Every Book I Read in 2022, Ranked
Here it is, my annual (this is the second year I’ve done it) list of every book I read in the last year. Ranked.
This time, I’ve decided to divide the books I read into six categories:
Books I Didn’t Like, Wouldn’t Read Again, and Don’t Recommend
Books I Didn’t Like, Wouldn’t Read Again, but Would Still Recommend to Some People
Books I Mostly Liked But Wouldn’t Recommend to Most People and Wouldn’t Read Again
Books I Mostly Liked and Would Not Read Again and Would Probably Recommend to People
Books I Mostly Liked, Wouldn’t Read Again, Would Recommend to People, and Liked Enough That I Intend to Read the Sequel or at Least More by the Author But Also Haven’t Prioritized That Yet
Books I Liked and Will Recommend to People and Could See Myself Reading Again
Note that any book I strongly disliked isn’t on this list, because I tend to quit reading books that I cannot stand. That’s another list I intend to write. Most of the books in the first category are ones that I liked up until the end or that I did not like but expected to eventually like, but that moment never came.
An excerpt from my written list.
Because these six categories also align with how much I liked a book—and, arguably, how good it is—I’ve ranked them within these categories.
So here they are, the 53 books I read this year. (I thought it was 54 but I guess not.)
Books I Didn’t Like, Wouldn’t Read Again, and Don’t Recommend
No. 53: Devil House by John Darnielle (the guy from The Mountain Goats)
We read this for my book club. I thought the first half was amazing. It got worse and worse as it went and by the end I felt duped, annoyed, frustrated. It’s one of those books when it ends and you’re like “why does this book exist?”
No. 52: My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
I read this early in 2022 and only have the vaguest memories of it, other than that it kept my attention throughout and at the end I wondered why I’d bothered finishing it. They made a movie out of it. I bet it’s bad.
No. 51: The Apartment by K. L Slater
I read two books in 2022 about people living in mysterious apartments involving everyone else in the apartment being secretly interconnected and someone dying or at least disappearing (I can’t remember the details.) In each of them, there ended up being a bad guy and then other people mixed up on it. The other one was The Paris Apartment, which I mostly liked and I’ll discuss more later. Then there was The Apartment, which I don’t recall any details of other than what I’ve already shared. I do know I didn’t like it much.
No. 50: The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
Another one of those thrillers I read last year. The main thing I remember about this is that it had a lot of twists and an arch-villain who worked in logistics, which gave him some kind of apparent superpower. Although wait, I think I’m thinking of a different thriller I read about marriage and that this book was something else. I think this was one where a guy died and then it turns out he didn’t really die and then there was some kind of mystery that his wife got pulled into.
No. 49: Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough
This was like that The Marriage Lie in that I don’t remember much about it, other than a main character who had insomnia and a pretty complicated, twisty story. Something about a murder.
Books I Didn’t Like, Wouldn’t Read Again, But Would Still Recommend to Some People
No. 48: Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
Worth reading as an origin story for both Michael Lewis and the world we live in. Should you read it? Maybe. Was it great? No. Do I think a lot of people who read it probably go into finance because they took what I would consider to be the wrong lessons from this book? Yeah, probably. Is it at least not as bad as Bonfire of the Vanities? Yeah. Is it the worst Michael Lewis book I’ve read? Yes.
No. 47: We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz
Two best friends and a handful of murders et cetera. Read it if you want something where you can turn off your brain. Like many thrillers, I was pretty hooked during the middle part and by the end I was rolling my eyes at the absurdity.
No. 46: Exit West by Mohsim Hamid
I wanted to like this book. I expected to like it. This is one I pitched for our book club. I’d loved the last book I’d read by the author, How to Get Rich in Rising Asia, and I expected to love this too. I didn’t. Unfortunately, it was boring. That’s it. I was bored by it. But some of the writing was beautiful. You might like it.
Books I Mostly Liked But Wouldn’t Recommend to Most People and Wouldn’t Read Again
No. 45: Requiem for a Nun by William Faulkner
I read As I Lay Dying and wanted more Faulkner. I’d read Sanctuary years earlier and have owned this copy of Requiem for a Nun, the sequel to Sanctuary, for a while. I liked the prose. Parts of it are written as a play. Cool and experimental. Not many other reasons to recommend it. Seems like a book for Faulkner completionists and that’s it.
