Favorite Books of the YearThanks to everyone who entered the giveaway from the last newsletter and shared their favorite reads of the year. It was wonderful to see how varied your reading is, and I love that you all read across genres and age categories, because I do, too. The books that received the most multiple recommendations were: I’ve already been meaning to read these so I’m pushing them up my TBR list. I also discovered two books through your recommendations that sound incredibly unique and I’m going to add them to my TBR pile: The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler – Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future. The Employees by Olga Ravn – Funny and doom-drenched, The Employees chronicles the fate of the Six Thousand Ship. The human and humanoid crew members complain about their daily tasks in a series of staff reports and memos. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew becomes strangely and deeply attached to them, even as tensions boil toward mutiny, especially among the humanoids. I also wanted to share five of my favorite reads of 2022: Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski — You may know Marie from her YA fantasies, but this is her adult crime debut. Set in the 1990s in and around a strip club in the Midwest, this novel was immersive from page one. It’s dark, gritty, and never what you expect. Highly recommended for fans of Gillian Flynn, and I don’t say that lightly. The Getaway by Lamar Giles and Hide by Kiersten White – I’m putting these two together because they’re both horror/thrillers about theme parks! Lamar’s book is YA and Kiersten’s is adult, but they both ask hair-raising questions about the meaning of spectacle and entertainment. I also visited Disneyland this year so maybe they hit a little close to home. 😆I highly recommend both if you’re looking for a truly thrilling and slightly scary page-turner about dystopian situations that are all too easy to imagine–especially if you’ve been to a theme park lately. Flying Solo by Linda Holmes – This is an adult romantic novel set in small-town Maine, featuring a sexy librarian love interest and an Antiques Roadshow-type heist involving a wooden duck. It was so comforting and fun and delightful. It’s not set at Christmas but if you’re looking for that cozy holiday movie feel, read this book. Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour – Nina’s adult debut is a beautiful story about two queer women who find themselves and each other over the course of several years. Set in Northern California and Los Angeles, it features Nina’s trademark spare, tender prose, along with so much beauty and art and family history. It’s full of emotion (all kinds), and I loved it.
|
