Every Book I Read (or Listened to) This Year
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What I listened to on Audible:
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey – I found this book interesting as I’ve seen plenty of his movies. I even remembered a few of the stories that he wrote about when they were shared in celebrity news. He lived an interesting life, and it was enjoyable to listen to him in his voice read it on Audible. There were a few parts I could have done without the description of the mental picture, but I would say it was an easy, interesting listen.
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate – I was fully swept up in this story. It was heartbreaking and horrible to listen to at times, but I was so gripped by the story. I loved that it was told in both the present day and the past. I hated that it was based on the true stories of what happened at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society.
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover – I enjoyed this storyline. Colleen Hoover’s books can be a little predictable, but I think that is what makes them so effortless to read or listen to. I enjoyed the dialogue in this story.
Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover – So, I listened to this book (unfortunately). The story was an easy read, per usual for CoHo, but I could NOT get over the way the male voice actor said the name “Rachel”. And he said it a lot. It was robotic. So, maybe read this one instead of listening to it!
The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand – You know I’m brutally honest, and I just genuinely thought this book was dumb. Boring too. I’m not sure why I finished it.
November 9 by Colleen Hoover – An interesting storyline, another easy-to-read CoHo.
A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston – I am one of those people who think Breaking Bad is one of the best shows of all time, so I love Bryan Cranston. This autobiography was fascinating! I enjoyed learning more about him and his life!
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley – I read “The Guest List” by this author and liked it, so I was looking forward to listening to this one. It was dark, mysterious, and a little slow. Overall it was an interesting listen, but I would encourage you to stick with it…it’s a slow burn.
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe – admittedly did not finish because I was bored to tears. TO TEARS.
The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen – A fascinating storyline, and ended up going a different direction than I thought it would! I love a twisty relationship storyline!
Will by Will Smith – Can best be described as a love letter from Will to Will. I listened to a good bit of the beginning but then I just got tired of listening.
Books I read on the Kindle:
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – I enjoyed this story. While I understand the point of including the “journal” entries to Ellen, I think that was the final tipping point for me to decide that I don’t like pop culture references in books. I felt this way about “The Hotel Nantucket” too.
It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover (2nd book to be read after “It Ends with Us”) – If you didn’t read “It Ends With Us” then this book would feel very… surface-level and pointless. BUT as a means of wrapping up the story between Atlas and Lily, it worked well.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig – I trudged through this and ultimately didn’t finish. I was bored and depressed. I thought the storyline was interesting at first, and perhaps I need to pick it back up again, but it was just not doing anything for me.
Black Cake by Charmine Wilkerson – This book came highly recommended, and I started but couldn’t get into it. I think, honestly, the opening part of the book was so jarring that I put my guard up.
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult – I had serious whiplash during this book! I’ve never experienced a narrative shift like that before! Honestly, it felt like it was just too soon to be reading a book about covid. The storyline was interesting, and it really makes you think, but it did not go in the direction I thought it would!
Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score – I was enticed by a different storyline when this book began, but then it felt like I was reading an entirely different book once I passed the halfway point. It was…fine? Not one I would highly recommend.
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune – I LOVED this book. I loved the story, the writing, and the relationships. It felt like a warm and sunny day, and was also heart-wrenching at times! Carley is writing another book and I cannot wait to read it.
Beach Read by Emily Henry – This was an effortless summer read. I’ve read two other books by Emily Henry and enjoyed them!
By A Thread by Lucy Score – I tried out this author via high ratings from GoodReads. This book was basically just an entire novel of sexual tension with explicit sexual encounters.
Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson – I liked the tiny bit of mystery wrapped up in this story. It was a very easy read and a light story.
Layla by Colleen Hoover – I literally could not finish this book because of the ghost/haunting things that were happening. It was giving me nightmares.
Thats a wrap! Here’s to new reads for next year! Did you have any MUST-read books from the year? Leave them in the comments!
comments
My reading list is not nearly this long but I absolutely loved Where the crawdads sing, The Nightingale, and Flour Winds.
I’m so close to finishing The Nightingale. It’s so heavy I have to be mindful of when I read it!
I loved American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins probably best book I’ve ever read!
