DEBORAH CROMBIE: It's the time of year for the BEST OF lists, and as SOME of you kept track of what you read in 2022, I thought it would be fun to share some favorites. Because we all need more books to read, right?
I don't mean for this to be a BEST NOVEL list, but just books that we really enjoyed, and these are a (big) handful that jump out as I flip through my planner. Mine is also NOT a FAVORITE MYSTERY list, as it's obviously very eclectic, and I'm also excluding books by fellow REDs because we all know they are ALL fabulous and they'd take up the whole list! And, because I'm going first, I reserve the right to get carried away. Some of these I read in print, some I listened to, some I did both.
Love and Saffron, Kim Fay
The Windsor Knot and All the King's Men, S.J. Bennett
The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman
Darmin's Armada, Ian McCalman
Amongst Our Weapons, Ben Aaronovitch (my most anticipated read of the year!)
A Shadow of Memory, Connie Berry
Bloomsbury Girls, Natalie Jenner
The Year of Miracles, Ella Risbridger
The Right Sort of Man, Allison Montclair
The Drowning Sea, Sarah Stewart Taylor
The Ink Black Heart, Robert Galbraith
A Rogue of One's Own, Evie Dunmore
A World of Curiosities, Louise Penny
The Reading List, Sara Nisha Adams
Bleeding Heart Yard, Elly Griffiths
Thank You For Listening, Julia Whelan (big five stars for this one!)
JENN McKINLAY: I don’t really keep track, but a few standouts for me are…
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
Allow Me to Retort by Elie Mystal
Five Decembers by James Kestrel
I’m listening to Thank You for Listening right now and I’m struggling because while it’s brilliant there’s so much about the publishing industry that she nails that pisses me off - lol - specifically, the misogyny that makes it a tough listen (much like Lessons in Chemistry).
LUCY BURDETTE: Lots of good ones this year, including from Hank, Debs, Rhys, and Jenn! Here are a few others:
THESE PRECIOUS DAYS, essays by Ann Patchett
THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, Richard Osman
MY LIFE IN FRANCE, Julia Child
THIS PLACE OF WONDER, Barbara O’Neal
WE ARE THE LIGHT, Matthew Quick
EMOTIONAL INHERITANCE, Galit Atlas
And here’s my full Bookbub report–I don’t include duds:). https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lucy-burdette?list=reviews
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, gosh, okay. Leaving out the Reds, of course. And I know I will forget something. But I’ll fix in the comments.
THE TWIST OF A KNIFE Anthony Horowitz
WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME Gillian McAllister
MORE THAN YOU’LL EVER KNOW Katie Gutierrez
THE APPEAL Janice Hallett
THE MYSTERIOUS CASE OF THE ALPERTON ANGELS Janice Hallett
ALL THAT IS MINE I CARRY WITH ME William Landay
THE MAID Nita Prose
THE TWYFORD CODE Janice Hallett (yes, truly, every one of hers is brilliant)
THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY Brendan Slocumb
DEBS: I am really fascinated by how these lists are SO different. I have Project Hail Mary on Audible, I think, so pushing to the top of the LISTEN list.
Lucy, I read Julia Child's Life in France a few years ago--that one deserves a reread, for sure.
Why is my mind a blank? Maybe because I read a lot of old favorites.
But I did like:
Lessons in Chemistry: Bonnie Garmus
Bloomsbury Girls: Natalie Jenner
Widowland: C.J. Carey
The Jane Austen Society: Natalie Jenner
The Keeper of Lost Things: Ruth Hogan
There were probably more but I’m not good at keeping lists, and I can’t check my bookshelf in California because I’m back in Arizona.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As I said yesterday, this wasn't a great reading year for me, although I'll agree with Andy Weir's HAIL MARY. He definitely reclaimed his mojo after his second book, which was... not so great. Some oter faves:
CHILD ZERO by Chris Holm. My favorite reading experience of the year.
THE MADNESS OF CROWDS by Louise Penny, who gets better with every book, and how is that even possible?
MAN AT THE HELM by Nina Stibbe - laugh out loud funny.
THE DAMAGE by Caitlin Wahrer, which I went into knowing nothing about - I didn't even read the dust jacket - and I'm so glad I did it that way.
OUR OWN WORST ENEMY: The Assault From Within on Modern Democracy by Tom Nichols. I highly recommend for anyone wondering how the heck we got where we are right now in the US.
DEBS: Jenn, keep going on Thank You For Listening. It's so good. You won't be disappointed.
I love how varied and eclectic all our lists are, and now I want to read the books suggested that I HAVEN'T read. I gave my daughter Lessons in Chemistry for Christmas, in hopes that she would loan it to me when she'd finished it. (I wanted to give her a book that wasn't "pre-read" :-))
And now I'm off to look up all these other tempting titles. We're going to get ourselves in big trouble here!
Readers, over to you!