No. 44: Little Drummer Girl by John le Carre
Good novel. Not his best. I heard the show is good. Worth reading, but I’m not going to put this at the top of my recommendation list because there are a lot of other good novels by le Carre I’d recommend first, and I think if you’ve read like five or ten other ones, then you should get around to this one. A Perfect Spy and most of the George Smiley novels should take precedent.
No. 43: Billy Summers by Stephen King
Another of Stephen King’s “a man with a secret lays low in a town” books. Better than The Outsider, which is easily my least favorite of his recent novels (but nowhere near as bad as The Tommyknockers), but nowhere near as good as his bests. Especially not 11/22/63, my favorite, which also looks to be getting banned in some school districts. Cool. Recommended only to the Stephen King completionist.
No. 42: Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller
There’s this strange trend I’m noticing, where someone writes a nonfiction book full of the summaries of books other people have written, but then to make it all about thenmself. I could not stand H is for Hawk, a book that came out a few years ago and that everyone else on the planet loved. Why Fish Don’t Exist is more of the same. There’s some interesting stuff in it and I don’t regret reading it but I don’t think anyone needs to put it at the top of their list, especially as most of the facts in it are things you could glean by reading the Wikipedia page and that would let you skip all the first-person musings.
No. 41: Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher
Clever concept for a book. A series of letters of recommendation written by a college professor whose life is arguably falling apart. Not the most memorable book, but fun and well written.
No. 40: Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
Here’s a book that was so insane I almost didn’t like it. His shortest book but it took me forever to get through because I kept losing interest, putting it aside, then picking it up again. I’m not exaggerating when I say the entire second half was about a guy killing people and having sex with them. Good for the Cormac McCarthy completionist. Not sure who else needs to read it.
No. 39: The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Spooky, weird little story.
No. 38: Later by Stephen King
Kinda a dumb book. Not his best. Quick read at least. About a kid who sees dead people. Basically, what if Stephen King wrote a book inspired by The Sixth Sense but tried to convince you it wasn’t based on The Sixth Sense by constantly having the child narrator clarify that his powers are different than the ones in The Sixth Sense.
No. 37: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
Meh. Interesting but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone unless they’ve read all her other books. Silly story, weird mystery. All the tension comes from not knowing what the characters are thinking or what their past holds.
Books I Mostly Liked and Would Not Read Again But Would Recommend to People
No. 36: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Read this if you liked The Guest List. Don’t read it before The Guest List because that book is better and this is a lot like that book. Don’t read this if you didn’t like The Guest List. Not that it’s a sequel, but this author has some formulas and The Guest List is more interesting than this one.
No. 35: Blitzed by Norman Ohler
A book about how many drugs the Nazis did. Good for history buffs and people interested in the weird parts of history you don’t learn much about. I mean, I guess there are a lot of people I’d recommend it to, but When We Cease to Understand the World covers a lot of the same territory in its first chapter and is a much better book.
No. 34: Everything You Want Me to Be by Mindy Mejia
A thriller about a high school student murdered in a small town in Minnesota. Nothing particularly unique beyond the setting, but it’s nice reading a book set in Minnesota where you can tell the author knows the place they’re writing about (unlike Stephen King’s The Institute, a book I recently read that got essentially every detail about Minnesota wrong.)
No. 33: Already Dead by Denis Johnson
Not the best Denis Johnson novel I’ve read, but I’ll recommend it to the Denis Johnson completionist.
No. 32: Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
Bizarre book. I liked it. Made me want to read the Ripley books.
No. 31: Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
Finally read this book. Nothing like the movie. Both are good.
No. 30: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Also finally read this one.
No. 29: The Husbands by Chandler Baker
This book falls into that booming category of the social justice thriller. It’s a fun read. Didn’t stick the landing.
No. 28: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
I loved most of these short stories. Couldn’t stand one of them.
No. 27: American Pastoral by Phillip Roth
Boring but good. I should read more Phillip Roth. Human Stain was better. Both are problematic in their own ways. I guess that’s Roth’s thing.
No. 26: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Page turner alert! It’ll make for an exciting movie. (I’ll restrain from commenting on all the problematic aspects that have gotten it press.)
No. 25: Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta
A sequel to Election, a book I haven’t read but I’ve seen the movie. Good, quick read. A literary page turner.
No. 24: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
This book is all right, all right, all right.
No. 23: Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
A book set entirely within Slack. Fun, not something I’d read again, but it’s a short fun read for those who might be interested in a book set entirely within Slack.
