My favorite books of 2022
This is my favorite thing I write every year: sharing my favorite books of the last year! I’ve been away from this blog and website for over a year because I didn’t know what to write* while getting a divorce. I am considering a post of my least favorite marriage books (there was only ONE I liked in all I read while trying to save that sucker), but for now, I’ll share the best books I read in 2022.
(*It was not that I didn’t know how to talk about my divorce on the internet - I created an instagram account for it @courtingdivorce [since @divorcecourt was taken] - but I didn’t know how to connect divorce to books. Yet.).
Anyway, let’s get to it! There’s a LOT of stuff below, but hopefully there’s enough information that you can skim and see if it sounds like it will make it to your TBR list!
Best best best books of 2022 (use this link** to find the books below on Bookshop!)
Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah (contemporary literary fiction📓). I save books I think I’m going to love for my end of year work break, when I will get to savor them. This is one of those, and I loved being able to fall completely in it — uninterrupted — but I also wish I hadn’t waited so long. This book felt like home. We experience the high highs and low lows of Ever Geimausaddle’s life through different perspectives. This book tries to (and often does) answer the questions: what does it mean to be Native today? how do we break cycles of generational trauma? how do we keep our culture alive? If you only read one book from this list, make it this one.
Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (contemporary literary fiction📓, magical realism🪄). I will now read her other book and anything else she writes. This manages to be an uplifting book about dysfunctional families, addiction, what it feels like to love someone lost in addiction, dying, lost friendships, and small towns. And it made me laugh out loud, and we all need more of that. The deer scene alone is worth the price of admission (or of the book, or hold time at the library, etc etc).
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞). If you’ve ever thought “wow, Court sure is messy” or “how the heck did she survive” etc, etc, then please read this book. Stephanie writes what I feel, what I live, what I struggle with, what I conquer while living with the effects of trauma and C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder). She made it feel like continuing on a healing journey is possible, and shared more information about my diagnosis than I have ever found in one place - and in a readable, digestible format. Chanel Miller (author of Know My Name, one of my favorite favorite books) recommended this, so I bought it (and saved it for the end of the year, why do I do that???)
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (contemporary fiction📗, fantasy🧙🏼♀️, romance😘). Do you need a hug? OF COURSE YOU DO! This book is a hug in book form. As per usual, witches have to stay hidden (beware, women with power!), and Mika is tired of being alone. She is asked to go teach 3 child witches about their powers, and goes to live in the Nowhere House with a wonderful found family. I rarely re-read books, but I’ll likely pick this up again when I’m feeling down.
They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey (contemporary literary fiction📓). I would not have picked this up if my fave book human (see below) hadn’t recommended it, and I would have missed out. It takes place during the AIDS crisis, in NYC, amongst the arts and ballet community. Family and forgiveness are so messy, and this book dives right into that.
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (literary fiction📓, historical📜). It’s 1973, the year the Roe decision has come out, and Civil is a young Black nurse who wants to help Black women make their own choices for their own bodies. She starts working at a family planning clinic and discovers how young women are being manipulated into certain decisions, like birth control at 11 years old. I couldn’t put it down.
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (contemporary literary fiction📓, dystopian🚫🌎). I have L-O-V-E-D every book Ng writes, including this one. What does it mean to be a mother when we live in an unjust world? What do we do to protect our children? What do we do to protect all children? This is a heartbreaker that hits really close to home. And yet… there’s always a seed of hope.
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (contemporary literary fiction📓). I will read ANYTHING that Catherine writes. Anything, anything, anything. And this is the best writing of hers I’ve ever read. This is about two best friends; one of them is dying in hospice. It’s hilarious (you read that correctly), and heartbreaking, and perfect. I want to be Ash when I grow up. Also, Catherine, if you happen to ever read this, can we be friends? Acquaintances? Something not creepy? I will share recipes and regale you with stories of my joyful, messed up life.
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (contemporary literary fiction📓). This is part of a set, but I don’t think you have to read them in order. I loved My Name is Lucy Barton, so I kept reading these, but this one might be my favorite out of the 4. It’s a book that captured what the forgotten early days of the pandemic felt like, and Strout smushed that experience with being in lockdown with your ex-husband and longtime friend at the age of COVID’s most-effected population. (Authors, please ask me to blurb your books; you will get exquisite vocabulary like “smush.”)
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞). My kids watched Sam and Cat so I recognized Jennette’s picture, but WOW what a memoir. She shares frankly about being a child actor with an overbearing, abusive mother, about her eating disorder, about addiction, and ultimately about her mother dying of cancer. It’s got heart and dark humor - what else do you need?
