2022 Books in Review

My OG readers will know I love a book roundup and it’s something I’ve done for as long as I’ve been on social media! 2022 was an interesting year, though, as it went for reading and frankly, most other areas of my life as well. With all of the major life change, renovating a house, getting my kids acclimated in a new school, and getting myself acclimated in a new community, I just didn’t really have a lot of time to read. There were several great books on my list, but in general it just wasn’t my strongest year. Luckily, I can’t see any major life change on the horizon in 2023 and I am hoping to travel a bit which always is a good sign for reading prognosis, so my goal for 2023 is DOUBLE what I read in 2022 (26 books). Let’s just make it a round number and call it 50 and I’ll consider anything above 26 a step in the right direction 😉

A few disclaimers about my rating system below! There are a couple really good, highly acclaimed books that I didn’t rate highly. There is one good reason for that: if a book takes me too long to read, I tend to lose focus and interest (doesn’t everybody?). So that said, with all of the distractions of 2022, some books just sat on my nightstand for far too long being ignored and even though I ultimately may have completed them, they didn’t get my full attention so I couldn’t appreciate them fully. Best example I have of this is the Lincoln Highway which most people absolutely LOVED. I was just too distracted to love it.

This year was also the year I started making peace with not finishing books that weren’t entertaining to me. This would have scandalized my pre-2022 self, but with everything going on, I decided to accept the fact that some books are simply not for me and forcing it is just an insane waste of precious reading time. I won’t include the books I didn’t finish on this list for obvious reasons, but just know there may be a few half read doozies in my tossed pile.

ROUNDUP KEY and READER’S NOTE: I am absolutely DYING to get back into a book club in 2023, so for all of you who are currently in a book club, I’m categorizing the books on my list two ways: as suitable for book club OR a women’s bible study/small group study. If they have a white heart 🤍 beside them, they’re great for your women’s group/bible study. If they have a yellow heart 💛, they’d make great book club reads based on my criteria for readability, entertainment value and discussion points. If a book has a check✔️ by it, I enjoyed it. If a book has no markings by it, I don’t necessarily recommend it.

MY 2022 BOOK ROUNDUP

1. Somebody’s Daughter
2. Forgiving What You Can’t Forget ✔️🤍
3. The Wife Upstairs ✔️💛
4. Wintering ✔️
5. Lucky ✔️💛
6. Draw the Circle Prayer Challenge (read Circle Maker first) ✔️🤍
7. Mama Bear Apologetics (I would say I enjoyed most of this if not all of it) ✔️🤍
8. The Midnight Library 💛
9. Driven by Eternity ✔️🤍
10. We Are the Brennans 💛
11. Rock, Paper, Scissors
12. The Star Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
13. Heart Bones
14. I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet ✔️🤍💛
15. Lincoln Highway
16. The Family Across the Street
17. Chasing Vines ✔️🤍
18. Book Lovers ✔️💛
19. The Dutch House ✔️💛
20. Carrie Soto is Back ✔️💛
21. It Starts With Us
22. Nora Goes Off Script ✔️💛
23. The Maid
24. Happy Go Lucky
25. Emmanuel ✔️🤍
26. The Bodyguard ✔️💛

That’s a wrap for the 2022 reading season! Have you read any of the books on my list? How would you rate them? Bookmark this post for your 2023 reading plans! If you want to create your own cozy reading nook at home, here are some of my favorite things from my own cozy reading nook. Happy reading, friends!

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