My Year in Books 2022

2022 saw an uptick in the overall quantity of books I read, I blew through my goal of 50 books with a couple months to spare. I’ll set my goal to next year to 60, which should be very do-able.

The increase in books read is certainly connected to the fact that I launched Apples to Giraffes with my old friend Jonas Madden-Connor, we released a season of 13 (mostly) biweekly in-depth book discussions along with a couple of bonus episodes, so that added quite a few books to the pile, including books that were new to me as well as rereads. Some of my fave books I read or reread for the show this year include the first two “Parker” books by Richard Stark, Replay by Ken Grimwood, A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, the “Tripods” novels by John Christopher, and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (totally charming). I also read a couple of books for the show that wouldn’t have usually been on my radar, such as the gymnastic thriller You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott and the comedy-horror novel The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix; much like a book club the podcast sometimes got me reading outside of my comfort zone, and even if I didn’t always love those books it was interesting to see what was out there.

Between “required” reading for the podcast and other picks, 2022 saw me catching up on several classics that had slipped through the cracks for me, including Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin, A Kiss Before Dying and The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin, The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison, and The Secret History by Donna Tartt (not my fave).

Probably the single best book I read this year was a reread, Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. It is pretty much a perfect book, and diving back into it about 20 years after I first read it is making me want to read or reread Nabokov’s other works. I’ve still got so many older novels on my theoretical “to be read” pile that I have resigned myself to the fact that I’ll be catching up less and less on contemporary fiction in the coming years, there’s just so much coming up that I am getting more and more comfortable with the fact that I’ll never “catch up” (always an impossible goal, but less and less feasible with each passing year). I did read Pastoral by Andre Alexis and started another novel by the same author as well.

I did read more contemporary (or at least somewhat recent) graphic novels as well this year, with the return of festivals like MCAF and TCAF I picked up quite a few books and also made an effort to catch up on books from local authors, some books I particularly enjoyed included Stone Fruit by Lee Lai, For as Long as it Rains by Zvianne, Blind Alley by Adam de Souza, and Soon by Thomas Cadène and Benjamin Adam, Talli Daughter of the Moon Volumes 1, 2, & 3 by Sourya (which I am translating) and Boat Life by Tsuge Tadao (which I designed the cover for). 2022 also saw the conclusion of Sammy Harkham’s serial The Blood of the Virgin in the pages of his comic book Crickets and that was pretty special to finally get to read the finale in that format, Crickets is about the only comic book I am still consistently reading individual issues of and it’s fun to have a complete run of it (watch for the collected edition of The Blood of the Virgin to show up early in 2023). I definitely bought quite a few graphic novels that I haven’t gotten the chance to read yet and I’m looking forward to cracking them open in the new year, like Keeping Two by Jordan Crane (which I have been waiting years for). All my physical books are currently packed up in anticipation of a move to the woods (!!!) so those will have to wait until they get unpacked.

I have quite a few books that I started this year (or in 2021, or even before) that I still haven’t finished, and as always hope springs eternal for 2023. Some I am hoping to finish relatively early in the coming year include The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner, The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, 2666 by Roberto Bolaño (I still dare to dream I’ll finish this massive tome I have been stalled out on for 3 years!), and also wrapping up The Gold Coast, to finish Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Three Californias” triptych, which I am quite enjoying. I also still need to get around to the The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie before I forget what happened in the first two books! I also am embarking on a mission to finally read all of C.S. Lewis’ “Narnia” books and fill in a massive lacuna in my reading history!

I’m still logging books over on Goodreads in case you wanna follow along throughout the year (I’ve been seeking an alternate to Goodreads and still haven’t really found one, lemme know if you have a fave), and I occasionally post longer reviews to Tipped In… and of course I also am the co-host of Apples to Giraffes now!

Below are the books I read in 2022, including excerpts from my reviews, links to episodes of Apples to Giraffes, and links to buy the books on my Bookshop, where I get a small commission. Enjoy and happy reading!

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A cautionary folktale in modern dress of half-hidden evil bubbling under the surface… At times nearly unbearably tense, with enough twists and turns to please the most jaded reader of thrillers and true-crime tales, this is still as fresh as can be nearly 70 years after its release! Recommended.”

Talli Daughter of the Moon Volumes 1, 2, & 3 by Sourya ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“I am the translator of these books, but in my (obviously biased but fairly honest) opinion this fantastic (in every sense of the word) manga/bande dessinée series is definitely designed to get its hooks into the reader, and you’ll want more as soon as you turn the last page. I’ve read the next two volumes of Talli already and I can definitely say that the story takes some awesome twists and turns.”
Click here to read my interview with Sourya on Broken Frontier.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“Not my fave Dashiell Hammett nor my fave hard-boiled detective story, but still well worth the read. As a former San Franciscan, I’m both ashamed I hadn’t gotten around to this until now, and had a lot of fun going on a mental tour of the locations throughout The City.”

Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review

The Hunter by Richard Stark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A wild ride in the company of the professional thief and cold-blooded killer Parker, a nasty piece of work if ever there was one.”
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Hunter.

Camp Spirit by Axelle Lenoir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nuclear Winter Volume One by Cab ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“While a nuclear power plant melting down and blanketing the metropolis with irradiated snow might seem like a horrible situation, Cab plays this apocalypse for laughs.”
• Part of my list “The Best Graphic Novels from Québec (No Matter What Your Taste)” on Shepherd.

My New York Diary by Julie Doucet ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Doucet’s maximalist, punk-inflected art packs each and every claustrophobic panel to bursting, a perfect fit for this tale of a suffocating, toxic relationship playing out in the shadow of the Cold War.”
• Another book on “The Best Graphic Novels from Québec (No Matter What Your Taste)” on Shepherd.

The Man With the Getaway Face by Richard Stark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The Parker we find in these pages is almost likeable compared with his first appearance in “The Hunter,” and while he’s still a stone-cold killer and thief he’s quite a bit less blood-thirsty, which is a nice development if, like me, you found his company a bit unpleasant in the first novel.”

Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“Slim but satisfying, this book feels like Kim Stanley Robinson working out ideas that he would further flesh out in subsequent works, from the general (the focus on using legal change to create a revolution in the way global society is structured, as seen in The Ministry for the Future) to the extremely specific (after Aurora I don’t think I thought I would ever read another book that ends with a life-affirming scene of body surfing!).”

Soon by Thomas Cadène and Benjamin Adam ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin (Reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Left Hand of Darkness

Hell is the Absence of God (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), & Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) (Reread)
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on Ted Chiang

The Secret History by Donna Tartt ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Secret History

Replay by Ken Grimwood (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on Replay

Free Billy by Don Winslow ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“There’s nothing revolutionary here, but as a little audiobook this is a fun, old-fashioned story with some nice details.”

The Free World by Louis Menand ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“Nothing mind-blowing here but this could be a good springboard for further reading on subjects you don’t know much about (for me that included the sections on Betty Friedan and Jackson Pollack), or a refresher course on things you do (the Beats, the rise of rock and roll, and the Berkeley Free Speech Movement).”

Vagues de peur (I Saw You That Night!) by R.L Stein, trans. by Marie-Andrée Warnant-Côté ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“I have to say I enjoyed this goofy YA thriller, and I loved the way each chapter ended with an absurd cliffhanger that would be resolved within the first page of the following chapter. Very silly and fun. Read in French.”

Now and On Earth by Jim Thompson ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The novel comes most to life in the neo-realist depiction of the frustrations, squalor, and occasional moments of joy in Dillon’s family life, it is his position as a father, husband, and son which makes this stand out from the pack.”

Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Lévy and Frederik Peeters ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A very slim idea, but marvellously executed. The internal logic of this book is far from airtight, questions abound and various theories are proffered but no concrete explanation is given for the bizarre events on the beach, much to the graphic novel’s credit…”

No One Else by R. Kikuo Johnson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Fall Volume 1 by Jared Muralt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“A gorgeously rendered portrait of a family and a society teetering on the brink, as a global pandemic (sound familiar?) transforms the familiar cityscape into a dangerous battleground.”

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“Still holds up very well, many of the scenes and individual lines had lingered in my memory which made this a bit like visiting with old friends.”
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on A Visit from the Goon Squad

The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“I’ve read this before and enjoyed it more this time around, I think that I appreciate the references more (I am certain I didn’t catch many the first time around, and I’m also sure I certainly missed many this reading as well), and more importantly I think that getting older I can more deeply understand the bittersweet, achingly nostalgic tone the later half of the novel takes. Beautifully translated.”

Blind Alley: The First Year by Adam de Souza ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“De Souza’s drawings are instantly engaging, with a casual, sketchy quality that makes everything feel cozy yet authentic.”

The White Mountains (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), The City of Gold and Lead (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️), & The Pool of Fire (⭐️⭐️⭐️) by John Christopher (reread) Review
“Rereading this for the first time in about 10+ years, and it still holds up wonderfully. A perfect adventure tale, grounded in a recognizable but bizarre world, rife with symbolic heft, and with extremely tantalizing hints of a deeper lore to be found just under the surface.”
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Tripods Trilogy

Legends of the Fall by Jim Harrison ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“I had heard that Jim Harrison could write the hell out of a sentence, and that is very much true. Intense, bold, and sharp writing, a bit like a more approachable and crowd-pleasing version of Cormac McCarthy. While the craft and power of the storytelling is absolutely wonderful, Harrison is firmly entrenched in a “man’s man” literary universe and it can honestly be a bit off-putting if, like me, you are coming to his work for the first time in the 2020s.”

