2022 Books

These are all the books I've read in 2022.

I'd love to know if you've read them too and what you thought.

Winter Garden

by: Kristin Hannah | 3 Stars

There were things about this book I really loved and things I didn't like at all. The foreshadowing at the beginning of the novel had me really excited. Anya's fairytale was very captivating and kept me motivated to finish the book. I found myself wanting to know what traumatic event happened to have changed her life so drastically. Additionally, I learned quite a bit about the Leningrad Siege. I searched the internet for stories and facts relating to the Siege after I finished the novel.

Things I didn't like so much: Everyone in this story was beautiful, we had to be reminded again and again how beautiful everyone was. It was super annoying. the story quickly got repetitive and I got quite bored for a chunk of time in the middle of the book. Also, the book sometimes read as more of a movie script than a novel. There were so many details that were unnecessary. And why did Professor Adamovich keep valuable information from Anya for decades? He knew her address and how to contact her but chose not to. It doesn't add up.

The Midnight Library

by: Matt Haig | 1 Star

*Trauma trigger, suicide*

With over 2 million copies sold and everyone raving about this book, I was expecting a captivating read. I absolutely hated it. I don't like not finishing books so usually push through even when I'm not particularly enjoying them but it was difficult to do with this one. Haig suffered a mental breakdown when he was 24 and still suffers from anxiety occasionally. Somehow, that makes this book worse.

Nora's life is miserable and everything always goes wrong. She suffers from anxiety and depression, has lost contact with friends and family, and has not found a career she likes. While trying to commit suicide, she finds herself at the Midnight Library. This is when this book quickly morphs into self help. The Midnight Library teaches Nora that she just has to stop focusing on regrets and look for the good things in life, then life will be good. Easy peasy. If life was really that simple, no one would have anxiety or depression. I expected so much more from this read.

Things We Do in the Dark

by: Jennifer Hillier | 2 Stars

As of this writing, Things We Do in the Dark has a 4 star rating on Goodreads so I guess I'm part of a minority of people who did not enjoy this book. While I think the premise of the story was great, I thought the execution was poor. Paris has reinvented herself but we don't know why. Flipping to other POV's throughout the book, we learn about her childhood and hasty departure from her previous life. This book is filled with dark subjects which seems to be Hillier's forte. This could make the book hard to read for some. There were two surprises at the end but neither of them were particularly riveting. There was a long buildup laying out the plot and the ending then felt rushed. I was hoping to enjoy this book more than I did.

The Couple at No. 9

by: Claire Douglas | 4 Stars

I bought this novel the same time as Small Town, Big Magic. It also looked a bit spooky and therefore great for October! I was immediately hooked on this book. Saffron and Tom move into the house of their dreams, once belonging to Saffron's grandmother. Upon completing renovations for a kitchen extension, bodies were found in the backyard. There were multiple POV's and multiple mysteries to be solved. It was all very exciting. And the plot twist at the end threw me for a complete loop, I did not see it coming. Very fun, great book, I recommend reading it.

Small Town, Big Magic

by: Hazel Beck | 2 Stars

I was going on a trip in October with a couple of long flights. I hit up the bookstore to find a couple of novels to read for entertainment. I was feeling the Halloween spirit so picked this book as an option. It served its purpose, it kept me entertained on the flights. This book had a lot of potential but unfortunately Beck couldn't knock it out of the park. The non-stop raw raw feminism of the protagonist got tiring quickly. I'm all about having a strong female character which my other book choices would reflect; however, in this novel it was constantly thrown in our faces even when the situation didn't warrant it. The love story in the book, although had potential, ended up being dull and predictable. I also didn't realize until the end that this novel is the first of a series. I likely won't read any others.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

by: Laura Hillenbrand | 5 Stars

This is a phenomenal read! This story focuses on Louis Zamperini. He was a runner in college and qualifying for the Olympics, attending the Olympics in Berlin 1936. When the United States entered the war, he enlisted as an airman. After the plane he was flying on crashed into the Pacific Ocean, he fought sharks and scrounged the ocean for food for weeks before picked up by the Japanese as a POW. He was held captive for nearly two years, severely beaten, mistreated, and deprived of food. There was so much I learned about the Pacific War from this book and Japanese POW's. I've read many books and articles on WWII but have never learned of this topic. It was truly eye opening. I found this book so informative that I bought a second copy as a gift for my father. I recommend this book if you like WWII stories.

