The Books of 2022 -- The Annual Book Report

It's time for my annual accounting of books read (often devoured) in 2022.

In the past year I read 58 books, a few short of my goal of 60. But I topped my page goal of 18,000 with a grand total of 21,994 pages, meaning, I read longer books, often more complex. (Why do I do this? Curiosity, and to keep myself accountable. I won't read just to check off a book or pages; I'll give it a fair shot, but life's too short.)

All books listed here have been reviewed in previous posts and are linked.

My Top Twelve in no particular order...

"The Offing" -- Richard Myers (fiction) -- A beautiful coming of age story of a young man who decides to travel to the sea and en route meets an aging woman who changes his perspective on life.

"Provence 1970" -- Luke Barr (biography) -- A look at the year during which some of America's best food writers, including M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney and more, met up several times in Provence.

"The Madness of Crowds" -- Louise Penny (mystery) -- Louise Penny's visit to Three Pines finds the village post-pandemic. When a speaking event turns violent, Gamache is forced to consider what happens when one of the village's own is involved.

"The Man Who Died Twice" -- Richard Osmun (mystery) -- Richard Osmun's second "Thursday Club Murder" series finds the retired gang dealing with not one but two cases.

"It's Hard Being You" -- Sharon Emery (memoir)  -- Journalist Sharon Emery takes us through her personal journey as a mother surviving the loss of a child with special needs and her own challenges with a stutter she has had throughout her life, with humor, courage and strength in this powerful memoir.

"Lady In Waiting" -- Anne Glenconner (memoir) -- Princess Margaret's Lady in Waiting, Lady Anne Glenconner, walks us through her intriguing life in the British upper classes.

"The Splendid and the Vile" -- Erik Larson (history)  -- The historian takes us through the life of Winston Churchill and his family (particularly his daughter, Mary) during the first year of World War II.

"The Palace Papers" -- Tina Brown (history) -- Royal watcher Tina Brown turns her eye to the future of the monarchy, including the relationships of Charles and Camilla, William and Kate and Harry and Meghan. (Written prior to Queen Elizabeth II's death)

"The Betrayal of Anne Frank" -- Kate Sullivan (history)  -- Rosemary Sullivan follows a group of researchers through a multi-year exhaustive search to discover who the group believes was the person to betray Anne Frank and her family to the Nazis in World War II.

"The Rose Code" -- Kate Quinn (fiction)  -- Kate Quinn follows the stories of three woman who work in the secret code breaking unit of Bletchley Park during World War II.

"New York" -- Edward Rutherfurd -- Edward Rutherfurd traces the history of New York City from its early years to almost-present day in this fascinating novel focusing on the intersecting lives of several families over the centuries.

"The Reading List" -- Sara Nisha Adams  -- In this thought-provoking novel that sticks with you after the last page, a young woman working at a library finds a list of novels, and in reading through them -- and building a friendship with an elderly widower -- finds her perspective on life radically changed.

Books by Category

Mystery 

 

Mystery is my favorite genre and there were some good ones this year. Leading the pack were books by "old friends" -- anything by Louise Penny, Susan Hill, Elly Griffiths or Anthony Horowitz. (A shout-out to a new-to-me Horowitz series, the "Hawthorne" books). Of the authors with which I was unfamiliar, I especially liked the two Camilla Trinchieri books, both set in Italy. And I was delighted by Richard Osmun's second book in the Thursday Murder Club series, "The Man Who Died Twice.

• The Decagon House Murders -- Yokito Ayatsuji
• Death of a Busybody -- George Bellairs
• Murder in Chianti -- Camilla Trinchieri
• The Madness of Crowds -- Louise Penny
• The Benefit of Hindsight -- Susan Hill
• Maigret Hesitates -- Georges Simenon
• Under Violent Skies -- Judi Daykin
• The Consequences of Fear -- Jacqueline Winspear
• The Word is Murder -- Anthony Horowitz
• Untrue Blue -- Emma Jameson
• The Tenant -- Katrine Enberg
• Death on the Nile -- Agatha Christie
• The Man Who Died Twice -- Richard Osmun
• Wilful Behaviour --Donna Leon
• The Sable Messenger -- Francis Vivian
• The Bitter Taste of Murder -- Camilla Trinchieri
• To Perish in Penzance -- Jeanne M. Dams
• The Sentence Is Death -- Anthony Horowitz
• The Night Hawks -- Elly Griffiths
• State of Terror -- Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny
• A Change of Circumstance -- Susan Hill
  