No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate Bowler (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞, religion🙏🏼). I’ve gotten more comfortable with religious shit because of al anon and recognizing I have a higher power (nature), so this book was easy to love. KATE is easy to love. This is a Christian book, but not a super-Jesus-y one, and wow I’m really selling it. Anyway, I heard Kate on a podcast, and then followed her on Instagram, and then found this book in one of the hardest years of my life. What happens when you have a plan for your life and instead it takes a hard U-turn? (#divorceforme, #cancerdiagnosisforKate) She combats the toxic positivity, everything-happens-for-a-reason awfulness, and shares there’s no cure for being human. I wish I would have had this book after I miscarried. One of my fave Kate quotes is “Life is so beautiful. Life is so hard.” If any of that resonates, pick up the book.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (contemporary literary fiction📓). This is a book about two friends, reconnection, betrayal, and partnership on a video game that leads to wild success. It’s probably the book I have gifted most this year, because it’s so readable and yet so real. If I organized my books by which books would be friends with each other, this would sit next to Ready Player One.
The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann (contemporary fiction📗, LGBTQIA+🌈, romance😘). I ADORE this book. Joy is secretly in love with her friend, Malcolm, who of course has no idea. He invites her on a short trip with the new “love of his life”, who brings her ex, and 4 people are now in a cabin with a recipe for disaster. It’s soooo good. It’s also the first book I’ve ever read with an asexual main character, which helped me think a lot about my own identity. I’ve identified as bi for so long, but I might be a-, I’m definitely gray-, and also for sure demi-sexual. Have fun googling!
The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by Mac Barnett, author, and Shawn Harris, illustrator (middle grade🚌, graphic novel💥). Liberty Hardy read this, and I bought it for Ox. I picked it up to read just a few pages to see how I could recommend it to him, and… then I read the whole book. It’s ridiculous and hilarious and come on just give the First Cat in Space some pizza!
Trust by Hernan Diaz (literary fiction📓, historical📜). I loved his last book, In the Distance, so I had to read this, and it’s completely different and just as good, or better. There’s a book within a book (love), seemingly endless wealth (1920s), and a brilliant woman (again, love). Gossip abounds! This was one of my most surprising and engaging reads of the year.
The Verifiers by Jane Pek (contemporary fiction📗, LGBTQIA+🌈, mystery🔍). This is such a FUN, good book that you won’t be able to put down. Claudia gets recruited to work at Veracity, an online-dating detective agency (OMFG), and all is kind of well until one of her clients disappears. I started reading this right when I got on the dating apps (when I last dated, there were no apps), which was perfect timing. Fear not: if you are an old married person who has also not used dating apps, this would still be a good romp for you! Oh, and I just saw that Emily St. John Mandel (author of Station Eleven) blurbed this, so if you don’t take my word for it, take hers!
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn (contemporary fiction📗, mystery🔍, thriller🔪). What happens when a group of older women (deadly assassins for a secret organization) are forced to retire? THIS BOOK. Their talents are no longer appreciated, and they are sent on a retirement celebration vacation, only to discover that they are now the mark. It’s funny and a warning about underestimating women and elders.
Velvet was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (historical📜, mystery🔍). I’ll read anything Moreno-Garcia writes (I also highly recommend Gods of Jade and Shadow). This book takes place in the 1970s in Mexico City, with Maite wondering why her next-door neighbor suddenly disappears. I read this in the spring, but I think it’s a perfect book for October and chilly nights.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (literary fiction📓, historical📜). Erdrich based this book on the life of her grandfather, who worked as a nightwatchman and also fought again the federal policy of termination during the 1950s. I wish I could put her books in the hands of everyone who wants (or needs) to know more about Indigenous Americans. You think the federal government stopped fucking with us in the 1800s? Read this. You just found out 1 in 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime? Read The Roundhouse. Her books don’t have moralizing agendas - they are just good fucking books about humans. Maybe that’s the agenda: we’re still here; we’re human.
Directions: Really Good Advice for Getting from Here to There by Hallie Bateman (nonfiction📔, art🎨, self-help❤️🩹). I read this at the beginning of the year when I felt very, very, very lost. It’s in a format I needed at the time - just a few words or encouragement (funny, not toxically positive) to keep going. It’s lovely.
My very favorite book human is Liberty Hardy, who hosts the podcast All The Books. If she strongly recommends a book, I’ll read it, and 99% of the time, it will make my very favorite list (see Unlikely Animals and They’re Going to Love You above). Also, I want to be her when I grow up because once I heard her share she reads 600 books in a year. Why am I telling you about her now? 1) listen to her podcast, follow her on Insta @franzencomesalive, or join her Patreon, and 2) she shared a list of her favorites on Insta and it was 196 books so I don’t feel bad for listing eleventy billion either. I’m using her system of emojis to share the genre, too!
