What I Read in 2022

 Um, so you may have noticed that I first fell behind and then stopped doing my monthly reading posts.  

Whoops.  

I know some of my friends really enjoyed them, and so did I!  And I read so much that I need my notes as reminders!  

So here is everything I read in 2022, with minimal comments, and we shall begin again after this.  

January: 

1. The Beautiful Ones, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (audio):  love Moreno-Garcia's world-building, but none of her books have lived up to Mexican Gothic
2. The Untold Story, Genevieve Cogman: still super fun!
3. Where the Drowned Girls Go, Seanan McGuire:  best of McGuire's series by far
4. Klara and the Sun, Kazou Ishiguro (audio): beautiful, just beautiful
5. Summer Sons, Lee Mandelo (audio): I'm still a sucker for southern gothic!
6. Gilded, Marissa Meyer (audio): A new series, on Rumplestiltskin!  Meyer is the queen of transforming traditional tales
7. Steel Crow Saga, Paul Krueger: ooohhhh, so good!  I maintain that the best of fantasy right now is happening with Asian-inspired stories.
8. Sorrowland, Rivers Solomon (audio): Solomon is one to watch.  Very, very good writing.

February:

1. Murder at Mansfield Park, Lynn Shepherd: had this book for ages, not sure why I didn't read it earlier!
2. Servant Mage, Kate Elliott:  still love Elliott, and this was different than her usual
3. A Desolation Called Peace, Arcady Martine: a sequel to a book I found interesting, but didn't love.  debated for a long time whether or not to read, and am glad I ultimately did
4. The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood (audio and print)
5. The Thousand Eyes, A.K. Larkwood (audio and print): had tried to read this duology earlier, and had trouble getting into it.  This time around I fell in love
6. Cinderella is Dead, Kalyan Bayron (audio and print): very, very interesting take on a classic
7. Pet, Hkwaeje Emezi: so good, and so different
8. The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows, Olivia Waite: loved the bees, was meh about the rest

March: 

1. Any Old Diamonds
2. The Rat-Catcher’s Daughter
3. Gilded Cage, K.J. Charles: time for some historical romance!  super fun.  
4. Spelunking Through Hell
5. Sweep Up the Wood Seanan McGuire: her popcorn series.  apparently I need lighthearted this month
6. Burning Roses, S.L. Huang: be still, my heart...fantasy about middle-aged women with baggage!  tracked down a hardback copy immediately
7. The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho: Ahhhh!  Another amazing book!
8. Gallant, V.E. Schwab (audio): I love it when Schwab hits it out of the park
9. The Duke and I
10. The Viscount Who Loved Me
11. An Offer From a Gentleman
12. Romancing Mr. Bridgestone
13. To Sir Phillip, With Love, Julia Quinn: oh yes, more historical romance...and yes, thanks to Netflix

April: 

1. When He Was Wicked
2. It’s In His Kiss
3. On the Way to the Wedding, Julia Quinn: because I have to finish the series
4. Light From Uncommon Stars, Rylan Hoki: oh wow, excellent
5. The Murdstone Trilogy, Mel Peet: ha!  took a chance on a book that kept showing up in the sale folder, and it was a lot of fun
6. How To Stop Time, Matt Haig (audio); rapidly becoming a favorite writer
7. The Devil in the Dark Water, Stuart Turton: liked this more than the 7.5 deaths!
8. How High We Go in the Dar, Sequoia Nagamatsu:  So brilliantly beautiful

May:

1. A Snake Falls to Earth, Dacia Little Badger (audio): not as great as Elatsoe, but am grateful for Badger's voice
2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, (reread): because I'll read it a million times and always find something new
3. In The Serpent’s Wake, Rachel Hartman: disappointing sequel
4. The Light of Midnight Stars, Rena Rossner: I do love Rossner's fairy tales 
5. Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan: why did I read this before the sequel was published?  waiting is hard!

June: 

1. The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea, Axie Oh:  This is turning out to be a phenomenal year for Asian fairy tales
2. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (mostly):  Atkinson frustrates me, skimmed the last 1/3
3. Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse: didn't like it enough to want to continue to series
4. A Mirror Mended, Alex E. Harrow:  another disappointing sequel
5. A Master of Djinn, P. Deli Clarck:  ooohhhhhh....now this is fun!  
6. Possession, A.S. Byatt (audio, reread): hadn't read since college, and wow, it's as amazing as I remember
7. The Pages, Hugo Hamilton (audio, mostly): very, very interesting
8. This is How you Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mahtar and Max Gladstone (audio, reread): I seem to be in a reread mood.  feels so intimate I'm almost embarrassed to listen in.

