Books I’ve read (or listened to) in 2022

Following on from my previous end of year reading/listening summaries, I have once again attempted to make a conscious effort to read/listen to books for pleasure. It still feels far too easy to lose an hour (hours?) at the end of the day scrolling on Twitter, and it was noticeable how beneficial it was during the pandemic to (attempt to) disconnect and to pick up a book or listen to an audiobook.

However, I have clearly failed this year; mainly due to “life”, but also partly work. As you see from this year’s list — again including a number of re-reads, annotated by [⟳] — it’s largely dominated by sci-fi/fantasy, and once again a clear shift to audiobooks (whilst running or cycling) over reading physical books. So, in reading/listening order for 2022:

• The Burning Land (2019) by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom series Book 5)
• The Death of Kings (2019) by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom series Book 6)
• The Pagan Lord (2013) by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom series Book 7)
• The Empty Throne (2014) by Bernard Cornwell (The Last Kingdom series Book 8)
• The Three-Body Problem (2015) by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy Book I) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• The Dark Forest (2016) by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy Book II) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• Death’s End (2018) by Liu Cixin (Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy Book III) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• Asleep at the Wheel (2019) by T. Coraghessan Boyle
• The Fifth Season (2015) by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth trilogy Book I) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• The Obelisk Gate (2016) by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth trilogy Book II) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• The Stone Sky (2017) by N. K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth trilogy Book III) [⟳, but first time audiobook]
• Four Thousand Weeks (2022) by Oliver Burkeman
• A Heart That Works (2022) by Rob Delaney

My favourites of 2022 were as follows:

• A Heart That Works (2022) by Rob Delaney; the brutally honest, funny (in places) and heart-breaking (throughout) memoir about the loss of his two-and-a-half-year-old son Henry to brain cancer.
• Having rapidly consumed both trilogies at least once over the past couple of years, it was a delight to listen to the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (2015-2018) by Liu Cixin and The Broken Earth trilogy (2015-2017) by N. K. Jemisin as audiobooks. Thought-provoking, engaging characters and narrative, with strong themes of science, technology, and the impact on people, communities and the wider world. Both highly recommended, either as a book or audiobook.

My consumption is still worryingly disconnected from the number of books I purchase, adding to the stack of books to read that I’ve been collecting over recent years; plan for next year: must do better. Enjoy!