My Top Three Books of 2022: A Review of Lessons in Chemistry, The Lost Ticket, and Every Summer After

As I sit down to write this article, I am still reeling from the incredible reading experience that was 2022. With over 100 books read throughout the year, narrowing it down to just three favorites was no easy task. However, after much deliberation, I have decided to share my top three books of 2022 with you, and I am excited to dive into each one.

Coming in at number three on my list is "The Lost Ticket" by Freya Sampson. This book was a surprise hit for me, as I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. It felt like a warm hug, a cup of hot chocolate – the sweetest thing ever. Reading this book was an experience that I will always treasure, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to discover it.

Set in the UK, "The Lost Ticket" follows the story of a young woman who meets an old man on the bus. The old man has been riding the same bus for 60 years, searching for a woman he met 60 years ago – a woman whose phone number he never got, and with whom his life changed forever. The main character becomes entangled in this man's quest, and as she navigates her own crossroads in life, she finds herself drawn into a sweet and romantic story that will warm your heart.

I was completely swept up in the world of "The Lost Ticket", and I loved watching the characters navigate their complex relationships with each other. The writing is simple yet effective, making it feel like a cozy night in by the fire. If you're looking for a book that will make you feel all the feels, then this is the one for you.

Coming in at number two on my list is "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus. This debut novel completely blew me away, and I am so grateful to have discovered it. Set in the 1960s, "Lessons in Chemistry" follows the story of a female chemist who faces incredible challenges as she tries to pursue her passion for science. Despite the obstacles in her path, she perseveres, using her talents to make a difference in the world.

I was fascinated by the way Garmus wove together the struggles of women in STEM during this time period, and the way she brought to life the real-life story of a woman who made a real impact on the field. The writing is engaging and accessible, making it easy for readers to become fully immersed in the world of the protagonist. What really impressed me about "Lessons in Chemistry" was its ability to balance humor with heartbreak, making it feel like a true page-turner.

If you're looking for a book that will inspire you to chase your dreams, then this is the one for you. Garmus's writing is so engaging and inspiring that I found myself feeling motivated and uplifted after finishing the book. Trust me when I say that "Lessons in Chemistry" is an author to watch – I will be eagerly anticipating her next release.

And finally, coming in at number one on my list is "Every Summer After" by Carly Fortune. This childhood friends to lovers romance was a perfect fit for my reading tastes, and I am so glad that I got to experience it. Set in Cottage Country, Ontario, Canada, the story follows two childhood friends who haven't seen each other in years. As they reunite, old feelings begin to resurface, and they must navigate their complicated past.

I loved watching the characters of "Every Summer After" grow and evolve throughout the story, and I was completely swept up in their will-they-won't-they dynamic. Fortune's writing is engaging and easy to follow, making it feel like a breath of fresh air after reading so many other books this year. What really stood out to me about "Every Summer After" was its ability to capture the magic of childhood friendships, and the way it brought to life the beauty of Cottage Country.

As I sit here reflecting on my favorite books of 2022, I am reminded of just how lucky I feel to have had access to such a wonderful array of stories. Each one of these books touched my heart in some way, and I will always treasure the memories of reading them. Whether you're looking for a romance, a tale of perseverance, or simply a good story, I highly recommend checking out "The Lost Ticket", "Lessons in Chemistry", and "Every Summer After".

