Hi everyone! I recently took it upon myself to rank all 150 books I read in 2022. I’ll add the image of the whole tier at the bottom of this post, but if you’d like to watch me decide the ranking, you can watch my YouTube video linked below.
Ranking all of these allowed me to find my top 5 and 10 books of the year, which was pretty cool to know. I already had a good idea about which were in my top 5, and I definitely knew which would come out on top, but it was so interesting to rank them against each other.
5. Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood
In grey, 1930s England, Bea has grown up kicking against the conventions of the time, all the while knowing that she will one day have to marry someone her parents choose – someone rich enough to keep the family estate alive. But she longs for so much more – for adventure, excitement, travel, and maybe even romance.
When she gets the chance to spend the summer in Italy with her bohemian uncle and his fiancée, a whole world is opened up to Bea – a world that includes Ben, a cocky young artist who just happens to be infuriatingly handsome too. Sparks fly between the quick-witted pair until one night, under the stars, a challenge is set: can Bea and Ben put aside their teasing and have the perfect summer romance?
With their new friends gleefully setting the rules for their fling, Bea and Ben can agree on one thing at least: they absolutely, positively will not, cannot fall in love…
A long, hot summer of kisses and mischief unfolds – but storm clouds are gathering across Europe, and home is calling. Every summer has to end – but for Bea, this might be just the beginning.
Overall, this was probably one of my most surprising reads of the year. I read A Sky Painted Gold back in 2021 and although I enjoyed it, it didn’t quite reach 5 stars. Under a Dancing Star, however, was such a beautiful read on a long summer evening and it was absolutely brilliant. I don’t usually read a lot of historical as it doesn’t usually appeal to me, so this was even more of pleasant surprise.
You can read my full review here.
4. i love this part by Tillie Walden
Two girls in a small town in the USA kill time together as they try to get through their days at school.
They watch videos, share earbuds as they play each other songs and exchange their stories. In the process they form a deep connection and an unexpected relationship begins to develop.
My 4th favourite book of the year was also a little surprising, as I have never read anything by this author before. This was also a very short graphic novel, but it had a big impact.
i love this part covers the relationship between two girls. It follows everything from the smallest moments to the big ones – and it encapsulates so many tiny parts of a relationship that I really related to and loved.
You can read my review here.
3. The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.
That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding… six-pack abs.
Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
My 3rd favourite book of the year was The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, which I couldn’t help picking up due to the hype! I’m not usually so impressed by romances, but I could not put this one down and I binged it so quickly. I can’t wait to read more from this author!
You can find my full review here.
2. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
I also had another surprising read – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This one was particularly surprising as I had actually read Daisy Jones and the Six and didn’t feel as impressed by it as everyone else seemed to be at the time. I wasn’t planning on reading anything more by this author, until my lovely friend Courtney read and absolutely loved Seven Husbands. I decided to try it and absolutely fell in love with this amazing book. It’s so involving, beautiful, shocking and I couldn’t put it down.
You can read my full review here.
1.Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
And it came as no surprise to find my favourite book of the year was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I absolutely loved this book, which is a slow burn, beautiful story following intricate characters over a number of years.
You can find my full review here.
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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