No. 22: Fairy Tale by Stephen King
I had to re-edit this article because I forgot this the first time. Is that a bad sign? I don’t know. It’s the best Stephen King book I’ve read in a few years, especially as far as his new ones are concerned. Unlike many recent King books, I’d say you could get a lot of this as a first time Stephen King reader.
Books I Mostly Liked, Wouldn’t Read Again, Would Recommend to People, and Liked Enough That I Intend to Read the Sequel or at Least More by the Author But Also Haven’t Prioritized That Yet
No. 21: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
A woman goes missing and it’s a mystery! Liane Moriarty can spin a yarn. Keeps you turning the pages. And yeah, she sure has a formula.
No. 20: Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
The first book in the Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger. Read it up north, which made sense to do. I expect to read the next one at some point.
No. 19: Lies of Lock Lamore by Scott Lynch
What a romp. Con artists in a fantasy world. This is a book that I recommend simply if you’re looking for a fantasy novel that avoids most of the tropes and gives you a fun character to root for.
No. 18: The Boy From the Woods by Harlan Coben
I’d only read one Harlan Coben book before and thought it was dumb. This one was pretty good! Kept me asking “what’s going to happen next.”
No. 17: Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby
I read this because I loved Razorblade Tears (see below) and I remember very little about this book, other than it’s about guys who do street races and then get pulled back into the game.
No. 16: Murder House by James Patterson
This is the first book I’ve read by James Patterson. It appeared in our little free library. It was a page turner. Sucked me in. Even if I barely remember anything about it.
No. 15: Berta Isla by Javier Marias
Reminded me a lot of Bolano and le Carre. That’s a good thing. I intend to read more by this guy.
Books I Liked and Will Recommend to People and Could See Myself Reading Again
No. 14: Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby
Another social justice thriller. Obama recommended this one. I liked it a lot and have recommended it to various people. I initially doubted I’d read it again, but with more consideration I have confidence I’ll read it eventually.
No. 13: Stillwater by Patricia Condon Johnston, photographs by John Runk
I read this because I’m trying to write something set in Stillwater, Minnesota. I had owned it for years but only looked at the photographs. I finally read the history and learned a lot about it. Trying to write a historical fiction novel set in Minnesota and this was a useful resource.
No. 12: American Melancholy by Joyce Carol Oates
This is the only full book of poetry in this list. Who knew Joyce Carol Oates was a poet? A lot of people, but not me, before getting this as a birthday gift from my wife a few years ago. I don’t think I’d start here if you haven’t read much of her, but worth reading if you like her other stuff.
No. 11: Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro never misses. (Other than The Unconsoled, which I have been trying to read and losing interest in for well over a year.) Interconnected short stories which he has described as a story cycle, Highly recommend this one.
No. 10: The Big Short by Michael Lewis
This was a re-read, and a good one. Trying to remember what exactly inspired me to re-read it. But yeah, if you haven’t read it yet, make it happen.
No. 9: Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
We read this for my book club. Sad, short, beautiful novel. Good movie too. I need to watch that again.
No. 8: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Colson Whitehead might be the greatest living American writer. This isn’t his best book, but it’s a great one. What I consider a literary page turner.
No. 7: The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson
I think I’ve read this three times now. Denis Johnson is a master.
No. 6: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Like I said, Ishiguro never misses. Who knew a book about a nice little robot friend could be this sad?
No. 5: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
This is the last of Faulkner’s greats I hadn’t read yet. Now I have. No one needs me to recommend this book to them. You’re either going to read it or you’re not.
No. 4: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro, again. Unreliable first-person narration, a really sad backstory, and a protagonist who spends most of their time remembering their entire life.
No. 3: No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
I wrote a longer review of this here. Worth reading. Not perfect, but what book is? As I described it previously, this is a book about internet sickness by a person with internet sickness.
No. 2: Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
I wasn’t so sure about this one at first. I read on the back cover that it’s “funny” and I was confused, because I’ve never thought of Cormac McCarthy being funny. And it was funny, among other things, things like beautiful and dense and exhausting and illuminating.
No. 1: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
This was another re-read and another Ishiguro and I’ve decided it’s the best book I read in the last year. One of my favorite books. Go read it now if you haven’t yet.
What’s next?
This is the year I write more about what I read. Or that’s my intention at least. And my New Year’s resolution? Stop buying books and read things I already own.