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone it's Haley happy book Miss day four today I'm going to be counting down my absolute favorite books that I read in 2022. I always have such a hard time with this video but it is also like one of my favorites to do for bookmas it's just so hard to order the books that I have on this list because I loved all of them so it's like how do I decide what ends up being at the number 15 spot and usually I feel like in years past I've known what my number one read of the year is but I think that last year the same thing happened where there's not really one book in particular that is standing out as my number one favorite so really kind of the top two were in contention for that spot but I think that either one could have gotten it I just kind of went with my gut to decide what my favorite book of the year is so yeah this list is going to be ordered usually I don't do that but I like kind of counting down and ranking things I think it's kind of a fun Twist on what I normally do so I have lots of really great books to talk about today I'm going to be talking about my 15 favorite books of 2022 all the ones that I read this year we have a mix of older other books but there's actually quite a few more recent releases on here so without further Ado before we get into the video don't forget to click that subscribe button and then click the Bell icon so you'll be notified whenever I post I'm posting a new video every single day in the month of December for bookmas 2022 so you don't want to miss any of those tomorrow for bookmas day 5 I'm going to be doing like I did a little reading Vlog day sort of thing where I had you guys decide what I was going to read what I was going to do you kind of planned my festive reading day and it was a lot of fun so that will be tomorrow's video also of course I have to talk about like my worst books of the year as well so that will be for bookmas day six so stay tuned for that but let's just get into this list also before we get into it sorry I actually just finished filming it but I wanted to mention this if you have a guess of what you think my favorite book was that I read this year leave that down below but also let me know what your favorite book was that you read this year okay now let's actually get into it I'm so sorry I keep saying that we're gonna get to the books and then we don't but one last thing wanted to mention I know for a lot of people it seems really early to be doing an end of the year wrap up but because of bookmas I always end my reading year in November so anything that I read last December counts toward my 2022 reads and just like that anything that I read this December will count toward my 2023 reads it's just easier for bookmas because the rest of the month is going to be like actually wrapping up and getting into kind of the nitty-gritty of all the books that I read this year so I like to do my best books of the year list pretty early just wanted to explain that now we are I swear actually getting to the books okay I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as possible because I don't want this video to be a million year years long and honestly the more I like a book The more I can talk about it the books that I'm recommending are just ones that I could honestly go on about forever and I feel like the videos where I am recommending books they generally end up having the most footage so we're gonna try and be concise so coming in at the number 15 spot I actually have two books so maybe you find that to be cheating but oh well it's my video I do what I want but guilt and tarnish by Catherine Longshore I didn't really expect these to end up here to be honest but the more I thought about it I was like I had a really good time with listening to these audiobooks they were super fun so they are why a tutor era stories and I would say that tarnish this one is about Anne Boleyn and this one kind of veers more toward the romance side of things guilt is about Katherine Howard but it's actually focusing on one of Catherine Howard's friends as the main character and that's more like mostly a political and friendship story but there is so much much happening in both of these books that you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time and that's exactly how I felt when listening to it it completely like transported me to the tutor era it definitely isn't using like authentic language or anything but it was still very enjoyable and I felt like all of that like political core Intrigue I felt like I was at the court of like Henry VIII and it was just a great time being there now there is another book in this series Brazen that I do own and I've kind of talked about this but I listened to the audiobook for the both of these had such a good time with it but Brazen doesn't have an audiobook so I'm really sad about it and I think that audio was just kind of the way to go for me with these but you know what can you do anyways these definitely I felt like they belonged on the list it's always kind of hard near the bottom because there's so many books that are kind of like almost favorites almost made it but these are the ones that made it and then on bookmas day I don't know something I think it's day 20 or something like that I'm going to be talking about my almost favorite so those will be the books that didn't quite make it to this list but they almost got there so stay tuned for that next is the dead Romantics by Ashley Poston this is another the one that like I'm quite surprised is on this list to be honest because I have read Ashley Poston books before I've read her why a novels and there's nothing wrong with them like I enjoyed them but they didn't like blow me away so geekerella and then I don't think I read any more of like the Once Upon a con series but then she also had among the beasts and Briars which I did really like but like nothing that I would have included on a favorites list but this book was so good I was not expecting it at all it's an adult romance and it is about a ghost writer who is the main character but she actually like grew up at her family's Funeral Parlor and death has been very much a part of her life because of that but she also has the ability to see ghosts so that's something her father had as well her father has died at the beginning of this book so she goes home for the first time in a very long time like she hasn't been home forever and obviously she's dealing with grief when she gets there but she also ends up seeing a ghost that she wasn't expecting and like there's just kind of this tangled web of things going on it's definitely a slow burn romance because it's kind of like a doomed from the start sort of thing a forbidden romance if you will and it just was such a pleasant read because I loved the romance aspect of it I loved the family and the development of the main character as well she's going through a lot and you get to see her like slowly dealing with these things that she has put off for years and years so there was a lot of development with the main character but also with like the external I just thought this was honestly such a great read like I was so pleasantly surprised by it and had a great time with it it was different than other romances that I've read but in the best way possible next is xyla and Kai by Christina Forrest this is once again an author that I have read books from before and this is definitely my favorite of her books I felt like this was such a great and well-rounded look at like a teenage and First Love relationship I think that if you are young this would be a great book to read like if you're going through your first love before your first love whatever I think this is such a good story because