• Uniform Justice -- Donna Leon 
  
• Treachery in Tuscany -- Phyllis Gobbels
• Pursuit in Provence -- Phyllis Gobbles
• Secrets and Shamrocks -- Phyllis Gobells
• Winter of Discontent -- Jeanne M. Dams
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles -- Agatha Christie 
• Murder at the Vicarage -- Agatha Christie
• Curtain --Agatha Christie
• Sleeping Murder -- Agatha Christie
• Not Dark Yet -- Peter Robinson
• The Reckoning -- Rennie Aith
• A Line to Kill -- Anthony Horowitz
• Meet Isobel Puddles -- M.V. Byrne
• Murder at the Theatre Royale -- Ada Moncrieff
• The Santa Klaus Murder -- Mavis Doriel Hay

Biography/Memoir (non-fiction)

I love life stories and while I didn't read many this year, the ones I read were well worth the time. Leading the pack was Sharon Emery's "It's Hard Being You," to which I have returned more than once, "The Year of Living Danishly (by Helen M. Russell), "Provence 1970," focusing on some of America's best food writers and their life in France that year, Lucy Worsley's "Agatha Christie" and Anne Glenconner's "Lady in Waiting," about her life in England's aristocracy and as a lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret.

• It's Hard Being You --Sharon Emery
• The Road Through Miyuma -- Leila Philip
• Will She Do? -- Eileen Atkins
• Appetite for Life (Julia Child) -- Noel Riley Fitch
• The Year of Living Danishly -- Helen M. Russell
• Call the Midwife -- Jennifer Worth
• One Singular Sensation (Michael Bennett) -- Kevin Kelly
• Agatha Christie -- Lucy Worsley
• Lady In Waiting -- Anne Glenconner
• Provence 1970 --Luke Barr
  

History

Two, maybe three books here might slip into the biography category, for all the life it shares of its subjects, the book take a more historic focus. I would put "The Betrayal of Anne Frank," "The Palace Papers" (today's royals) by Tina Brown and Erik Larson's fascinating story of Churchill in the first year of WWII at the top of my list.

• The Betrayal of Anne Frank -- Rosemary Sullivan
• The Palace Papers -- Tina Brown
• In the Garden of Beasts -- Erik Larson
• The Splendid and the Vile -- Erik Larson

Fiction

 

I'm not a huge fiction fan (apart from mysteries) and I'm especially not fond of fictional biography, although I was quite fascinated by "The Bridal Chair," about Marc Chagall's daughter, Ida. Other leaders in this category. Three others stood out from the pack here: Kate Quinn's "The Rose Code" (Bletchley Park), Edward Rutherfurd's masterful "New York" and Richard Myers eloquent and beautiful coming-of-age story, "The Offing." "Mrs Queen Takes the Train" (William Kuhn) is a lollipop but a delightful one.

• Mrs. Queen Takes the Train -- William Kuhn
  
• Lost -- Richard Lassin
• The Paris Bookseller -- Kerri Maher (bio-fiction)
• The Offing -- Richard Myers
• The Venice Sketchbook -- Rhys Bowen
• The Bridal Chair -- Gloria Goldreich (bio-fiction)
• An Elderly Lady Must Not be Crossed -- Helene Tursten
• The Paris Key -- Juliet Blackwell
• New York -- Edward Rutherfurd
• The Rose Code -- Kate Quinn 
• The Reading List -- Sara Nisha Adams
  

Non-Fiction 

 Two non-fiction books not otherwise categorized were worth a read if they are your thing. I was especially intrigued by "Second Act Trouble" (Steve Siskin)

• Second Act Trouble -- Steve Siskin (behind the scenes of Broadway musical flops)
  
• The Plaza -- Julie Satow (the story of New York's fabled hotel)
  

Other

 

This is my "Miscellaneous" file. The hit here was Vita Sackville-West's brief but enchanting story of the "ghost" of Queen Mary's dollhouse, "A Note of Explanation," is a total delight.

• The Rodent Not Taken -- Jennifer McCartney (cat poetry)
  
• The DIY Home Planner -- Kerianne Wood (home dec)
  
• A Note of Explanation -- Vita Sackville West 
• Paris -- a Curious Traveler's Guide -- Eleanor Aldridge (travel)