I’ve been blogging like a maniac this week, trying to fit in a number of wrap-ups before I take my usual break over the Christmas holiday. I am planning to do a complete recap of my fiction and nonfiction reading for 2022 later in January, but I do want to join in the year-end “best of” extravaganza.
I don’t usually give star ratings, but if I did, here are seven books I read for the first time in 2022 that I’d give five stars. Click on the link to go to my reviews.
- Kitchen Table Wisdom
- Putting It Together
- Red Comet
- Educated
- The Color Purple
- Braiding Sweetgrass
- My Name Is Asher Lev
Happy New Year to all! Please link up your year-end favorites post, if you have one.
Interesting choices and a kind of pattern in excavating certain lives that had strong external forces working on them and then the book that puts the magnifying glass on the healing community, thanks for sharing them.
Thank you for pointing out that pattern, which I had not noticed. It’s true that all of these involved individuals battling external forces and showing the strength of the human spirit thereby. I am always attracted to books that explore that topic, and these were exceptional. Glad you enjoyed the list!
I’ve heard of Educated and My Name Is Asher Lev and read The Color Purple (of course) which I loved. So, I’ll have to look into the others. They all sound like a great read. Thanks.
I think they are all great, of course! I do think you might enjoy them too.
The Color Purple and Educated are the only two I know from your list, though am yet to read either. Red Comet sounds interesting as does Asher Lev.
Red Comet is an amazing book but long! It took me two library loan periods to get through it. Asher Lev is a much quicker read but also very thought provoking.
The library where I work on weekends chose Braiding Sweetgrass as its One Book community read so I have been intrigued, despite not thinking it was my thing!
Wishing you a happy holiday!
There’s a lot of food for discussion there.
Thanks for blogging about your favorites. My Name is Asher Lev is extraordinary. I am also curious about Educated. I think I should read it.
I want to read more by Chaim Potok now. Sorry it took me so long to get around to it. Educated is a must-read! It’s about a spiritual battle for freedom and I think that’s relevant for us all.
Interesting though these reviews were I can’t say I’d ever get around to them, Lory, but I’m glad they made a difference to you! As for my best books, all I can do at the moment is to link to my Goodreads Year in Books summary, which updates intermittently. https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2022/5129776
For now, though, I wish you (in the spirit of the last of the TDiR books) in Welsh “Nadolig Llawen a Blwydden Newydd Dda” – I hope 2023 is brighter than some of what 2022 has offered us – and happy blogging!
The New Year always offers us a chance to renew our hope and our determination to weather the storms ahead, whatever they may be. Wishing you good courage and good reading along that path.
A great set of titles – I loved My Name is Asher Lev when I read it ages ago and I have still to read Braiding Sweetgrass but know I want to! My best-of post is here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/12/31/book-stats-and-best-books-of-2022/
I’m pretty sure you’ll love Braiding Sweetgrass when you get around to it.