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Favourite book(s) read in 2022?

“Providence” by Australian author Max Barry. I like him and have read all his books but I saw that Providence was sci-fi. I’ve been a sci-fi fan my whole life and have read all the classics and some far from that rating, and in recent years have decided that sci-fi had just about run out of ideas.

But Barry has nailed it. Big themes like First Contact, FTL space travel and AI dominating just about everything, but real humanity as well, with bravery, initiative and honour, but also stupid decisions and unbelievable escapes. I listened to the whole book in one day. If anyone is looking for good contemporary sci-fi, this is for you.
 
lionking said:
“Providence” by Australian author Max Barry. I like him and have read all his books but I saw that Providence was sci-fi. I’ve been a sci-fi fan my whole life and have read all the classics and some far from that rating, and in recent years have decided that sci-fi had just about run out of ideas.

But Barry has nailed it. Big themes like First Contact, FTL space travel and AI dominating just about everything, but real humanity as well, with bravery, initiative and honour, but also stupid decisions and unbelievable escapes. I listened to the whole book in one day. If anyone is looking for good contemporary sci-fi, this is for you.
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I don't usually read sci-fi, but this sounds good.
 
I just bought Providence on Audible, thanks! The other Max Barry books I will also try, I almost bought Lexicon instead, but I went for Providence. Lexicon next.

I read a lot in 2022, but here are the ones that stand out in my mind.

Both Octavia Butler "Parable" books, which I very much enjoyed.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This book actually surprised me with something I didn't see coming, because I usually see things coming.

Lots of Neil Gaiman, I am late to his stuff, but better late than never.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir was also quite enjoyable.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
 
Faydra said:
I just bought Providence on Audible, thanks! The other Max Barry books I will also try, I almost bought Lexicon instead, but I went for Providence. Lexicon next.

I read a lot in 2022, but here are the ones that stand out in my mind.

Both Octavia Butler "Parable" books, which I very much enjoyed.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. This book actually surprised me with something I didn't see coming, because I usually see things coming.

Lots of Neil Gaiman, I am late to his stuff, but better late than never.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir was also quite enjoyable.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.
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Thanks! Are these mostly sci-fi too?
 
The book I enjoyed reading most is Sympathy for the Drummer: why Charlie Watts matters by Mike Edison. One of the most entertaining books about music I've ever read.
 
I managed to complete 17 books during 2022 such as For Whom The Bell Tolls, East of Eden, Animal Farm, just to mention some.

But my most enjoyable book this year was Napoleon by Swedish historian Herman Lindqvist. I dived into this book without much knowledge about Napoleon Bonaparte. But his story and the way Lindqvist tells it was so fascinating and captivating. Really really really enjoyed it!
 
Bloodlands.
About half way through, Christmas present. One of the required readings for a Yale course on the History of Ukraine last semester. I watched all of the lectures. Written by the professor teaching the course. It is a history of events in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and so far to a lesser degree Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It is a history of what happened to the people trapped between Hitler and Stalin.
Interesting, but also depressing.
 
Mojo said:
The book I enjoyed reading most is Sympathy for the Drummer: why Charlie Watts matters by Mike Edison. One of the most entertaining books about music I've ever read.
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Sounds good!

Lennart Hyland said:
I managed to complete 17 books during 2022 such as For Whom The Bell Tolls, East of Eden, Animal Farm, just to mention some.

But my most enjoyable book this year was Napoleon by Swedish historian Herman Lindqvist. I dived into this book without much knowledge about Napoleon Bonaparte. But his story and the way Lindqvist tells it was so fascinating and captivating. Really really really enjoyed it!
Click to expand...

Do you keep a notebook recording books you've read? I'm having trouble remembering what I read early in the year.

Horhang said:
Bloodlands.
About half way through, Christmas present. One of the required readings for a Yale course on the History of Ukraine last semester. I watched all of the lectures. Written by the professor teaching the course. It is a history of events in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and so far to a lesser degree Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It is a history of what happened to the people trapped between Hitler and Stalin.
Interesting, but also depressing.
Click to expand...