Wow, Court, you couldn’t limit yourself to 20 book recommendations, huh? NO! What if something up top is not your jam? Like you don’t read middle grade books even when I tell you to? Below are even more books that I loved, but they just didn’t make the top 20. We’re going for abundance here, not scarcity. It’s 2023 after all!
God Spare The Girls by Kelsey McKinney (contemporary literary fiction📓). This captures so perfectly — with nuance — what happens when growing up in an evangelical place feels like when you start to pull back the curtain. It also just happens to be by one of my favorite podcasters (Normal Gossip; more coming about that soon); GAH Kelsey leave some talent for the rest of us!
Foster by Claire Keegan (literary fiction📓, novella📎). This reminded me of Plainsong, one of my all-time favorites; a child goes to live with relatives on a farm in rural Ireland, not knowing if or when she’ll go back.
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson (contemporary literary fiction📓). Two teenagers meet in a boring small town in a boring summer, and decide to create something that becomes bigger and ultimately out of their control.
A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞). Warning: this is unimaginably painful, but Rob didn’t flinch while writing this beautiful, funny book, so I encourage you not to look away. It’s an honor to bear witness to Henry’s life.
Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞, audio🎧). The only book I listened to this year, and I highly recommend it on audio so you hear her amazing, funny story in her voice.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry (contemporary fiction📗, romance😘). This felt like You’ve Got Mail: enemies to lovers surrounded by books!
Mean Baby by Selma Blair (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞). Blair is unflinchingly honest about addiction, depression, parenthood and her MS diagnosis.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (literary fiction📓, historical📜). You’ll fall in love with Elizabeth Zott, a scientist in the 1960s, who has to find her way to science as a reluctant host of a cooking show. Delightful and funny.
Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (contemporary literary fiction📓). I just read a description of this book “Circe meets Friday Night Lights” (thanks Oprah Daily), and I cannot summarize this better than that!
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka (contemporary literary fiction📓). A crack appears at the bottom of the pool, and the group of swimmers are lost when the pool closes, especially an elderly woman struggling with dementia.
All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire by Rebecca Woolf (nonfiction📔, memoir🪞). I used to read Rebecca’s blog, Girl’s Gone Child, and then I followed her motherhood adventures on social media. It was there I saw that her husband, Hal, had been diagnosed with cancer and died shortly thereafter. In this book, Woolf writes about what it was like to watch her husband and father of her children die, in the time she thought she would already be leaving the marriage.
The Once and Future Witches (historical fiction📜, fantasy🧙🏼♀️, LGBTQIA+🌈) by Alix Harrow. Witches and sisterhood and women’s suffrage: yes please!
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (contemporary fiction📗, LGBTQIA+🌈, science fiction🧪). This felt like being part of the guardians of the galaxy (eg, perfect).
The People We Keep by Allison Larkin (contemporary fiction📗). Okay, first of all, I refuse to call a book set in the late 90s historical fiction. Secondly, I loved this book! It’s about trying to find home and found family.
Best books according to my kids
Birdie: Dory Fantasmagory, The Baby Sitter’s Club Little Sister (graphic), Elephant and Piggie BIGGIE
Ox: I Survived (graphic series), Time Shifters (graphic novel) almost anything about basketball or Giannis. Funny story about Time Shifters - Ox wrote a book report and called it Time Shitters, and we caught it just in time!
ALL of the books in one place!
Best book tracker - the storygraph, HANDS DOWN! I had a books goal (did not meet), and a pages goal (slightly exceeded), and it tracked all of it (see awesome charts below). Plus goodreads is owned by the devil.
Thanks for reading my book recommendations - please let me know if you read any of them and enjoy them! The feeling I get when I hear that is one of the best in the world.
ALSO! If you have gotten a holiday card from me in the past, where I share the shortlist above with no context, and you were wondering WTF (where the fuck) it was this year… don’t worry, you didn’t get taken off the list***. I just didn’t have my shit together this year, and I focused all of my energy on making the holiday joyful and meaningful for my kids after the shitshow that was Christmas 2021.
**If you used any bookshop link, I could get a commission. It has never happened but I’m still supposed to write this.
***If you are an ex-in-law then you probably are NOT still on that list BUT hey you are still getting my book recs on this website. Yay you!
EDITED TO ADD: Please note that the HarperCollins Union has been on strike since 11/10 (39 days as of this edit) and members have been working without a contract for months. Striking workers in this very underpaid industry are asking for a contract that reflects diversity commitments, union protections, and wage adjustments. Wado to Alison Green for sharing this!
