I am so excited to share my favorite books of 2022, but before doing that I feel like I need to close out the year by posting my December Reading Wrap-up. In fact, some of my favorites of the year were December reads!
December was such a good reading month for me…possibly my best reading month of the year. I read almost all four and five star books that I truly enjoyed and with Christmas break, I had long stretches of time to truly enjoy my reading experiences.
I read a whopping total of fourteen books in December!! Three of those were on audio and one was a little book that with short stories and snippets I’ve been reading on and off throughout the year. I read three of the books during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Here are the books I read in December 2022:
Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra
4/5 stars
I received this book from Book of the Month and it sat on my shelf for a bit before I finally picked it up. Mercury Pictures Presents is the story of an immigrant woman from Italy who comes to Los Angeles in the 1940s and reinvents herself in order to survive. The backdrop of this epic story is Hollywood and a lower end movie production company. The writing in this novel is absolutely beautiful! I love the careful way each character’s story was told and honored through the telling.
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
4/5 stars
The Fortunes of Jaded Women is a multi-narrative novel about a family of Vietnamese women who emerge victorious, even though it seems that life is out to get them. It was a fun novel that was also a really quick read. Everyone knows that the Duong sisters are haunted by a curse that began with their ancestor Oanh who dared to leave her marriage for true love. Ever since then the Duong women have given birth to only daughters–daughters who aren’t able to honor them in death. The story focused on Mai Duong who is estranged from her two younger sisters and struggles with her relationship with her own three daughters. Mai consults a psychic to get guidance and is told that this year her family will witness a marriage, a funeral and the birth of a son. This prophecy prompts Mai to reunite with her estranged family and it brings all the women of this together in various ways. The Fortunes of Jaded Women is about family, and the love that binds them together.
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
4/5 stars
I was so intrigued by the hype around this book and it’s beautiful cover that I just had to have it!! In The Cloisters, Ann Stillwell, a recent college graduate is spending the summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is assigned to The Cloisters–a gothic museum and garden known for its medieval art collection and its group of researchers working on studying the history of divination. Ann becomes wrapped up in a web of deceit and mystery when she discovers a hidden 15th century deck or tarot cards. This was a very compelling read. I was completely wrapped up in it along with Ann.
Darling Girl by Liz Michalski
4/5 stars
Darling Girl is a retelling of the classic Peter Pan. In this retelling, Peter is not the innocent adventurer that fairy tales make him out to be. He is dark and dangerous. The protagonist, Holly Darling, must take on the infamous Peter Pan in order to save the lives of her beloved children. Darling Girl explores the dark underpinnings of the Peter Pan fairy tale–grief, aging, sacrifice, motherhood, and how far one mother will go to protect the ones she loves. Peter Pan is one of my favorite fairy takes and I loved this very different retelling of it.
The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama
4/5 stars
I read this on audio because I love Michele’s voice (I read Becoming on audio as well), but I have plans to also get it in print because it needs to be on my bookshelf. In The Light We Carry, Michele Obama shares practical wisdom and strategies for staying hopeful in today’s world. I loved how truly practical, uplifting and positive this was! It was like having an older, wiser woman come along and hold my hand while bestowing much needed wisdom from her life experiences. I loved it!!
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
5/5 stars
This is an incredibly beautiful book–from the gorgeous cover to the heartfelt writing! As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow tells the story of a Syrian refugee that needs to be read by everyone to understand the very real struggles of refugees fleeing war and devastation. The protagonist, Salama Kassab, was a pharmacy student living a normal teenage life when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. Now, after having lost all of her family, she volunteers at a hospital helping the wounded who flood through the doors on a daily basis. She is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country and make her way to safety as she is haunted by an imagined companion, Khawf, who is an embodiment of the fear that she holds inside. Salama is torn between love for an loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. She contends with bullets, bombs, military assaults, a shifting sense of morality and new found love as she prepares to escape to safety. This was such a gripping story that brought me to tears more than once.
We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
5/5 Stars
It is so hard to believe that this is a novel and not a memoir–it was so realistically written! Edi and Ash have been best friends for more than forty years, so when Edi is diagnosed with terminal cancer and Ash moves her to a hospice center near her home, her world is reshaped around the rhythms of Edi’s care. We All Want Impossible Things walks the reader through the experience of watching someone beloved make the transition from life to death in such a loving, realistic, yet gentle way. It is a book about friendship, family, love, grief, and living life to its fullest. It made me laugh and cry and laugh again through my tears. This book will stay with me for a long time.