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The setting of the story in a real time and place (early 20th-century Paris) unfortunately creates some glaring problems with both the believability of the situation and its resolution as well as unnecessarily introducing some extremely touchy historical context (this story would have been much, much better served in a wholly fictional universe), but I think most readers can ignore this shortcoming and focus on the core story here, which is full of grace, emotion, and spirit.”
• Included on our list “The Best Graphic Novels that are Just Begging to be Brought to Life on the Screen” on Shepherd

The Thing: Brand New Thing by Walter Mosley & Tom Reilly ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The story, which at its best feels reminiscent of Charles Soule’s run on She-Hulk, can honestly be extremely difficult to follow at times, overpacked with character cameos and sideways transitions; in some ways this feels like the writer Walter Mosley just went wild playing with a bunch of beloved action figures, mashing them together until he tossed ’em all back in the toy box at the end.”

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Fifth Season

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A remarkably self-assured debut graphic novel that announces the arrival of a major talent, with a refined style that synthesizes a range of influences into a wholly unique aesthetic and narrative vision. Poised on a razor’s edge between ferocious play and fraught emotional labor, Lee Lai’s characters must negotiate family life, queer romance, and mental illness in a world with few guideposts or role models.”

You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott ⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on You Will Know Me

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A fast read, full of pitch-perfect period details and disturbing ideas that make it well-worth reading today and tomorrow. Like me, you may think you already know this novel by reputation alone, but there’s a lot to unpack here, as they say, and plenty of surprises along the path to the final denouement.”

Pastoral by André Alexis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A quiet novel full of surprise and delight, twisted miracles, lovely writing, and very funny moments… So glad to have come across Alexis’ work by happenstance last year, and looking forward to reading more of his work soon.”

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A magnificent book, a stunning achievement in style, a laugh-out-loud literary comedy, a terrifying look into madness, a meta-fiction to beat the band. Even better the second time reading it, about two decades later.”

Black Hole by Charles Burns ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“A striking tale of a sexually transmitted plague running rampant amongst a community of teenagers in suburban Washington in the 1970s, all illustrated in creator Charles Burns’ almost inhumanly precise and and dark art style.”
• Included on our list “The Best Graphic Novels that are Just Begging to be Brought to Life on the Screen” on Shepherd
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on Black Hole

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on Piranesi

Sandman Mystery Theatre Vol. 1: The Tarantula (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) and Vol. 4: The Scorpion (⭐️⭐️⭐️) by by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, & Guy Davis (reread)
“This two-decade-old series is shockingly ahead of its time, foregrounding thorny issues of racial prejudice, violence against women, and the rise of fascism that are more resonant now than ever. “
• Included on our list “The Best Graphic Novels that are Just Begging to be Brought to Life on the Screen” on Shepherd.

Une soeur by Bastien Vivès ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Le chemisier by Bastien Vivès ⭐️⭐️

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix ⭐️⭐️ Review
“There are definitely some good moments sprinkled throughout this book, and the scenes of violence, gore, and general grossness are appropriately grisly. But the book is ploddingly paced, with everything taking about twice as long as it should and a surprising turn of events in the middle that effectively cuts the tension out of the novel completely.”
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on SBCGSV

Boat Life by Tsuge Tadao ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“A melancholic, philosophical, down-to-earth, jaded, and ultimately beautiful look at one man’s slow-motion midlife crisis, and the surprising ways that simply being present in the world can change one’s outlook. A great read for anyone who has ever wanted to get away from it all, but wasn’t sure they would like what they found when they got there.”

The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The author excels at depicting the foolishness of both youth and age alike, and the down-to-earth rhythms of daily life in the shadow of a great and terrible fallen kingdom are beautifully rendered.”

Vile and Miserable by Samuel Cantin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Going Under by Zviane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As Long as it Rains by Zviane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (reread) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“…If the novel had ended at the natural climax of the action I would have marked it down a bit. But the bittersweet and dark final section, which casts everything that has come before with an atmosphere of regret and sorrow, it pitch-perfect, and ensures this sprawling novel a place in my personal pantheon of great literature and great science fiction.”
• Listen to our Apples to Giraffes episode on The Bone Clocks

Crickets #7 & 8 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
and Blood of the Virgin Color Special ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ by Sammy Harkham Review
“Issue #7 is probably the best issue yet of Crickets and the best chapter of ‘The Blood of the Virgin,’ this double-sized issue is both vast in scope (including a silent flashback that encapsulates one woman’s horrific experience of the Holocaust) and intimate in its particulars (the drunk and drugged excesses of life in Dunedin in New Zealand). Wonderful.”

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“The author does an able job weaving in a range of threads (personal, social, ecological, economic, etc) into the story, and I think the final result is a quite rich text. I’ve read it several times now and it definitely has lots of powerful emotional beats and works great as a ‘Portrait of the Cartoonist as a Young Woman’ bildungsroman.”

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“They don’t make ’em like this anymore.”

Lonely Boys by Sophie Bédard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review
“Lonely Boys brilliantly captures life as a twenty-something in all its pain and glory, showcasing the ups and downs of work, sex, romance, and most importantly of all, friendship.”