Welcome to December, book and treat people! It is my favorite month. It is the Season of Light. Cookie Extravaganza starts soon. My house is full of winterberry. My joy is blazing. I’ll be taking three weeks off from newsletter writing to fully revel in my favorite time of year, so this is the first of three special December newsletters. Today: my favorite fiction of 2022!
I haven’t read any of these! My TBR just exploded.
Also, I’m dying to know, what percentage of your overall fiction reading made the list. Did you love most of what you read this year, or did you just read *a lot* and this list is, say, 40%? I mean, are you super good at choosing titles you’ll like, or a super efficient reader, or both? Either way, I’m impressed :)
Oh yay, I'm always happy to facilitate a TBR explosion!
To answer your question: I read a lot. It sounds ridiculous, but there are a bunch of factors in my life that make it so I have a lot of time to read...and it's just how I'm built, I guess! According to my spreadsheet I've read 225 fiction books this year, which makes this list about 17% of the total. That's really why my end-of-year lists are always so long!
Ok, now my head just exploded! I’ve never kept a careful record like that - though I definitely see the merit, now that I’m writing about my reading life - but if I had to guess, I’d say I read *maybe* 100 books this year, both fiction and non. It’s why lists and posts like yours are so valuable to me — I need to make the most of my reading time :)
That’s a lot! Honestly I’m sometimes hesitant to admit how many books I read because it’s more than a lot of people but it’s really not a race! Like, I don’t set out to read this many books, it’s just how my life unfolds. It’s my main not-work activity, I live alone, don’t have kids, am a fast reader, listen to tons of audiobooks etc. But I enjoy making lists and spreading the word about my absolute favorites!
And if you’re interested in tracking your reading, I highly recommend the Book Riot reading tracker. (My absurdly detailed one is based off it.)
I 100% agree. It’s about quality, not quantity- and by quality I don’t mean literary merit, but quality of the experience for the reader. I will definitely check out that tracker!
And to share a couple of my own faves - picking favorites is always so hard but if I narrow it down to queer fiction, in order of when I read them:
Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton - technically read on 12/31/2021 but I loved it so much I'll count it for two years to spread the word.
The Splinter King by Mike Brooks - second book in an epic fantasy series. The first book overpromised and underdelivered on the presence of war dragons, but happily surprised me by being full of explorations of how different cultures in this world think about gender and sexuality. This one BROUGHT IT on both the dragons and queer stuff fronts.
Perpetual West by Mesha Maren - love a good long litfic that goes deep on sense of place. I've never been to El Paso or anywhere in Mexico, but I could see and feel every location the characters end up in so vibrantly.
Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander - a delightful romance wrapped up in a bigger journey for the main character to become the person her love interest needs her to be.
A Lady For A Duke by Alexis Hall - I just love Hall's way of balancing hilarious comedy and delightfully quirky side characters with a serious romance plot.
Didn't Nobody Give A Shit What Happened To Carlotta by James Hannaham - I feel like a lot of litfic is described as "hilarious and heartbreaking" and I come away from it mildly amused and a little emotional. This book was genuinely hilarious and heartbreaking. Carlotta's situation is an impossible one to be in and Hannaham just leans into it as a farce. Like a series of slapstick routines but with really heavy, sad content.
Oh, thank you for sharing! I also loved Summer Fun, and agree that not enough people have read it. It seems to have totally flown under the radar which I don't get because it's so brilliant.
I've read and (mostly) enjoyed the others you mention, but Carlotta wasn't on my radar and it sounds like something I'd love! Definitely going to check it out! I also haven't read The Splinter King—my brain still cannot do epic fantasy right now, but adding it to the long list for the day when (hopefully) I'll be into it again.
Thank you for bumping Stray City earlier this year, it had been lingering on my TBR list for ages and when I finally got it, I devoured it. I love how morally neutral it is about its characters? Nobody behaves great here, nobody is """good queer rep,""" and the book simply does not judge or even really care. These are the things the characters did and how it felt and what the world was like in this place and time, it is what it is.
