What I Read in 2022
As we look to the end of 2022, I wanted to share what I read in 2022. You’ll see in this post about my reading goals for 2023 that I set a goal to read 100 books in 2022. I didn’t achieve that and you can head there to learn a bit more about why (and how I feel about it!). But I came rather close and read some really great books along the way.
I’ve chosen five books as my top reads for this year. Most of the lists I’ve read recently have gone for ten, but I wanted to stick to the stand out stories for my list. After brief blurbs on what I chose and why, I’ve shared my entire what I read list in categories so that you can easily refer back to this list if you fancy.
Let’s go!
my top reads from 2022
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
I was familiar with Shirley Jackson from her short story “The Lottery,” which is dark and twisted in its own way. I found Castle to be no less so, even though it seems more innocent on the surface. I’ve been so fascinated by this end of the year read that I’ve dedicated an entire blog post to it.
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by HG Parry
I picked this book up from Barnes and Noble on a whim at the beginning of the year. With no idea what to expect, I found myself plunged into an alternate universe in which the French Revolution takes place alongside the rising up of magicians around the world. It’s a longer read, so I postponed reading its sequel at the time but plan to pick it up next year.
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
I’ve long loved the movie adapation of the graphic novel and, as a lifelong Beatles fan, I walk around singing “Remember” for the first week of November every year. I was gifted the novel for Christmas last year and it became my first read of 2022. Though significantly darker than the movie itself, it was a poignant read for what has been a strange year. I’m not normally into speculative fiction, but I enjoyed the change of pace and the food for thought.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
Completely changing the pace, All Creatures is an utterly delightful read that is fully grounded in the real, physical world. As a dedicated anglophile, I found Herriot’s descriptions of the English countryside—its joys and its hardships—to be beautiful and inspiring. It made me want to document my days with prose just as moving and straightforward.
Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
I first discovered Mary Stewart in high school when I read The Crystal Cave for the first time. I had long remembered it as brilliant, so I was thrilled to learn that she was loved for her romantic murder mysteries. Wildfire at Midnight was my introduction to her mysteries and it truly had me on the edge of my seat. The setting in the already mysterious Scottish Isle of Skye and the inclusions of Celtic imagery set the perfect atmosphere.
the complete list
Just in case you’re curious, I’ve provided my complete what I read list for you below.
All links are affiliate links for Bookshop—as affiliate links these won’t cost you anything extra but will help support me. However, buying from Bookshop is a bit more expensive than buying from somewhere like Amazon because Bookshop’s mission is to support independent and local booksellers. Pretty great, right? You can also check out my profile for more curated lists.
Fantasy and Mythology
Mythos by Stephen Fry
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by HG Parry
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
The Children of Hurin by JRR Tolkien
The Sword in the Stone by TH White
The Queen of Air and Darkness by TH White
The Ill Fated Knight by TH White
The Candle in the Wind by TH White
The Book of Merlyn by TH White
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
Harry Potter: The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by JRR Tolkien
The Near Witch by VE Schwab
The Ash-Born Boy by VE Schwab
Beren and Luthien by JRR Tolkien
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Mysteries
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
Mystery of the Screaming Beauty
Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Rotten to the Core by TE Kinsey
Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart
The 7 Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie
A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
Nemesis by Agatha Christie
What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! by Agatha Christie
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
In the Woods by Tana French (I’ve got a full review here!)
Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart
Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
Dead Man’s Mirror by Agatha Christie
The Stormy Petrel by Mary Stewart
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James
The Man with the Twisted Lip by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle
Classics
The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton
The Invisible Man by HG Wells
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Children’s or Young Adult
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum
Boy Tales Of Childhood by Roald Dahl
The Accused by John Grisham
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Memoir’esque
Enough by Jessica Rose Williams
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
A Bigger Picture by Vanessa Nakate
Across That Bridge by John Lewis
Spiritual
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
Aggressively Happy by Joy Clarkson
How the Bible Actually Works by Peter Ends
Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
A Curious Faith by Lore Wilbert
Why On Earth Did Anyone Become A Christian In the First Three Centuries? by Larry W Hurtado
Other Fiction
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
The Inimatible Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Other Non-fiction
America Before by Graham Hancock
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper
On Writing by Stephen King
In Process
The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (and probably some other books from a Sherlock Holmes collection to round out the year!)
The Myths That Stole Christmas by David Kyle Johnson
final thoughts on what i read in 2022
All in all, 2022 was a good reading year. I read more this year than I have read in a long while, and I was introduced to some great new books and stories in my efforts to make it to one hundred. Stay tuned for my reading goals for 2023!
