My favourite books of 2022

If you’re looking for reading inspiration, here is a selection of favourite books from the past year. The mix leans literary and dark, with a few hopeful adventures thrown in. Each entry includes a short description of the book and the things that stood out most while reading it. ## Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel Why it stood out: a return to a pandemic novel by this author, her documentation of the human condition, and a literary approach to science fiction. The usual pitch for this one is that it is a story about humanity set across the past, present and future. Anyone who loved Station Eleven will likely love this too. Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal — an experience that shocks him to his core. Two centuries later, a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She is travelling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s bestselling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: the exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe. ## Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield Why it stood out: the eerie atmosphere, the uncertainty and the beautiful writing. Miri thinks she has got her wife back when Leah finally returns after a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. To have the woman she loves back should mean a return to normal life, but Miri can feel Leah slipping from her grasp. Memories of what they had before — the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers — only remind Miri of what she stands to lose. Living in the same space but suddenly separate, Miri comes to realise that the life they had might be gone. ## Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder Why it stood out: a first encounter with the popular ‘unhinged woman’ genre, and an interesting approach to discussing motherhood. At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind. Instead, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice… ## Infamous by Lex Croucher Why it stood out: the gothic setting, the friendship (and trust, betrayal and love), the discussions around the abuse of fame, and the colourful band of artists. Twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer Edith ‘Eddie’ Miller and her best friend Rose have always done everything together — climbing trees, throwing grapes at boys, sneaking bottles of wine, practising kissing. Now that they are out in society, Rose is suddenly talking about marriage, and Eddie is horrified. When Eddie meets charming, renowned poet — and rival to Lord Byron — Nash Nicholson, he invites her to his crumbling Gothic estate in the countryside. The entourage of eccentric artists indulging in pure hedonism is exactly what Eddie needs in order to finish her novel and make a name for herself. But Eddie might discover that trying to keep up with the literati isn’t all poems and pleasure… ## Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo Why it stood out: the Amsterdam-inspired setting, the vibrant crew of characters with intriguing backstories, and the playful conversations. Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price — and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone… A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction — if they don’t kill each other first. ## Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss Why it stood out: the raw and emotional story in an unusual setting. Seventeen-year-old Silvie is camping in rural Northumberland with her father and a group of archaeologists, who hope to uncover evidence of human sacrifice. As Silvie glimpses new freedoms with the students, her relationship with her overbearing father deteriorates, until the haunting rites of the past begin to bleed into the present. ## The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green Why it stood out: being able to read these in any order, and discovering beautiful and interesting facts and stories about the most unexpected topics. The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centred planet on a five-star scale — from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar. Funny, complex and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.