It’s been a while since I pulled together a reading list, so where better to start than with 22 books to read in 2022. (Hands up if you’re singing this to the Taylor Swift tune?!)
There are SO many exciting books coming out in 2022 it was hard to whittle it down, so I stuck to fiction only – maybe I’ll do another non-fiction list too in the future.
I am excited to see what everyone is going to be reading this year. Let me know what you’re looking forward to!
For the sake of conciseness and consistency (and to be completely transparent), please note that I have copied the little blurbs from the Waterstones descriptions. This is because of the aforementioned reasons and the fact that I haven’t read all these books. Oh, and they write them really well too.
To Paradise by Hanya Yanigihara
Publication date: 11th Jan
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Traversing three centuries and three alternative versions of the American experiment, the author of A Little Life returns with a spellbinding chronicle of love, the meaning of family and the excruciating cost of unattainable dreams.
(Ps read my review here)
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Publication date: 18th Jan
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A prescient warning of an all-too-plausible future and a spellbinding mosaic of characters who stand as a testament to human inventiveness in the face of catastrophe, Nagamatsu’s ambitious, haunting debut announces the arrival of an astonishing new voice in science fiction.
28 Questions by Indyana Schneider
Publication date: 20th Jan
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Spanning four years and five cities, Schneider’s bravura queer love story is a psychologically acute and emotionally involving debut perfect for fans of Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.
A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe
Publication date: 20th Jan
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Nineteen-year-old William’s decision to volunteer at the tragic scene of the 1966 Aberfan landslide transforms his life forever in this moving story about sacrifice and compassion.
A Previous Life by Edmund White
Publication date: 25th Jan
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A Sicilian aristocrat and musician and his younger American wife divulge their pasts to one another in this gloriously fresh and bold tale about desire and ageing, the needs of the body and thsoe of the heart, from the author of A Saint from Texas.
The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs
Publication date: 3rd Feb
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Told in alternate voices by the award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, and with recipes that leap to life from the page, The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs is the most thought-provoking and page-turning historical novel you’ll read this year, exploring the enduring struggle for female freedom, the power of female friendship, the creativity and quiet joy of cooking and the poetry of food, all while bringing Eliza Action out of the archives and back into the public eye.
Love Marriage by Monica Ali
Publication date: 3rd Feb
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From the bestselling, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Brick Lane comes a powerfully humane, hilarious and heartbreaking story of a young couple about to tie the knot as their families from two different cultures try to understand each other.
The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews
Publication date: 3rd Feb
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Whispers of witchcraft and sinister revelations of an old shipwreck fill the life of Thomas Treadwater – a reluctant soldier and man of reason – with dark unrest in Andrews’ mesmeric historical mystery set amidst the English Civil War.
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Publication date: 3rd Feb
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Following two young women who embark on a dangerous journey to Australia as their community flees religious persecution, Devotion is a luminous story of freedom and consequence – and of love found and denied – from the bestselling author of Burial Rites.
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
Publication date: 17th Feb
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The long-awaited follow up to Keyes’ bestselling Rachel’s Holiday finds our titular heroine having hauled her life back on track, only to suffer a spectacular setback when an old flame arrives in her life once more.
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Publication date: 24th Feb
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The relationship between a mother and daughter begins to fragment when the older woman’s memory begins to fracture in this endlessly compassionate and wise novel from the acclaimed author of The Buddha in the Attic.
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
Publication date: 3rd March
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Imbued with the same beautifully evoked strangeness and yearning as her short story collection Salt Slow, Armfield’s debut novel finds the relationship between two women transformed by a deep dive onto a mysterious underwater vessel.
French Braid by Anne Tyler
Publication date: 24th March
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Redhead by the Side of the Road returns with a luminous new novel that paints a joyous and painfully truthful portrait of family life.
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Publication date: 14th April
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From the author of the Booker-winning modern classic Shuggie Bain comes another emotionally powerful and compassionate portrayal of sexuality and community set in urban Glasgow, as two young men on either side of a sectarian divide start to develop feelings for each other.
People Person by Candice Carty-Williams
Publication date: 28th April
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The author of the beloved and bestselling Queenie returns with another winning combination of laugh-out-loud humour and exquisite character-led drama, as Dimple Pennington prepares to get to know her motley assortment of half-siblings.
Ruth & Pen by Emilie Pine
Publication date: 5th May
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Tender-hearted and imbued with the same candid compassion as her acclaimed essay collection Notes to Self, Pine’s exquisite debut novel traces the rich inner and outer lives of two Dublin women across a single day.
Book of Night by Holly Black
Publication date: 3rd May
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Perfect for fans of Erin Morgenstern and Leigh Bardugo, the adult fantasy debut from the YA titan pitches reckless Charlie into a world of gloamists, backstabbers and doppelgangers with a potentially world-changing secret up for grabs.
You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Publication date: 26th May
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From the author of the award-shortlisted The Death of Vivek Oji comes another novel rich in psychological insight and exquisitely crafted prose as Feyi prepares to open her heart to a wholly inadvisable suitor.
Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens
Publication date: 23rd June
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Heady with the delicious scent of the Mediterranean, richly witty, and utterly compulsive, Briefly, A Delicious Life is a story about convention and breaking convention, about love – yearning, secret, forbidden, unrequited – and about men and women and the violence they mete out to one another.
The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
Publication date: 7th July
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In the sequel to former Waterstones Book of the Year The Miniaturist, Burton crafts another exquisite story of family and fate set in early 18th-century Amsterdam.
I'm Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait
Publication date: 8th July
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From the author of the Waterstones Book of the Month Our Fathers comes a compelling domestic comedy about complex family dynamics, mental health and the intricacies of sibling relationships.
Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell
Publication date: 21st July
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In spiky, elegant prose, Jane Campbell ignites the voices of women who are fighting to live on their own terms, energised by their desires and passions, freedoms, integrity and sense of self. Cat Brushing confronts the tragic misconceptions of aging and presents a vivid and transgressive peek into older women’s lives.
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3 Comments
That’s a really strong reading list. A few of the titles are new to me so I shall have to delve further. I’ve read one – A Terrible Kindness. The beginning is sure to bring tears to many people’s eyes.
Thank you! I have a copy of that to read, I already know it’s going to make me cry.
I had never read Edmund White before “A Previous Life” and did not really know what to expect. ‘Stunned’ is a big word, but it was certainly an unusual and surprising reading experience. Some of it worked very well, some parts where rather tedious and repetitive and I grew tired towards the end.