Top 22 Books on my To Read List for 2022

One of my New Year's resolutions is to read more. Every moment I get the urge to needlessly and aimlessly scroll on social media "liking" posts and/or getting depressed and irritated or get stuck watching some classic back to back late night TV or YouTube videos, I want to put my phone down and turn the TV and laptop off to pick up a good book instead. It relaxes me, takes me out of the real world for awhile and into a new one, and helps me sleep better, which is another one of my resolutions. 

I have a HUGE To Be Read (TBR) list, some of which are books that I have began but not finished. I even had to cut this blog post down for the sake of this list because I was starting to write about 25+ books and I don't want to overwhelm myself. But the following is a list that I am most excited to read this year and I feel that I am most likely to hopefully get to. lol If my reading excursions change, I may let you know.

I have my work cut out for me. lol Normally my annual reading is at least 5 books a year.

I love books and reading, but my attention span and getting down to it without distractions is the challenge, so I am aiming to rectify this.

I'm obviously probably not going to get to all of these this year, but I like that I have them all lined up for whenever I am ready for some good reading time. 🙂

(Most pictures are from Goodreads unless otherwise specified.)

1-4: 

Bad Reputation (2018)

Bad Influence (2019)

The Aussie Next Door (2019)

Her Aussie Holiday (2020), by Stefanie London

Bad Bachelors is an app where women review the men they date, and this subsequently ruins the lives of said men.

This is the premise of the Bad Bachelors series. I read Bad Bachelors thinking that it was a standalone novel, but it turns out that this is a trilogy with Bad Reputation and Bad Influence being the second and third books. These two are only sold online as mass market. 

There are three friends and each book tells a love story about one of these women in relation to the app. I have already been in the process of Bad Reputation, which is about an Australian ballet dancer looking to achieve her professional dreams and the son of "Broadway royalty" who casts her as the lead in his new obscure show.

Need I say more? Though the themes are of course up my alley, honestly, it isn't as juicy as I recall the first book, but it is certainly still keeping my interest. 

The Aussie Next Door and Her Aussie Holiday are the only two books of London's Patterson's Bluff series and are standalones, so there's not too much for me to catch up with here. These are Australian love stories set in Australia. 

Again, need I say more? lol

Stefanie London is an Australian author who shares a name with me and writes sexy romantic comedies that sometimes star Australians. If I didn't know any better, I would think that we were the same person these days. LOL

Needless to say, she is one of my favorite authors now. 

By the way, if you want a recommendation of another Australian love story somewhat comparable to London's work, try Jill Shalvis's Aussie Rules. That one is hot too and another one of my favorites. lol

5:

Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts (2020), by Jennie Allen

I purchased Get Out Of Your Head for a very decent discounted price at Target. It jumped out to me due to the subject matter. Normally I don’t read many self-help books (and even this book itself addresses the difference between itself and such books), this one seemed to be more tailored to my needs. It’s central focus is thoughts and how they affect you and facing these thoughts head on with God's guidance. 

My thoughts are my worst enemy, so this book seemed like something that would really benefit me. I have already been in the process of reading this one, and I love how Allen is so encouraging and able to easily relate to others' circumstances. 

6:

The Love Proof (2021), by Madeleine Henry

This book is my father’s most recent birthday present to me. He saw an interview with the author and so he thought of me to purchase the book. It comes across a sweet, wholesome love story as opposed to the romantic comedy or romantic sexy sides that I usual read, so I welcome this book onto my TBR list. It also doesn't come across as a typical love story either, but rather an epic, dramatic one that transcends time periods and alternate dimensions, pulls at the heartstrings, and could be made into a movie. It's giving me possible Nicholas Sparks vibes, in other words. 

It might touch on the science fiction genre as well, given the plot.

7:

Seven Dirty Secrets (2021), by Natalie D. Richards

Barnes & Noble has this deal at their cafes that you could include a book that they are displaying for $5 off along with a café purchase. I normally don’t buy the books, but this one drew me in and I finally ordered it the next time I was at the cafe. It’s about a scavenger hunt of clues that explain the death of the main character’s boyfriend the previous year. At first I wasn’t sure if I should buy this one because the main character is an 18-year-old girl and normally I read books with protagonists that are around my age because I like to sometimes put myself in their shoes, but this premise was too good to pass up.

