I have come to terms with the fact that I will never come close to reading everything on my TBR list. I just keep adding book titles faster than I can get through them. In 2021, I made a more concise reading goals list than I had in the past and narrowed it to 24 titles to read and 24 more hopefuls. Overall, I did ok. There were still a good number I did not get to or even start. But I was okay with that.
I decided to to go a similar route this year, mostly because 2021 was one of my best and most enjoyable reading years yet. I would feel comfortable recommending to others at least half of what I read last year, not bad! I feel pretty confident that planning out a good number of the books I would read really helped keep me in a good rhythm. There certainly were many new book releases that snuck their way on to my kindle and library holds but I did still make a good attempt to keep focused on my list.
One thing I will tone down in 2022 is early release requests. As I finish typing/editing this, it is the 3rd week of January. I see the list of ARCs I have committed to and already wish the number was lower. I will be much, much pickier going forward as to what else I request this year.
You will see some repeats here on my 2022 list that were on the 2021 list. I did decide to carry most over that I did not get to last year. Most of those are at the top of my list and I have already completed the first one. For other selections I dove deep into my own bookshelves – both physically and my Kindle shelves. I also reviewed my library holds list that I keep pushing out and made some selections there as well.
I look forward to another fabulous, entertaining year of reading. There is nothing like escaping and learning of the new worlds between the covers of a book. Here’s to 2022!
The List
The Girl With the Louding Voice – Abi Dare
All This I Will Give To You – Dolores Redondo
The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne
The Year of Yes – Shonda Rhimes
When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
Say Nothing – Patrick Radden Keefe
The Henna Artist – Alka Joshi
Hostage – Clare Mackintosh
Dial A For Aunties – Jesse Q. Sutanto
What Happened to the Bennetts – Lisa Scottoline (will be released in March)
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
This Is Not How it Ends – Rochelle B. Weinstein
Redeeming Love – Francine Rivers
The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner
The Songbook of Benny Lament – Amy Harmon
I’ll Be You – Janelle Brown (will be released in April)
The Book Woman’s Daughter – Kim Michele Richardson (will be released in May)
Once There Were Wolves – Charlotte McConaghy
Blacktop Wasteland – S. A. Crosby
A Flicker In The Dark – Stacy Willingham
A Slow Fire Burning – Paula Hawkins
The Lies I Tell – Julie Clark (will be released in June)
Razorblade Tears – S.A. Cosby
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot – Marianne Cronin
The Hopefuls
Do No Harm – Christina McDonald
Take What You Can Carry: A Novel – Gian Sardar
Light from Distant Stars: A Novel – Shawn Smucker
The Other Einstein – Marie Benedict
The Sun Down Motel – Simone St. James
The Glass Hotel – Emily St. John Mandel
The Ones We Choose – Julie Clark
The Lincoln Highway – Amor Towles
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn – Betty Smith
The Two Lila Bennetts – Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
The Comeback – Ella Berman
All the Beautiful Lies – Peter Swanson
The History of Love – Nicole Krauss
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
The Nickel Boys – Colson Whitehead
Where The Forest Meets the Stars – Glendy Vanderah
The Best of Friends – Lucinda Berry
The Ragged Edge of Night – Olivia Hawker
A Good Marriage – Kimberly McCreight
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson
Book Lovers – Emily Henry (will be released in May)
The Latecomer – Jean Hanff Korelitz (will be released in May)
Into The Drowning Deep – Mira Grant
