Top 10 Books of 2022
Reading time: 6 minutes
The aim of this short article is to encourage reading. If you decide to purchase a book through our affiliate link, we’ll get a few pence in our bank account and you’ll get a big thank you!
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Intro - Bye Bye 2022
Skip this intro to see the books! I’m just about to rumble about 2022.
When December approaches, I always look back and wish I’d read more. Don’t we all? But as one of my many uncles used to say, reading requires a lot of life, while life requires a lot of reading, and I’ve been busy with both.
The first year as a father is challenging for everyone, and when time and energy are spread so thin you can see through them, something has to give. This year, for me, it was reading.
At the time of writing this, I’ve read 16 books so far in 2022, far from my yearly goal of 45, but I’ve got my reasons. First of all, parenting has been big in my priority list, and what a journey it’s been (and still is). I lived through some strange times in my company (yes, I’ve got a full time job. No, it’s got nothing to do with books.) I wrote a novel in English, submitted it to some agents and received a few full manuscript requests. I started taking care of my body for the first time in years and I spent the summer in Italy.
But I intend to read more in 2023.
Instead of compiling a boring top ten, I came up with ten categories; nine positives, one negative (you've got to see the glass 90% full, right?) so that I could include all the titles I really wanted to suggest.
In case you need a last-minute Christmas gift, I'm sure you can take inspiration from the list below.
Enjoy!
Best Novel: Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky. (Read the full article)
Novel, 600 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
One of the—if not the best sci-fi novel I’ve ever read, Children of Time imagines a future where the last humans need to find a new home to survive.
On their path, a planet populated by giant, intelligent spiders protected by a dangerous, millennium-old human satellite.
I know. Giant spiders in space is already a good pitch, but this book is mainly about empathy. Empathy between species, yes, but also among people.
Score: 9/10
Best Non-Fiction: The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green.
Essays, 293 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
I almost cried reading the intro of this book, and, again, at least another three times.
Every essay in this short collection is sharp and full of curiosities, but also a window into the personal struggles of John Green, an author deserving all the success he’s already had in his career and more.
His “reviews” range from Scratch 'n' sniff stickers to Velociraptors. From Canada Geese to Teddy Bears, and nothing ends up being what you expected.
Score: 9/10
Best Graphic Novel: La Profezia dell’Armadillo, by Zerocalcare.
Graphic Novel, 160 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
Zerocalcare is second to nobody when it comes to tell stories about being a millennial in Italy, and especially in Rome.
With his endless flow of jokes and personification of emotions (think about Big Mouth, but for adults) he manages to make you laugh or smile with nostalgia, and, sometimes, he touches the darkest cords of your soul with a simple image.
I don’t know if there is an English version, but if not, watch Tear Along the Dotted Line on Netflix; his first series conveys the exact same feelings of this book.
Score: 8/10
Best Children’s Book (picked by my daughter Minerva): Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Picture book, 20 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
The sweetest among the hundreds of picture books I bought this year, Guess How Much I Love You is a personal favourite of my daughter’s.
Every night, before bed time, she leaps from my lap, pointing at this book, and I lost count of all the times we’ve read it.
Score: 9/10
Most Disappointing: The New One Minute Manager, by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
Non-Fiction, 112 pages.
Don’t buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
Have you ever heard the sentence: “This meeting could have been an email?”
Well, this book could have been a blog post. Or a tweet. Or three words.
Keep it short.
Though the idea is good, I hate the cheesy, super-fake way to convey it.
The most horrific application of storytelling to a simple concept can be found in this book.
Score: 3/10
The Best Short Story: My Evil Mother, by Margaret Atwood.
Short Story, 32 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK)
Anything Margaret Atwood touches turns into gold.
In this short story, only available in Kindle format as far as I know, witchcraft is used as a tool to describe the love of mothers for their children, a love impossible to understand on the receiving end, until the daughters become mothers themselves.
Score: 8/10
Strangest: Stellar Megastructure, by Mark Eyles, illustrated by 4T Thieves.
Graphic Novel, 72 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK)
An imaginative graphic novel of space travel and discovery where AI illustrations and narrative inspire each other.
Is this the future of narrative?
Score: 7/10
The Easiest Read: Mistborn, The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson.
Novel, 541 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
Though I’m only suggesting the first book, I must admit the whole trilogy has been extremely easy to read.
An epic fantasy with a complex magic system connected to metals, it’s not the best book you’ll ever read, but there is a reason why Brandon Sanderson is so popular.
The story is strangely compelling, and the worldbuilding so vast it leaves you wanting to know more.
Fortunately, he’s written plenty of books based in the same universe!
Score: 7/10
The One I Didn’t Expect To Love: Unsettled Ground, by Claire Fuller. (Read the full Article)
Novel, 289 pages.
Buy the book from Amazon (UK) or Book Depository
I’m usually not big on literary fiction, especially if dealing with family drama, but Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller made me rethink my preferences.
Claire has a natural talent for beautiful, lyric narratives, and uses her gift to tell the story of the most marginalised person you could think of; an analphabet.
Her new novel, The Memory of Animals, is going to be released in 2023 and I can’t wait to read it.
Score: 8/10
“But Francesco,” I hear you saying, “these are only 9 books. You promised 10. What’s going on?!?”
Well, the tenth book is the one I’ve read the most this year. I went through it at least fifteen times, and it’s not a book you can find in any bookshop.
I’m obviously talking about the novel I’ve written. I don’t know if someone will want to represent it—or me—but after all the revisions and changes, I still like it, and I think this is a good sign.
Alla prossima
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