The Chanel Sisters

by: Judithe Little | 2 Stars

Although this book is a novel, there is some factual information in here. I was interested in learning more about the Chanel sisters, particularly Coco Chanel. This book feel flat though. It told the story of where the Chanel sisters grew up, how they learned their skills of making hats and running a business, and how Coco got her start with her first store. It was told from the perspective of the little sister and not Coco which was a little disappointing. As well, the first half of the book was slow and boring. I could easily have put it down and never picked it up again. The second half was a bit faster and more interesting. There were also many words and phrases that were added in French, this was quite annoying. I had to translate a few of these words on Google to understand the context.

This book saw the sisters through their childhood and their twenties. It detailed how they became famous during WWI. The younger sister married after the war, moved to Canada, and then to Argentina where she did at the age of 33. This is where the book ends although Coco lived into her late 80s.

Not part of the book: Coco lived through WWII as well. She was the lover of a Nazi officer and became a Nazi intelligence operative herself. She always had rich, powerful men backing her business ventures. I have no idea why Little choose not to add all of these details to her book. It would have made for a much more interesting read.

It Ends With Us

by: Colleen Hoover | 2 Stars

*Trauma trigger, physical and sexual assault*

This book became really popular on #booktok and was catapulted to the #1 Best Seller Lists. One of my best friends absolutely loved this book and our tastes are usually aligned. She even told me if I didn't like this book then we couldn't be friends anymore :| I was afraid to tell her how I felt! haha!

For starters, this book was not at all what I expected it to be. The synopsis indicates this will be a story of Lily and her relationships, specifically when her past relationship collides with her current relationship. Although these relationships are important, this book is mainly about abusive relationships.

As I was reading this book, many of the passages were hard to read. These passages were describing abusive situations but were portrayed as 'normal' in the story and gave Lily no pause. The book largely ignored mental and sexual abuse focusing mostly on physical abuse. It was as if abuse outside of physical abuse was not abuse at all. There were also other things in the story that seemed very odd; like a middle of the night Vegas wedding. They actually woke up their parents in the middle of the night to get on a flight to Vegas. Then discussing all their life goals and ensuring they are aligned, while on the plane on their way to their wedding. Even if they wanted to get married immediately, they could have waited a day or two to ensure their goals and dreams were truly aligned and they didn't have to wake up their parents. Another thing that really bothered me was giving Lily a baby. She didn't find out she was pregnant until she was 3 months along, not allowing her any choices or decisions. I felt the baby was written into the story as a way for Lily to leave her abusive marriage, which doesn't sit right with me. There were many other options open to Lily that Hoover could have explored.

I did end up giving this book 2 stars because I appreciated how Hoover explained that a person could both love and hate their partner. Relationships are not two dimensional and are actually quite complex. I believe Lily's story did a good job in describing those complexities and allowing readers to see many sides of her relationship.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

by: Taylor Jenkins Reid | 5 Stars

This book was so popular, Chapters had sold out. I needed to wait for a restock before I was able to get a copy. A friend even offered to ship it across the country. Even though this book wasn't next on my list to read, I had to open it. I devoured this book within days of cracking the spine. I loved Evelyn's story and was intrigued to know what her connection was with Monique.

Evelyn was unapologetically herself. She was ready for the world to know the truth and was not holding back any of things she had done to get ahead in her career. I think I loved this book so much because men can easily be themselves and still get ahead while women need to be more polished or their careers can tank. But Evelyn didn't care about that at all. She knew what people wanted and used it to her advantage. I really couldn't read the pages fast enough.

