This year I decided to split my favorite books out into categories. I read a good variety of books this year that I thought it was best to do it this way because there was no way I could rank them. I read a lot of not fantastic reads this year, too, so I was a little frustrated with that.
Makes you think:
This wasn’t perfect but I liked the way Erlick approached the premise. The question that was explored in the novel is what would you do if you knew down to the day how much longer you had to live? It was thought-provoking and intriguing. The book stayed with me for a long while after I finished it. It’s definitely a good book club book and it can be interesting conversation fodder.
Favorite Series & Longest Reads: Crescent City by Sarah J Maas
I am not a SJM fangirl (anymore). I think her books are too hyped without enough diversity. The main characters from all 3 of her series are pretty similar, to boot. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy reading them. I read most of the ToG series and the first 3 or 4 books of ACOTAR. I think my problem with her series is that they just go on for far too long. I forgot what happened in the previous novels and was so lost by the time the next one came out. I think if I binged both series while all the books were published, I would probably finished them. ANYWAY. I avoided it on principle at first so I ended up being pleasantly surprised. I will definitely be getting the next one at least.
New Favorite Author: Ali Hazelwood
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood 
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
I don’t care what problems people have with these books, I LOVE THEM. They’re not groundbreaking. I wouldn’t say it’s novel to have main characters that are women in STEM. But I will say it’s a big deal to have these BESTSELLING, highly talked about, & TIKTOK sensational books be about women in STEM. And yes, The Love Hypothesis is Reylo inspired and you know what? I LOVE IT. Rey & Kylo SHOULD HAVE ended up together. If you’re not a Star Wars person, it’s not in your face so it won’t effect the book’s readability. I love Hazelwood’s writing, I really do. Her books are fun, witty, and smutty.
Most Unexpected Books I’ve Read This Year:
Both Sign Here by Claudia Lux and Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn were Book of the Month picks for me. Before I chose them for my boxes, I didn’t know they existed. I didn’t look much into Killers because I had read Raybourn before and I knew I liked her writing. But I was intrigued by the premise of Sign Here so I added that my box and read it as soon as it arrived. They were both fun & different in various ways.
Best Fantasy
I adored this book! Its sequel came out in December but I’m a freak and need my book editions to match so since I have the paperback of the first one, the second one also needs to be in paperback. Therefore, I can’t buy/read it until SEPTEMBER 2023. AHH! After I read it, I could not stop thinking about it or wondering was going to happen in the next book. My head remained in Cadence and with all the characters.
Most Anticipated Book of the Year (that I read & LOVED):
I had to go back & read my list of books I was looking forward to in 2022. I’m sad to say I didn’t read a good amount of them, I did purchase a bunch of them… the reading them part is lacking. Some I did read and I was disappointed. While others I was happy my excitement for them had not been misplaced. Book Lovers is one of them. Though, if Henry writes an adult romance that I DON’T actually love, I’ll be shocked. I love reading about the literary world and having a romcom set in publishing was awesome. The writing was witty and fun and the small town setting was cute & fun. The book isn’t perfect by any means but I enjoyed reading it and it didn’t let me down.
Best Romance:
So obviously I couldn’t pick just one since it’s the genre I read the most books in this year. I loved them all for different reasons. The Dead Romantics is a beautiful look at grief and how to deal with loss while also discovering yourself. It also has awesome quirky main characters who grow to love one another despite their circumstances. It’s pitched as a ghostwriter with literal ghosts in her life and I just can’t. TOO GOOD. I do not have enough good things to say about this book but I will give the trigger warning for death of a family member that may be hard to read if you’re grieving yourself. I had read a couple of Poston’s YA novels when they first came out and I loved them so I had good feeling about this book before I picked it up.
The Bodyguard... I honestly don’t remember too many details but I devoured the book and remember having good happy feelings while reading it. Sometimes that’s the most important part. I also read it in a single sitting one evening
Part of Your World was my first time reading Jimenez but I had followed her on TikTok without realizing she was the person who wrote this book! Her dog Stuntman Mike is the CUTEST. IYKYK. I digress, the book was wonderful. The romance was awesome. There’s a hint of magic. There was a lot of Princess Bride references, which I loved. I honestly wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did. It’s a solid read.
I think that’s a wrap on my absolute favorites! What did you love reading in 2022?
Welcome to Your Early 30s 