A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.
Neil Gaiman
In an attempt at being more organised in 2022 I decided to keep a spreadsheet that I could update throughout the year with the books I read. This was working just fine until I recently realised I hadn’t added the URL links to my reviews.
2022 looked like this:
| JANUARY: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Library of Babel | Jorge Luis Borges | Argentina | Short Story | 1941 |
| Oh! William | Elizabeth Strout | USA | Fiction | 2021 |
| Pointed Roofs | Dorothy Richardson | England | Historical Fiction | 1915 |
| The Red-Haired Woman | Orhan Pamak | Turkey | Historical Fiction | 2016 |
| The House of Asterion | Jorge Luis Borges | Argentina | Short Story | 1947 |
| February: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Let Me Tell You What I Mean | Joan Didion | USA | Essays | 2021 |
| To Paradise | Hanya Yanagihara | USA | Fiction | 2022 |
| A Bush Honeymoon | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1904 |
| Matrix | Lauren Groff | USA | Historical Fiction | 2021 |
| Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens | Shankari Chandran | Australia | Fiction | 2022 |
| Orwell’s Roses | Rebecca Solnit | USA | Non-Fiction | 2021 |
| Tell Me Why | Archie Roach | Australia | Memoir | 2019 |
| March: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Shortest History of the Soviet Union | Shelia Fitzpatrick | Australia | History | 2022 |
| Trotting Cob | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1895 |
| Lost | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1895 |
| Fire Front | Alison Whittaker | Australia | Poetry | 2020 |
| All Summer in a Day | Ray Bradbury | USA | Science Fiction | 1954 |
| Four Letters of Love | Niall Williams | Ireland | Fiction | 1997 |
| The Loss of ‘The Vanity’ | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1895 |
| Incantations | Subhash Jaireth | Australia | Non-Fiction | 2016 |
| On Black Hill | Bruce Chatwin | England | Historical Fiction | 1982 |
| Goodnight, Vivienne, Goodnight | Steven Carroll | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| Bedtime Story | Chloe Hooper | Australia | Non-Fiction | 2022 |
| The Daughter of Time | Josephine Tey | England | Fiction | 1951 |
| In Cars: On Diana | Leanne Shapton | Canada | Non-Fiction | 2022 |
| April: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Braid | Anne Tyler | USA | Fiction | 2022 |
| Digging Up Richard III | Mike Pitts | England | Non-Fiction | 2015 |
| Elizabeth Finch | Julian Barnes | England | Fiction | 2022 |
| The Space Between the Stars | Indira Naidoo | Australia | Memoir | 2022 |
| To the Ends of the Earth: Mary Gaunt | Susanna de Vries | Australia | Biography | 2010 |
| The Tortoise and the Hare | Elizabeth Jenkins | England | Fiction | 1954 |
| Son Excellence Eugène Rougon | Émile Zola | France | Historical Fiction | 1876 |
| Pure Colour | Shelia Heti | Canada | Fiction | 2022 |
| May: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Stanesby’s Hutkeeper | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1895 |
| Small Things Like These | Claire Keegan | Ireland | Novella | 2020 |
| Monte Verita | Daphne du Maurier | England | Short Story | 1952 |
| The Apple Tree | Daphne du Maurier | England | Short Story | 1952 |
| The Little Photographer | Daphne du Maurier | England | Short Story | 1952 |
| Kiss Me Again, Stranger | Daphne du Maurier | England | Short Story | 1952 |
| The Yanyilla Steeplechase | Mary Gaunt | Australia | Short Story | 1895 |
| The Old Man | Daphne du Maurier | England | Short Story | 1952 |
| Queen Menopause | Alison Daddo | Australia | Non-Fiction | 2022 |
| Blue Postcards | Douglas Bruton | Scotland | Novella | 2021 |
| All the Lovers in the Night | Mieko Kawakami | Japan | Fiction | 2022/2011 |
| October | China Miéville | England | Non-Fiction | 2017 |
| A Short History of Russia | Mark Galeotti | England | Non-Fiction | 2021 |
| June: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americanah | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | Nigeria/USA | Fiction | 2013 |
| Grand Days | Frank Moorhouse | Australia | Historical Fiction | 1993 |
| The Coast | Eleanor Limprecht | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| Assembly | Natasha Brown | England | Novella | 2021 |
| The Book of Form and Emptiness | Ruth Ozeki | USA | Fiction | 2021 |
| The Aleph | Jorge Luis Borges | Argentina | Short Story | 1945 |
| My Heart is a Little Wild Thing | Nigel Featherstone | Australia | Fiction | 2022 |
| The Sign of the Four | Arthur Conan Doyle | England | Crime Fiction | 1890 |
| H is for Hawk | Helen Macdonald | England | Memoir | 2014 |
| July: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark Palace | Frank Moorhouse | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2000 |
| Maigret Goes to School | Georges Simenon | France | Crime Fiction | 1953 |
