Sometimes when I’m feeling low, I open Goodreads and remember the books I’ve read over the year. Akin to scrolling through photos of recent but already-fading vacations, the practice always brings me an uptick in joy. After one final stroll through bookshelf memory lane, here are my top 10 knockouts of 2022:
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
This book always seemed like “some western I wouldn’t be interested in.” But I couldn’t be happier to have been more off-base. It took me about two months to read it—two glorious months where I was cantering through the old country with McMurtry’s well-drawn and complex characters. I’m sad I’ll never again get to read it for the first time. Favorite book this year, no question.Dance of the Happy Shades by Alice Munro
This was her first published collection and it burns in the best way possible. Some of the descriptions in these stories physically knocked me back. Munro keeps becoming my favorite writer over and over again.Cruddy by Lynda Barry
Quite literally like nothing I’ve read. As far as I’m concerned, Barry stuck her arm into the outlet of the universe and wrote with the subsequent electric current as ink. Cruddy is weird and dark and probably one of the most compelling novels I’ve ever read.
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
This was a thorough and fascinating look at Plath’s life and work—from birth to death at the untimely age of 30. Because most of the players in that short life are no longer living (including her sister-in-law, who despised her but also held control of her estate for decades), Clark was able to delve into Plath’s life in a new and unrestrained way. She treats the familiar villains (Plath’s mother and Ted Hughes) with objectivity and fairness and gives a beautiful, complicated, inspiring, and heartwrenching portrait of Sylvia Plath—less an icon than (talented, relentless, fiery) human.Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
No, not that Elizabeth Taylor. This book is about a genteel elderly woman in 1950s London, moving into a hotel and waiting for a visit from her grandson who never comes. The inner world of the characters is exquisite—equal parts hilarious and devastating. Reminiscent of Evan S. Connell’s Mrs. Bridge.Booth by Karen Joy Fowler
Fowler wrote one of my all-time favorite short stories: The Pelican Bar. I first read it years ago and still find myself thinking about it. So it goes without saying that I read anything she comes out with. Booth is a look at John Wilkes Booth’s family. The assassin himself stays on the outskirts of the novel. But his father and brother were famous actors of the day. Fowler brings them all to life in her masterful way. A fantastic novel.The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
The book is three memoirs stitched into one: Childhood, Youth, & Dependency (though Dependency was originally titled “Gift”, which means both married and poison in her native language(!!!)). Born in 1917 Copenhagen, Ditlevsen was a well-known poet. She writes about her working-class family and neighborhood and captures the confusion particular to childhood and coming of age. A beautifully written and ultimately devastating memoir.All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
I was inspired to pick this up after watching the incredible Netflix movie of the same name. Apart from the setting (German side of the line in WWI), the book and movie felt worlds apart. And even though I loved the film, the book wins by a mile. An incredible critique of war and humanity from the viewpoint of a 20-year-old soldier.Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen
We all love to hate Jonathan Franzen, but this last novel was incredible. Rich and complex and set in the 70s. I’m looking forward to the rest of the trilogy!The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
These short essays where Green gives starred reviews to things like sunsets and soccer games, gave me untold delight when I needed it most. I listened to his excellent narration as I went out on walks just after our move to Midland. An absolute pleasure of a book.
That wraps it up! I’d love to hear what you read and loved this year. Are you already queuing up your TBR for 2023? Reply and tell me what’s on it. Cheers and happy reading!
Lacy