2022 End-of-the-Year Book Survey

 

Head Full of Books: 2022 End-of-Year Book Survey

Stats:

• Number of books read and completed: 198.
  
• Number of re-reads: 15
• Genre you read the most:  Poetry - - 73
  
• Number of books started but not finished:  At least 4, probably more.
  
• Number of children's books read: 59+; I read LOTS of books with my grandsons for the reading project: '100 books Every Kid Should Hear Before They Go to Kindergarten.'
  
• Number of poetry books read or reread (including novels-in-verse): See above, 73.
  
• Number of memoirs and nonfiction books read: 26
• Number of graphic or illustrated books read, not children's books: 12

 

Reading Survey: (Click on book title if you want to read my review of it.)

1. Best books read in 2022:

• Literary fiction: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• YA: All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (Review pending)
  
• Children's: Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A-Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
  
• Best Poetry: The Cure for Sorrow: A Book of Blessings for Times of Grief by Jan Richardson
  
• Best graphic novel(s):  Strange Planet and Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
  
• Nonfiction:  A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

2. Book(s) I thought I'd love, but didn’t:

• The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
  

3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book: 

• Deacon King Kong by James McBride (good)
  

4. Books I “pushed” the most people to read: 

• African Town by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  

5.  Best series:

•  Best series starter:  The Girl In His Shadow by Audrey Blake
  
•  Best sequel: Stranger Planet by Nathan W. Pyle
•  Best series ender: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

6. Favorite new author I discovered in 2022:

•  Kate Quinn (The Rose Code)
  

7. Best book from a genre I don’t typically read: 

• Abuela, Don't Forget Me by Rex Ogle (Memoir-in-verse)
  

8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year:

• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
  

9. Favorite book club selection based on the discussion:

•  The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
  

10. Favorite cover of a book read in 2022:

Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox

11. Most memorable character of the year:

• Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  

12. Most thought-provoking/ life-changing book of the year:

Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection by Kate Bowler

 

13. Most beautifully written book read in the year: 

• Singing With Elephants by Margarita Engle
  

14. Book I've never read UNTIL 2022. Can you believe it? 

• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  

15. Favorite passage/quote from a book read in 2022:

“In your dark night, I urge you to hold to your faith, to embrace hope, and to bear your love before you like a burning candle, for I promise that it will light your way. And whether you believe in miracles or not, I can guarantee that you will experience one. It may not be the miracle you’ve prayed for. God probably won’t undo what’s been done. The miracle is this: that you will rise in the morning and be able to see again the startling beauty of the day.”
― William Kent Krueger, Ordinary Grace

16. Shortest and longest book read in 2022, not counting children's books:

• Recitatif by Tony Morrison -- 77 pages
  
• The Rose Code by Kate Quinn -- 624 pages
  

17. Book which shocked me the most:

• The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family by Joshua Cohen
  

18. Best audiobooks of the year:

• Fiction: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
  
• Nonfiction: Abuela, Don't Forget Me by Rex Ogle
  

19. Favorite SH nonfiction books I read for my role as a Cybils Judge (Round 2, out of five books) and poetry collection and novel-in-verse (Round 1, out of 60 books)

•  SH Nonfiction (for 2021 winner)- Punching Bag by Rex Ogle
  
• Poetry Collection (for 2022 finalists)- The 1619 project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-James and Renee Watson
• Novel-in-verse (for 2022 finalists)- African Town by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
  

20. Favorite book by an author I’ve previously read

•  The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
  

21. Best book I read this past year based SOLELY on a recommendation or peer pressure:

• Cross Purposes by Bob Welch (review pending)
  

  22. Newest fictional crush:

•  Superman in Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang
  

23. Best 2022 debut: 

•  The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
  

24. Best world-building/Most vivid setting I read this year:

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
  

25. Book which put a smile on my face/was FUN to read:

• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
  

26. Book which made me cry:

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (review pending)
  

27. Hidden Gem of the Year? There are several: 

1.  My Name is Jason. Mine too: Our Story. Our Way by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin
2. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin 
3. Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez 
4. The Violin Conspiracy by Brenden Slocomb
   
5. Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh
   

28. Anything odd about this year's reading list:

• So many children's books and poetry books.
  

