I cannot believe we are already at the end of 2022! I've read more books this year than any other year (126 at the time of writing) so it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to 10 and I almost managed! But these are in no particular order as I had enough trouble picking them never mind ordering them!
The Key to My Heart - Lia Louis
I called this my book of the summer as I read it in one sitting on the way to Santorini. Any book that can be read cover to cover in three and a half hours (and be a genuinely good book) is a winner in my eyes so there was no way I couldn't include it in my wrap up! This is warm and uplifting with the perfect amount of romance without being cringe at all.
Before The Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This had been on my shelf for exactly two years so I had to read it this autumn (it’s not particularly autumnal but it does have a cosy feel). The book is split into four parts, almost like four acts of a play and the cafe staff recur throughout all parts with the customers changing for each. The premise of the book is that you can travel through time by sitting in a particular chair but you have to drink your coffee before it gets cold or you can’t return to the present (hence the name of the book).
I really enjoyed this, it was an easy read which surprised me as it’s translated fiction which I usually struggle with. I particularly liked how heavier topics were dealt with without it feeling overbearing on the reader. This book is really hyped on bookstagram and I can see why, but it didn’t live up to it for me, whilst I still enjoyed it I’m not rushing to pick up the second book just yet!
Last Time We Met - Emily Houghton
If I could have read this in a day I would have but I didn't start it until the afternoon. This proof copy arrived on a Saturday and I'd finished it by Monday morning. I loved it, as I did Emily Houghton's debut Before We Met. Her writing style is easy to read and will have you gripped from the very first page. The book follows old school friends who have grown apart but clearly are in love with each other - when Finn returns from LA he's thrown into Eleanor's life again - Will they realise their feelings for one another?
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
I’d seen this all over bookstagram and it won Women's Fiction of the Year for 2021 but I wasn’t planning on ever picking it up… I would have missed one of the best books I’ve ever read!
I was not 100% into it for the first half (it’s 250 pages long) and it felt a little like a fantasy novel but once everything started to piece together I was hooked, I couldn’t believe that someone had actually thought to write this book, the talent and imagination is unbelievable!
Definitely, definitely recommend this!
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 - Cho Nam-Joo
This was our June book club pick and I am so glad. It's another one I probably wouldn't have picked this up otherwise (although I've enjoyed every translated fiction I've ever read so I'm not sure why I don't read more!).
This was an eye-opening look into the life of women in South Korea from maternal rights and family dynamics - it was so interesting. It was also an easy read with short chapters inside larger chunks of time documenting different aspects of Kim Jiyoung's life.
I loved the ending as it answered so many questions I had about the writing style. It also made for a great book club discussion! Definitely recommend this one!
Confessions of a Forty-something F##k Up - Alexandra Potter
I think this was my favourite read of February! I couldn’t put it down which was a complete 180 from me telling Caroline Khoury on my podcast that it wasn’t for me! In my defence I thought it was a memoir and was saving it for my own forty-something crisis! it’s actually fiction and hilarious! I couldn’t put it down, to the point I actually downloaded the audiobook when I was in a two hour traffic jam because I wanted to carry on reading!
It’s one of those books that I want to recommend to all my friends but also want to keep hold of my copy, so I’m probably going to be buying it as birthday gifts for years to come! Definitely recommend to this anyone!
Book Lovers - Emily Henry
If you've read anything by Emily Henry you'll most probably be a fan already. If not, where have you been? I absolutley adored her first two books and this was no different! It's full of the humour and sass you come to expect of Emily's writing with added layers of depth and emotion.
I loved the characters and the small town setting of this book, I also loved that both of th main characters worked in publishing and therefore loved books and book references - imagine a love story in a book shop! I can't recommend this enough!
I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy
This was my favourite read of September. I'm sure most people in the book community have heard about this by now as it was given so much press in the run-up to its release. I love inside looks at Hollywood and the politics behind it but this was so much more - it was in-depth, insightful, funny and yet heartbreaking. I've seen so many people refer to it as an essential read and it couldn't be any more true!
All Good People Here - Ashley Flowers
This was my favourite thriller of the year - it's so good! It’s a suspense thriller set in a small town in America where little girls are being murdered but there seems to be no connection. A journalist returns to town to live with her uncle who isn’t well and begins to unravel a web of lies spanning 20 years. I was hooked, it’s set in dual time (then and now) and I couldn’t figure out what had happened. I had a LOT of theories and they were all wrong, this reads like a Netflix documentary it was so life-like. I can’t recommend it enough!
Carrie Soto is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Having loved everything I’ve read by TJR in the past I was hesistant to pick this up for some reason, maybe it’s because I kept reading about heavily tennis featured? I like tennis but I wouldn’t necessarily read a book about it… until this one! I loved this - it’s up their with my favourites by TJR! I couldn’t put this down, I was going to bed talking about who was going to win each match.
I heard TJR speak about this book live this year so I had a good idea about what it was about but I didn’t realise how much I’d love Carrie! I think she’s an amazing character and I think the social commentary regarding how we treat women in the media was spot on throughout the universe this book sits in! Overall, pick it up if you haven’t already and don’t be put off by the tennis!
Honourable mention goes to Single Bald Female by Laura Price I listened to is as an audiobooks and it was one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. I cannot recommend this one enough - beg, borrow or steal this, I still need to add the physical copy to my collection which was why it wasn't featured in the reel!