I also loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
Merry Christmas 🎄
Listening to ‘American Dirt’ currently. So dang good. (Thanks for the rec Donna!) It’s not a light read by any means. My husband and I are looking for excuses to drive just so we can listen together!
The Measure by Nikki Erlick!! I really had high hopes for The Midnight Library (did you see the Amazon reviews?!?) and it was so painful. I tried to get into it, then did a bit and then it just went on and on and on. Don’t revisit, not worth it. Try The Measure!
Thank you for the rec!!
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
Both GREAT reads.
I read Malibu Rising and really enjoyed it!!
Thank you for sharing! I have enjoyed the vast majority of your recommendations, so I added a bunch of these to my list. I also enjoyed the negative reviews as well. The Will Smith comment made me laugh out loud. 😆 Here’s to another year of reading/listening!
I agree with Hotel Nantucket. Elin is typically a go-to summer read author for me, so it was disappointing.
Jodi Picoult is hands down my favorite author. Her books are great and typically have the changing perspective and timelines in then. Just check out the topic first, she writes about everything, but is always such a good perspective and story.
A winter read recommendation: KA Tucker’s “wild” series. Easy reads. Some steamy scenes, but not overpowering. You’ll fall in love with the main characters.
Yes! Picoult’s The Book of Two Ways is perhaps my favorite book I’ve ever read.
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus! 👌🏻
One true loves Taylor Jenkins Reid
The perfect marriage Jeneva Rose
Two of my favorites this year were “Project Hail Mary” (highly recommend on Audible) and “Matchmaking for Beginners” (fun light story with quirky characters – read on kindle).
I love everything by Kristin Hannah – Aside from the Nightingale The Great Alone, Firefly Lane & Fly Away are my favorites. Taylor Jenkins Reid – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (very interesting) 🙂
Thank you for your honest reviews!!
I bet you would like One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle. Lauren Graham does the audio version and I thought she did a great job. Also pretty short at 6hrs.
I have completed 79 books so far this year. (And abandoned many along the way.) Some of my favorites include:
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (slow but fascinating)
I Am Praying For You by Nancy Guthrie
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey by Gabrielle Zevin
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
Start With Hello by Shannan Martin
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt
Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown
How do you read so many books? I’d love to get through more.
The Great Alone, Four Winds – Kristin Hannah
Love and Other Words – Christina Lauren
Reminders of Him – Hoover
Thanks for some new-to-me recs!
Really enjoyed the murder mystery “Local Woman Missing” by Mary Kubica. Also anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
“Carrie Soto is Back”, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s newest is so good!!
If you like a good mystery and enjoyed The Guest List, I think you’d also like some of the books written by Ruth Ware. The Wonan in Cabin 10 and One by One are two of my faves – could not put them down!
I read 6 of these same books. I could not finish Wish You Were Here and still have it sitting in my Audible library half read. Based on your comment maybe I should try listening to it again.
Since you loved Every Summer After, you need to read Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. I read ESA after your recommendation and just listened to it, also. SO GOOD. Also, if you haven’t read Reminders of Him by Coho then put it on your list. Such a sweet and heartbreaking story.
I agree with the comments about “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.” Great book!
The Class Mom series by Laurie Gelman is a good humor series. I think you would enjoy it based off seeing your stories.
I also have found Katherine Center to have multiple good books!
I vibe with you on so many levels. But reading may not be one of them. I absolutely loved black cake and midnight library! And also loved most of the others on your list. You are amazing ! And can’t wait to see what the new year holds!
My two favorite books I listened to were The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I listened to both, and both were books I wish had not ended.
One of my favorite books on Audible is Born a Crime by Trevor Noah. The author narrates it and his story of growing up in South Africa is so good! I also love Ruth Ware books and listened to the It Girl on Audible, really good suspense that I didn’t want to end.
No, don’t go back to The Midnight Library. I finished it and it was just more of the same. If you don’t like it now, you won’t like it to the end. I liked the idea of the story but it began to feel like dejavu.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is a must! Delightful!
I just finished listening to “A flicker in the dark” loved it! The narrator was a little distracting with her different voices she would use for the characters though!