8:

Maggie Finds Her Muse (2021), By Dee Ernst 

This book was my father’s latest Christmas present to me. I had the same age hesitation with this book, but only the inverse. It stars a woman in her late forties struggling to finish writing a manuscript who manages to face romance along the way. 

I once attempted to read another book with women who are in that age range, but then I thought against it for the time being (though I do plan on getting back to that one eventually). However, the subject matter is what is piquing my interest and I want to diversify and broaden my horizons of the protagonists that I follow. 

FYI, I don't always avoid reading about main characters of ages other than my own. I have read others like this before, both younger and older. There might be other main characters on this list that are older and younger too. I'm just explaining my usual current preferences. 

9:

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North (2016), by Blair Braverman

Back in early 2020, when COVID-19 first hit, my father and I went to Harry S. Sprague Library on Montclair State Unversity’s campus for our usual visit to check out books. There was talk of a lockdown, which eventually happened, so in preparation I checked out a bunch of books just in case we weren’t able to come back. Because of the lockdown, I temporarily adopted this book and the others for a few months, much longer than I was supposed to hold them.

Eventually the library opened back up for returns and I returned them, only to renew this one, check it out again, etc., with my following visits because I was never completing it. This book is different from what I usually read and I wanted to discover how she achieved her independence through her experiences she describes, so I didn't want to give up on it. 

“I think you have an unhealthy relationship with this book,” Patrick, one of the librarians, told me.

I have intentions to read it and I have started it, but I was never continuing it, so I finally caved and returned it for good until further notice.

Recently I found a paperback version of this book all by itself in Barnes & Noble and made it mine. Now I can read it in my leisure and never have to shamefully renew it ever again! Lol

In the meantime, I had started following the author on Twitter. She tweets photos of her dogs, and it is a constant reminder that I have to finish her book. Lol

10:

The Bay (2022), by Allie Reynolds

There are two releases that I am most excited for in 2022. 5 Seconds of Summer’s fifth album 5SOS5 (working title), and Allie Reynolds’s sophomore novel, The Bay!

And they’re both Australian themed! How about that?

Speaking of Twitter…Allie and I are Twitter besties… ;)

LOL Just kidding! But really! Let me explain…

Early in 2021, there was a display of debut novels in Barnes & Noble and I was really excited to read all of their synopsis jackets because it gave me incentive to have my own debut novel make it to a display like that one day. Reynolds’s debut novel Shiver was among them and it was my favorite of the group and now one of my favorite books. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so the next time I was in a different B&N, I bought a copy. I tweeted about this, Allie responded to the tweet thanking me for my support, and then FOLLOWED me. So now we follow each other on Twitter and occasionally interact on there and talk writing, so it is really cool for me to have this kind of rapport with an author that I admire.

I am looking forward to showing The Bay the same enthusiasm and support that I showed Shiver. I believe that this one is set in Australia as well.

11:
The IT Girl (2022), by Ruth Ware 

I have a confession to make. I am a bit behind in reading my girl Ruth Ware’s books.

I was on a roll there, making it my mission to read all of Ware’s works in good time, but The Turn of the Key halted my progress. This was her fifth novel. The premise about the main character writing to her lawyer from prison throughout the book to explain her innocence of whatever happened didn’t really sit well with me at the time, so hopefully I will get to it soon. Then she released her sixth novel One by One, which is actually similar to Shiver in terms of snowy settings and group isolation. This one is different from her others because we follow a group of men in an “and then there were none” fashion, so this is something that I plan to read soon too.

Gathering from the premise of Ware’s seventh novel The IT Girl, this one is more in tune to Ware’s usual style: a murder mystery of a woman that crosses the span of years as we follow one unreliable woman narrator around as she tries to figure everything out in isolation. 

By the way, Ruth and I interact on Twitter sometimes too and it's always a treat. lol

12:
All's Well (2021), by Mona Awad

This is the book that I am most excited for on this list. It’s a pretty big deal, it seems. It was nominated for Best Horror for the 13th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards and I always saw it every time I went to Barnes & Noble. But I never bought it because as usual I held off due to pricing and whatever.