July:

1. Build Your House Around My Body, Violet Kupersmith (mostly); very, very sad...but lost interest
2. For The Wolf,
3. For the Throne, Hannay Whitten (audio and print): reread the first so that I had a fresh memory going into the second.  these are very me books
4. Seasonal Fears, Seanan McGuire: I adore the Middlegame books
5. A Psalm for the Wild Built
6. A Prayer for the Crown Shy, Becky Chambers (audio and print): A friend told me that you needed to be in the right place for these books after hearing that I didn't really connect to the first.  She's right.  I reread it, and then read the second, and now these are in my all-time favorites list.  They hit when they needed to.  

August: 

1. The Ten Thousand Doors of January (audio): i love having a libro.fm account so that I can reread my favorites!  
2. The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Puppy, Victoria Stilwell: getting a refresher
3. Down to Earth, Monty Don (audio):  Don reading this is like a warm hug
4. A Song of Flight, Juliet Marillier:  no one does Celtic myth better
5. When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill (audio and print): Ahhahahahha!  I loved it and laughed through it.  Fun take on a serious subject.
6. Master of the Revels, Nicole Galland: disappointing sequel, seems to be a theme this year
7. What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (audio): not a Poe fan, but did like this interpretation

September: 

1. Be the Serpent, Seanan McGuire: I was wondering where they would go after the wedding....and massive cliffhangers are annoying
2. Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher (audio and print): the book that made Kindfisher a new favorite
3. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia: same complaint as before
4. Such Dangerous Seas, Seanan McGuire:  usually I read the novella bonus right away.  waited, why?
5. This Wicked Fate, Kalyan Bayron: ok, sequel curse broken!  
6. Black Water Sister, Zen Cho: yes, yes, yes!
7. I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jeanette McCurdy (audio): 100% worth the hype

October: 

1. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern (audio, reread): which I will reread a million times before I die.  It's my favorite. 
2. The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novic: highly satisfying conclusion to a series. 
3. The Spare man, Mary Robinette Kowal:  cozy mystery in space!  featuring a lead woman with a disability!  AND IT HAS A WESTIE!!!!!  winner of "Most Realistic Portrayal of my favorite dog breed."  
4. Into the Riverlands, Nghi Vo: as always, beautiful
5. The Story of Silence, Alex Myers: liked the build-up more than the end
6. The Archived, Victoria Schwab: meh, which is surprising with this author
7. Sword Dancer, Jennifer Roberson (reread): with a new Tiger and Del book coming out after years and years, I reread the book that started it all.  amusing  

November: 

1. A Restless Truth, Freya Marske: historical fiction with magic is kind of one of my things now
2. Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk:  Big, happy sighs.  I love Polk.  
3. Cursed, Marissa Meyer:  waiting for this sequel was so hard, but so worth it.  Also, kudos for retelling Rumplestilk
4. The Soul of a Woman, Isabel Allende (audio): wish it was longer
5. The World We Make, N.K. Jemisin (audio): this series must be read in audio.  it's just that much fun.
6. High Times in Low Parliament, Kelly Robson:  every bit as delightful as advertised
7. Juniper Wiles and the Ghost Girls, Charles de Lint: find him on patreon, and support him, pretty please.  Glad he's writing again. 

December: 

1. Pride, Prejuidce and Other Flavors, Sonali Dev: liked it, but not enough to read the rest of the series
2. The Past is Red, Catherynne M. Valente:  my heart, what a powerful story
3. The Oracle Year, Charles Soule:  interesting, but I admit I skimmed the last half
4. The Border Keeper, Kersten Hall:  mythic
5. They Both Die at the End, Aiden Silvera (audio): worth the hype, and very tender
6. A Lady for a Duke, Alexis Hall: seriously, I love a good romance novel once in a while!
7. Sword-Bearer, Jennifer Roberson: and the new Tiger and Del novel, entertaining but shallow
8. Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree:  satisfied a need I had for sweet and cozy.  also made me crave lattes and homemade pastries
9. Heart of the Sun Warrior, Sue Lynn Tan (audio and print)
10. Thistlefoot, Genna Rose Nethercott (audio and print): 
11. The Extroardinaries, T.J. Klune (audio and print):  so.  much.  fun!  

Total*: 95

*I used to track the books that I'd started to read but didn't finish.  But I'm not in the mood to track down that list for 2022.