| Maigret and the Minister | Georges Simenon | France | Crime Fiction | 1954 |
| The Inseparables | Simone de Beauvoir | France | Fiction | 2021 |
| The Paris Bookseller | Kerri Maher | USA | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| August: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Document | Anwen Crawford | Australia | Memoir | 2021 |
| The Congress | Jorge Luis Borges | Argentina | Short Story | 1971 |
| Cold Light | Frank Moorhouse | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2011 |
| how to make a basket | Jazz Money | Australia | Poetry | 2021 |
| Marlo | Jay Carmichael | Australia | Novella | 2022 |
| Otherland | Maria Tumarkin | Australia | Memoir | 2010 |
| Chernobyl Prayer | Svetlana Alexievich | Belarus | Oral History | 1997 |
| The Last White Man | Mohsin Hamid | Pakistan | Novella | 2022 |
| September: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| She and Her Cat | Makoto Shinkai & Naruki Nagakawa | Japan | Short Story | 2013 |
| A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century | Barbara Tuchman | USA | History | 1978 |
| The Sun Walks Down | Fiona McFarlane | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| Haven | Emma Donoghue | Ireland | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| Limberlost | Robbie Arnott | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| After Sappho | Selby Wynn Schwartz | USA | Biofiction | 2022 |
| Heating & Cooling | Beth Ann Fennelly | USA | Memoir | 2018 |
| Runt | Craig Silvey | Australia | Children’s Fiction | 2022 |
| October: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Promise | Damon Galgut | South Africa | Fiction | 2020 |
| Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here | Heather Rose | Australia | Memoir | 2022 |
| This Devastating Fever | Sophie Cunningham | Australia | Fiction | 2022 |
| Passing | Nella Larsen | USA | Novella | 1929 |
| Lucy By the Sea | Elizabeth Strout | USA | Fiction | 2022 |
| The Swimmers | Julie Otsuka | USA | Novella | 2022 |
| The Jew’s Beech | Annette von Droste-Hülshoff | Germany | Novella | 1842 |
| The Evening of the Holiday | Shirley Hazzard | Australia/USA | Novella | 1966 |
| November: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foster | Claire Keegan | Ireland | Novella | 2010 |
| This Changes Everything | Niki Bezzant | New Zealand | Health | 2022 |
| The Pigeon | Patrick Süskind | Germany | Novella | 1987 |
| Me, Antman & Fleabag | Gayle Kennedy | Australia | Short Stories | 2007 |
| Voss | Patrick White | Australia | Historical Fiction | 1957 |
| Burning Questions | Margaret Atwood | Canada | Essays | 2022 |
| Salonika Burning | Gail Jones | Australia | Historical Fiction | 2022 |
| December: Title | Author | Country | Genre | Pub Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Different for Boys tb reviewed | Patrick Ness & Tea Bendix | England | YA Graphic Novel | 2023 |
| Euphoria | Elin Cullhed | Sweden | BioFiction | 2022 |
| Lone Wolf: Albanese and the New Politics | Katharine Murphy | Australia | Essay | 2022 |
| Spam Tomorrow | Verily Anderson | England | Memoir | 1956 |
| Infidelity and Other Affairs | Kate Legge | Australia | Memoir | 2023 |
| Miss Carter and the Ifrit | Susan Alice Kirby | England | Fiction | 1945 |
| Another Christmas | William Trevor | Ireland | Short Story | 1975 |
| Teal Revolution | Margot Saville | Australia | Non-Fiction | 2022 |
| Alison | Lizzy Stewart | England | Graphic Novel | 2022 |
| Everything Feels Like the End of the World | Else Fitzgerald | Australia | Speculative Fiction | 2022 |
2022 saw me read 101 stories, although 11 of them were short stories read and reviewed as an individual post, 16 were novellas and 2 were children’s books. 34 books were published as new releases in 2022 while 2 are due to be published in early 2023. The oldest book, The Jew’s Beech, was published in 1842. Only two of my books were rereads from pre-blogging days (Grand Days and Dark Palace).
61% of my reading was by female authors, 14 books were in translation and 3 were written by First Nations writers. In the genre pie chart below, ‘other’ is made up of poetry (3), graphic novels (2), crime (2), speculative fiction (1) and science fiction (1).
37% of my reading was by Australian authors, followed by UK & USA (16% each), Ireland (5%), France & Argentina (4% each) and Canada (3%). Other countries with only 1 or 2 titles were Japan, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia, Germany, South Africa, Sweden, and New Zealand.
To pick a favourite title is almost impossible. I now prefer to use the phrase – which books read during 2022 have left a lasting impression?
Each month I picked the one (or two) that felt most memorable and it is fair to say that they have all stood the test of time (well at least months) and have left a lasting impression. The book I finished only two days ago (Everything Feels Like the End of the World) may also move into this exalted company.
