These were some of my favorite books from 2022. I’ve included the book descriptions along with my thoughts to help you find something good to read.
I read a variety of genres, the favorite being adventure thrillers, as you can tell from the number of books in this category. I enjoyed each of these books, and recommend them if it is a genre you like to read.
Included are links where you can purchase the books. If you are looking for a paper copy, I encourage you to consider buying through Bookshop.org. A percentage of all sales goes to independent bookstores in the United States and you can even choose the bookstore it goes to. Where possible, I include a link to buy directly from the author.
Also, check your local library. You may be able to borrow a copy from them.
Some of these links may be affiliate links. That means when you make a purchase through that link, I may receive a small compensation at no additional cost to you.
Adventure Thriller
A Long Shadow (Chief Inspector Shadow Mystery Book 1) – HL Marsay
Blurb: When the bodies of a young, homeless girl and a girl who disappeared thirty years ago are found on the same day, residents in the historic city of York are aghast. It seems unlikely the two cases are related, and yet some of the same players knew both victims. As Detective Chief Inspector John Shadow and his eager new partner, Sergeant Jimmy Chang, dive into their investigation, they uncover a complicated web of pop stars, pub owners, shopkeepers, and old school friends who each have something to hide.
My thoughts: I enjoyed the setting, the protagonist, and the story in this book. It not only shows you glimpses of the touristy side of York, but also a darker, seamier side. Read and see if you can figure out who committed the crimes.
Bulletproof (John Milton Series Book 20) – Mark Dawson
Blurb: Captured and imprisoned by the organisation he once worked for, John Milton must do one last job in exchange for his freedom. Bullheaded billionaire fixer Tristan Huxley is brokering a weapons deal between Russia and India. He needs protection and he wants Milton by his side. Huxley has trusted Milton with his life before but these days his world is more decadent and his enemies more dangerous, in ways that nobody could ever have suspected.
My thoughts: I am a big fan of Dawson’s John Milton series, and recommend the books whenever I read one. I encourage you to dive into these, and suggest you begin with Book 1. It gives a lot of Milton’s back story and shows how he is trying to change his life. These events set up the rest of the series. There are events that happen in a sequence throughout the books, so reading them in order helps keep them straight, but you don’t have to.
Papyrus: A Thriller – John Oehler
Blurb: Cairo Museum, 1983. Rika Teferi is studying a papyrus written by Queen Tiye when she discovers hidden writing. Aching to see more, Rika agrees to let visiting geologist, David Chamberlain, smuggle out the papyrus to scan it with specialized equipment. The results are stunning. They re-write Egypt’s history and reveal the bizarre circumstances of Tiye’s last days. Rika, who feels a spiritual bond with Tiye, resolves with David to search for Tiye’s final resting place. Their quest takes them deep into the Sudanese desert, where unimaginable discoveries and unforeseen perils turn their worlds upside down.
My thoughts: This is a new author to me. Note, the book is set in the 1980s, so the technology they talk about may seem dated now and that is why. Loved it for its look at Egyptian history.
Secrets of the Dead – Tom Harper
Blurb: In a villa on the coast of Montenegro, Abby Cormac witnesses the brutal murder of her lover, diplomat Michael Lascaris. The last thing she remembers is a gun pointed directly at her and wakes to find herself alone and at the center of a diplomatic nightmare. Everyone wants an answer, but no one wants to listen.
As Abby tries to piece together the last few months of Michael’s life in order to get at the truth, she soon realizes that he wasn’t quite what he seemed. What exactly was his relationship with one of the most ruthless men in the Balkans? And what links Michael’s gift to her of a gold necklace, a 4th century manuscript left in the shadow of Emperor Constantine’s palace at Trier and an inscription on a tomb in Rome?
My thoughts: Another one set in the past. It alternates between scenes with the protagonist in the 1990s, and scenes set during Constantine’s reign in the 300s. There are two story threads running through this, and while it takes time to see how they fit together, they do in the end.
The Emperor’s Tomb: A Novel (Cotton Malone Book 6) – Steve Berry
Blurb: Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone has received an anonymous note carrying an unfamiliar Web address. Logging on, he’s shocked to see Cassiopeia Vitt, a woman who’s saved his life more than once, being tortured at the hands of a mysterious man who has a single demand: Bring me the artifact she’s asked you to keep safe. The only problem is, Malone doesn’t have a clue what the man is talking about, since Cassiopeia has left nothing with him. So begins Malone’s most harrowing adventure to date—one that offers up astounding historical revelations, pits him against a ruthless ancient brotherhood, and sends him from Denmark to Belgium to Vietnam then on to one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world: the tomb of China’s First Emperor, guarded by an underground army of terra-cotta warriors, which has inexplicably remained sealed for more than two thousand years—its mysteries about to be revealed.
My thoughts: Another author I am a big fan of (and as a writer, I learn a lot about the craft of writing from reading his books). While the book is set in various countries, the main focus is on China and the history surrounding the terra-cotta warriors.
