I'm currently on 46 books read for 2022, which is lower than I manage most years, but it's been a weird year for various reasons, so I'm pretty pleased with that really. Here are some of my favourites, in no particular order.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Beautifully written, as you'd expect from the author of Station Eleven. Essentially a mystery, set across several time periods, that made me go "OH!" when I figured out what was happening.
There's also a follow up story, The Glass Hotel, which goes into the backstory of one of the characters from Sea of Tranquility, that's also great.
A Pale Light in the Black and Hold Fast through the Fire by K.B. Wagers
First two books in a space opera series with a great ensemble cast of diverse characters, with tons of queer representation.
I'd call them a cross between Star Trek: Discovery and the books of Becky Chambers
And Then I Woke Up by Malcolm Devlin
A fascinating variant on the good old zombie apocalypse trope, essentially exploring how people have become so alienated from others that they no longer even see them as being humans.
I stumbled across this by pure chance, in my local library, and took it home, intrigued by the initial premise - a plane lands after coming out of a storm, only to find it's months since they went into the storm - and this same plane already landed months ago. It explores themes of double lives and ended up in a place I never expected and had me thinking about long afterwards.
Can you count a lecture series as a book? Well maybe not, but it's on Audible, so I'm calling it an audiobook. Fascinating history of how the Black Death swept across Europe, and how the people reacted to it, and how that changed history. All of course with resonances and lessons for our present.
Professor Armstrong is a really good narrator and she kept me engaged all the way through.
Love a bit of creepy horror? Love a haunted house? A ghost ship? Think those things can only be better if you add "in space" then this is the book for you. Think Event Horizon on a luxury liner.
A collection of short stories and novellas set in The Expanse series. Previously published elsewhere over the years, brought together for the first time.
Just what I needed after the book series and the TV series had ended, but I was still hungry for more Expanse.
Really loving this exploration of religious orders in the future and can't wait for more.
Another one that grabbed me with the initial premise (an unwed mother in Georgian times goes to reclaim the daughter she left at a foundling hospital, only to find someone else has already claimed her.) Though also enjoyed Halls'
The Familiars, so knew I liked her writing. She's great at female centred narratives.
Long anticipated biography of Pratchett, by his assistant and friend of many years, Rob Wilkins, who also narrates the audiobook. I'm not much of a reader of biographies, but had to make an exception for a Pratchett biography, being a long-time fan.
Funny, and sad, about a great talent gone too soon.
Here's a list of all my 2022 books read, most of which you can assume I liked, since I don't finish stuff I'm not liking. Life it too short to waste time on books I don't like when there are lots of books I will like out there.
What will 2023 bring? For one thing it's bringing a lot of new recordings of Terry Pratchett audiobooks, so there will be a few reread books next year. But as always, too many books, too little time...
First two books in a space opera series with a great ensemble cast of diverse characters, with tons of queer representation.
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