Happy New Year! It's time to go through my very best books of 2022. I hope you enjoy my book reviews, because I am devoting the first three posts of 2023 to re-capping my favorites! I read 130 books this year. More than half were digital (on my Kindle), about one-third were hardback books, and the remaining books were audiobooks.
I read a total of 20 21 books to which I gave a five-star rating. I will devote this post to my top five six, and then feature the other 15 titles in two following posts.
My number one favorite book of the year is The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell. I picture the US cover above, but the copy I actually read was the UK version, which has a very different cover. My son gave it to me for Christmas, so I finished my reading year on a very high note.
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet) is the very best example of what historical fiction can be. It takes place in Rennaisance Italy and features the fictionalized story of an actual person, Lucrezia de' Medici, who is married off at the age of 15 to Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. The marriage was a short one, with Lucrezia dying just a year later. Rumors abound that her husband killed her. Never mind that this story takes place 465 years ago, this tale will grip you from the first paragraph. In a few words, in the very first paragraph of the book, Lucrezia describes sitting across the table from her husband at their hunting lodge, realizing with crystal clarity that he intends to kill her. Lucrezia is young and inexperienced, but her desire to free herself from her situation is completely relatable. If you enjoy historical fiction, don't miss this book.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver was my number one best book for 2022 until The Marriage Portrait knocked it into second place. This book is loosely based on Dicken's David Copperfield, another story of poverty and how it affects young people in society. Kingsolver's book is set in Appalachia and features one of the most memorable characters I have encountered in a book. Demon is born to a single drug-addled mother and lives his young life in a series of horrible foster homes, forced child labor situations, and abuse. It seems his life is finally on the upswing due to his athletic prowess and at last, getting into a good foster care situation. The current opioid crisis changes everything and the reader is left holding their breath waiting to see how Demon will weather the storm. This is a heck of an engrossing saga, and I hope you pick it up! Barbara Kingsolver is a total genius, I swear.
Number three is The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. Wow, this was a good one! Ray McMillian is a talented classical violinist who has had to rise above considerable adversity to get where he is. There aren't many professional black violinists in the world and he has worked very hard to achieve success. As well as being passionate about his music, part of Ray's motivation is a violin given to him by his grandmother, which turns out to be, you guessed it, a Stradivarius valued at ten million dollars. The violin was given to his great-great-grandfather, upon his emancipation from slavery. He used to play "the fiddle" for his master and it was given to him along with his freedom papers. Once Ray becomes well known, his greedy family sues him to make him sell the violin and share the profits with them. Plus, out of the woodwork come the descendants of the former slave owner, who claim Ray's great-great-grandfather must have stolen the instrument! So as if this wasn't enough for poor Ray to deal with on the eve of the prestigious Tchaikovski competition, the violin is stolen and held for five million dollars ransom. This book has so much going on in it, and I was engrossed throughout. This book has it all: family drama, a mystery, racism, the world of classical music performers and more. The audio version is simply outstanding. Highly recommend this book. Get it and be prepared to be totally immersed.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin. This was a lovely, lovely book. Lenni is a 17-year-old girl living in the terminal cancer ward at a hospital in Edinburgh. Through an art class for patients, she meets Margot, a feisty 83-year-old who makes things a lot more interesting for Lenni. They realize that if you add up their ages, it comes to 100 and they decide to paint a picture representing every year of their respective lives. It is an absolutely charming friendship and story. You will cry. A lot. If you have Kindle Unlimited, it's free right now.
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka. This is a work of fiction. Ansel is a serial killer on death row scheduled to be executed in 12 hours' time. There are multiple points of view in this book: Ansel's and the women caught up in his life. His mother, a sister, and the homicide detective who brought him to justice. First of all, if you are sensitive, the book is not terribly violent or descriptive of the acts Ansel committed. The book is an amazing study of how our society looks upon crime as entertainment in the media, how murderous acts affect the families of the victims, and whether there is really any point to the death penalty. This was a book I will be thinking about and discussing with people for a long time. When I finished it, I just sat with it in my lap for ten minutes staring into space with my head whirling.
These are my top five books of 2022, but stay tuned for reviews of the remaining 15 books to which I gave a five-star rating.
Added 1/1/2023
Well, I finished Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro at 7:00 PM on New Years Eve and have to slip it in as another 5-star book for 2022. If you have lost a loved one this year, as I have, you may relate to this book as emotionally as I did. Basically, the story is about one family, and their neighbors across the street, and a tragedy that unites them all throughout the years. I was so overcome at the end of the book I couldn't speak. This book invites deep reflection. The image that when we die, we are like a star exploding, with the essence of everything we have ever been being released like stardust into the universe, will never leave me. We are that baby in our mother's arms, that little boy on a pony, the young man going off to war, the young father, the good friend, the brilliant scientist, the kind and grateful older man. We are all that we have ever been and will always be throughout eternity.
Love your book reviews. I have read a couple of these but will put the others on my “To Read” list. Looking forward to your next reviews.
Posted by: Anita | January 02, 2023 at 04:59 AM
Happy New Year Nicole! Looking forward to your posts this year! Happy Quilting! & Good health in 2023!
Posted by: Marie Woodhouse | January 02, 2023 at 05:30 AM
Thanks for the recommendations. Although, I was just getting my to-be-read pile whittled down...
Posted by: Cathy | January 02, 2023 at 05:31 AM
Happy New Year! Love your reviews. A couple of these are already on my Kindle and the others will be added. I don’t know how you manage to see and read so prolifically! Speed reader?!?!
Posted by: Nancy Buennemeyer | January 02, 2023 at 06:34 AM
Happy New Year, Nicole! Thank you for taking time from the holidays to review the books you've read. I'm looking forward to another year of Sister's Choice blog posts!
Posted by: Jan | January 02, 2023 at 07:23 AM
I read "The Violin Conspiracy" in 2022. I found this book to be really different and so interesting. It had some twists and turns and it kept me intrigued. Thanks for your book recommendations. I'm always interested in them.
Posted by: Linda K. Smith | January 02, 2023 at 07:24 AM
Oh gosh! I am nearly in tears just reading the review of your late addition to the list. Of those you single out, I have only read Violin Conspiracy, but all the others are now in my "holds" queue on my library app. I do love your book review posts, and have enjoyed many fantastic reads based on your recommendations! Happy New Year! Jayne
Posted by: Jayne | January 02, 2023 at 07:26 AM
Been noddl'n on reading The Marriage Portrait. This year I read Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and highly recommend it. An English major in college, I will never think of Shakespeare again in the same old way, a starched ruff from long ago. Looking forward to new reading material. Happy New Year to a favorite blogger!
Posted by: Stephani in N. TX | January 02, 2023 at 07:28 AM
As usual, thanks so much! Are there any other Barbara Kingsolver books that you've read and would recommend? Happy New Year!
Posted by: T Holzer | January 02, 2023 at 09:44 AM
I always look forward to your book reviews. Wow, 130 books!! I love being your copy cat and will definitely add these titles to my very full TBR kindle list.
Posted by: Barbara Groeschell | January 02, 2023 at 12:05 PM
These all sound like great books Nicole. I’ve read a lot of the ones you recommended over the years and will add a few of these to my list too.
Posted by: Jennifer in Indy | January 27, 2023 at 04:16 PM