Throughout the pandemic, I had somewhat of a reading renaissance and fell in love with reading. This is coming from a girl who shamefully had not willingly picked up a book since middle school. However, with so much free time on my hands, I decided to give it another go. I am so happy I did because I have read almost 60 books in these last two to three years and have truly enjoyed every single one, some more than others. With all that being said, it’s that time of year again when your Goodreads yearly reading challenge is looking a little bleak. You may say to yourself, how many books behind am I? Therefore I have compiled my top four favorite reads of 2022 to inspire you to finish out the year strong, or maybe add some new books to your reading list for 2023.
4. Verity
Coming in at number four is Verity by Colleen Hoover. This book has rightfully received quite a lot of media attention, specifically from BookTok, a community on TikTok dedicated to reviewing and reading books. I think this book is hard to summarize, given that it fits into so many genres, but I will say it is for mystery and thriller lovers. The book follows Lowen, who is hired to finish a book series for another author and moves into the author’s house during the writing process. While at their home, she finds a chilling manuscript and the story continues from there. That is all I will say, but maybe don’t read this one at night.
3. Daisy Jones and the Six
In our third-place spot is Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book takes place in the 1970s and follows the band Daisy Jones and the Six on their fast journey to stardom and an even faster band breakup. Particularly, this book follows the relationship, or lack thereof, between the band’s stars: Daisy and Billy. This book has a little bit of everything from drama to romance to music, and is the perfect book to snuggle up with on a cold December night. In even better news, this book has been made into a TV series on Amazon Prime Video, which is set to come out in March of 2023.
2. Funny You Should Ask
My second favorite read of this year is Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman. This book is loosely inspired by Chris Evans’s 2011 GQ interview, which is another great read if you want something a little shorter. This book follows Chani Horowitz ten years after her interview with movie star Gabe Parker went viral. This interview spanned 3 days, a movie premiere and Chani falling asleep in Gabe’s dog bed. Everyone always wondered if anything more happened between the two, but Chani always denied these claims, even though there was much more to the story than she cared to share. Ten years later they both reunite to do a new interview, and Chani wonders if the spark is still there. This is definitely a more romance-heavy book, but you will fall in love with the characters and plot just the same.
1. Normal People
My favorite book of 2022, maybe of all time, is Normal People by Sally Rooney. Some may say this is a controversial take as many people either love or hate this book. However, I am in the percentage that loves this book. It follows the relationship between Marianne and Connell during critical points in their young adult life, such as the ending of high school and their college years. This book is so well written and beautifully captures the story of what it’s like to be a young adult and the friendships and relationships and mental aspects that come with it. The one thing I will preface about this book is it doesn’t use quotation marks, which seems like a bigger problem than it is, and I got used to it very quickly. There is also a TV show on Hulu based on the book that is equally as amazing, and is the perfect thing to watch once you finish the book.
I hope you guys enjoyed this list, and maybe agreed or disagreed with some of my rankings. If you give any of these books a read, I hope you like them as much as I did. And even if you don’t hit your Goodreads goals, remember you always have next year!
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