Side note: This is the author who wrote Daisy Jones & The Six. I gave Daisy Jones 1 star so glad I didn't make the connection until after I finished this book or I probably wouldn't have read it.

Know My Name

by: Chanel Miller | 5 Stars

*Trauma trigger, sexual assault*

Many of us recognize the name Brock Turner even if we can't quite place it. Brock Turner is the Stanford Rapist. He is the guy who sexually assaulted Jane Doe while she was intoxicated. The media were more concerned with the potential loss of his olympic career, even listing his swim times when reporting on his crime. But this story isn't about Brock, it's about Chanel. Chanel Miller is Jane Doe. Chanel Miller is strong, brave, and courageous. Even though she didn't ask to be any of those things. Know My Name is Chanel's memoir based on her tribulations and experiences throughout the aftermath of the sexual assault. She is an amazing writer and is able to eloquently explain how her life was impacted, what she lost, and how she had to rebuild. I loved how open and honest she was.

Permanent Record

by: Edward Snowden | 5 Stars

It takes a lot of courage to stand up to someone who is doing wrong. It takes even more courage to stand up to the US government. Permanent Record is Edward Snowden's personal account of being a National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower. He realized the US government was building systems and software to track the digital lives of every single person in the world. Snowden knew this was unethical and also realized that very few people in the US, or even the world, knew this massive surveillance system existed. He spent years learning and understanding how the massive surveillance system worked. He also had to carefully plan how he would leak this information to the media and how to keep himself safe. He knew the US government would not take kindly to him releasing highly classified information. His goal was to inform the general public about all the data the US government was collecting from them and to allow the public to enter into a conversation about whether or not they actually wanted their data collected and stored.

Every country and person was impacted by the US mass surveillance system, not just the US and US citizens.

I gave this book 5 stars because it honestly is eye opening. I would recommend anyone who uses the internet to read it. Snowden's revelations had opened conversations throughout many countries regarding governments and personal data. People of authority cannot come into your home and search it without first having a warrant so why should they be able to search your internet data without the same oversight? Just because your data doesn't live inside your house doesn't mean it's not private. Or is it? Laws and regulations have not caught up with technology. This is exactly the conversation Snowden wanted everyone to participate in. It was not ethical or right for the US government to manipulate the laws and make this decision on their own just to benefit themselves.

Snowden has been charged with violating the Espionage Act. The US government also cancelled his passport, leaving him stranded in Russia where he remains today.

Five Little Indians

by: Michelle Good | 5 Stars

This novel follows the lives of 5 Residential School Survivors in Canada's province of British Columbia. The first Residential School opened in Canada in 1831. The last of the Residential Schools closed from 1996-1998. 24 years ago. I didn’t learn about Residential Schools until 2014 and I’ve lived in Canada my entire life.

Indigenous families did not want to send their children to residential schools but the children were pulled from their homes regardless. Forced to attend the residential schools by laws established by the Canadian Government and administered by the Catholic Church. The children were horrifically abused in these schools. This novel helps tell how these schools have impacted the lives of so many Indigenous people. How do families continue when their children are ripped away and they are no longer able to contact them? How are the children supposed to grow and flourish when they've suffered years of abuse? They were completely cut off from learning their cultures, history, and languages.

This was a heavy novel to read but very much necessary. It taught me to understand the pain and trauma associated with the residential schools. The residential schools operated for over 150 years, the pain from this system has been and will be felt for generations. We all need to understand what happened and find compassion and empathy in our hearts to aid with reconciliation.

If you want to learn even more: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/british-columbians-our-governments/indigenous-people/aboriginal-peoples-documents/calls_to_action_english2.pdf

Watch Out For Her

by: Samantha M. Bailey | 3 Stars

Written as a page turner, I really could not stop turning the pages of this book. I read this novel while on vacation. It was an easy read and I was interested in how the story was going to turn out. I didn't even figure out the plot twist at the ending before it happened.