Tomb of Relics (ARKANE Book 12) – JF Penn
Blurb: When a priceless relic disappears from Canterbury Cathedral, ARKANE – the agency tasked with protecting the world from supernatural adversaries – fears the worst… and sends its best.
Now, ARKANE agents Morgan Sierra and Jake Timber are on the job. Across Europe, through historical cities and into spectral forests forgotten by time, Morgan and Jake will follow the bloody trail of hidden relics wherever it leads, whatever the cost.
But even they aren’t ready for what’s coming.
Their hunt will lead them beyond danger, beyond darkness to the shadowed heart of a hidden citadel where lives an evil unlike any they’ve ever seen… and to a dark choice that will change them both forever.
My thoughts: I am a big fan of this series, for its international settings, look at history and religious history with a touch of the supernatural. Morgan and Jake make a terrific pair as they travel the world the protect the world from supernatural forces. This book is a shorter one, but the settings and action are as good as ever.
Amazon Buy direct from author – ebook, print book, audiobook
Memoir
A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss, and Laughter – Rachael Herron
Blurb: Internationally bestselling author Rachael Herron shows that when life unravels, there’s usually a way to knit it back together again, and if there’s not, there’s still hope to be found in the simple tools of the craft. Honest, funny, and full of warmth, Herron’s tales, each inspired by something she knitted, will speak to anyone who’s ever loved (or lost). From her very first sweater (a hilarious disaster) to the yellow afghan that caused a breakup (and, ultimately, a breakthrough), every chapter has a moving story behind it. This beautifully candid collection about crafting the art of happiness through joy and grief is perfect for fans of Elizabeth Gilbert and Glennon Doyle.
My thoughts: You don’t have to be a knitter to enjoy these personal essays, but if you are you will get even more meaning from them.
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed
Blurb: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and she would do it alone.
My thoughts: I’ve heard of this book for years, yet never managed to read it until now. I haven’t seen the movie adapted from the book, so I can’t comment on that. The books focuses on a quest – to walk the Pacific Crest Trail by a woman who was unprepared for what that meant. Not only does she survive, she becomes more confident and works through grief and a troubled past.
Cozy Mystery
Stitches in Crime (10 book series) – ACF Bookens
Blurb for series: Salvage expert and historian Paisley Sutton is doing all she can to run her business and raise her young son, mostly by herself. But every time she goes into an old building to save the historical items there, she finds a new mystery to solve, and her work becomes that much harder. When murder shows up, can Paisley uncover the story of that death and help save the tales those old walls have heard?
My thoughts: I supported the author’s Kickstarter this year, and my reward was all ten books in the series. I have loved reading them, a nice change from the high tension and fast pace of the adventure thrillers I often read (and write). I identified with the protagonist, a single mom with a small child, remembering what my life was like 20 years ago. I love that she salvages from historical buildings and works to learn the history of the buildings and the people that owned them. There are a few dead bodies, a romance with the town sheriff, and a mystery to try to solve before Paisley does.
Amazon Buy direct from the author
Essay Collections
Marco Polo Didn’t Go There: Stories and Revelations from One Decade as a Postmodern Travel Writer – Rolf Potts
Blurb: Marco Polo Didn’t Go There is a collection of rollicking travel tales from a young writer USA Today has called “Jack Kerouac for the Internet Age.” For the past ten years, Rolf Potts has taken his keen postmodern travel sensibility into the far fringes of five continents for such prestigious publications as National Geographic Traveler, Salon.com, and The New York Times Magazine. This book documents his boldest, funniest, and most revealing journeys—from getting stranded without water in the Libyan desert, to crashing the set of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie in Thailand, to learning the secrets of Tantric sex in a dubious Indian ashram.
Marco Polo Didn’t Go There is more than just an entertaining journey into fascinating corners of the world. The book is a unique window into travel writing, with each chapter containing a “commentary track”—endnotes that reveal the ragged edges behind the experience and creation of each tale. Offbeat and insightful, this book is an engrossing read for students of travel writing as well as armchair wanderers.
My thoughts: I’ve read Rolf Potts for at least 20 years. A gifted story teller, I was drawn to this book by the endnotes for each essay where he shares the story behind the story, and gives insights into how travel writers decide what to include, what to leave out, and what to subtly change to improve their stories. If you’d like a behind-the-scenes look at how that works, as well as some wonderful travel essays to read, get this book.
Thrills and Chills: Florida Writers Association Collection 14 – various authors
Blurb: Sixty of Florida’s top authors dive into the theme of thrills and chills in the fourteenth volume of Florida Writers Association’s Collection. Enjoy short stories, poetry, and short nonfiction all centered around our annual theme. Nine youth pieces from authors aged 9 – 17 are also included in this volume.
My thoughts: I joined the Florida Writers Association last year and drafted a couple of short stories for this collection. I never could get the stories to work, and was excited to get the collection and read the essays that were selected. The theme was thrills and chills, but it isn’t all about scary and spooky stories.
I hope you find something wonderful to read. And please share any recent books you have read and enjoyed.
