Thank you!

    1.7.23 Reply
  19. Margaret LaRocca:

    How do you keep track of all the books your read in a year? Is there an app to record them on?

    1.7.23 Reply
    • grace at the stripe:

      My blog 🙂 I do a monthly reading list and also log them all here at thestripe.com/reads !

      1.8.23 Reply
  20. Shana:

    I don’t comment on the book posts as I rarely have time to read anything other than work or parenting books but Cloud Cuckoo Land was the best book I read this year and in a really long time – thank you for the recommendation!! I recommend it to everyone I know 🙂

    1.7.23 Reply