I think you’d regret picking up Midnight Library again 🤣 it was our first book in book club and the vast majority of us were bored/disappointed in it!
Oh my gosh-I felt the same way about the narrator saying “ Rachel” in Ugly Love. It drove me so crazy that I stopped listening to it and read it instead. So terrible! I thought I was the only one! Glad you felt the same way!
Two of my favs of the year were Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez and In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. I’ve read 107 books in 2022 so it is hard to narrow down lol
I am so appreciative that you actually gave your honest thoughts and aren’t afraid to give a bad review! But I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t like most of the books you read this year… hoping you can find a genre you love next year! I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction & autobiographies because I too start them and think they’re too bad to finish, so classics that have been vetted for decades are more my thing.
I also LOVED Every Summer After, by far my favorite this year. You might enjoy The Simple Wild by KA Tucker.
My favorite reads this year have been Anthropocene Reviewed by Juhn Green (listened to this one) and The Cartographers by Peng Shephard. They were both amazing!
How do we find you on Good Reads? My “can’t stop thinking about book” recently is The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden.
Just finished this and LOVED it!
I have to say I agree about the Elin Hilderbrand book. I typically enjoy her fun books but this one was so boring, trite and disappointing. Thanks for the honest reviews. A few of these have been on my list!
Highly recommend Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt!
Agreed with a lot of these! Add These Silent Woods to your list for next year! Read it in a day!
I felt the same way about Things We Never Got Over. It had such potential…..
And Before We Were Yours was one of my favorites this year. I had borrowed it from the library and ended up buying it so I could read it again.
A man called Ove.
Tom hanks is playing the lead role in this in an upcoming movie based from the book. You will laugh and cry happy/sad tears at times. Very much worth the time to read it.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. I’ve never been so surprised by an ending!
I’m Glad My Mum Died
Bear Town, Us Against You, The Winners
All the Lonely People
Lessons in Chemistry
Looking for Jane
Do you have a Goodreads account? I’d love to follow you!
A court of roses and thorns series! Definitely an easier read – beauty and the beast meets game of thrones? In the best way.
I LOVED every summer after as well! The best book I’ve read in a long time. Fell in love with the characters. Glad you enjoyed it too!!
Walking the Bowl – by Chris Lockhart. A true story about street kids living in Africa. We lived in Africa on a year long mission trip, and this was book really hit home. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight, but it was so eye-opening on the sad reality for Street children!
Thank you so much for this list and for the honest reviews!
From this year’s bookgroup reading list – we enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry, This Time Tomorrow, and The Girl with the Louding Voice. Thanks for your recommends!
Thank you for sharing!
You should read Verity by Colleen Hoover-its really well written and not predictable. I don’t like predictable books. Also, a coworker recommended The Quiet Patient. I haven’t read it but she highly recommends it.
Thanks a lot for this list of books. I’m a bookworm and always in search of exciting stories. I also write some book reviews as I like it, and I know how it can be helpful to some people. Sometimes, I cooperate with https://paperell.net/write-my-literature-review and helps student, so they just write me “do my literature review for me,” and I’m ready to be helpful. I know that writing is challenging, especially when you need to interestingly describe the plot of the book in a few words without any spoilers. In any case, reading takes a major part of my time, and I’m happy that I can combine my work and my hobby.
Thanks for this post. I was looking for a new book to read and had a few to choose from. And this article helped me a lot, and the book is actually amazing
James Patterson “murder club series”….there are 23 book and still going!
I loved Shark Heart by Emily Hasbeck, Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, Where the Forest meets the Stars by Glenda Vanderah, The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden, and In Five Years by Rebecca Serle. I loooooved the Midnight Library, I’m sorry you didn’t care for that one.
I just finished my 100th book for the year and love reading and talking about books so I’m always interested in your book reviews. I’m one of those who loved the Prime version of Daisy Jones and the Six and I really think you should try it! 🩵🩵 thanks for sharing.
WOW! 100 books this year is quite an accomplishment!
Must read Daughters of the Dragon …. Based on true events
Thank you for posting these.
Francine Rivers is a wonderful author. She is someone that my grandmother use to read, and then my whole family started reading also. The movie Redeeming love is by her. Looking forward to your next suggestions.