But then the HARDCOVER DEAL happened…

For a few days after Christmas, Barnes & Noble had this deal that ALL hardcover books IN THE STORE were 50% off…and I was LIVING for it! I was on a mission to find any hardcover book I normally wouldn’t buy to take advantage of this deal and All’s Well was the first one I thought of purchasing.

At first the one B&N we went to didn’t have it. I had always seen it there, but I guess because of the 50% OFF ALL HARDCOVER BOOKS IN THE STORE, it was already sold out. Lol

But thankfully another local store had it and they held it for me. (I know I could have ordered online too, but I thought of this later after my mini disappointment. Lol)

This past year I read If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, and I have my thoughts about THAT one (just ask my friend Christine). To continue the Shakespeare theme, I have decided to read All’s Well as well. I already detect some similarities between the two given the college theater settings and Shakespearean studies. I’m probably going to take this one on first.

The main character has chronic pain. I have family members that suffer from this, so therefore I have a somewhat personal connection to this book too.

I'm also very surprised about the genre. I expected it to be maybe regular fiction, fantasy, or thriller, or even dark comedy...but HORROR?

Well...we'll see what that's all about.

13-14:

Love & Gelato (2016)

Love & Luck (2018)

Love & Olives (2020)

Love & Other Detours (2020), by Jenna Evans Welch

I chose these books primarily for the settings and cultures. Love & Gelato takes place in Italy, Love & Luck in Ireland, and Love & Olives in Greece. 

...Need I say more? lol

Love & Other Detours contains both Love & Gelato and Love & Luck, so I am counting it as one book for the sake of this list. I wish Love & Olives was in that one too lol, but I think the reason it is like this is because the main protagonists in Gelato and Luck are friends so therefore somewhat connected whereas maybe Olives is a standalone. Or maybe it's just because Olives was published too late to be included. It also could be because Love & Other Detours and Love & Olives are about the same size in thickness and Love & Luck is significantly shorter than the other two, so it works to combine Gelato and Luck into one lol. I initially wanted each book separately, but I think this saves me money anyway and I kinda like that it's a two-in-one book. It kinda reminds me of the Summer series put together in the Beach Blondes book by Katherine Applegate, which I really enjoyed. And like I said, it works out perfectly for this list. lol (By the way, The Love & Collection is a boxed set of all three individual books in one spot. 👍)

I was iffy about this series for two reasons at first. One was that the main protagonist at least in Love & Gelato is 16 years old. So I had the same issue with this one I had with Seven Dirty Secrets, feeling "too old" to read a Young Adult book and thinking that I should just stick to more mature regular adult novels. This time the kid is even younger. 

I've seen readers and writers discuss the YA genre, making me consider reading some more of them. I thought, "So what? What's wrong with me, a woman in her 30s, reading a book from the perspective of a teenager? People should read whatever they want and this is always what I live by." I couldn't stop thinking about it, so now it's on this list. lol

We can also have a discussion about whether or not people are "too young" to read adult fiction and characters (though this definitely depends on the subject matter, of course).

My second reason for holding off on this one at first is the fact that it's a series. I'm already dedicated to the Bad Bachelors series and I was reminded of the Immortal series by Gillian Shields, another YA series. My first interaction with Love & Gelato was that it takes place in ITALY so I was like, "I definitely should read this," and I almost bought it right then and there. It was also displayed by itself and I didn't know that it was the initial installment of a series. I made this mistake once when I read Immortal by Shields before I knew that it began a four-part series. That series has kinda been a thorn in my side because at this point I have just read the one and not the other three so now it feels incomplete and I'll probably have to read the first one again in order to refresh my memory. So I wasn’t sure if I was ready to make this kind of commitment to another series. lol 😅 

However, I must acknowledge that I have achieved this before. When I was in high school, I read and loved the four-part YA Summer Boys series by Hailey Abbott. I still do. That one follows four female cousins and is structured much like the others, with a linear storyline continuing from one book to the next. 

I'm just glad that I found this out sooner than later when I saw the sequels on the bookshelves when I went back to pick up Love & Gelato (but then decided not to) because Love & Gelato reminds me of the Little Blue Envelopes series by Maureen Johnson. This is another YA series set in Europe. However, it only has two books but neither are standalone and the second is a direct continuation of the first, much like Bad Bachelors, only with the same lead character. Against what was advised, I made the decision to read the sequel before the original because I had bought it and am still yet to read the first one. So there's that.

