The Best Books of 2022
20ranked
9five-star
4.9avg rating
4genres
The standouts of 2022, in order. Before 2023 I didn't review everything I read, so this is a best-of list rather than a ranking of the whole year.
The top ten at a glance
BEST OF 2022#1Thistlefoot
Gennarose Nethercott
BEST OF 2022#2Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver
BEST OF 2022#3The Final Strife
Saara El-Arifi
BEST OF 2022#4All My Rage
Sabaa Tahir
BEST OF 2022#5Firekeeper's Daughter
Angeline Boulley
BEST OF 2022#6Seventeen: Last Man Standing
John Brownlow
BEST OF 2022#7Nightcrawling
Leila Mottley
BEST OF 2022#8Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle Zevin
BEST OF 2022#9Book Lovers
Emily Henry
BEST OF 2022#10Pay Dirt Road
Samantha Jayne Allen
20 of 20
Updated Jul 26
Showing order — the numbers are still each book's rank, just no longer in sequence.
Rank
Book
Rating
Genre
#1
Thistlefoot
Gennarose NethercottBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
The reunion of 2 siblings around a mysterious house is the backdrop for this lyrical beauty of a novel, my favorite of 2022.
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller Literature & Fiction
#2
Demon Copperhead
Barbara KingsolverBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
An ode to Charles Dickens in the form of a modern retelling of David Copperfield, set in Appalachian Virginia over the last 30+ years.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction
#3
The Final Strife
Saara El-ArifiBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
A land where one’s blood color determines their race is the setting while a secret sect try to infiltrate to infiltrate the government
★★★★★
Fantasy
#4
All My Rage
Sabaa TahirBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
An exploration of the immigrant experience through the story of 2 high school students of Pakistani descent, growing up in rural CA.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction
#5
Firekeeper's Daughter
Angeline BoulleyBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
A high school girl is thrust into an FBI investigation to try to uncover a drug ring that is terrorizing Native American tribes
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller
#6
Seventeen: Last Man Standing
John BrownlowBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
The greatest assassin in the world, Seventeen, must take on his predecessor, against a backdrop of a threat against global security.
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller
#7
Nightcrawling
Leila MottleyBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
The story of Kiara, a young woman 3 months shy of her 18th birthday, living in East Oakland and trying to scrape by on her own.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction
#8
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Gabrielle ZevinBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
Spanning 30 years of the main characters' lives, it's the story of 3 friends inspired to create something great in the world of gaming
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction
#9
Book Lovers
Emily HenryBEST OF2022Audiobook
★★★★★BEST OF2022Audiobook
A better version of the "city dweller finds love in a small town" trope, while also ranking as the funniest book I read in 2022.
★★★★★
Romance
#10
Pay Dirt Road
Samantha Jayne AllenBEST OF2022
★★★★★BEST OF2022
A waitress in rural Texas gets thrust into a murder investigation, with enough nuance that it rises above garden variety mysteries.
★★★★★
Mystery and Thriller
#11
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Shelby Van PeltBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#12
City on Fire
Don WinslowBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#13
Mickey7
Edward AshtonBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#14
I’m Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdyBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#15
A History of Wild Places
Shea ErnshawBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#16
A
All of Us Villains
Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn HermanBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#17
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie GarmusBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#18
Chasing the Bogeyman
Richard ChizmarBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#19
A Flicker in the Dark
Stacy WillinghamBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
#20
The Unsinkable Greta James
Jennifer E. SmithBEST OF2022
BEST OF2022
not reviewed individually
How the ranking works
One list, every book, no ties. When I finish something it goes in against everything else I've read this year, which means the order shifts constantly — a book that sat at 12 in March can be at 20 by August without having gotten any worse. Star ratings and rank are related but not the same thing: among fourteen five-star books, someone still has to be fourteenth.
The next one, in your inbox.
One email on the first of every month with a summary and rating of each book reviewed over the past 30 days, and a look at where the year's ranking stands.