Everything I Read in 2022

Richly detailed and descriptive, Adichie’s novel is an excellent story of tragedy, humanity, and love amidst the 1950s Biafran War.

It is quite lengthy, and has some lulls in its pacing, but this downtime makes its moments of horror all the more chilling and suspensful. Half of a Yellow Sun is a unique and important read that explores the influence of the British over Nigeria, and how the country itself is falling apart at the seams.

Whether you consider this a book or not is up to you, but it stands as my favourite of Shakespeare’s works (and one of the few plays I’ve ever enjoyed).

King Lear is a story of corruption and family, mixing tragedy, loyalty, and romance. There’s plenty of theming to examine and expand upon. Even if you can’t get entirely into the story, or it all seems a bit obvious, Lear and his Fool always manage to entertain in the scenes they share.

One of the first Japanese novels I read, Heaven struck the sweet spot for almost all elements of a short novel about teens. I effectively owe my reinvigorated reading habit to it, as well as the inspiration for this website.

It is an intriguing story about bullying, self-esteem, the selfishness contained within our friendships, and how our mental health permeates our days. If you like coming of age or romance, read this.

This is a beautifully complex, politicised, and dark novel about Soviet Russia and the corruption of the leadership within it.

Darkness at Noon may appear to be a dull read, especially with its slow plot and long-winded narrative. But you appreciate it immensely once the story has concluded, and miss the fanciful and articulated narration of the ageing Rubashov once it vanishes.

Whilst this novel wasn’t as impactful on me as it was to others, I still enjoyed it, and respect its position as a semi-feminist piece of fiction.

Breasts and Eggs demonstrates Kawakami’s view of Japanese society and the lowly — but capable and silently self-sufficient — place of women within it. The novel is not scathing or man-hating, and instead realises its cast of female characters quite well. A good read.

I’m not one for (auto)biographies, and Back Story reinforced that for me, even if I have no particular issue with it. It’s probably more self-aware and a tad edgier than most celebrity self-indulgence.

If you’re a fan of the UK comedian David Mitchell, then you’ll most likely enjoy this book. It has wit and a good sense of character, and is perfect for nosy people, but not quite my thing.

A long slog of a novel, and one I regularly like to rag on. For me, I’m Travelling Alone holds no value beyond being an example of how not to write a compelling thriller/detective story.

Cheesy, long-winded, obtuse, and without any real charm or quality. In retrospect, I would avoid it; in future, I hope to erase it from my memory. However, for now, I suffer the reality that I spent finite time reading it.

I took a gamble on Shreve and this book, worrying it would be too ‘girly’ in some way (probably based on the cover). Yet, despite my slight bias going in, I was pleasantly hooked into its story of abuse, love, motherhood, and the unfair sexism of 1970s American.

Strange Fits of Passion encouraged me to pick up a few of Shreve’s other novels, so she should reappear on this site in the future.

This was my real hands-on introduction to Ishiguro’s work, and being his debut, A Pale View of Hills was a nice starting point.

I did find the slight vagueness of the novel to be confusing when I read it, but I enjoyed its depressing attitude and focus on parenting and motherhood. To this day, I still wonder if I missed something vital about the story.

This novel cemented my love for Ishiguro’s books, and sent me on a sort of craze for his works in the early months of 2023.

Whilst Never Let Me Go is not my all-time favourite Ishiguro novel, I deeply enjoy its dystopian theme and the cast of characters it builds. There is no doubting that it is one of his best stories, and it remains as one of the top novels I would recommend to everyone.