See ya later, 2022. When I look back on this year, I have a lot of really cool memories but in between the cool memories, I really don’t know what happened. We went on our RV Road Trip in May and then like, it was the beginning of August all of a sudden and I was preparing for Fall and people were asking me what I was dressing up as for Halloween and then it was Christmas. I think my birthday was in there somewhere cause I think I did something cool? Who knows anymore.
In terms of books though, this year was kind of a let down, when I look back at it. I had less than 20 (of almost 70) books that I’d say I loved. A lot of them were just fine or whatever… or downright bad (I’m looking at you, House of Night series). Below, I listed ALL the books I read this year. The highlighted ones are the ones that I loved and think you should read.
- The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton
- The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
- The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
- It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
- The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
- Cream Puff Murder (Hannah Swensen #11) by Joanne Fluke
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Douhty
- The Searcher by Tana French
- The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
- The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club #1) by Richard Osman
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale
- One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
- The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash #4) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts by Evan Ross Katz
- People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
- Swimming Lessons: Poems by Lili Reinhart
- Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
- In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
- Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
- The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl
- The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
- Verity by Colleen Hoover
- Kitchen Table Magic: Pull Up a Chair, Light a Candle & Let’s Talk Magic by Melissa Cynova
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book by Babe Walker
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- Marked (House of Night #1) by P.C. Cast
- Betrayed (House of Night #2) by P.C. Cast
- Chosen (House of Night #3) by P.C. Cast
- Untamed (House of Night #4) by P.C. Cast
- Hunted (House of Night #5) by P.C. Cast
- The Witch’s Book of Self-Care by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
- Tempted (House of Night #6) by P.C. Cast
- Burned (House of Night #7) by P.C. Cast
- Awakened (House of Night #8) by P.C. Cast
- The Fledgling Handbook 101 by P.C. Cast
- Dragon’s Oath (House of Night Novella #1) by P.C. Cast
- Destined (House of Night #9) by P.C. Cast
- Lenobia’s Vow (House of Night Novella #2) by P.C. Cast
- Neferet’s Curse (House of Night Novella #3) by P.C. Cast
- Hidden (House of Night #10) by P.C. Cast
- Revealed (House of Night #11) by P.C. Cast
- Redeemed (House of Night #12) by P.C. Cast
- Kalona’s Fall (House of Night Novella #4) by P.C. Cast
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1) by Christina Henry
- Snow White by Matt Phelan
- The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser
- Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas
- Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
- Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1) by Alan Bradley
- Confess by Colleen Hoover
- For the Wolf (Wilderwood #1) by Hannah F. Whitten
- ‘Salems Lot by Stephen King
- The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
- It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us #2) by Colleen Hoover
- Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
- Plum Pudding Murder (Hannah Swensen #12) by Joanne Fluke
- Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson
- Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge
- Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls by Lauren Graham
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Little Threats by Emily Schultz
- Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson
- My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni
My Favorite Quick Reads
I read these books in less than 2 days (and most, less than 1 day).
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
This was my first few hour reads from this year. I am a sucker for Enemies to Lovers and this one was my dream (non-fantasy dream because you know vampire enemy to lover is the best). If you want something quick and filled with tension, this one is for you!
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
You’ve heard about this book. We’ve all heard about this book. It’s all over and I think it lived up to the hype. I couldn’t put it down. It was an emotional rollercoaster of a ride and comes with a D.A. trigger warning.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
To be honest, I read all 3 of Hoover’s books this year and all 3 were quick reads but I told myself this list could only have 4 books and these 2 won. Verity is my favorite Colleen Hoover book so far. It’s a little thriller, a little romance, and a lotta creepy. If you’ve read this, please talk to me about it because THAT ENDING.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
This was a book that a friend gave to me and I knew nothing about it when I opened it and it became one of my favorites. I do not like friends to lovers – it makes me wanna gag 99% of the time, I can’t explain it. But this is what friends to lovers to hope to be.
My Least Favorite Reads
These books might be for you, but they’re not for me. If you love them, you do you! Don’t let anyone book shame you and if they do, let me know and I’ll beat them up. I had much more than this list but I tried to narrow it down…
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
When I finished reading this book, I was okay with it. It was fine. But then I stewed on it more and more and I began to really dislike this book. Both main characters just sucked but tried to convince the reader that they didn’t. Both characters allowed everyone in their lives to intervene on their lives and talk them into ides. As someone who has been there and done that, it’s awful. I surround myself with people who help me figure things out, not people who tell me how to think about everything.
All of the House of Night Books
I KNOW this is a Young Adult series but there are a lot of Young Adult series’ that I think are great. I gave these to a friend and she read one and said “absolutely not” which is the correct answer. Struggling through this series was a true testament to how much I love my niece. The writing is horrific, the “relationships” (both friends and lovers) are equally as horrific, and the plot was so shaky. There was zero reason for there to be that many books – many could have just been compiled into one. There were no characters that were likable and instead of just letting characters die, everyone had to come back to life, which is cheating. Just kill off people. It’s fine.
Psychos: A White Girl Problems Book by Babe Walker
I have no idea how these books have a following. I would rather re-read every single House of Night books again than read this 1 book again. It was so bad. I get that the whole idea is that it’s a more “trashy” read but let me please tell you that there are actually good trashy reads and this ain’t it.
Alice (The Chronicles of Alice #1) by Christina Henry
Just take this out of the Alice in Wonderland universe and this wouldn’t have been so bad.
For the Wolf (Wilderwood #1) by Hannah F. Whitten
I sped read this book because I felt guilty about so many books that I put down because they were boring me. I wanted to love this but the author seemed determined to bore me to death. This book could have been at least 100 pages less.
It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us #2) by Colleen Hoover
THIS NEVER NEEDED TO BE WRITTEN. I’m probably being so unfair to keep this on my least favorite books but the fact that the author said she pretty much was bullied into writing this is why BookTok needs to just keep their bad opinions to themselves. It Ends With Us ended perfectly. Use your own damn imagination.
Love in the Time of Serial Killers by Alicia Thompson
This probably is unfairly on this list as well but the main character was so cliche and dumb that I had to include it. I was also so excited about this book, so the fact that it wasn’t as good as I expected really made me sad.
What book did you read this year surprised you? Which one let you down so hard that you’re still recovering from the fall? Did you love any of my dislikes? Or dislikes any of my loves?
Writes with Wolves 