Hello friends.
ICMYI, I already announced my most anticipated reads for 2022 and in natural order, I think it’s time to introduce my favourite books of this year.
This was a difficult curation to make out of the 53-ish books I’ve read this year (this is a joke, please don’t come for me), well above my original target of 36 books! I’ve already had the privilege of introducing some of these books throughout my reviews this year, but some of them are also books from past years that I’ve been eagerly catching up on and didn’t introduce in the newsletter because I was worried it wasn’t timely.
As with the last list, I hope you’ll be able to find some of your own favourites in my list—let me know in the comments if you do—or maybe find a new favourite to read either this year or next.
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
Just this year, 31 Danish people got to live out the internet’s dream of having a sleepover in Ikea after getting caught in a snowstorm. In this 2014 novel, this dream becomes a nightmare when employees are forced to stay overnight to catch a vandal who’s been destroying their American knock-off version of Ikea. But this is no ordinary vandal and the store’s maze design just went from fun to downright terrifying.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
What is there to do in your retirement age? Knit? Read? Wait for the blissful embrace of death? Or maybe now is the best time to investigate cold cases that even the police couldn’t solve. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron meet every Thursday to look through old murder cases and hopefully bring a killer to justice, but when their friend and local property developer is found murdered, it’s time to put their detective skills to the test.
Read the full review here.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Linus Baker is a stickler for the rules. Which is why his boss has decided that he, of all people, must be sent to the Marsyas Island Orphanage to make sure that everything is up to standard. But what they didn’t tell him is that the orphanage houses their most dangerous wards as well as the enigmatic caretaker, Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep the children safe.
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except that Grace Potter just got drunkenly married to a girl she has never met, deviating from the strict life plan she has been following since she was young. And most shockingly to herself, she doesn’t want to get divorced. In desperate need of a break from academia, Grace goes to live with her wife, Yuki Yamamoto, for a summer, but running away doesn’t solve any problems, as she soon finds out.
Read the full review here.
The Things We Don’t See by Savannah Brown
Thirty years ago, up-and-coming singer Roxy Raines disappears from the island of Sandown. Determined to discover what really happened to Roxy, thirty years on, Mona Perry takes on a summer job on the island to better investigate. But the locals are refusing to talk, and Mona is convinced that there is something more sinister going on than a simple runaway.
Read the full review here.
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Ten years ago, Oliver Marks was sentenced to prison for murder while in his final year at the prestigous Dellecher Classical Conservatory. Now, he’s set to be released and the detective in charge of his case—unconvinced of his guilt—wants to know what really happened. And after a decade of silence, Oliver is ready to admit what really happened all those years ago.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
After a near-death incident, Chloe Brown is making a list to force herself to get a life. But the fact that she needs to make a list and step-by-step instructions means that she is in over her head. And who better than to help her than her rough-around-the-edges landlord, Redford Morgan? But first, she needs to convince him that she’s not his enemy and that her Get a Life list will be good for them both.