happy new year to all who dwell here! I could have sworn I did a roundup of my best-of-2021 reads, but apparently not.
I read 167 books in 2022, and below are featured my 30ish or so favorites. most of them are in some or multiple ways speculative and/or queer, so I’ve tried to delineate them into smaller and more specific groupings from there. please note that while I read all of them for the first time in 2022, they are far from all being 2022 releases.
without further ado, here’s 2022’s best-of!
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RETELLINGS
- the stars undying, emery robin [cleopatra in space]
- wrath goddess sing, maya deane [achilles is a woman]
SPECULATIVE
- the mimicking of known successes, malka older [f/f jupiter-set cozy mystery]
- foundryside, robert jackson bennett [fantasy]
SERIES, CONTINUED AND FAVORITE
- the goblin emperor + the witness for the dead & the grief of stones, katherine addison [fantasy political intrigue; fantasy cozy mystery with hints of m/m] (SERIES OF THE YEAR)
- the liar’s knot, m.a. carrick [fantasy; #2 in series]
- paladin’s hope, t. kingfisher [m/m fantasy horror mystery; #3 in series]
- lords of the north, bernard cornwell [historical fiction; #3 in series]
- the inimitable jeeves, p.g. wodehouse [the english; #2 in series]
DYSTOPIA AND THE APOCALYPSE
- native tongue, suzette haden elgin [gender and language]
- station eleven, emily st. john mandel [pandemic fiction]
ROMANCE
- you deserve each other + twice shy, sarah hogle [m/f contemporary]
- a lady for a duke, alexis hall [m/f historical; the heroine is trans] (alexis hall’s honorable mention of the year goes to boyfriend material)
- a marvelous light, freya marske [m/m historical fantasy]
- milk fed, melissa broder [f/f, the body, religion; not really romance please god don’t go into this expecting romance it just didn’t fit anywhere else]
- honorable mention: emily henry’s 2020s œuvre [m/f contemporary]
SHORT STORY
- tender, sofia samatar [broad-ranging speculative fiction]
- rebecca fraimow’s short story series that begins with “further arguments in support of yudah cohen’s proposal to bluma zilberman” [historical fantasy]
- consolation songs: optimistic speculative fiction for a time of pandemic, ed. iona datt sharma [broad-ranging speculative fiction]
MYSTERY
- the widows of malabar hill, sujata massey [historical]
YA
- with the fire on high, elizabeth acevedo [the balances of life]
- ace of spades, faridah àbíké íyímídé [prep school thriller]
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NONFICTION
- how to hide an empire: A history of the greater united states, daniel immerwahr [us imperialism]
- we do this ‘til we free us: abolitionist organizing and transforming justice, mariame kaba [prison abolition]
- madhouse at the end of the earth: the belgica’s journey into the dark antarctic night, julian sancton [polar expedition]
- the body keeps the score: brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma, bessel van der kolk [trauma, mental health]
- entangled life: how fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures, merlin sheldrake
MEMOIR, POETRY, SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHY
- I’m glad my mom died, jennette mccurdy [abuse, family, fame]
- crying in h mart, michelle zauner [grief, family]
- in the dream house, carmen maria machado [abuse, queerness]
- the twenty-ninth year, hala alyan [poetry]
- the pursuit of love, nancy mitford [fiction, the english]
#curre#as usual—if we have ever interacted on here at all ever and you'd like to keep/get back in touch—please do let me know!#I am highly active on goodreads; active on letterboxd; semi-active on instagram; minimally active on twitter;#and a cheerful if absent-minded text correspondent#hope ur well x