The Year in Books

Lots of us share a love of books. It is a treat for me to read a post where a great book is shared (or a not so great read is shared and thus avoided). Last year I started keeping track of the titles read or listened to. That list was shared here. It isn’t a surprise I read quite a bit less in 2022. There was much to be done.

I was raised to be a reader. My mother, age 87, is a voracious reader and usually has more than one book in progress at any single time. All of my sisters are readers and share their finishes via our group text on a regular basis. My kids read as well – different genres that reflect their personalities, some are fans of reading on a kindle, some on paper or their phone. But they read.

Bookshelf made for Julia by my father

When Julia was a toddler, I asked my dad to make her a bookshelf. I had seen a picture of one like this and he replicated it. I loved it and Julia got much use out of it.

Julia and a stack of books balanced on her legs.

She quickly outgrew this sort of bookshelf so my father built her a more standard shelf for the larger books she was constantly reading. (When she was about 12 or so, I walked into her room and she was sitting between her wall and her bed building a tower of books on her legs. Because you know, sometimes a girl has to do these things.)

Now that we have a room set up for my grand daughters to play in, Papa’s book shelf is back on the wall and they love choosing books to read.

Thirty-five books were read and most of them I really enjoyed. I had a few that were not so great. I listened to Love Warrior by Glenn Doyle Melton and didn’t like it. When Glennon first started her blog years back, I read her posts somewhat regularly. I liked her encouragement of her readers, her warriors. For some reason, this book just annoyed me. Hard to explain – I know she has had a lot of tough times, but the audio book seemed really whiny. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it? I also had mixed feelings about Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro. She writes about being a middle age woman and while some of it is amusing, there is a bit too much self-deprecation for my taste. Note – there was a bit about the NextDoor app that was hilarious. If you have read it, you’ll know what I mean. That part was spot on.

Authors I very much enjoyed included Laurie Frankel, Lianne Moriarty, and Olivia Hawker. Seems I can always count on these authors for a great book. New to me are books by Lee Child. My husband has read many of his books and I picked one up to give it a try. They are not my usual thing but I liked them. Who knew? That Jack Reacher is pretty darn smart. (There is quite a bit of violence in the Jack Reacher books so if that is not your thing, you might not enjoy these.)

OK – here is the list for 2022.

JANUARY 

Where’d You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Minding Frankie – Maeve Binchy

Not Our Kind – Kitty Zeldis

FEBRUARY 

Maisie Dobbs – by Jacqueline Winspear

Where the Crawdads Sing – by Delia Owens (audio)

MARCH

December Wedding – by Anita Shreve

APRIL

Blue Shoe – by Anne Lamott

The Lobotomist’s Wife- by Samantha G Woodruff

Lydia Cassatt – by Harriet S Chessman

The Silent Patient – by Alex Michaelides

MAY

Love Warrior-by Glennon Doyle -audio (meh)

Gray Mountain – by John Grisham 

The Good Sister – Sally Hepworth -audio

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate – by Alexander McCall Smith (meh)

JUNE

One Two Three – by Laurie Frankel

A Serial Killer’s Daughter – by Kerri Rawson (meh)

JULY

Bad Things Happen – by Harry Dolan

The Brighter the Light – by MaryEllen Taylor

Monogamy – by Sue Miller

Apples Never Fall – by Lianne Moriarty

AUGUST

The Not So Perfect Mother – by Kerry Fisher

Child of My Heart – by Alice McDermott

SEPTEMBER

The Lamplighters – by Emma Stonex

The Fire and the Ore – by Olivia Hawker (an excellent book!)

OCTOBER

The Last Thing He Told Me – by Laura Dave

Someone Knows – by Lisa Scotoline

The Memory of Us – by Camille Di Maio 

Excuse Me While I Disappear – by Laurie Notaro

NOVEMBER

Die Trying – by Lee Child

Lost and Found – ??

The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted – by Elizabeth Berg 

The Year of Pleasures – by Elizabeth Berg 

The Making of Us – by Lisa Jewell

DECEMBER 

Five Winters – by Kitty Johnson

One Shot – by Lee Child


Moving into 2023 I look forward to loads of reading – what better way to spend an hour! If you have a favorite book to share, leave it in the comments. So many times I have found my next read from one of you!! Happy reading to all of you.

28 thoughts on “The Year in Books

  1. Kristin Sykes-David

    Happy New Year!
    We sure had a crazy middle/end of December with the snow and freezing rain here in NW WA didn’t we?
    Thanks for listing the books you read, I get mine from the library on my iPad, so the list is there. I see a lot of books/authors new to me to seek out. Since Covid, I have read all the Louise Penny books, I find the characters lovely. They’re friends! I hadn’t read mystery books before, and now I do all the time. Not gory ones, however!
    One of my favorites for 2022 was The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams. It is based on a true story about the development of the Oxford dictionary in the early nineteen hundreds. The book revolves around the women involved in the development of the dictionary.
    It is wonderful to see your blog in my inbox, especially since you live somewhat close to my town of Bellingham!
    Cheers to a wonderful, joyous year of quilting, knitting (for me !), and reading!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Hi Kristin – so you are another Louise Penny fan. Lots of people are recommending those books. I have it on the list – they must be good considering how many people read and suggest them. Thanks – Bellingham is on our side of WA – who knows, maybe we will run into each other some day. My son and his wife live in Lake Stevens which I believe is south of you, right?

