Hello, hello! Can you believe it's already 2023? *Gasps* I know I can't! 2022 flew by in an absolute blur, especially the last few months. It has definitely been a busy year for me! And one of the things I was busy with was reading! I read some really amazing books last years and I can't fangirl enough about them! So, here's me... fangirling some more... and totally not trying to get you to read every single one of these books... *cough*
Any who, without further ado, here are my top reads of 2022!
*NOTE: All book titles and covers include links to Goodreads ;)
Perry Elizabeth Kirkpatrick
Okay, this was technically the second time I've read this (or, possibly, the third or fourth, or fifth...). I read it for the first time back in 2021, and it was super fun! It's a pretty small book—no, literally; it can fit in my back pocket!—but don't judge a book by its size! Emily is a barista at Sunrise Coffee and her new co-worker is anything but. Turns out, the infamous Brent Peterson—who can't make an iced latte to save his life—is actually a spy. And you know what that means! Emily is thrown into his world—one of espionage and secret codes and danger. Can you tell I like this book? 😂
(And then a picture of the entire series, 'cause why not? 😜)
Olivia Lynn Jarmusch
I recently fangirled about this in my Life Update post in December! But I could sat a whole lot more—not to say anything of the full-on content review I now have up on it. But, let me just say, this book was absolutely incredible, and extremely wonderful. Book 2, please?
Julie Campbell
Another reread! Out of every Trixie Beldon book, this was probably one of my favorites! I usually read this every summer. It's so fun! I've always loved Trixie Beldon, but the first 6 (those actually written by Julie Campell) are my favorites. So, of course, I can't go without mentioning...
Books 2, 5, 6, & 6:
Jesseca Wheaton
This was the first military romance book I read, and it didn't disappoint! It was so amazing, with the sweetest and most wholesome romance I've ever read in a book, ever. If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. Seriously. I read it in an hour (which, considering it's a novella, isn't huge, but still). Go read this book. Like, right now!
P.D. Atkerson
Oh, wow, this book. If you know P.D. Atkerson, then you know Lever—the infamous villain from the AKA Simon Lee Series. Well, he's back. And not just with his own book, but his own series! I am legit squealing over here. This book was so good! It was the sweetest, most heart-wrenching, intense book ever (and yes, all those are possible in one single book 😎). Even if you don't like Lever, you need to read this book. Please.
Erica Vetsch
I cannot talk about this book enough (are you sick of hearing about it yet?) Seriously. I talked about it in my Newsletter, my Life Update + December Goals, and guess what? I get to talk about it again 😎. I seriously adored this book. Like, I had a pile of yellow sticky-notes with me, and kept flagging every other page, and underlining sentences/expressions I liked. (Yes, I'm weird like that 😜.)
Jennifer A. Nielsen
I've read multiple books—series even—set in World War II. But never one set in World War I. But this one is. And honestly, the cover totally matched the book. This book had 5 different point-of-views in it, which sometimes made it a little frustrating when I was just getting used to Kara, and you switched to Juliette, but I do think she tied them together really well. I loved Kara, and Elsa was so feisty, and Dimitri was super cool too. I enjoyed hearing about Felix and Juliette too, even though they weren't my favorite 😉.
Sara Ella
Alice in Wonderland Dystopian retelling? Yes please! When I first heard about this, I absolutely DIED. I wanted it right now! And now that I've read this book twice, I need the second book right now. Y'all now my past—I'm a sucker for Alice in Wonderland. {And no, I totally don't have two copies of it...} I absolutely a-dored this book! Please go read it. (Oh, but first read the actual Alice—it helps so much in catching Easter Eggs 😉.)
(P.S.: Sara recently announced the second title over on her Instagram last month, so I you want to see that, go check it out!)
Megan McCullough
Speaking of amazing books... AHHHH!!!! *Regains composure* Ack, this book! I loved it to the moon and back 🤩 I absolutely loved Ironfall and Rosemary and Sam and all their banter back and forth. I barely put this book down till I had turned the last page. (In fact, I recently raved and reviewed about it on my blog 😄) I really need book two!
Caroline George
Ahhh, Dearest Josephine. One of my friends got me to read it. I loved it. I got my sister to read it. She loved it. I'm quite proud of myself. I never really expected to find myself reading this, as I don't read a whole lot of dual-time-period books, but this was such a good introduction to that genre! Caroline George knocked it out of the park with this beautiful, heart-felt story. I seriously need multiple copies of this book.