I know that I am probably overthinking this, but I will say that a difference between the Immortal series and the Love & Gelato series is that right now I have all of the Love & Gelato books at my disposal, so therefore I am more likely to accomplish them better. lol

If Welch writes one called Love & Vegemite, I swear...

15:

The Divines (2021), by Ellie Eaton

I am so thrilled about this find.

The Divines was actually on the same table as Shiver and it was the second most book from that display that grabbed me. It gives me The Lying Game vibes and I can relate to the all-girls school theme.

I almost bought this book the same night I bought Shiver as well, but I thought against it to save money and to just focus on Shiver. After awhile I read the first few pages of it and thought, Hmm… Maybe I’m not as into this one after all. So then I was satisfied with not having my own copy. 

But then…the 50% OFF ALL HARDCOVERS. So I went to Goodreads to jog my memory of this book and made it my goal to find this one as well. At first it wasn’t going well, but then…THERE IT WAS, all by itself on the shelf! It was meant for me! I practically screamed in the nice, quiet B&N, and I bought it along with All’s Well that night. 

A very successful book shopping trip, I’ll say.

16:

Reconstructing Aphra: A Social Biography Of Aphra Behn (1980), by Angeline Goreau

Image from Amazon

I’ve blogged about this book before on here.

Like Goddamn Ice Cube, this is another book that I often checked out and renewed from Sprague Library in the past, so I finally found the same copy online to order as my very own so I wouldn’t have to keep checking that one out. Like plenty of other books in my TBR pile, this one is also in my Did Not Finish (DNF) pile.

Best known as the playwright who penned one of my favorite plays The Rover, Aphra Behn is a very important historical figure, but there is very little known about her and it seems that this is the only fully accurate source book about her. Behn was the first woman to be paid for her writing, so therefore she technically paved the way for professional women writers like myself. I would love to learn more about her, and from what I’ve read so far, she had a very peculiar life.

17:

Unmasked: A Memoir (2003), by Andrew Lloyd Webber 

 

Let's hear it for Andrew Lloyd Webber for being the only author on this list that isn't a white woman! :P (I'm not even kidding. I'm pretty sure. I've Googled them all and they all look alike. 😅 They all look like English majors and English professors too. lol) 

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Webber's work. I much prefer Maxwell Sheffield's productions. ;)

If you know, you know.

All kidding aside, my aunt bought this book for me when we all went to go see "Unmasked" at Paper Mill Playhouse a few years ago. Although I wouldn't call myself an ALW fanatic, I find his life as a theater legend fascinating and would like to read this to learn from him and his experiences. 

18:

The Bookshop on the Corner (2016), by Jenny Colgan

This book has been on my TBR list for so often. lol

The thing with this one is that I have attempted to read it, even getting a couple of chapters in, but it doesn't keep me reading for very long. This is frustrating for me because the premise is adorable. A librarian loses her job, so she buys a van to sell books from a mobile library. This author seems to write plenty of cute, feel good books set in bookshops, bakeries, etc., so I appreciate that atmosphere. 

It has dawned on me why it doesn't hook me in though. So far, there is no plot or conflict, not even detailed on the book jacket. Right now it seems to only be about her life with the mobile library. This is fine and all, but I think you kind of need for your main character to undergo some kind of challenge so that you would want to continue reading to see how they overcome it.

19.

Human Croquet (1997), by Kate Atkinson

I added this book to our family basement library a few years ago, but I don't really know much about this novel or the author to really give it that much of a preface here. It is the only fantasy genre book on this list with the main character bouncing between two time periods and there are Shakespeare connections in it, so that alone intrigues me. It has always been on my mind to attempt, so I hope to finally give it a shot this year. 

20:

Wilde in Love (2017), by Eloisa James

This book is the first of a series too, you guys. lol I was aware of this when I bought it. It was the only one published at the time but it indicated being the debut of a brand new series. It is called The Wildes of Lindow Castle and it follows a celebrity family with each book dedicated to a different family member, I guess. There's about 7 books in this series right now.