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kufafka
5/5 stars
I opted to read this in audio after seeing it on several “best of the year” lists. Notes on an Execution is powerful, emotional, and masterfully written! Ansel Packer is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in twelve hours. He is about to experience the same fate that he forced upon three girls and his ex-wife. Ansel doesn’t want to die, he wants to be celebrated and understood. Ansel’s story is told through the lens of three women–his mother, the sister of his ex-wife and a homicide detective. As the clock for Ansel’s execution counts down these three women sift through the choices end in tragedy. This was gripping and unforgettable.
Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah
3/5 stars
Jacqueline in Paris is a portrait of Jacqueline Bouvier’s (later known as Jackie Kennedy) college year abroad in postwar Paris. This is the fictionalized coming of age story of an American icon as the is forced the open her eyes to the reality of the effects of war upon Europe. It took me a while to get into this story and, honestly, I would never have cared at all, until I discovered that it was about Jackie Kennedy as a college student. Even knowing that, it was often hard to care for her character in the story. That’s why I was only able to give it three stars.
Christmas by the Book by Anne Marie Ryan
4/5 stars
I purchased this book specifically to read in the days leading up to Christmas. It was exactly the Christmas-y, feel-good story that I was looking for! Set in small town England, Christmas by the Book, tells the story of two bookseller facing a hard time keeping their store up and running. They decide to spread Christmas cheer through the magic of book delivers to six anonymous readers nominated by loved ones. This is such a sweet, heart-warming story of Christmas magic perfect for book lovers!
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig
4/5 stars
I read this book throughout the year, reaching for it between books and in quiet moments. The Comfort Book is a collection of notes, lists and stories written over the span of several years. It originally served as gentle reminders to the author, Matt Haig’s, future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Throughout the book, Haig offers his readers warmth and reassurance, reminding them to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of their human existence. As the title alludes, it was very comforting to reach for this and I’m glad to have it on my shelf.
Nora Goes off Script by Annabel Monaghan
5/5 stars
This may very well be my favorite rom-com book ever! This was the Christmas Eve book that my husband given to me and I was hooked from the very first page. I read it by the end of Christmas day! In Nora Goes Off Script, Nora Hamilton is a romance channel screenwriter (think Hallmark Channel) who knows the formula for romance. But when her husband leaves her and her two children, Nora writes about her marriage and it becomes a hit–being made for the big screen. When former “Sexiest-Man-Alive” actor Leo Vance shows up to play the lead role and doesn’t want to leave when the filming is over, Nora’s life is forever changed. Nora Goes Off Script is the best kind of love story–the kind that is real and complicated. This book was just perfection–I connected with Nora as a nuanced character and fell in love with her story.
From Scratch by Tembi Locke
4/5 stars
From the sub-title, From Scratch is a memoir of love, Sicily and finding home. Tembi Locke tells her story of finding love at first sight when she met professional chef, Saro, while studying abroad in Italy. Saro’s traditional Italian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. But, the couple forged ahead and made a happy home in Los Angeles, adopting a baby girl and eventually making amends with his family. She also walks the reader through her very real grief as her husband dies of cancer. She chronicles three summers spent in Italy with his mother after his passing. This story is about grief and loss, yes, but it is also about healing and finding love and acceptance and home. It is also about love of food and chasing beloved flavors as an act of remembrance. This has been made into a Netflix series that I have plans to watch soon.
Doctors and Friends by Kimmery Martin
4/5 stars
I received Doctors and Friends as a Christmas present this year. I put it on my Christmas list after reading and loving one of the author’s previous books. Doctors and Friends follows three close friends who met in medical school as they live through a pandemic that changes all of their lives in drastic ways. I had to keep reminding myself as I was reading this that it was actually written prior to Covid-19 as the events seemed so realistic after experiencing a real pandemic. I was gripped by the stories of these three doctors and what they lived through in this novel. It is also interesting to note Kimmery Martin’s background as a former emergency medicine physician.
Have you read any of these books? What was your December reading like?