2022 December Reading Challenge

[Elizabeth]

One of my favorite things about the end of the year is all of the "Best of the Year" booklists! Your challenge is to find a Best of 2022 booklist and pick a book from it to read. Please share the booklist you found, too. That way everyone knows what booklists might be fun.

And yes, you can pick from The Goodreads Choice Award nominees!

Happy hunting!

[Elizabeth]

I apologize that the December challenge was late. I thought I posted this yesterday, but I included a lot of links, and I guess Goodreads didn't like it. And deleted it???

I enjoy the Barnes and Noble Best books list, because it has a lot of different genres.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/book...

But there is always bookriot, new york times, publisher's weekly (they also have a best kids list of 2022!), NPR, etc.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Hmmmm, choices choices. I didn't manage the last two challenges but we'll see on this one lol

[Greg]

I read Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik from the Goodreads Choice Scifi Nominees.

10/10 challenges complete (14/14 books) for 2022!

[Tanya]

I looked at a bunch of lists (The New York Times, Vogue, Barnes
and Noble, Vulture, etc.) and The Candy House was on ALL of them. So that's what I'm going with.

[Linda]

I am going to read The Book Woman's Daughter
It is a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards Historical Fiction category.

[Carolyn]

On Amazon's best books of 2022 by category lists (fiction and literature), I found one of the books I'm currently reading, so that's probably what I'll use for this challenge We Are the Light by Matthew Quick.

I saw several already on my TBR to at least try sometime (not necessarily this month) among the various lists I looked at (B&N, Amazon, NPR, Goodreads, etc).. Among them: "The Violin Conspiracy" by Brendan Slocumb, "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver, "River of the Gods" by Candice Millard, "Bittersweet" by Susan Cain, "The Whalebone Theatre" by Joanna Quinn, "Remarkably Bright Creatures" by Shelby Van Pelt. Definitely seem to be reading a number of new/new-ish books these days.

I also saw decent number I've already read this year.

[Deborah]

I have decided to read Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A F Steadman from the Barnes & Nobel's 10 Best Books of 2022 list. I will let you know when I finish it.

[Elizabeth]

Greg wrote: "I'm reading
Hunt the Stars
by Jessie Mihalik from the Goodreads Choice Scifi Nominees."

I have that one checked out too. I've heard good things, but haven't started it yet. Let me know if you like it!

[Elizabeth]

Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Hmmmm, choices choices. I didn't manage the last two challenges but we'll see on this one lol"

I know that sometimes you enjoy children's fiction. You can always try out this list:
https://best-books.publishersweekly.c...

[Elizabeth]

Tanya wrote: "I looked at a bunch of lists (The New York Times, Vogue, Barnes
and Noble, Vulture, etc.) and The Candy House was on ALL of them. So that's what I'm going with."

Let us know if you enjoyed this one. It's always interesting to see what carries over from list to list, you know?

[Elizabeth]

Linda wrote: "I am going to read The Book Woman's Daughter
It is a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards Historical Fiction category."

I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek for a book club. I should probably read this one too. It's a stand-alone sequel to the last book (meaning you don't have to read the first book to understand what's happening in this one. I am curious if I would like it. I didn't enjoy the first one, because it's not my favorite type of book, but it was compelling.

[Elizabeth]

Carolyn wrote: "On Amazon's best books of 2022 by category lists (fiction and literature), I found one of the books I'm currently reading, so that's probably what I'll use for this challenge [book:We Are the Light..."

River of Gods is on my list too. I really like how Candice Millard approaches subjects for her nonfiction books.

[Elizabeth]

Deborah wrote: "I have decided to read Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A F Steadman from the Barnes & Nobel's 10 Best Books of 2022 list. I will let you know when I finish it."

This one looks exciting. I'll have to give it a try.

[Elizabeth]

For anyone who wants to complete this challenge with Picture Books, here's a direct link to Publisher's weekly best Picture Books of 2020.

https://best-books.publishersweekly.c...

[Linda]

Elizabeth wrote: "Linda wrote: "I am going to read The Book Woman's Daughter
It is a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards Historical Fiction category."

I read The Book Woman of Troublesome ..."</i>

I also read [book:The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek . That is why I was excited to see this was one of the finalists.

[Britt, Book Habitue]

I already had What If? 2 on my shelf, and it was a nominee for the GoodReads end of year awards, so I read that yesterday. So fun! I highly recommend it. (And the first one, of course, but this is the one that would count here. You don't really need to read them in order.)

