What's Next? discussion

It’s hard to believe the holidays are here already. What were the best books you read this year?

I'm tempted to include all the books that I've rated 5 stars here but I've decided to just name one book under the following categories

Historical fiction - The Marriage Portrait
General fiction - Sorrow and Bliss
Science/Fantasy - Project Hail Mary
Novella/Short stories - Panenka
Non-fiction - David Sedaris Happy Go Lucky

There's still one month to go and I have a few recent releases in my immediate to-read list which could very well change one or two of my selections above.

Very interested to hear what readers in this group have to offer!

Thanks! Will add my thoughts this w/e.

For those who missed it, the NYT published their top 10 list yesterday:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/bo...

My best books of 2022 are a mixture of books published recently (2021 & 2022) and books I've just recently read.

Since I'm behind my normal schedule -- I'll read only 60% of a typical year -- I have fewer options from which to select.

Best Books
(all of my reviews are on this site)

Fiction - Hell of a Book (2021 National Book Award); The Seven Moons of Maali Almedia (2022 Booker Prize); Horse; Beloved (1988 Pulitzer Prize)

Non Fiction - The Code Breaker; Why Digital Transformations Fail; The Sum of Us

Lastly, a special plug for Hillary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell series, which is truly special. I finished the final book - The Mirror & The Light - earlier this year. While not as strong as the first two books, each of which won the Booker Prize, the overall trilogy is worth the effort. The author also passed away over the Summer, so we no longer have new works to anticipate.

Happy holidays!

To add to the above, Claire Keegan's short stories have been a welcome surprise this. year. I read "Foster" and "Small Things Like These, and will read her older collections, "Antartica" and "Walk the Blue Fields".

Happy holidays to our group!

My favorite books of the year are the following:
- The Candy House
- The Evening Hero (I wish there had been more buzz about this sleeper of a novel)
- Booklovers
- Sea of Tranquility
- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- Project Hail Mary

And in non-fiction, I enjoyed Will Smith’s autobiography (read this ore-Oscars slap); Madeline Albright’s Fascism was educational and to me, an important read.

I’m sure I’m missing a few more but of the circa 56 books I’ve read, these are the notable ones.

Thanks! Will add The Evening Hero to my shelf.

I just realized I left off my list one of my absolute favorite books of 2022 (and one of the most hyped): Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Funny, intelligent, heart-wrenching and uplifting, it is the perfect book to appeal to Gen X readers who grew up in the 80’s and went to college in the 90’s.

Honorable mentions:
Razorblade Tears
The Bodyguard
Mika in Real Life
Memphis

Book I found most hyped that I viscerally disliked:
The School for Good Mothers