My Year in Reading — 2022

2022 was a year of great books, but a peculiar year of reading thanks to the arrival of our daughter in late 2021. I’ve never struggled to find time to read — but now with Ada, I’ve had to make time (or aspire to, at least) rather than take it for granted I’ll find a spare hour or two of my day to indulge. 

(And, of course, there was the baby brain and lack of sleep that stripped me of the faculties required to read anything even remotely mentally taxing in those early months…)

This year I read 132 books, 87 of them published in 2022, and selecting my favourites was, as ever, a challenge that involved difficult decisions and compromises — namely, how could I have just one crime novel on my list? 

At some point though, you’ve just got to go with your gut, and what feels right, and true to you. These seven books encapsulate a magnificent year of books. If they’re linked by anything beyond my complete and utter adoration, it’s the deep, complex relationships at their centre.

1. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
2. Horse by Geraldine Brooks
3. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
4. Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
5. Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
6. The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
7. Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

As for how my reading year broke down? Check out the below.