I'm so glad you read it! It had been lingering on my TBR forever, too, and I felt the exact same way. Down with "good queer rep" (or any rep, for that matter)! People are people and way more complicated than "rep" and that book is should a good example!
I haven’t read any of these! My TBR just exploded.
Also, I’m dying to know, what percentage of your overall fiction reading made the list. Did you love most of what you read this year, or did you just read *a lot* and this list is, say, 40%? I mean, are you super good at choosing titles you’ll like, or a super efficient reader, or both? Either way, I’m impressed :)
Oh yay, I'm always happy to facilitate a TBR explosion!
To answer your question: I read a lot. It sounds ridiculous, but there are a bunch of factors in my life that make it so I have a lot of time to read...and it's just how I'm built, I guess! According to my spreadsheet I've read 225 fiction books this year, which makes this list about 17% of the total. That's really why my end-of-year lists are always so long!
Ok, now my head just exploded! I’ve never kept a careful record like that - though I definitely see the merit, now that I’m writing about my reading life - but if I had to guess, I’d say I read *maybe* 100 books this year, both fiction and non. It’s why lists and posts like yours are so valuable to me — I need to make the most of my reading time :)
That’s a lot! Honestly I’m sometimes hesitant to admit how many books I read because it’s more than a lot of people but it’s really not a race! Like, I don’t set out to read this many books, it’s just how my life unfolds. It’s my main not-work activity, I live alone, don’t have kids, am a fast reader, listen to tons of audiobooks etc. But I enjoy making lists and spreading the word about my absolute favorites!
And if you’re interested in tracking your reading, I highly recommend the Book Riot reading tracker. (My absurdly detailed one is based off it.)
I 100% agree. It’s about quality, not quantity- and by quality I don’t mean literary merit, but quality of the experience for the reader. I will definitely check out that tracker!
I loved My Volcano!
Such a bizarro gem!
And to share a couple of my own faves - picking favorites is always so hard but if I narrow it down to queer fiction, in order of when I read them:
Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton - technically read on 12/31/2021 but I loved it so much I'll count it for two years to spread the word.
The Splinter King by Mike Brooks - second book in an epic fantasy series. The first book overpromised and underdelivered on the presence of war dragons, but happily surprised me by being full of explorations of how different cultures in this world think about gender and sexuality. This one BROUGHT IT on both the dragons and queer stuff fronts.
Perpetual West by Mesha Maren - love a good long litfic that goes deep on sense of place. I've never been to El Paso or anywhere in Mexico, but I could see and feel every location the characters end up in so vibrantly.
Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander - a delightful romance wrapped up in a bigger journey for the main character to become the person her love interest needs her to be.
A Lady For A Duke by Alexis Hall - I just love Hall's way of balancing hilarious comedy and delightfully quirky side characters with a serious romance plot.
Didn't Nobody Give A Shit What Happened To Carlotta by James Hannaham - I feel like a lot of litfic is described as "hilarious and heartbreaking" and I come away from it mildly amused and a little emotional. This book was genuinely hilarious and heartbreaking. Carlotta's situation is an impossible one to be in and Hannaham just leans into it as a farce. Like a series of slapstick routines but with really heavy, sad content.
Oh, thank you for sharing! I also loved Summer Fun, and agree that not enough people have read it. It seems to have totally flown under the radar which I don't get because it's so brilliant.
I've read and (mostly) enjoyed the others you mention, but Carlotta wasn't on my radar and it sounds like something I'd love! Definitely going to check it out! I also haven't read The Splinter King—my brain still cannot do epic fantasy right now, but adding it to the long list for the day when (hopefully) I'll be into it again.
Thank you for bumping Stray City earlier this year, it had been lingering on my TBR list for ages and when I finally got it, I devoured it. I love how morally neutral it is about its characters? Nobody behaves great here, nobody is """good queer rep,""" and the book simply does not judge or even really care. These are the things the characters did and how it felt and what the world was like in this place and time, it is what it is.
I'm so glad you read it! It had been lingering on my TBR forever, too, and I felt the exact same way. Down with "good queer rep" (or any rep, for that matter)! People are people and way more complicated than "rep" and that book is should a good example!