As the year is coming to an end, I’d like to share my favorite reads of 2022. Not all the books listed below have been published in 2022.
Before talking about my favorite books read this year, let’s see a quick recap of how many books I read:
As of today, I read 56 books in 2022, including:
- 38 novels
- 7 novellas
- 4 short stories
- 4 non-fictions
- 3 memoirs
Of these 56 books, 6 were in French, and the rest was in English (including one translation from Italian). That doesn’t include the comics and bande dessinées I read, because I don’t track them as well as novels on Goodreads, and I read most of them in magazines.
Let’s delve right in!
Star Father by Charlie N. Holmberg, 2022 (High Fantasy)
I discovered Holmberg with Star Mother, the first book of the Star Mother duology, and while I enjoyed it a lot, Star Father is, in my opinion, way above its predecessor.
One reason I love this book is that it’s not a romance is the sense of “will they tell each other their feelings” or “who will she pick.” Feelings are shared early on in the story, and we follow Aija, our protagonist, as she goes on a quest to become immortal so she can live forever with Saiyon, the Sun God. The book also features a secondary character who isn’t personally interested in romance in a positive way.
While you can read Star Father without reading Star Mother, I would still recommend you to read Star Mother, so you can become familiar with the world and some characters. Also, it will make you enjoy Star Father even more, as Saiyon gets the happy ending he deserves and doesn’t get in Star Mother. Without spoilers, Star Father also features characters mentioned in Star Mother, and it has one of the most satisfying ending I ever read in fiction.
Sojourn by Jana Oliver, 2006 (Science-Fiction/Historical)
I got Sojourn for free thanks to a deal featured on BookBub on January 28, but didn’t read it until December. (If you’re interested in buying it, the ebook is only $0,99, and it’s a dollar well spent.)
I wish I would have read it sooner! It was an amazing read blending science-fiction and historical fiction with the help of time travel. Our protagonist Jacynda is a time rover from 2057 who is sent by her employer to London, 1888, in the middle of the Whitechapel murders to retrieve an overdue tourist. Add to that mysterious shapeshifters and you get a wonderful blend of science-fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction!
This is the first installment of the Time Rover trilogy, and I’m sure I’ll read the next books eventually as I really want to know what happens next to Oliver’s characters.
Le Phare au Corbeau by Rozenn Illiano, 2019 (Urban Fantasy)
I read mostly in English but also in French, and had to mention Rozenn’s book Le Phare au Corbeau in my article. It isn’t available in English, hence a good reason to work on your French so you can read it!
While the French market for adult fantasy is depressing because of a lack of interest from major publishers to publish fantasy books by French writers (they prefer to publish translations), Rozenn is here to remind us that French writers can tell amazing stories in their native language. This urban fantasy follows Isaïah and Agathe, two exorcists who take on a dangerous mission in Brittany. The cast of characters is diverse and not cliché.
Rozenn’s books can all be read independently, but all fit within what she calls the “Great Project” (“Grand Projet” in French), her own multiverse with characters who appear in multiple stories and/or are connected with each other. I have already bought her other books Érèbe and L’Ombre dans la Pluie and also plan on buying and reading Elizabeta. She self-publishes most of her books and also makes some covers, which are all amazingly beautiful. You can learn more about her work on her website (in French).
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969 (Science-Fiction)
I can’t believe I waited so long to read this classic of science-fiction. It was better than what I expected and blew me away in more ways than I like to admit.
The Left Hand of Darkness asks a simple question: would gender and sexism exist in a society where sex doesn’t? Or in a society where every individual is ambisexual and is, randomly, male or female for a few days every month, and sexless the rest of the time, like the Gethenians in the novel?
The book is not perfect and Le Guin herself acknowledged some limits and weaknesses of her book, but it has the merit of showing us a world where gender is irrelevant and a thrilling story of betrayal and redemption, and it’s done brilliantly. It’s a classic for a reason.
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow, 2022 (Novella, Fantasy/Fairy Tale Retelling)
The second book in the Fractured Fables series, A Mirror Mended surpasses its predecessor by delivering a more mature story with darker themes while remaining as hilarious as the first book. You will need to read A Spindle Splintered to fully understand A Mirror Mended, but they’re both quick reads that you can swallow in one evening.
While I’m exhausted of Disney’s multiple live action movies that bring nothing to their original adaptions—or worst, insult them (2020’s Mulan, I’m looking at you; an excellent video essay here)—I love stories that build on fairy tales and legends to create something truly new. A great read!
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park and Maryanne Vollers, 2015 (Memoir)
If you’ve never heard of Yeonmi Park, she is a North Korean defector and human right activist living in the United States. While there has been some controversy over some of her recent political stances, I’m not here to talk about this. (If you’re interested in it, you can check her YouTube channel, and she has a book coming about this topic.)
I’m here to talk about her memoir In Order to Live, co-written with Maryanne Vollers, where she tells the story of her life in North Korea, and her escape through China then Mongolia. I was so captivated by her story that I read the book in only two reading sessions. I read two other memoirs in 2022, both that I found disappointingly slow and boring. This was not the case with Park’s memoir that I strongly recommend.
All the Lies They Did Not Tell by Pablo Trincia, translated by Elettra Pauletto, 2022 (Non-Fiction)
This book was a complete surprise. I picked it in July 2022 as part of the Amazon First Reads choices (alongside a short story, Signal Moon) for lack of anything else that piqued my interest. (I could talk about hours about how Amazon First Reads sucks at offering speculative fiction to readers, but I’ll spare you.)
I was already familiar with the history of satanic panic in the United States, but had no clue it also happened in other countries. Pablo Trincia investigates a case of satanic panic in his country, Italy, and what he discovers is heartbreaking.
His journalistic work (which led to a podcast before the book) didn’t only unveil the truth. He also helped people who should have never been separated to be, at last, reunited.
Sabbath Grand Derby by Arthur de Pins, 2022 (Urban Fantasy)
Let’s finish with a bande dessinée, because I’m not only an avid reader of novels but also of comics of all genres.
Zombillenium is an attraction park fully staffed with monsters, owned by demons, and managed by a vampire, something the human visitors ignore.
Sabbath Grand Derby is the sixth and last book of the series. It shows how the fate of the Zombillenium park and its monsters is determined by the Sabbath Grand Derby, a sports event where witches sponsored by demons compete against each other.
The Zombillenium series, made of six books, is available in English (for the first four books at the moment) and I strongly recommend you to read it. Blanche, the main character from my novel The Corporate Witch, is inspired by Gretchen, the protagonist of Zombillenium, so it’s a series near and dear to my heart!
There is also a movie, which is a prequel to the comic series and is available in English. While the comic series is definitely adult, the movie is family friendly (and, for that reason, not as good as the comic series, but it’s only my opinion). The sixth book nicely makes the connection between the movie and the comic series, so don’t hesitate to watch the movie first to see if you like the universe (and Gretchen!).
Millie Abecassis 
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