Best Reads of 2022
Another year gone, and so we turn to one of my favourite posts of the year, the best books I read in 2022. Overall it felt like a good reading year. So much so, I’ve found it extremely hard to differentiate between the many great books I read this year. I became genuinely good at putting down books I didn’t like, and so even out of those books that haven’t made it onto the list this year, many of them brought something to my reading and were worthy reads all the same. I also started writing quarterly speculative fiction round-ups for The Sunday Times, so I read a lot more new releases than I planned to but in doing so found a lot of exciting new authors.
At the same time, I want to do some things a bit differently going into 2023. I want to compartmentalise and compress my reading for the ST, so that I have more free time to read my own books. I’d like to focus again on my physical to-read stack, which I haven’t counted but looks pretty enormous. I’m finding making ‘tbr’ lists at the beginning of the month helpful again after a long while of finding them useless. While they felt a bit too ambitious in the first sleep-deprived year or so of Ines’ life – and mood reading was the only way forward – now I’m finding them helpful to keep me focussed on books I actually want to prioritise, and stop me from getting off track.
And what do the numbers say? If you remember, last year I did some calculations, and I wanted to get my ‘favourites’ percentage up to thirty or even forty percent. Did I manage it?
In short – yes! I definitely want to bring what worked into the new year: my new ability to put books down and/or skip books that I know won’t work for me, whatever their reputation. Instinctively, I feel 2019 was one of my best reading years. I read a lot of books and found quite a few lifetime favourites. And interestingly, it was the year I didn’t buy any books and read mostly backlist titles from my shelves. Although I can’t do that again this year, I would like to replicate some of that moving forward. I’ve also got the world’s best sounding board now in the form of the SBJ book club community. Our Discord server is full of wonderful recommendations and discussion. No doubt I will not stop talking about it this year, either.
And did I manage my other 2022 goal? Did I finish Proust’s In Search of Lost Time? No, dear reader, I did not. But I will this year. I’m partway through the second to last book, so we’re almost there.
Without further ado, let’s get into the books. I’ll keep my little summaries short and sweet so I do recommend you go back and read the original reviews if something catches your eye.
The Best of the Best
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
This beautiful novella will transport you to the America of the early twentieth century. It follows Robert Grainier, an itinerant labourer, and deftly draws together the defining moments of his life. There is not a word wasted here and the result is quite awe-inspiring.
A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam
This reflective novel follows a young Sri Lankan man who must attend the funeral of his grandmother’s carer. Not much happens in this book; it mostly focuses on the protagonist’s thoughts, recollections and feelings following this unexpected death, inviting comparisons to Proust. But don’t let that put you off. This book is much warmer than his French modernist counterpart’s. He examines his experience of the Sri Lankan civil war as he witnessed it mostly from afar, but it also explores love, life, aging, and modern culture more generally in an elegant and meaningful way.
Stoner by John Williams
I was glad to see this on many top five of 2022 lists in our Discord server. A book club pick that was almost universally beloved by our community, this is a quiet, gorgeously written novel centring around William Stoner, a professor of English at the University of Missouri. Somehow it perfectly describes the beauty in simply living, regardless of legacy.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
This was a re-read but as I read it over a decade ago and could barely remember anything about it, I thought it deserved a place of its own. I also absolutely loved it. This book won’t appeal to everyone; it’s a stripped-back apocalyptic tale of a man and a boy at the end of the world. Everywhere is grey dust, and they live a meagre life of sheer survival, hiding from the last vestiges of humanity that have turned to cannibalism and other evil doings. But I found there to be such beauty in here, the relationship between the man and the boy, the faith to be found even in the direst of circumstances. Must read more McCarthy this year.
Telephone by Percival Everett
This novel really spoke to me, and I simply couldn’t stop reading it (quite unusual for such a ‘literary’ novel). It’s about a paleobiologist/geologist whose daughter has a rare degenerative disease. At the same time, he discovers a note in a jacket he buys from eBay asking for help, and he finds himself unable to stop thinking about it. This is a complex, layered novel that explores grief in a unique way. Sometimes meandering and oftentimes absurd, I found it to be a very sensitive and interesting portrayal of parenthood.
Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman
This one was a lot of fun, despite the subject matter. It’s set in a not-too-distant future where an ‘extinction industry’ has popped up to address the problem of mass extinction. Though as with all capitalist takes on ecological problems, this industry really only serves the conglomerates rather than the organisms it purports to protect. I’ve likened this to a clever buddy comedy, as we follow two unlikely protagonists on their search for the last remaining venomous lumpsucker individuals. It’s funny, caustic, nerdy, incisive, inventive. Highly recommend!