      Reply
  2. Wendy

    I notched off 71 books this year, and I hadn’t thought of putting a review in a post. Hmm. If you enjoyed Anne LaMott, I’d suggest “Almost Everything”, especially her chapter on our view of our bodies. I don’t agree with her on several things, but I do enjoy her writing. I’m sure I have others to recommend, so will have to cruise through my list and get back to you.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      71 books!?! That is a ton – I do like Anne Lamott and have read many of her books. One of the best is Operating Instructions. This is the story of her first year with her son, Sam. I love that book and have re-read it a couple of times (this is very unusual for me). If you have time, check it out. So cute!

      Reply
  3. Karen

    I never keep track of what books I read or how many but I know it is a lot – I too have always been a reader as have my sisters and daughters – can’t say as my parents were and got no encouragement to read from them but I had a great aunt and an aunt that were both librarians and read like crazy – I guess it came from them! and one of my daughters is a librarian also!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Hi Karen – I love the library, I think I always have. Even as a kid, we used to ride our bikes to the bookmobile on Saturdays. It is so much fun to choose a stack of books. Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Kathy

    I loved the picture of the book holder your dad made!! Coming from a library background that is just what many kids would have loved in their homes growing up. We have walls of built in bookshelves in our home so books are a big part of our day. I needed some light reading since the holidays so am enjoying Viola Shipman books. I don’t read gory mysteries and recently bought a complete set of Louise Penny books at a sale so look forward to them next.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Hi Kathy – Honestly, I don’t keep too many books because it is rare that I read any of them more than once. Of course the exception to the rule is quilting books and cookbooks. I love both of those! I haven’t read any Viola Shipman books so I will check them out. Happy New Year!!

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Lessons is on my to-read list. I haven’t read any Louise Penny books but it seems like they are really popular. I’ll give it a try this year. Do I need to read a series in order or does it even matter? Thanks Samantha.

      Reply
      1. Kristin Sykes-David

        Yes, read the Louise Penny books in order. Except for the book she wrote with Hillary Rodham Clinton, which is good as well!

        Reply
      2. Samantha Linehan

        The Louise Penny books are so good! I read 11 last year! You should read them in order. There is a new series on Netflix I think called Three Pines based on the first book. Enjoy!

        Reply
  5. Judy Vaughn

    I’m reading the Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn and really enjoying it. It has been a long dry spell without a really good book so this one is a pleasure.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Hey Judy! How great to hear from you. I hope life is treating you well. There are so many amazing books out there – hope you enjoy many in the new. year! Take care.

      Reply
  6. gayle m coots

    Barbara Kingsolver writes beautifully and her characters (human & animal) remain with you long after the tale is told. I have learned so much about the natural world through her works.

    Reply
  7. Mari

    Over the holiday, my Kindle was slowing down and I didn’t know why until Amazon customer service suggested that I remove some of the downloaded books. I had 65 books on there! I also love the Louise Penny books, and you should definitely read them in order because the characters develop. I always liked the Kinsey Millhone books by Sue Grafton, too, but they’re pretty old. I also like the Spenser and Jesse Stone books “by” Robert Parker. (He started the series, then after he passed away his family sold the characters to other authors, who have done a really good job continuing the stories.) They’re mysteries, but not gory, and the main characters grow on you. That’s probably enough assignments! Enjoy!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thanks for the assignments! These are the type I can get into. 😉
      Do you utilize the Amazon Prime First Reads? You get one free kindle book each month. They send an email with the choices for that month. I have gotten some fun books that way.
      Take care Mari.

      Reply
  8. Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts

    What a fun post to read, Barnie! I, too, have been a reader all my life and also brought up by parents who were readers. Thanks for sharing your book list – I see books on there that I’ve read and some new authors to explore. I would be another person who’s recommending the Louise Penny books and also Lessons in Chemistry. That’s my book club’s book for this month’s discussion. It’s so good! Happy Reading!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thanks Diann – I am on the list for Lessons in Chemistry at the library but I don’t think I will be reading it for a while. The list is quite long. But when they have it for me it will be a fun surprise!

      Reply
  9. Preeti Harris

    I don’t read, Bernie. Got no time. Audiobooks have saved me.
    I listened to some books in the Maisie Dobbs series. I saw the movie – Where’d you go Bernadette? Listened to and then watched the movie – Where the Crawdads Sing.
    My top favorites this year include “The Giver of Stars” by Jojo Moyes, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, and the Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      I get it – you are one very busy person Preeti!
      I do enjoy audio books when I am sewing or driving. I listened to Crawdads over a long drive last year. Julia and I just watched the movie over the holidays. It was excellent – the book and movie both.
      Happy New Year to you!!!

      Reply
  10. Kathy Koltes

    I really liked “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig. Thanks for sharing your list. I’ll try some of them

    Reply
      1. Bernie

        I see that and thanks! It is so nice to engage with new readers. You will find a great community of readers with that tag! Bernie

        Reply

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