Jane Austen
Okay, story time, folks:
My first introduction to Jane Austen was a beautiful, paperback hardcover of Pride and Prejudice. I was about 11, and after about 15 chapters, promptly decided that Austen wasn't for me. Years later, I decided to pick it back up again. It took me 5 months to get through it (and the help of an audiobook), but I read it! Fast-forward to a few months ago, and I found the movie. I watched it. I fell in love with it. I picked up Pride and Prejudice again and read it in 2 months. I already had three really pretty Barnes & Noble editions of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion, so I chose the lesser of the thick ones—Persuasion. It only took me 3 weeks to read this one. I expected it to be dry, and rather boring. WRONG! This may just go down as one of my favorite classics of all time. And now I'm ready to attack another huge Leatherbound Collection of seven of Austen's novels.
P. D. Atkerson
Yes, this is the second P. D. Atkerson book on this list 😎. I am not ashamed. I read this a few months back and really enjoyed it! The humor, the wit and the sarcasm had me laughing all the way through—when I wasn't sobbing or plotting ways to kill characters. Then, my sister reread it out loud to my little sibling, and I caught a lot more of the descriptions (is it just me or does hearing a book read aloud equal catching more than reading it yourself?), and the foreshadowing (which was amazing!). And I was quite pleased with the fact that I knew a certain spoiler that (*SPOILER!!!* Neil was actually Simon Lee *END SPOILER*). So that made it pretty cool.
Jennifer A. Nielsen
Set in an often-overlooked part of the pre-WWII era, Words on Fire follows the story of Audra after she is forced from her parents. I sooooo adored this book! It was so powerful, with a beautiful message. Just the thought of burning books made me tear up. I loved Lukas, and his story—ACK! (Oh yes, and his donkey too 😉.) Audra was so smart, and I loved how fierce she was! Ben was pretty cool too, so were all the other book smugglers. I seriously should re-read this one...
Alta Halverson Seymour
Another WWII book! I thought this one was pretty cool! It took me a little bit to get through it for some reason, but I still loved the story, and the characters! I especially liked Petra's brother. He was pretty cool. I thought it was super cool how clever Petra was! She worked around the Nazis like she'd been doing it all her life. She was fiery, smart, and really brave. (Oh my, my To-Be-Read-Again list is getting larger by the book...)
Carol Ryrie Brink
There's just something about this book that I love! It gives me all sorts of cozy, fall vibes. I read this the other day when it was cloudy out, and this book totally set the mood. Caddie is just so cool, and the best part of the whole book. I love haring about a family that was set in the time of the Civil War, but not focusing on it. In fact, I don't think there were but two, maybe three mentions of Lincoln and the War in the whole thing!
Robert Louis Stevenson
FINALLY! A pirate book that isn't all blood and gore and cursing! This was such a fun book. It's not often that I see classics presented in the 1st. person point-of-view, so I really liked that (as that is the main POV I myself write in!) I also need to reread this one *Glances desperately at TBRA stack*
*Grimaces*
Melanie Cellier
MAAAAAAAAAXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ehem...
Is it just me, or is it insanely difficult to find decent medieval books? (If y'all know of any titles, pass them over, puh-LEASE!) But this one was so good! In fact, I did a review on a short story that comes in this series after the second book in the series, The Coronation Ball! But I can say I have loved the books shown below, and I may do reviews for them all 😄
(NOTE: I am only showing the first two novels and short stories because those are the only ones I enjoyed and liked.)
Angie Thompson
I have always loved Angie Thompson and her writing style/morals, so I pounced on A Threat and A Promise! Uggggh, this book! Remind me never to read it unless I am emotionally stable. It always manages to squeeze out tears, no matter what.
(And, of course, book 1.5, A Sheild and a Refuge!)
*Looks back over list* Wowza, peoples! We got a whopping 18 books! I could make this list go on forever if I wanted to talk about every single one of the 300+ books I have read and reread this year, but I prefer not to lose my entire audience 😉. I hope y'all enjoyed hearing me talk about some of my favorite reads from 2022! And just a note, you can add the books to you Goodreads by clicking on the book cover, or the title of the book. See ya next time, and I hope you have a wonderful year!
How many of the books have you read?
Did any of them spark your interest?
What books have you read this past year?
I'd love to know!
Tallyho!
Deigan
P.S.: I made a little something for y'all. . .
What a great list!! So many of these books I can fangirl about with you and so many of them I want to read! 🤩 Ugh. Too many books, not enough time, right?
So many great books! And that spoiler in Minor Detail ... I liked that twist! :)