Wow, sounds intense.
 
I like the look of Bloodlands. I have a history of Russia I haven’t started yet. After crime books, my second favourite genre is history.
 
Bloodlands is a dark history to read. It deals with the atrocities of Stalin and Hitler who in alternating turns ravaged these lands, hence the title.
The author is a scholar in the area. His Yale lectures on the history of Ukraine are available through YouTube and worth watching if you want a concise, 20 or so hours, history of 1600 years.

Link to the lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJczLlwp-d8
 
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Since I posted such a downer read, let me post some more uplifting books.
A Crack in Creation: an account of the discovery of crisper, the gene editing technology by one of the discoverers; Jennifer Doudna. An awesome read.
The Greatest Show on Earth: a recounting of the best evidence for evolution by Richard Dawkins. Almost an annual read, or at least a skim, before I deal with the unit on evolution at school.
 
Speaking of books, for the past five years or so I’ve been buying Audible books because they seem to fit in better with my busy lifestyle. But of course when you listen to them you are almost always doing something else. I have been regularly re-listening to whole chapters.

Well, my wife gave me a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas and my initial reaction was “why? She knows I listen to books”.

Well guess what, I have rediscovered the joy of actual reading, with better concentration, actually re-reading certain passages etc etc. A very wise person my wife.
 
My favourite read of 2022 was Qanon and On by Van Badham, a constructive look at the Qanon movement and what to do if your loved ones have been sucked into it
 
lionking said:
“Providence” by Australian author Max Barry. I like him and have read all his books but I saw that Providence was sci-fi. I’ve been a sci-fi fan my whole life and have read all the classics and some far from that rating, and in recent years have decided that sci-fi had just about run out of ideas.

But Barry has nailed it. Big themes like First Contact, FTL space travel and AI dominating just about everything, but real humanity as well, with bravery, initiative and honour, but also stupid decisions and unbelievable escapes. I listened to the whole book in one day. If anyone is looking for good contemporary sci-fi, this is for you.
Click to expand...

Sold.
 
Horhang said:
Bloodlands.
About half way through, Christmas present. One of the required readings for a Yale course on the History of Ukraine last semester. I watched all of the lectures. Written by the professor teaching the course. It is a history of events in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and so far to a lesser degree Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It is a history of what happened to the people trapped between Hitler and Stalin.
Interesting, but also depressing.
Click to expand...

I read that book this year too, after it having sat on my shelf for about ten years. Something happened recently that made me want to read it.

Indeed, it is extremely grim, going through the Ukrainian famine, which it starts with, and the various massacres perpetrated in lands occupied by Stalin, and later by Hitler, culminating in the Holocaust. But it also follows many of the partizan groups, who also don't come out of it smelling of roses either, including the leader of the one of the Belarusian units who was portrayed recently by Daniel Craig.

I also read a few SF books:
Spaceman of Bohemia, by Jaroslav Kalfar, an odd magical realism story in which a Czech astronaut blasts off to visit a mysterious cloud in space, and on his journey begins to reflect on his past as the son of a senior member of the Czech Communist Party, and the fortunes of his family before and after the Velvet Revolution. An interesting and surreal story.

The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin: Chinese sci-fi about scientists trying to figure out a mysterious series of messages of extra-terrestrial origin. There is also a similar delving into the past by one of the main characters as she reflects on her family's fortunes from before and after the Cultural Revolution. An interesting and surreal story. [seems to be a pattern]

The Rig by Roger Levy that is similar, if less spectacular, to Iain M Banks's space operas.

Annhilation one of the Southern Reach novels. I was planning to read all three, but stopped after the first one through a combination of other pressing issues that the first novel didn't compel me enough to put off.
 
I read The Three Body Problem this year as well. Quite a time investment, but worthwhile.
 
Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (no wait, that was last year)

Age of Ash - Daniel Abraham (co-author of The Expanse)

Agency - William Gibson

Children of Time and Children of Ruin - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Memory's Legion - James S.A. Corey (pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck)

I also reread:

Anathem - Neal Stephenson

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Shaman - Kim Stanley Robinson
 
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