I gave this book 3 stars as it was just okay. It was beginning to drag on a little at the start, only picking up about half-way through. There also weren't any big revelations or surprises. Even the big reveal at the end was anticlimactic. The descriptions of the scenes were hard to understand and the characters fell a little flat. Overall, a great book for a quick read but I've read better psychological thrillers and would recommend those over this one.

The Book of Longings

by Sue Monk Kidd | 4 Stars

This novel explored a very interesting topic, the life of Jesus. Specifically, what if Jesus had a wife? Although this book is based on the life of Jesus and potentially rewriting history, the majority of the book focused on Jesus' wife Ana. Ana is the reason I gave this book 4 stars.

Ana is a strong, smart female who pushes the boundaries forced on her by religions and governments. She rebels against the societal norms and gender equalities of her time to pursue her passions of writing and learning. She also chooses not to have a child, something very much frowned upon at that time. Even though this book was set in 16-40 CE, many of the struggles faced by Ana are similar to those faced by women today. Gender equality still exists and there are expectations that women marry and have children. I found myself wanting to know more about Ana's journey and how she would achieve her ambitions.

I would have given this book 5 stars and liked it even more if Jesus were not a part of it. His storyline should have been a different book altogether. This book did not explore Jesus' thoughts, feelings, emotions, or his journey with religion. His story was told through Ana's perspective. Any man could have filled the role of her husband and the book would have had the same outcome for me. I get that Monk Kidd wanted to push the understanding of current day religion; but as I mentioned, that should have been a different story.

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett | 2 Stars

This book is very popular and so many people love it. It was released two years ago and was immediately a sensation. I was hesitant to buy it at first because I'm usually disappointed by novels with all this hype. I was browsing the book store a few weeks ago and the colourful cover caught my attention again so I purchased it. My first instinct was right, too much hype for a mediocre book.

This book has so much going on: race, LGBTQIA+, identity issues, secrets, domestic abuse. It could have been about any of one those areas and provided a thoughtful, meaningful message to the thousands of people who read it. Instead, it fell flat. I was bored throughout most of the story. It read like a memoir but followed the lives of four different people as opposed to one. No issue was throughly explored, everyone skirted around talking about the 'tough' topics, mostly keeping to themselves. The timeline also jumped around following the life of one woman and then coming back to her many years later. What happened during those decades? The story didn't seem to be about anything at all.

There were some beautiful scenes and sentiments throughout the novel. It wasn't enough to make this novel a good read. I would not recommend it.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

by Eva Jurczyk | 3.5 Stars

I struggled with rating this book. There were many parts of the book I loved and equally as many bits I didn't love. The library was by far the best character. I would love to spend days roaming around the library admiring all the books in this collection. The missing person and missing books also made for an interesting plot but I feel as if the storylines fell a little flat. There was a lot of speculation about the whereabouts of both but not much in the way of a grand reveal.

I was also a little disappointed in Liesel's storyline. She was described as a smart, capable woman; yet her actions were the opposite. She appeared to be quite out of her element despite her qualifications. I was surprised by the decisions she made at the end of book, it wasn't the ending I was hoping for. The ending itself was fine but I was more than a little disappointed in the outcome.

This book kept me turning pages until the end. I was quite curious to see how all the pieces came together. It was well written and easy to read. A great book to read while relaxing on the weekend or on vacation. I was a little sad when this book was over but couldn't get past some of the details. Hence the 3.5 rating.

I'll Be You

by Janelle Brown | 3 Stars

I don't recall reading another story about twins so was curious about this book when my friend recommended it. It's a novel about twins who are struggling in their lives for various reasons. We learn of the history that got them to this point and how they navigate through. The story was okay. It was an easy read but wasn't riveting. I read it in a few days. I would recommend this book for light reading only.