The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories ed. by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
I carried this one through from 2021 and finally finished it early in 2022. And boy, was it worth the effort. There’s such a huge range of stories in here, and it is a fantastic showcase of the ‘weird’ genre and what it can do. I didn’t really love any of the stories until we hit the 1970s, so there was a bit of slogging to do through the early part, but it was so rewarding by the end.
And pretty much all of my re-reads, as listed below…
The Challenging
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
This Booker prize winner was worthy of its win (dare I say, ‘for once’?). It follows the titular Maali Almeida who has just died; he was a photographer that covered all sides of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and he tries to solve his murder and uncover the worst of the war’s injustices from the hallucinogenic afterlife he finds himself in. A bit tricky through the first hundred pages or so, but worth getting to grips with in the end.
The Doloriad by Missouri Williams
One of the more unique novels on this list, Williams’ debut was immensely impressive. It describes a family living in the aftermath of some unknown apocalyptic event. The Matriarch wants to repopulate the world in her own image, and encourages incest (yes, really!) amongst her many children. Whether it’s the incest or the effects of living in this new environment, her children become increasingly unrecognisable to her, and speak to a new order. The style is cloying and sometimes feels impenetrable, but it perfectly reflects and represents Williams’ dark subject matter. Can’t wait to read more from this author.
Lambda by David Musgrave
Another debut that I found to be very impressive. Lambda is set in an alternative future Britain, and Musgrave imagines many inventive but plausible ways this future might play out, including a malignant server state hacking governments around the world, sentient objects (cue some quite funny scenes involving a conversational toothbrush) or toys that spy on the children who own them. There also exist ‘lambdas’, an aquatic people that resemble the human newborn. When they wash up on our shores, they have been so far begrudgingly included in society, mostly in second-rate accommodation and jobs. But when the Army of Lambda Ascension claims responsibility for a school bombing, relations begin to break down. As you can see, there’s so much packed into this novel, and much of it is delivered as if it were AutoNarration (very prescient considering the boom in AI writing and art in the latter half of 2022), so it is intentionally clunky and odd in style. It won’t be for everyone, but I found it to be truly innovative and interesting.
The Giant, O’Brien by Hilary Mantel
Included in this category mostly for the fact that you should really try and give this one all your focus and read it in a few sittings to fully appreciate the spellbinding magic of Mantel’s prose. This short novel riffs off the story of Charles O'Brien/Byrne who was a young Irish man of unusually tall stature exhibiting himself in London in the summer of 1782, and the prominent surgeon John Hunter who is after his skeleton.
Angels by Denis Johnson
The second Johnson to appear on this list, and the only book that I almost put down. It makes its way into the challenging category based on it being emotionally challenging, as it was a tough read at times (TW: sexual assault and pretty much everything else). But I’m glad I pushed on, because it has one of the most heart-rending and powerful endings to a novel I’ve read this year. It is a dark and twisted look at ‘two born losers’, Jamie and Bill, who travel through the States together pulling off dangerous schemes and getting into trouble. Johnson’s prose is searing and deeply affecting.
The Straight-up Enjoyable
From the more challenging novels to the more accessible reads. They are no less worthy for that, but particularly suited to dipping into if you’re in a bit of a reading slump.
The Ends by James Smythe
This was a considered, intelligent, and thoroughly enjoyable read that combined good pacing and storyline with a really interesting concept. It is actually the final novel in the Anomaly Quartet; I haven’t read the previous three and this book can be read as a standalone, but I look forward to investigating the others in due course. Inside the Anomaly you can’t die; instead, you are looped back to where you were when the Anomaly (some sort of spatiotemporal ‘event’) first enveloped you, with no memory of the life you lived in between. In this book, the Anomaly has finally enveloped the earth, meaning everyone is experiencing video-game-style death. Smythe examines this concept in a really nuanced, comprehensive way as his protagonist Theo – a man who should have died decades ago from a deathly virus – makes his way across the States to confront the wife who abandoned him.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
This is a lovely, poignant novel following two friends who make games together and go into business with one another. Perfectly pitched, it is a love letter to gaming, and to the intimacies of friendship. I loved learning about the industry and game development and found it to be just as interesting as it was enjoyable.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
This little novella follows a father of four daughters who makes an uncomfortable discovery one day when delivering coal one day to the local convent. It is a testament to everyday things and the small acts of heroism that come to define us. Keegan does a beautiful job of conjuring up the Ireland of the 1980s, and in such a small number of pages, she brings us close to Bill Furlong and his family.