29. Most unique book:

• Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda
  

30. Book which made me angry (due to the topic):

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Black Lives Matter)
  
• Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh (Abortion Terrorism)
  

31. Favorite poetry or short story collection: 

• Poetry: The Heart of American Poetry by Edward Hirsch
  
• Short Stories: Seven Empty Houses by Samantha Schweblin
  

32. Favorite re-read of the year:

•  Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
  

33. Favorite classic book read during the year:

• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  

34. Books I didn’t get to in 2022 are now top priorities in 2023

• Fiction--- Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  
• Nonfiction--- The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu
  
• YA/Junior/Children's--- Mister Impossible (Dreamer series #2) by Maggie Stiefvater, the third book in the series is out now and I still need to read the second book. Argh!
  
• Classic--- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
  
• Poetry/Essays: -- These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett.This was on my list last year in this exact spot. 2023 ! I will get it done.
  

35. Bookish goals for 2023

• Write reviews for all book club selections.
• Complete "My One Book" challenge: The Count of Monte Cristo
  
• Read two of the five National Book Award winners. (Announced in November)
  
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner for literature (announced in March or April) and finish all the past winners on my list, five in all, counting the 2023 winner. 
• Read at least five classic books on my list. (See list here.)
  

 

Blogging survey:

1. Favorite reviews that I wrote in 2022

• Grapes of Wrath
• The Violin Conspiracy 
• Ordinary Grace
• Whistling Season 
• The Goldfinch
  

2. Most popular review of the year based on stats:

• Lessons in Chemistry. 499 pages views, 17 comments.
  

3. Best discussion/non-review post:

• Sunday Salon: Voting Edition. 41 comments.
  

4. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

• Reading "One Hundred Books You Should Have Read To You Before Kindergarten" with my grandson who turned five and entered Kindergarten this year. I loved just about every moment of this project with him. Here is a post about the project: 'One Hundred Books.'
  

5. Best moment of bookish/blogging life in 2022

• Several posts, generally my Sunday Salon posts generated discussions with friends outside my blogging world. I once was greeted at Bible Study by these words, "Thank you for your post about the elections. I feel so much better about what to expect on Tuesday."
  

6. Most challenging thing about blogging or your reading life this year?

• We read 60 poetry books for Cybils, Round 1, Poetry Division. More than half of those books were novels/memoirs-in-verse. Though I loved the project I confess to feeling crotchedy about several of the novels-in-verse whose poetry wasn't all that good. Because I was reading so many books in such a short period of time many of the reviews were for four or five books at a time.
  

7. Most popular post this year:

• My Yearly Blogging and Reading Challenges (690 views)
  

8. Posts I wish got a bit more love:

• Complete Maus. (Banned Books Week. 37 views, 7 comments)
• Poetry Book Reviews Where I disagree with a Five-Year-Old (20 views)
  

9. Best bookish discovery (book related sites, book stores, etc.):

• Libby App. (Replaced Overdrive at my library)
  

10.  How did I do on my reading challenges or goals for 2022?

• Read 100 books this year. ✔ (198+ books)
  
• My Own Personal National Book Award Challenge ✔
• Seven Empty Houses
• All My Rage
  
• Read the Pulitzer Prize winner and past winners: I read only 2 of 7 ✔-
• The Netanyahus
  
• Grapes of Wrath
  
• Read all the 2022 Printz winners, award and honor books. I read 1 of 5.  ✔- -
•  The Firekeeper's Daughter
  
• Read 10 Classics Club Spins and classics club books:  4 classics this year. ✔-
• Murder on the Orient Express
• As I Lay Dying
• Grapes of Wrath
• The Secret Garden
  

• Big Book Summer Challenge. Five completed ✔ 
  
•  Audiobook Challenge: My goal=25, I listened to 44+ ✔
• I completed my 'one big reading goal of the year': to read Grapes of Wrath ✔

-Gratefully turning the page over on 2022.

-Anne