It was interesting reading this book after reading 'A Nearly Normal Family' because it really solidifies that you have have no idea what someone else it thinking or how they've experienced an event. Even when they say words out loud, they may not be true. These stories are novels but aspects of them are true in real life scenarios as well.

A Nearly Normal Family

by M.T. Edvardsson | 4 Stars

This novel was very intriguing. It tells the story of a family who were 'normal' until an event occurred that may change all their lives. However, the story is told from three different perspectives; the father, the daughter, and the mother. I thought it was so interesting to see the situation from each of their angles, especially in relation to each other. The book started with the father's viewpoint, which was a little slow, and then the book picks up speed. A fun, easy read that I totally recommend.

A Beautiful Spy

by Rachel Hore | 2 Stars

Similar to Kate Quinn, this novel is based on a true story of a woman who was recruited to assist the British Government in gathering intelligence on foreign parties. Minnie Gray thought there was more to life than getting married and having children. She was thrilled when she was recruited to work with MI5 as a spy.

This story details Minnie's experience living a double life. For me, this story didn't do a great job highlighting the dangers Minnie was in. She frequently felt isolated and afraid for her life, having breakdowns because of her role in MI5, but it wasn't always clear why. This book has a rating of 3.76 stars on Goodreads but in my opinion there are better stories. I would recommend a Kate Quinn novel instead.

The Diamond Eye

by Kate Quinn | 4 Stars

This novel is based on a true story of a female sniper in World War II. This is Kate Quinn's domain, writing about strong women who have help changed the course of history. This story is no exception. Mila Pavlichenko was determined to be successful, going to school while being a single parent. Her life changed when Germany decided to invade her country and she enlisted in the army as a sniper. She became famous throughout the world even becoming friends with the First Lady of the United States. The story did slow down a little in the middle which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 but I definitely still recommend it.

This Is How It Always Is

by Laurie Frankel | 3 Stars

I really wanted to like this book but ultimately gave it 3 stars. This story is a novel about a child who is questioning their assigned gender and how their family navigates their new normal.

Things I liked about this book include the support Claude's family has shown them, support they've found throughout their community, and perspectives from other cultures. Things I didn't like were the fact the family was keeping a secret for so long and moving and travelling to avoid conflict. I feel like this story was very convenient and not necessarily reflective of real life situations.

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After

by Clemantine Wamariya | 5 Stars

This book has completely changed my perspective of the world. Clemantine was born in Rwanda and was displaced by the 1994 conflict. At just six years old she was forced to flee with her fifteen year old sister, travelling through seven African countries in search of safety. They were granted asylum in the United States after wandering for six years.

Clemantine's story has taught me so much about life as a refugee. Details that I otherwise would not have known. I hear of these stories as they relate to the larger context of a situation, 'there is a conflict that displaced x number of people.' I rarely hear of individual stories and individual experiences. It was quite eye opening, heart-breaking, and inspiring all at the same time. I recommend everyone read this book.

All I Want For Christmas

by Maggie Knox | 3 Stars

I love reading Christmas books during Christmas for the same reason I love watching Hallmark Christmas movies: predictable, warm, feel-good, Christmas mood. This book turned out to be more annoying than anything. Max and Sadie are poor communicators who get along then don't get along then get along again for the entire duration of the story. It was tiresome.

I did like the music aspect and the writing of a Christmas song. I've not read a book with that particular plot before. Banff, Alberta also made an appearance which also warranted a star. Out of all the Christmas books available, I wouldn't recommend to read this one. It was just okay, others are better.

Meet Me Under The Mistletoe

by Jenny Bayliss | 4 Stars

This is a Christmas book worth reading! It was really funny; I laughed out loud more than once. There was also a second hand book store, a castle, winter gardens, and tea. What more is required?

It lost a star due to the plot twist. I understand why Bayliss wanted to include it, and it did keep me guessing about the ending. Ultimately I didn't like the actions of the main male character at the end. Otherwise, it was top shelf. Highly recommend for a Christmas read.