The Classics
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
I can see why this one has become such a classic of the genre. George Orr discovers that some of his dreams seem to shape reality. Against his will, he comes under the influence of psychiatrist William Haber, who starts to use Orr’s ability for his own ends. This short little novel packs so much in, and though some of it is a little simplistic by modern standards, it’s quite amazing to me that Le Guin published this in the 1970s. It is dreamlike and detached in style so it has less of the warmth that I am accustomed to in Le Guin’s writing, but a small wonder all the same.
In Search of Lost Time: The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust
For some reason, this volume of Proust’s masterwork just clicked for me. I read much of it in the gloomy days of January and just really enjoyed it. It felt cohesive, it flowed, I was interested in the narrator’s new society acquaintances. Some of the less savoury aspects of In Search of Lost Time (namely, the narrator’s lusting after various young girls and/or the fascination with the queer relationships in the novel, often accompanied by some internalised homophobia) were less present. Sadly, this enthusiasm came to pieces with Sodom and Gomorrah, but we needn’t go there right now.
The Follow-ups
The follow-up always makes me a little nervous, but I read two great ones this year!
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James
This is a tauter, more readable novel than Black Leopard, Red Wolf, and fleshes out the story in a really satisfying way. It’s narrated by Sogolon, the ‘moon witch’; she tells us her life story and how she came to be involved in the scheme detailed in the first novel. Despite its length, it was a real page-turner and I loved more glimpses into the world James has created here.
Either/Or by Elif Batuman
Batuman builds on the themes of the first novel in such a way as to expand the scope of her work here. I wasn’t expecting a sequel to The Idiot, but she easily proved its worth. She writes this strange period of college life in such a funny, precise way, and I look forward to the next instalment.
The Re-Reads
I debated including my re-reads but then thought it would be silly not to. After many years thinking of re-reads as a waste of time, I now find them to be a staple of my reading year. I won’t go into all the reasons why you should re-read your favourite books right now, but I highly recommend doing so if you’re not accustomed to it. I ended up re-reading a few books as part of our book club, too, and it was a wonderful experience to revisit and discuss them with the group.
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I listened to this book this time round and really recommend Chiwetel Ejiofor’s version, he does a great job. As beautiful and affecting as it was the first time. Best to read this knowing as little as possible about it, ideally in just a few sittings.
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
I listened to this also in preparation for Either/Or. I’m glad I did because I think having a good grip on the characters was very helpful for my reading of the second novel. Very literary, very funny, oftentimes meandering but I didn’t mind following Selin around as she gets herself into all the mishaps you would expect from a young woman in her first year of college.
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, trans. by Julia Meitov Hersey
As I had listened to this the first time round, I really enjoyed reading it and delving deeper into its mysteries – and oh boy, what mysteries! – once more, this time with our book club to help me untangle it. It follows Sasha, a young woman who gets sent on strange quests by a mysterious man who seems able to manipulate her reality. She ends up going to a college where she doesn’t understand what she’s being taught or why. An incredibly clever novel with so much to explore, I very much look forward to the next instalment coming out this spring.
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
A lot of this went over my head the first time I read it, so again it was a joy to read it with our book club and I felt much better prepared this time. Our narrator has somewhat accidentally reinstated slavery and segregation in the small town of Dickens in LA, landing him in the Supreme Court. Beatty will turn everything you know inside out, highlighting those unsaid aspects of society normally kept hidden and incisively documenting American racism in the process.
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
I was pleased to discover I enjoyed this book just as much as I did the first time. Smiley’s psychologically realistic take on Shakespeare’s King Lear is a masterclass in this genre. She sets it on a farm in Iowa, where a wealthy farmer decides to step down and split his farm between his three daughters. Of course, chaos ensues when one daughter hesitates about accepting the offer. This is a dark novel that is at times deeply shocking, but I enjoyed following its twists and turns and being drawn into its world. (TW: sexual abuse)
Honourable Mentions
Just wrote this out and am remembering how great these books are, too. I think I’ve been pretty harsh this year because I read so many good ones. I recommend all of these.
White Noise by Don DeLillo (original review)
Appliance by J. O. Morgan (original review)
Booth by Karen Joy Fowler (original review)
The Round House by Louise Erdrich (original review)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (original review)
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens (original review)
