Reading has always been my favorite hobby and it is one of my favorite things to chat about with anyone who reads my blog/IG! I’m not one to make it a goal to read a certain number of books a year- I’d say my goal is to read more consistently- but I did count up what I read this year and I read 37 books! Starting to listen to audiobooks has helped me read a bunch more non-fiction books this year and I’m happy to have added that to my routine.
These were my favorite books that I read in 2022! Do we have any of the same favorites? Did you make any reading goals for the new year? I’d love to hear your faves from the year, either here or on IG! PS- If you want to see more of my book reviews, you can find them here!
My Top 5 Reads of The Year
Horse– I feel like I’ve raved about this book a lot on Instagram, but loved this beauty of a book! Flipping between 1850s Civil War era Kentucky, present day Washington D.C. and the 1950s Manhattan art scene, Horse is a beautifully written historical fiction novel with so much relevance to today. Theo is a Nigerian-American art historian researching a painting he found in his neighbor’s junk pile, Jess is a Smithsonian scientist researching the famous racehorse, Lexington’s skeleton, Jarret, an enslaved boy, who is with Lexington as he is born and through his racing years, Martha is a gallery owner who is friends with artists like Jackson Pollack, but becomes obsessed with an equestrian painting. Geraldine Brooks weaves these stories together to make one amazing novel that I cannot recommend enough! Read this if you love historical fiction, art history or contemporary fiction with a social justice theme.
This Time Tomorrow– Alice is about to turn 40, working in admissions at the school she grew up attending, living in her hometown of New York City, single and watching her father lay sick in the hospital. On the night of her 40th birthday, Alice visits an old favorite bar after dinner with her high school best friend and decides to pay a visit to her childhood home on the walk home. The next morning when she wakes up, Alice isn’t 40 anymore, she is 16! Her father is healthy and with her knowledge of her future life, she’s instantly thinking about what she would do differently with her father, her friends, her high school boyfriend. My personal favorite Emma Straub novel! Read this if you were ever into time travel books as a kid or like “coming of age” stories.
Black Cake– Benny and Byron are estranged siblings who reunite after several years after their mother passes away. Their mother left them with two things upon her passing- an eight hour recording she made and through her lawyer is requiring them to listen to together and a black cake, the traditional Caribbean dessert that she always made for special occasions. As they listen to the recording, they start hearing the story of Covey, a headstrong girl living in the Carribean and many secrets come out about their family. Read this if you enjoy family drama novels.
Lessons In Chemistry- Elizabeth Zott is determined to be a scientist in a 1960’s male dominated labratory. As a beautiful woman, that isn’t going well for her, but she does end up falling in love with a Nobel prize nominated scientist. Years later, Elizabeth becomes the lead on an afternoon cooking show. The novel tells the story of Elizabeth, her strive to become a scientist and the unexpected path to her own cooking show. Read this if you enjoy cooking or books with strong female leads.
Book Lovers- Nora Stephens is a literary agent who agrees to go on a trip with her sister to very rural Sunshine Falls, North Carolina (the setting of their favorite book) after her sister begs for a girls trip before her third baby is born. While there, Nora, who is a city girl through and through, is tasked by her sister to complete a small town bucket list. One thing not on the bucket list was running into Charlie Lastra, an editor Nora knows from New York who she has had some unfriendly encounters with in the past. She tries to avoid him, but they keep seeing each other around town. Read this if you like enemies to lovers romances or books about publishing/writing.
Let me know your favorites from this year in the comments here or on Instagram! 🙂
Happy Reading!
xoxo, Jenna
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Love your book reviews Jenna!