It’s been a really great reading year so far, and as of today, I’ve read 276 books! Beta reads and rereads aside, I still managed to read a lot of wonderful books, and thought it’d be fun to reflect on my favorite new reads of 2022 so far. I didn’t count any 2023 ARCs on this list, just because I felt like it wouldn’t be fair!
Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
The minute I got the idea for this post, I knew Alone with You in the Ether would have to be on my list. I loved buddy reading it with Saima, and have read it twice since. It’s such a beautiful exploration of what it truly means to love someone, and an unflinchingly honest examination of mental health. I wrote a little bit about it here!
CHICAGO, SOMETIME—Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different. Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth—that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage—means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes. An intimate study of time and space, ALONE WITH YOU IN THE ETHER is a fantasy writer’s magicless glimpse into the nature of love, what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you’re not broken
Links for Alone with You in the Ether: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Babel by R.F. Kuang
This is another book that is incredibly dear to my heart. While it’s by no means perfect, it’s one of my most highly recommended books this year. I’ve recommended it to a lot of my coworkers, and I just really love how R.F. Kuang talks about language and colonization. It’s the perfect book for annotating, and I had a blast annotating it this year. You can read more of my Babel annotations here!
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.
Babel is the world’s center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research in foreign languages serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.
Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?
Links for Babel: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
It wouldn’t be a list of my top 10 reads of this year if I didn’t include an Emily Henry book! Book Lovers still remains to be the only book I’ve been so enraptured with that I wouldn’t put it down and continued to read it on the elliptical. I genuinely think Book Lovers is tied with Beach Read for my favorite Emily Henry book, and cannot wait to reread it sometime soon. You can read more of my thoughts on Book Lovers here.
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
Links for Book Lovers: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang
If You Could See the Sun was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year, especially after knowing both Gauri and Michelle absolutely adored it! I love rivals to lovers, and Alice was such a captivating protagonist. I’ve got a full review up on the blog here!
Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.
Links for If You Could See the Sun: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Normal People by Sally Rooney
When I first picked up Normal People, I didn’t think it’d occupy as much space in my brain as it currently does. I didn’t love Conversations with Friends as much as I was hoping to, and so my expectations for Normal People weren’t super high. But I absolutely loved it — I adore the television show, I would see any adaptation of Normal People. I could read it a million times and notice new things every time. I’ve got an ‘annotate with me’ post in the works, but for now, check out my bookstagram for more of my Normal People thoughts.
At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers – one they are determined to conceal.
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.
Links for Normal People: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
One for All by Lillie Lainoff
This beautiful story about friendship and self-love was so heartwarming to read. It’s definitely a book that I’d like to revisit soon, especially once I reread The Three Musketeers. I’ve heard wonderful things about the audiobook as well, and I think I’ll check it out via my library soon. One for All is just such a sweet tale, and you can read my review here!
Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone in town thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl”; even her mother is desperate to marry her off for security. But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion.
Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for a new kind of Musketeer: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a swordfight.
With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels for the first time like she has a purpose, like she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her first target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming, and breathlessly attractive—and he might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to lean on her friends, listen to her own body, and decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.
Links for One for All: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Impossible City by Karen Cheung
The Impossible City is a memoir that has my entire heart. Parts of it felt like I was reading my own diary, other parts of it made me ache. Memoirs are so intricately personal, and I struggle with reviewing or talking about them, but this one just resonated with me so deeply. If you’re inclined to read something that’s more reflection than review, you can do so here!
Nothing survives in this city. But in a place that never allowed you to write your own history, even remembrance can be a radical act.
Hong Kong has long been known as a city of extremes: a former colony of the United Kingdom that today exists at the margins of an authoritarian, ascendant China; a city rocked by mass protests, where residents once rallied against threats to their democracy and freedoms. But it is also misunderstood and often romanticized, its history and politics simplified for Western headlines. Drawing richly from her own experience, as well as interviews with musicians, protesters, and writers who have made Hong Kong their home, journalist Karen Cheung gives us an insider’s view of this remarkable city at a critical moment in history—both for Hong Kong and democracies around the world.
Coming of age in the wake of Hong Kong’s reunification with China in 1997, Cheung traverses the multifold identities available to her in childhood and beyond, whether that was her experience at an English-speaking international school where her classmates would grow up to be “global citizens” struggling to fit in with the rest of Hong Kong, or within her deeply traditional, multilingual family. Along the way, Cheung gives a personal account of what it’s like to seek out affordable housing and mental healthcare in one of the world’s most expensive cities. She also takes us deep into Hong Kong’s vibrant indie music and literary scenes–youth-driven spaces of creative resistance. Inevitably, Cheung brings us with her to the protests, where her understanding of what it means to belong to Hong Kong finally crystallized.
Links for The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Witch Hunt by Sasha Peyton Smith
The sequel to The Witch Haven was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022, and I just loved following Frances’ story. While other readers may not love The Witch Hunt as much as they did The Witch Haven, I absolutely did because it felt authentic to Frances healing from her grief and her trauma. I loved seeing her relationships strengthen, and how she learned to trust and love once again. You can read my full review here!
Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power.
Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost.
To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.
Links for The Witch Hunt: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
This is genuinely one of the coziest books I’ve ever picked up, and it has such a special place in my heart. I can’t wait to reread this for book club this month, especially curled up with a cup of tea and while cuddling Toto. Here’s my review if you’re curious on my thoughts!
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos “pretending” to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….
Links for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
If you had told me The Viscount Who Loved Me was going to be on my Top 10 list a year ago, I would’ve laughed in your face. But I ultimately really loved Anthony and Kate’s story, and how they both heal from their respective grief and trauma. It’s truly a story about many things, but also about how healing love can be.
Anthony Bridgerton hasn’t just decided to marry—he’s even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended’s older sister, Kate Sheffield—the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams…
Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands—and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate is determined to protect her sister—but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony’s lips touch hers, she’s suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself…
Links for The Viscount Who Loved Me: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
What were your top 10 reads of this year? Let me know in the comments below!
I have only read 3 of these books. I better get on it!
Thanks for sharing! The Impossible City sounds so good 😍😍