2022 in Review

by Donna Huber

Can you believe we are at the end of 2022? This year has probably been the most "normal" since the pandemic started. As I look back over the year, I realize it did feel more normal and the year neither speed by nor did creep. Susan did her reading wrap-up yesterday and today I'm sharing some of my reading highlights as well as highlights from Girl Who Reads as a whole.

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My Reading Stats

I read/listened to 162 books this year - 32 more books that I had set as a goal (I'm currently reading 2 books and I hope to finish at least one of them today).  I listened to 91 audiobooks, which means I only read 71 books. Of the 162 books, 116 books (audio, print, and ebook combined) were for review. I accepted for review 139 (audio, print, and ebook) 2022 new releases. Of those 139 books, I reviewed 104. I reviewed read/listened to 12 older titles for review (mostly books that I hadn't gotten to in previous years, but a few might have been accepted for review this year - my record keeping isn't that complete though). 

According to my Goodreads Year in Books, I read 49,349 pages. The shortest book I read was I Choose Darkness by Jenny Lawson (25 pages) and the longest book was Quarter to Midnight by Karen Rose (608 pages - read my review). My average book length was 304 pages.

Best Books I Read

27 books received 5 stars from me - a few of those were re-reads of favorite books. Of the books that I read/listened to for the first time this year, 22 books received 5 stars. 15 of them were part of my recommended books to buy as gifts. Here are the books I've read since making that list that received 5 stars:

• Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright (read my review)
• The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber (read my review)
• Winter's End by Paige Shelton (read my review)
• The Christmas Star by Donna VanLiere
• Red Deception by Gary Grossman & Ed Fuller (read my review)
• I Choose Darkness by Jenny Lawson
• The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker (read my review)

Highlights from Girl Who Reads

Our first review of 2022 was MK's review of 2 Enjoyable Romantic Suspense Novels and our first review of a 2022 new release was Susan Roberts's review of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels. MK also provided our last review of 2022 with 2 Interesting Novels of Historical Fiction.

Most viewed reviews

#10 Fixed: The Fine Art of Problem Solving by Amy E. Herman (Donna's review)

#9 The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey (Susan's review)

#8 The Wishing Tree series Books 1 - 7 (Susan's review)

#7 The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews (Susan's review)

#6 The Girl from Paris by Ella Carey (Susan's review)

#5 Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca (MK's review)

#4 Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr (Susan's review)

#3 The Disappearance of Agatha Christie - a Movie & Book Review (Donna's review)

#2 The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart (Susan's review)

#1 Two Fantastic Fairy Tale Retellings (MK's review)

Since most of the most viewed reviews were published in the first half of the year, I thought I would also share the most popular review from each month,

• January: The Saints of Swallow Hill by Donna Everhart (Susan's review)
• February: The Dust Bowl Orphans by Suzette D. Harrison (Susan's review)
• March: Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr (Susan's review)
• April: The Wishing Tree series Books 1 - 7 (Susan's review)
• May: Two Fantastic Fairy Tale Retellings (MK's review)
• June: Iconoclast by Laurie Buchanan (Susan's review)
• July: Summer Horrors Stories You Don't Want to Miss (MK's review)
• August: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (Donna's review)
• September: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca (MK's review)
• October: The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal (Donna's review)
• November: The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson (Donna's review)
• December: Murder in an Irish Castle by Verity Bright (Donna's review)

You will also want to check out Alison Deluca's two reviews: Get Back (a documentary about The Beatles) and Two More Years by EC Stilson (a memoir).

Featured Excerpts, Books & Interviews

1. Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell (read excerpt)
2. The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery (read excerpt and a second excerpt)
3. Pennyblade by J. L. Worrad (read excerpt)
4. A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson (read excerpt)
5. The Fae Keeper by H.E. Edgmon (read excerpt)
6. The Boardwalk Bookshop by Susan Mallery (read excerpt)
7. Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg (read excerpt)
8. Small Town, Big Magic by Hazel Beck (read excerpt)
9. The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais (read excerpt)
10. Take My Husband by Ellen Meister (read excerpt)
11. The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau (read excerpt)
12. All the Lies They Did Not Tell by Pablo Trincia (read excerpt)
13. Digging Up Love by Chandra Blumberg (read excerpt)
14. NeoText Flipbook: THE EXCAVATOR by J.M. DeMatteis and Vassilis Gogtzilas (spotlight)
15. Say All the Unspoken Things: A Book of Letters by John Sowers (spotlight)
16. After the End Book Club: 11 Books to Read (see the list)
17. Merry Christmas! Stuff Your e-Reader with These Five Free Holiday eBooks (see list)
18. My Reading List is Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas (see list)
19. Q&A with Brian Lebeau, author of A Disturbing Nature (read interview)
20. The Wedding Setup by Sonali Dev (read interview)

We would like to thank all our readers. Our views have increased this year and we so appreciate you taking the time to read, comment, and share our reviews, excerpts, spotlights, and interviews. We also want to thank those who support the blog by purchasing items at Amazon through our affiliate links. The small commission we make from these purchases goes towards the domain name and supporting our staff reviewers.

Thank you also to the publishers and authors who have provided free books for review as well as other content for us to share with our audience.

We wish you all a wonderful 2023. May it be filled with good health, great happiness, and plenty of books to read.

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour. 

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