2022!! A year of many highs and some unfortunate lows. Started the year jobless and unsure of what I was doing with my life. Found myself living back with my parents and had no set clear path. So did what anyone else would do when they were unemployed and with limited funds and decided to travel all around the country. A decision I will never regret. Cause you will make up the money, but you will never have those memories. 2022 was a year of some amazing books. Books that made me laugh. Books that made me want to throw it on public transportation. Books that made me sob for hours afterward. It was incredibly difficult narrowing down the list to just 10, as there were so many I want to mention, but after a ton of back and forth, I came up with these 10 as my top books of 2022. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support this past year. I can’t wait to see what 2023 will bring. Wishing you a Happy Holidays and New Year!
1. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
Why this made my top 10: If I could, I would give this book 6 stars. It will be a book I reread over and over again. A book that I recommend to every single person even if they aren’t a huge reader. So if you haven’t read this book please, please, please read it. It’s a rollercoaster of a book that will leave your heart broken but in the best possible way. Beneath a Scarlet Sky and The Last Green Valley are books I would use if I was a high school teacher and wanted to enlighten the youth of America. A book that makes you think a whole lot. Mark Sullivan is such a talented writer and I hope he continues to bring light to these stories that often get buried in history.
Plot: Pino Lella is just your average Italian teenager. He loves music, food, and girls but hates the war that is going on and the Nazis that have started taking over his town. When the war ends up destroying his home in Milan, he decides to join an underground railroad helping lead Jews through the Alps. His parents force him to enlist as a German soldier in a way to protect himself and to be out of combat. What they did not plan for is that after Pino suffers a horrible injury, he is moved from his current position to the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left-hand man in Italy. He is in the perfect position to report information back to the Allies. But while working as the driver, Pino is subjected to some of the many horrors brought on by the war. The book only takes place in 1-2 years but it feels like a lifetime with the amount that occurs to Pino and the citizens of Italy. Based on the true story of a young man’s resilience and an often-forgotten hero.
2. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Why this made my top 10: The book that got me to actually start considering reading books in the Fantasy genre deserves a spot in my top 10 of the year. It tugs at your heartstrings from the start and you find yourself falling in love with the characters. I want to reread this book now as I write this. House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering door will always have a special place in my heart. I’m already counting down the days till his newest book gets released in Spring 2023. If you are looking for a feel-good book, this is a great place to start.
Plot: Linus Baker leads a life in solitary with his cat in his tiny house. He works for the government in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth where he assists children living in government-sanctioned orphanages. When Linus is assigned an interesting case dealing with six magical youths (A gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist) out on an isolated island, he has to determine whether or not the children are going to destroy the world. When the secrets of the island start emerging it is revealed that not everything is as truly as it appears and Linus must decide if it is better to destroy the home or watch the world burn.
3. In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
Why this made my top 10: This book is marked as YA, which while it is a great YA book, it is a book for all readers. It doesn’t evoke as strong of emotions as some of these others do, but the writing is so beautifully written you feel almost in a trance as you read it. A story of coming to age and growing into the person you are meant to become. I found myself wanting to highlight so much of this book and just remember those quotes later on in life.
Plot: Growing up in the small Appalachian town of Sawyer, Tennessee, life has not always been easy for Cash Pruitt. Losing his mother from opioid addiction a few years ago, and his grandfather who raised him is dying from emphysema, he’s finding that his life is all about survival in this small town. When his best friend, and town genius, is granted a full scholarship from this prestigious academy in Connecticut, she makes the executive decision to only attend if he follows her. Changing his life completely from what he knows back in Sawyer. A story of grief, first loves, discovery and growth.
4. Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea
Why this made my top 10: I typically do not enjoy slow burn mysteries or thrillers. I want the action to start happening right away. This book was an exception to this way of thinking. I finished this book and instantly wanted to reread it. I thought I knew what the ending was going to be but then the last quarter or the book was filled with so many twists that I had to reread it multiple times to make sure I was understanding it correctly. Was a twist I didn’t even think was possible. A fantastic thriller that gives Alex Michaelades a run for his money.
Plot: Avery Mason is the host of one of the most grossing television shows when a once in a lifetime story arises she knows it can be the change in careers she’s been waiting for. The story is about the first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. But there’s a catch. The victim had been convicted of a gruesome murder days before the towers fell. New evidence arises that when the first plane hit, the victim left a voice mail to her sister begging to prove her innocence. Avery begins a wild ride trying to find the true answer to this crime as she fights her own demons from her past.
5. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Why this made my top 10: I, like many others, probably didn’t really know much about Trevor Noah other than he is the current host of The Daily Show. I knew he was from South Africa but had no idea the life he lived before moving to the United States. In typical Trevor fashion, he fills the book with humor that will leave your howling and some stories that will leave you wanting to cry. He’s an incredibly talented writer and entertainer who knows just how to capture his audience with different emotions.
Plot: A memoir following the life of Trevor Noah from growing up on the streets in South Africa to his journey of eventually hosting The Daily Show. How his birth was seen as a huge controversy in his home country and why he needed to stay inside for the earliest years of his life. What his mother risked to keep him safe and away from the white rule of South Africa. A story of a boy who was never supposed to exist and his mother who would put his life above anything else, including her own safety.
6. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
Why this made my top 10: I’ve said this before but Ruta Sepetys is one of my favorite historical fiction writers. She finds the stories in history that often go untold, especially for countries that are usually forgotten when you talk about WWII. I Must Betray You and Between Shades of Gray are two of her others that I loved this past year, but Fountains of Silence just took the cake for me. I loved reading about Spain and the hope and fear this country had while under Franco. It was the kind of book that had me researching for hours afterwards.
Plot: Daniel Matheson is an American tourist visiting Madrid in the summer of 1957. He doesn’t know much about the trip other than it is the first time his mom has been back to her home country since she left 20+ years ago and that his father has been invited by General Francisco Franco to discuss his oil company back in Texas. He’s just hoping for some pictures that might get him into the journalism school he secretly desires to attend. It’s the first time in a while that tourists are welcome into the country. For as a tourist you can enter and leave freely but that can’t be said for many of the locals. Especially those who supported the republic. Ana is a maid for the hotel that Daniel and his family are staying at when they first meet and whose upbringing is a complete 180 from what Daniel is used to. With his keen ability to capture the perfect picture, he starts to question the things he sees around him and the secret dark side of this beautiful city.
7. Verity by Colleen Hoover
Why this made my top 10: Colleen Hoover has taken off over the last few years. And to be honest I think most of her books are over hyped. However, Verity is very much worth the hype that it has. An addicting romance thriller that has an ending that will leave you with mouth opened in shocked. The book is infuriating at certain points but in the end, you realize why they had to have you hate one of the characters from the beginning. It’s an absolutely insane book but I loved it! It was incredibly addictive and I hope that Colleen Hoover writes another romance thriller soon.
Plot: Verity follows Lowen Ashleigh who is a struggling writer when the chance of a lifetime lands at her feet. She has been asked by Jeremy Crawford, husband of the legendary Verity Crawford, to finish the current book his wife is working on as she is currently too injured to work on it. Lowen expects to find notes and rough drafts of the current book, but what she finds is an autobiography in process that will highlight all the secrets Verity has been keeping from the rest of the world. It’s up to Lowen to decide what she wants to do with these admissions that could ruin the Crawford family. Things aren’t always as perfect as they may seem from the outside.
8. The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik
Why this made my top 10: This book surprised me on how much I ended up enjoying it. I read it for my families book club and fell in love with the story and with Jasmin Darznik’s writing. Darznik did such a great job of bringing her audience into the scenery and making you feel like you were walking along the streets of San Francisco with Dorothea Lange. I can’t wait to see what else Jasmin Darznik creates the next few years.
Plot: Set in the Jazz Age, San Francisco, Dorothea Lange is just making her debut. She isn’t quite yet the world-famous photographer she will soon become. The story follows her early years as she finds her grit, compassion, and longing to become who she is meant to be. Where she learned about love, loss, friendship, and destiny before capturing the world-famous photograph “Migrant Mother”. How the strength of friendship and the drive for self-invention can break free from history.
9. This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Why this made my top 10: Oh my heart. This book just tug on all the heart strings. I found myself thinking a lot about the different situations and if I would’ve handled them similarly or differently than how the characters did. Krueger is just such a poetic writer that the writing is beautiful. Can’t say anything else other than it is so beautiful. Can’t wait to check out his other books hopefully this year. Just bought Ordinary Grace!
Plot: Odie O’Banion is a going-on thirteen-year-old boy who is currently a student at The Lincoln Indian Training School on the Minnesota/Dakota border. Odie and his brother, Albert, are orphans and the only white faces among hundreds of Native American children who have been separated from their families. As one of the students known for causing trouble, he finds himself in a pickle after he has committed an unforgivable act and must flee the school. Odie and Albert escape along with their best friend, Mose, and a little girl named Emmy who has seen much loss at her young age. They become known as The Vagabonds. They set off in their canoe, trying to find their new home, and over the course of summer come across some unforgettable paths that change the course of who they will become. Meeting many people from all different walks of life who are all just lost souls as well.
10. The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim DeFede
Why this made my top 10: If a book can get me to start crying while on a packed train in morning rush hour, then it deserves a spot on this list. When I say I sobbed from happy tears, I full on sobbed from happy tears. I was incredibly young when 9/11 happened, so all my memories are just from what I learned in school or from other family members. Not often do we really talk about how this event effected other countries around them. In a time of so much hate, this is a great book to read about the kindness of strangers. If Come Far Away play ever comes back to Chicago, will definitely be checking that one out.
Plot: When the first tower went down, nobody knew what was happening, why it was happening or what would be the next target. The US government issues a no fly over the whole country resulting in many flights to either turn back to their original location or make emergency landings wherever they could. 38 flights found themselves landing at a small cargo airport in Gander, Canada. A population of 10,000 quickly grew to 17,000+ in just a few short hours. A story of what one small town did in a time of terror and loss for so many.
Until Next Time, The Library Abroad
The Library Abroad 
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