I’m not too sure how to describe 2022 reading wise – lots of bestsellers released from some of my fav authors, but the excitement wasn’t there! Maybe the malaise of the pandemic has impacted the publishing world like it has the rest of us. Nevertheless I still found it difficult to select my top 10 from my highest-rated reads of the year. I hope you enjoy my highlights.
- De Goldi, Kate (2022) Eddy Eddy. This quirky NZ coming-of-age story will stretch you in many ways. Keep a glossary handy. August 2022 Picks.
- O’Farrell, Maggie (2022) The Marriage Portrait. An exquisitely imagined sixteen-century tale on the life of fifteen year old Lucrezia di Cosimo de’Medici. October 2022 Picks.
- Keefe, Patrick Radden (2021) Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. The damming story of the pharma family and the human misery wrought by the prescribing of OxyContin. April 2022 Picks.
- Strout, Elizabeth (2021) Oh William! A subtly nuanced new tale of Lucy Barton who is navigating her life as a widow when she reconnects with her first husband William. Sequel followed in 2022. January 2022 Picks.
- Patchett, Ann (2021) These Precious Days. An intimate, warm and affectionate mix of personal essays that explore the nature of people, events and memories. May 2022 Picks.
- Galbraith, Robert (2022) The Ink Black Heart. Another wild ride with Strike and Robin, sixth in the series, superbly plotted by an adroit storyteller (JK Rowling). September 2022 Picks.
- Ypi, Lea (2021) Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. A revelatory memoir on the personal impact of the fall the last European Stalinist outpost – Albania. March 2022 Picks.
- Harper, Jane (2022) Exiles. Federal investigator Aaron Falk returns to solve the mystery of a disappearance at a food and wine festival in this new Jane Harper hit. October 2022 Picks.
- Chan, Alina, Ridley, Matt (2021) Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19. This substantive book reads like a page-turning mystery following the science and the arguments as the world seeks to apportion blame for the Covid pandemic. January 2022 Picks.
- Browder, Bill (2022) Freezing Order: A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, Murder and Surviving Vladimir Putin’s Wrath. This mind-blowing book is a compelling caper of crime and corruption, assassinations, bribery and intimidation, legal battles, tax evasion, and the laundering of billions of dollars, all emanating from Putin’s Russia. July 2022 Picks.
7:30 Bookclub 