I read 420 ‘books’ in 2022; the quote marks are because there are a lot of novellas etc in the mix, such that 2-3 short titles frequently add up to a single number in my reading journal.
Thanks to said journal, serving in lieu of actual memory, for the following list of ‘best reads.’ These are books that really impressed me, really entertained me, and/or are bound to be in the ‘regular re-reading’ list:
The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian
Seven Summer Nights by Harper Fox
Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch
Manners & Mannerisms by Tanya Chris
Downtime by Tamara Allen
Set My Heart to Five by Simon Stephenson
Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear? by Lev Parikian
One Giant Leap by Kay Simone
Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory
You & Me by Tal Bauer
His Royal Secret/His Royal Favorite by Lilah Pace
Let Not the Waves of the Sea by Simon Stephenson
Shy by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green
Masters in This Hall by KJ Charles
Let it be known that I read all Jay Hogan’s 2022 releases; likewise K.L. Noone, KJ Charles, Alexis Hall and Con Riley (all authors who are auto-buy for me).
However this is a Best List and as you can see there was a lot of competition. The ‘would not have predicted’ top slot goes, I think, to Simon Stephenson because while neither of those books were romances, they both were beautifully written and thought-provoking, and taught me something about storytelling.
I understand that ‘Set My Heart to Five’ is to become a movie, and odds favor me seeing it, though I’m afraid they are going to present the main character as a robot, and just for the record HE IS NOT. There’s a very dark underbelly to this book, though the tone of it is bright. I’m certain I’ll be re-reading it, because only a special talent can take a terrible scenario, make something completely enjoyable out of it, give you the only possible conclusion - which is not, by the way, ‘happy’ in the conventional sense - and somehow let you walk away loving the book instead of metaphorically setting it on fire.
‘You,’ of course, meaning ‘me.’
As to ‘Let Not the Waves of the Sea,’ it is a memoir of Stephenson’s recovery from the loss of his much-loved brother in the Indian Ocean tsunami. Again, no happy ending; his brother is not miraculously found alive. This book is a lyrical yet gritty treatment of an event that permanently changed many lives; it’s also an unapologetic ‘fuck off’ to anyone who thinks the author should be over it by now.
You don’t get over losing someone you love; you can only move on. As the last line of the book says, ‘I will miss my brother forever.’ If I was going to read any book about a deeply personal yet multinational tragedy, I’m glad I read this one.