Help me. LOL

This book has been on my bookshelf for awhile and I was reminded of it when I was composing this list. This is one of the only historical fiction books that is in my TBR pile, and a part of me is hesitant about this one because I don't normally read historical romance, or historical fiction in general, as much. I had gotten through a significant portion of another historical romance years ago that I should probably try again but I stopped because I couldn't stomach how overly mushy and dramatic it was, so therefore it left me jaded. lol

However, the concept for Wilde In Love looks a lot more fun and comparable to today's world. The guy is a heartthrob known for his adventures who meets his match in a witty and charming heroine. I enjoy power plays in my romances so this could be one to do just that. But it also seems to have an innocence to it that might make it a light read.

21:

The Man in the Brown Suit (1924), by Agatha Christie

Image from Biblio.com

My dad is on an Agatha Christie kick lately lol. He is a member of a Read Christie 2022 Challenge for which you have to read an Agatha Christie book per month. This is the book for January. He was initially holding off from buying this, so I decided to get it for him for Christmas. It was the only one with this title on the shelf. So far he is giving it good reviews so I hope to read it when he's done. lol

Agatha Christie is the pioneer of mystery writing and has been referred to as Ruth Ware’s predecessor, so I want to read more of her stuff in general. 

22:

Millennial Nuns: Reflections on Living a Spiritual Life in a World of Social Media (2021), by The Daughters of St. Paul

This was the final book I purchased from the Great 50% Off Hardcover Sale of 2021. To go along with Get Out of Your Head, Millennial Nuns is a spiritual book, but a key difference is that this book is strictly Catholic. It is a collection of essays written by Catholic sisters talking about how they embrace social media.

While I was growing up Catholic in Catholic school, nuns were often always older women. This is the first time I have heard of nuns that are the same generation as me. Given that I have less and less respect for social media on every passing day (though I will admit that it has made me more aware of things), I am interested in reading their points of view about the subject as fellow millennials as well as any other wisdom that they would like to bestow from their position. 

Honorable Mentions:

The Ex Talk (2021), by Rachel Lynn Solomon

I feel like this book could most likely have made my Top 22 of all the books that didn't make the cut because I am just acquainting myself with it more and feel like I am going to read it sooner than later, so I decided to include it in this blog post. 

I ran into this book at Barnes & Noble more recently while perusing and found that I had to remind myself of the title the next time I was there because the plot was memorable. I like the concept of it taking place during a radio show because I don't recall seeing that done before as a central plot for a romance novel. 

I don't have a copy yet (another reason why it didn't make the Top 22 lol), but we'll see what happens in the coming weeks or days. lol

The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley (1990s-2000s), Various Authors 

This series is actually what I am reading the most of lately. I'm 31 years old. :P

These are children's books starring 10-year-old protagonists, so therefore reading YA shouldn't be an issue for me lol. But there is a different case here rooted in sentimentality.

The New Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley series were the books that made me realize that I was a bookworm. I devoured them when I was a kid. However, reading for school eventually made me dislike reading, so I have longed to recapture the thrill I once had. Slowly but surely, solely reading for pleasure based on my own choices these days is accomplishing this. Ruth Ware in particular has been helping me. It never fails that I can finish any of her books in a week.

Because I am recently revisiting this series now, they bring me so much joy and nostalgia. I believe that they also are the reason why I love the mystery genre so much. In these books, the Olsen Twins run their own detective agency and solve child appropriate mysteries. As an adult now, they are nice quick reads for me to cheer myself up. I had forgotten how a lot of them end, so it is like reading them for the first time all over again.

Speaking of series, there are 46 TOTAL in this one! LOL! As a kid, I managed to obtain 19 of them, so I'm hoping to now find the others for cheap to complete my collection. 

There are plenty of other books that have almost made this list that I may or may not read instead of or in addition to these, but you know what? Let's leave it at this. I'm very pleased with the list that I have come up with and feel that I have organized an excellent collection. 

Happy New Year and Happy Reading! Also, Happy Birthday to this blog! 😃 Is it really January 2 again already? Wow.

My Goodreads 2022 Reading Challenge is official. LET'S DO THIS! :D
Not pictured: The Bay and The IT Girl, because those haven't been published yet and I don't have copies. :P