Did I read my most anticipated books of 2022?

Hello readers!

It’s November and the year is nearly over – it feels like 2022 just started, but here we are. About a year ago I posted “Books Released on 2022 I Am Excited For“, so today I’m going to revisit that post and talk about the books I’ve read, if I enjoyed the them and if I still plan on reading the ones I didn’t get to yet.

I trimmed the original list down to the 12 books I was most excited for, otherwise the post would be a bit too long.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley 

I read it! I didn’t end up liking this as much as The Hunting Party and The Guest List, but it was a solid read and I found it quite entertaining. Lucy Foley will probably continue to be an auto-by author for me. I just have such fun reading her books.

Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James

I didn’t read it! This is the second book in the trilogy and I even had the eARC but then I lost it when I changed e-readers and now I have no idea when I’ll pick this up. I’m thinking of buying the physical copy since I loved the first book so much, but as of now I don’t have plans to read this anytime soon.

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

I read it! And regret it. Hours of my life spent reading this just to end up being disappointed by it. It even made it to my post My Least Favorite Releases of 2022 So Far, so go read that post if you want to read my rant about it.

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

I read it! After really enjoying The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders, I picked this up as an eARC and…. did not like it. I think it also made it to my “least favorites” post above. This was just all over the place – I will probably pick up a few of Swanson’s older works, but his newer books don’t really feel like they’re hitting the spot.

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James

I read it! It was okay. Not great, and quite a disappointment considering how much I loved The Sundown Motel, but it wasn’t actually bad.

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto

I read it! Another one that made it to my least favorites of the year post and, if I were ranking them, would be #1. Seriously, stick to the first book (a wonderful read, and one of my favorite audiobooks) and skip this one.

In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power

I DNF-ed it. I’ve read this up to like, 5-10% (can’t remember exactly) and was so thoroughly bored that I gave it up. I guess it doesn’t count as reading it, but I did try – 10% of this is still a couple hours reading!

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

I read it! It’s SO good. Highly recommend reading The Glass Hotel before picking this up but you absolutely don’t have to. 5 stars to this beauty.

Book of Night by Holly Black

I DNF-ed it. I there is a cover for this by now but I can’t be bothered to upload it to my blog’s media archive tbh. This was boring and, like the In a Garden Burning Gold, read like YA, and I guess the writing just didn’t vibe with me.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

I read it! This was dark and magical and quite good, although I didn’t thoroughly love it. I like Nghi Vo’s short stories better than her novels, I think.

Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution by R.F. Kuang

I read it! I had mixed reactions to this one; on the one hand, I loved learning a bit more about languages and how translating can be difficult; I also appreciate a book that discusses colonization in such a clear-eyed way. However, as a story itself, I didn’t like it too much. The characters were quite flat, the writing felt a bit dry and uninteresting and generally the story felt like an excuse for a lesson on history, colonization, languages, class, race, misogyny, power imbalances and so on. So while I learned a lot from this book and found it very thought-provoking, it wasn’t a story I was able to fall in love with.

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I read it! Of all three books this was my least favorite but still a wonderful, wild read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s definitely a setup for the next book, so I’m now eagerly awaiting that one and will probably do a re-read of all three before the finale. Definitely easier to follow than Harrow the Ninth, in case you were worried about that. Solid 4 stars!

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