If I had to make a list though, it might look a little like this:
- My favourite short story of the year – Another Christmas
- My favourite novella of the year – Small Things Like These
- My favourite classic of the year – Passing
- My favourite fiction of the year – And the Sun Walks Down
- My favourite non-fiction of the year – Chernobyl Prayer
The problem of course with this list is what it fails to tell you – that is how much I also enjoyed and still think about Limberlost, This Devastating Fever, Matrix, Margaret Atwood’s essays, Lucy By the Sea, The Swimmers, Assembly, To Paradise….
Although Voss did not make any of my best of lists, it still made an impact and I’m so glad I finally finished the Frank Moorhouse Edith trilogy. Although Edith and I have grown apart, she will always be part of my reading history.
I have several half read book that will carry over into 2023 including Bournville by Jonathan Coe. My next task is to finalise my first book of the year selection.
Did we share any favourites this year? Have I tempted you to try anything new? Given my reading tastes, what can you recommend for 2023?
Early in the new year, I will (probably) do my annual blogging stats post, but for now, Happy New Year!
I hope 2023 is full of good books and bookish conversations.
| This post was written on the traditional land of the Wangal clan, one of the 29 clans of the Eora Nation within the Sydney basin. This Reading Life acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are our first storytellers. |
bronasbooks.com 
Awww, I love these tables and how you gave us some favorites or impacting titles and the stats were super cool.
Looking forward to more posts on your readings.
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It’s so hard to pick a favourite, even picking a favourite for the month was difficult! Keeping a running table throughout the year certainly made putting this post together a much easier task than of old though. Will definitely run a progressive 2023 book list.
I’m a huge fan of the free pie chart maker that I find every year too 🙂
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I love that pie chart as well, and the different ways you cut through it. I love how many women authors and Australian books you read.
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That’s something I have been working on over the past few years. Now I would like to bump my First Nations reading up a notch.
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Oh… now I’m having my annual argument with myself about whether I will or won’t do a stats page.
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Ha ha! I decided to separate mine out this year – a stats post all about the books (today) and (maybe) next week a blogging stats post.
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Right now, after a champagne cocktail, I’m sufficiently frivolous to commit to anything!
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Well happy new year to you!! We’re just waiting for our guests to arrive so we can begin our mini low-key spontaneous celebration. They’ve been home renovating & we’ve been cleaning & packing so the chances we all last until midnight is slim🥂
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Really interesting summary Brona! Happy New Year 🙂
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Thank you and Happy New Year to you and yours 🙂
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Marvelous! What a great eclectic collection of books. I really must get to the copy of The Inseparables I bought when I was in London. I didn’t know anything about it when I picked it up, but it is getting some great reviews.
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I’d really like to reread it – I’m thinking about suggesting it to my book group for this year.
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That works!
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What a neat summary!
I admire the range of your readings, you have “travelled” around the world in a year. I almost wish to see Indonesia on your list. 😋
Wishing you a Happy New Year, and a better reading journey in 2023!
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I’ve read some books set in Bali in the past, thanks to a couple of holidays there, but that’s not the same as the rest of Indonesia I know. Can you recommend any?
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I’ve posted my reading highlights this year, today, which includes my reading stats. My female/male proportion is similar to yours, but my Aus/non-Aus is the reverse. I can’t possibly name favourites JUST highlights!
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I use the word favourite very loosely, but it really only means the book/s that stood out the most. The ones that immediately jump into my mind when I think 2022. The ones that I have talked about the most at work and with friends.
I meant to go back and check what I wrote in previous years to see if those picks are still memorable or not.
After a bigger night than anticipated and now a road trip ahead of us today, I may not get to many posts for a day or two, but I will!
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Watching you welcome in the new year AS WE SPEAK!!
LOOK AT THOSE FIREWORKS FROM THE BRIDGE!
WELCOME INTO 2023!
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Happy New Year to you too Nancy!!
We were there last night as it turned out, in our peninsula suburb behind the bridge. The one shrouded in smoke thanks to the easterly that blew all the firework smoke in our direction 🙂
By the end we couldn’t see the bridge at all. Just as well they have those barges around the harbour sending up their own displays.
I see you have 45 mins to go before 2023 arrives in the Netherlands. HNY!!
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22 minutes left in 2022…cats are currently under the bed b/c people have started setting off fireworks already. Temp a very warm 15 c (58 F)…stormy winds ALL fireworks shows cancelled. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
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That’s a shame about the fireworks but at least the temp is okay for winter. I do feel sorry for cats and dogs and small children with the fireworks though.
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What a great range of books Brona. I loved Passing as well, so much more than what I expected it to be. Hoping to get to Limberlost soon. Wishing you a wonderful 2023 with lots of great reading!
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I hope you love Limberlost as much as I did (and Lisa and Kim too).
Happy New Year and Happy Reading in 2023!
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Very happy to see your December favourites!! A lovely lot of reading. It’s so hard to chose the best books, isn’t it, which is how I ended up listing 26 out of my 187 read! Happy reading for 2023!
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