End of year usually people an opportunity to create an arbitrary of their favorite “fill in the blank” from the previous year. Every year, I do keep track of the books I have read, and 2022 was not the best year for me with regard to reading. I only read 26 books, which, while I haven’t gone back and done a survey of how many books I’ve read each year over the past few years, seems a little light. But I still managed to create a list of 15 titles that were worth mentioning. I will be posting my Top 15 books read in 2022 over the next week or so, so I hope you enjoy, and maybe even get a recommendation or two.
Jones’ inclusion of Jade’s frankly astounding knowledge of slasher films, her indigenous background, and the personal circumstances that force this socially outcast, suicidal high school student to the fringes of community elevate the book above the usual horror fare. It has been a long time since I’ve read a novel from this genre, and while it didn’t frighten me, it does go to extreme length to include some truly grotesque moments, one involving a mountain of rotting elk corpses that I will have trouble shaking.
#14) Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire – Young rabbit Cress Watercress, is relocating with her mother and younger brother after losing their father to a mysterious, but most certainly dire fate. Cress is in the early throes of grieving, and is more unhappy about leaving her home. The beleaguered family finds sanctuary, and a steep rent, at the Broken Arms, a near dead tree with a strict, blind owl as landlord, and takes residence in a tiny apartment beneath its roots.
Cress reluctantly gets to know the other residents of Broken Arms, including an elderly mouse couple, a rambunctious family of squirrels, and a couple of songbirds. There are threats all around, from her younger brothers respiratory problems, to a clumsy bear, a hungry fox, a conniving skunk, and a rarely seen but dangerous snake. As Cress navigates the challenges of adolescence, the loss of her father, and the arduous task of making new friends, the dangerous, yet magical life of these woodland animals combine with a sweet coming of age story, compete with gorgeous illustrations by David Litchfield.
My #1 book of the year comes from an author whose work I have followed pretty much since his debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of People in Love in 2007. That was actually the second of his works that I read, first discovering him thanks to my friends at HarperCollins with his follow-up collection, Love Begins in Winter published in 2009. I didn’t do a list of favorite books read in that year, but I suspect Love Begins in Winter would have at minimum been in my Top 10, with a good chance it would have ranked considerably higher. After publishing a trio of books of essays, Simon published his first novel in 2011, Everything Beautiful Began After which ranked #8 in my list of 
#1 – Night Came With Many Stars by Simon Van Booy (2021) – It’s always exciting when you’re a few chapters in and you start to realize that the book you’re reading is going to be a great one. Night Came With Many Stars the latest novel by Simon Van Booy, is one such book. A gifted writer, Simon’s books are all good, but there are a couple of his that rank among my favorites. His latest, a exquisite telling of four generations of a family living in Kentucky from the early 30’s to 2010, is an unexpected and delightful return to that echelon of beauty. Along with Patricia A. McKillip, Van Booy is one of the few authors whose use of language alone is enough to get me to read their work, regardless of subject. In this novel, the care and warmth in which Simon treats the members of this family is simply breath-taking, even as it is simple.
#3 – The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin (2017) – Minor SPOILERS below.
#2 The Hidden Palace by Helene Wacker (2021) – Delighted to discover that Helene Wecker had written a sequel to her NYT best-selling novel, The Golem and the Jinni (my #2 book of 2013). The Hidden Palace picks up where she had left off in her debut, detailing the unusual journey of two singular souls, a golem named Chava Levy, and a Jinni named Ahmad, who inhabit an ever-changing world of early 20th century New York City. Although the pair find solace in each other’s company, their relationship is a tumultuous one, eventually fracturing in a way that ripples outward and affects many around them as they struggle to find their places in a human world.
#5 Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) – I finally went back and read Octavia Butler’s first novel< Kindred and found a writer who was already fully formed, to create such an original and seminal work the first time out of the gate. Published in 1979 by a black woman; the first science fiction novel published by a black woman, and one that tackles the challenging and disturbing topic of slavery, and more, the complex, fraught relationship between master and slave, this novel is a revelation.
#4 Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star by Tracey Thorn (2013) – I’ve always enjoyed the 80’s pop group Everything but the Girl. My interest in them ebbed and flowed depending on their output, but in many ways I think it followed their trajectory with the public — which makes sense the way lead singer, Tracey Thorn explains it in her first memoir, Bedsit Disco Queen. They started fairly strong, and quickly found a steadily climbing trajectory, before dipping sharply into mediocrity after a handful of albums. Their career could have gone a few ways, most easily dissolution, or inexplicably, a sudden sharp spike in quality and popularity, then, rather surprisingly, semi-retirement. It was during this semi-retirement in the 2000’s that Tracey Thorn turned her songwriting voice into a prose writing voice, to great success.
#7 The Guncle by Steven Rowley (2021) – 76ers I find grief to be one of the richest subjects for storytelling, whether that be books, movies, TV, music, etc. Everyone reacts to grief in different, sometimes unexpected ways, and it’s usually a lengthy process to deal with. Steven Rowley knows grief, and handles it well creatively. His first novel, Lily and the Octopus was all about grief… the grief of losing a friend, a beloved pet dog, and how her owner dealt with an impending terminal illness. It was beautiful and fantastic and kicked off his career strongly.
#6 – Honor by Thrity Umrigar (2002) – Accomplished writer, Thrity Umrigar returns with a heart-wrenching, dramatic novel, Honor. Smita, A journalist covering hard-hitting, international, humanitarian stories returns to her home city of Mumbai after years of avoidance, when she she receives a call from a close colleague who needs her. To her surprise, her colleague doesn’t need her for emotional support or assistance after a difficult surgery, but summoned her to finish a story she was covering about Meena, a Hindu village woman, who married a Muslim man to tragic consequences. Meena’s brothers, old-fashioned and conservative are outraged that their sister has married a Muslim, and burn their home down with the two of them inside. Meena is horribly disfigured, nearly dying, and her husband is killed.