The 28 Books I Read This Year

and my favorite was...

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and/or holiday! I hope there were books given and received. And I hope this week is slow(er) and brings reading time. Perhaps next to a still-standing twinkling Christmas tree, with chestnuts roasting and an open fire.

I used to keep track of the books I read in a beautiful leather covered notebook, writing with a pink ballpoint pen to list and rate books read. Alas, this habit went by the wayside and Goodreads now tracks my books. Every year I enter the “reading challenge” and it gives me the same sense of glee it did as a kid signing up for the summer reading challenge at my local library in Omaha, Nebraska.

If you follow Modern Ms. Darcy, you’ll see she read over 220 books in 2020. 220 BOOKS! This is astounding to me and means reading over half a book a day. I love reading, but mostly only read at night before sleeping, which means my eyes are drooping after a few pages.

I once read that Stephen King writes in the morning and reads all afternoon. I aspire to this schedule…but am also guessing Mr. King never did the lion share of kid carpooling. Which I wouldn’t trade, even for books.

Here are the 28 books I read, with my most favorite revealed at the end. With the exception of two, I greatly enjoyed all of them!

Click the book collage to read about each book!

For this year’s favorite read, I decided to prioritize the book that stuck with me the longest after I finished, a book with excellent writing and emotional resonance, and the one I simply enjoyed reading the most.

My number one pick goes to…

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. Goodreads Choice Award nominee 2021

I love everything Strout writes. Her book, Olive Kitteridge won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008 and remains one of the best books I’ve ever read. Strout has such a handle on the writing craft and character development. Oh William is short, profound, devastating, and paints a portrait of a marriage (though Lucy & William are no longer married). I loved it. This line: “This is the way of life: the many things we do not know until it is too late.” Strout says so much with so little.

Other big contenders:

If you’re looking for a terrific writing book, I highly suggest Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. Bewilderment by Richard Powers blew my mind and made me cry. Two terrific young adults novels were A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson and Spells for Lost Things by Jenna Evans Welch. The middle grade book, The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson totally won me over as did my one audiobook listen of the year: Barack Obama: A Promised Land (fascinating history and read by Barack!) If you want to feel better, eat better with Run Fast, Eat Slow. And finally, why not add The McNifficents to your Goodreads to-read shelf?!

What isn’t here is The Old Testament, which I studied nearly every morning this year, but that’s a compilation of a lot of books. I have more to say on that, but for now, that’s a 2022 reading wrap.

I’ve just began reading Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, which won Goodreads Best Fiction award this year. Wahoo!

Now it’s your turn - what were your favorite books of the year? Do you want to read more in 2023? My bff hair stylist recently told me she hates to read. I cannot fathom.

Amy 💗

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Good News and Story Links

*When a Doorbell’s Ring Means Hope by Charlotte Maya. This article requires a NYTimes subscription, but I’m telling you, I’ve read it three times - twice out loud to family members. It moved me so immensely. “Not a miracle. Not magic. Just generous, selfless, human love.” So good.

I’ll see you in the new year! Thanks for being here.

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