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Elizabeth wrote: "Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Hmmmm, choices choices. I didn't manage the last two challenges but we'll see on this one lol"

I know that sometimes you enjoy children's fiction. You can always try ou..."

I love lists, so I will definitely be checking this out!

[Carolyn]

Finished We Are the Light.

[Greg]

Elizabeth wrote: "Greg wrote: "I'm reading
Hunt the Stars
by Jessie Mihalik from the Goodreads Choice Scifi Nominees."

I have that one checked out too. I've heard good things, but haven't started it yet. Let me ..."

I didn't care for it, much. If you like books like A Court of Thorns and Roses, you'll probably like it. For me it was short on plot, long on romance.

[Mary]

I am currently reading Bloomsbury Girls, so I scoured the internet to see if it made any "Best Of" lists for 2022.

I found it on two lists (although none of the major ones): Thoughts From a Page's best historical fiction of 2022 list and One More Page Books' best fiction of 2022.

https://www.onemorepagebooks.com/stor...

https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com/blo...

[Debbie]

Mary wrote: "I am currently reading Bloomsbury Girls, so I scoured the internet to see if it made any "Best Of" lists for 2022.

I found it on two lists (although none of the major ones): Thoughts From a Page'..."

TaDa! Counts! Good for you!

[Debbie]

I have finished reading both John's Turn by Mac Barnett ( Review ) and Sal Boat: by Thyra Heder ( Review ) . Both were delightful. And, yes, it's Sal Boat, not Sail Boat.

[JoAnn]

I just borrowed two from the following list, placed another on hold and my husband already purchased a fourth book. Barnes and Noble Kids Storytime is a weekly tradition for us.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/b...

[Em]

Got my hold request in early, and I am currently reading Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. 50% chance I will get through it before 12/31. This book made it on to the list of Barnes & Noble best books 2022
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/book...

Completed 12/28

[Elizabeth]

Can you all believe December is half over? Where did the time go? I love how many of you are finding books. I'm glad you're sharing your lists so others can use them. Don't forget to post what you've read and when you finished so you will be eligible for the prize drawing!

[Mary]

I finished Bloomsbury Girls. I loved the author's debut novel The Jane Austen Society, so I picked this one up as well. I really enjoyed this, but probably not quite as much as her first novel. I listened to the audiobook, and Juliet Stevenson is the narrator. Her stellar narration added a lot to the experience.

[Whitney]

I read Merry Little Meet Cute and it is one NPRs best books of 2022 https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view... I absolutely loved it.

[Deborah]

I finished Skandar and the Unicorn Thief last night. While I was initially put off by the idea of carnivorous unicorns, I loved this book! I found this book on the Barnes & Noble's Top 10 Books of 2022 list https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/book...

[Tanya]

Elizabeth wrote: "Let us know if you enjoyed this one. It's always interesting to see what carries over from list to list, you know"


The Candy House was super strange, and I'm pretty sure it was really good. I have to read it again. Once doesn't seem like enough.

[Linda]

I finished
I thought it was just as good as the first book, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.

[Linda]

I just finished . It was a New York times best children's book for the year.

[Jessica]

Linda wrote: "I just finished . It was a New York times best children's book for the year."

It's so darling! I immediately bought copies for three people after I read it!

[Elizabeth]

Jessica wrote: "Linda wrote: "I just finished . It was a New York times best children's book for the year."

It's so darling! I immediately bought copies for three people after I rea..."

I love it when you find a book like that!

[Linda]

Jessica wrote: "Linda wrote: "I just finished . It was a New York times best children's book for the year."

It's so darling! I immediately bought copies for three people after I rea..."

If I hadn't already finished my shopping I would have bought one for our grandchildren for Christmas.

[Elizabeth]

Only a few days left! Make sure to post what you've read and what list it came from to be entered into the prize drawing!

(Also, how is it the end of December already???)

[Linda]

The new year begins on Sunday. Do we know what the challenge will be for January? (So I can get a book on hold if I need to)

[Linda]

The new year begins on Sunday. Do we know what the challenge will be for January? (So I can get a book on hold if I need to) Especially since the library won't be open until the 3rd.

[Elizabeth]

Yes! I will get that posted tonight!

Edit: It's been posted!

[Audrey]

I read Baby Squeaks.

[Carolyn]

Got a second book in just in time to count: The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn. On Amazon's best debuts list.

[Elizabeth]

Britt, Book Habitue is our prize drawing winner for December’s reading challenge for reading What if? 2.

Congratulations!

[Britt, Book Habitue]

Hooray!

[Debbie]

Congrats, Britt!

[Audrey]

Cool!