it deals with characters who get so consumed by this first love that they've had it seems to be all they can ever see but then there's also a lot of consequences with that where they have these goals in their life and they're kind of putting those things off because they become so for lack of a better word obsessed with each other this is like a pretty chunky Book for a why a contemporary in particular and I was kind of skeptical about why it would be so long but I understand because you see their relationship from start to finish you see like the before and after and then saying finish isn't like a spoiler because at the start of the book actually is when they have gone missing like they ran away together but everyone is confused because they used to be this picture a perfect couple but then they ended up breaking up so after they've broken up they're running away together so everyone is like really confused this is a book where you got dual perspective and I thought that was great like it was just such a well-rounded and great why a romance and one of my favorites that I've read in all honesty it was awesome next is Book Lovers by Emily Henry this is the latest release by Emily Henry and I've said this in past years but basically since Emily Henry has started coming out with adult romances she did write YA books and I enjoyed the one that I read actually too but ever since she's come out with adult romances I've said you can kind of guarantee that it's going to show up on this list at least that has been the case so far now this one is a little bit further down the list than past books but I did still like really like this one it is on my favorites list of the year you know so it's not like I didn't enjoy it it just wasn't my favorite this is set during the summer it deals with his sister relationship which I loved but it also is kind of an enemies to lovers Romance once again you have characters who are involved in the literary world you are following a literary agent and an editor and they end up actually like running into each other unexpectedly in this small town where the main character and her sister have gone off to the small town to try and just like do the typical kind of like small town breaking out of your shell things and it's a lot of fun having that little small town element but also having a romance in there and like I said that sister relationship added a lot extra to the story I'm kind of a sucker for books that deal with like sister relationships in particular or really just like any sibling relationship and once again Emily Henry just a fantastic writer like she definitely is one of my favorite authors now I fall in love with all her stories all her characters it's so interesting to me because they have like kind of similar premises a lot of the time but they still stand on their own like the characters aren't too similar I don't feel like it's a book that I've read before but it follows a formula that really works for her and manages to be something that I don't get tired of next is I must betray You by rutus of petties Brutus petties is an author that I have loved for a long time now and it's no surprise to me that this book is on this list this is a story that it's actually her latest release it came out this past year but it is a story that I set in Romania and it's set in Romania under the Communist Regime so you're facing like such a hard time for the main character the main character is actually being blackmailed to spy on his family and he is faced with the decision like is he actually going to spy or is he going to you know try and use this position to get some information and obviously that's like a very dangerous situation but he makes the decision that he feels is best for him and is trying to like spy on the spies and it's just like you the tension in this book is incredible but it also complete completely transports you to that like time period and that situation which is absolutely terrifying like it's not a great place to be but rudisa Petty's always does a great job of bringing you to like the time period and the place that she's writing about and it allows you to be fully immersed in it and learn more about this time period And I love the fact that she focuses on lesser-known History such as like this time in Romanian history it's something that I had never really learned about but this book taught me so much and there was like a certain level of humanity in it that just like tugged on my heartstrings it is definitely a story that I won't soon forget next is daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lin tan this was a fairly recent read for me but it's one that like as I was listening to it I was like wow I'm really enjoying this I was blown away by the writing and the characters and how the story managed to be like this great great fantasy epic and I totally transported me and felt like such an escape it was a very fascinating world where you have the main character she's essentially not really supposed to exist her existence is kind of a secret and she is in this situation where she's at like risk of being discovered but she's trying to save her mother she's the daughter of the Moon Goddess obviously and she's trying to save the Moon Goddess from a life being imprisoned but she's like in this very dangerous situation and it just was such a high stakes situation and a really really great fantasy read I definitely like cannot wait for the sequel to this book I have like ordered it it should be in my actually Christmas book haul probably but it's like I don't read series very often but this is one that I wanted more I wanted more of the characters I wanted more of the writing and I can't wait to read it this was so great okay so uh I'm coming in from editing actually I was editing this and I realized that I can completely forgot to grab two of the books so I did not talk about them at all but I want to include them on this list and I want to talk about like the solid 15 so we're just going to talk about them now I'm just going to kind of put them where they fit in the list for me so just they're gonna show up where they will so that being said next up is you've reached Sam by Dustin Tau this was such an incredible debut it was a very emotional story but I fell in love with it I loved the fact that it depicted grief in such an honest way you had a main character who like wasn't entirely likable because of how she is reacting to grief but I think it was a really realistic depiction of that she is kind of isolating herself she is putting herself away from everyone else and kind of being not rude but not being very considerate of other people because she's so consumed by the grief that she's going through so if you aren't familiar with this book it is about essentially a first love and he ends up dying and at the beginning of this book like you find out that he has died and she calls him because she wants to hear his voice on his voicemail for one last time but he actually ends up picking up so she has like this limited connection with him and is trying to use that but also trying to move on like it is such a difficult read but I loved it I found it very emotional and just extremely well done honestly I'm always mind blown to think that this is a debut novel because it doesn't read like one at all it was just really really good next up is Ace of Spades by farida ibike ayamide I loved this book I was so so not expecting it but it completely like shocked me I was shook completely to my core like oh my goodness I wasn't expecting what it was and I'm very glad for that it's definitely a story I think it's best to just go into by even the synopsis like doesn't give you a lot I didn't know much going into it I just knew that it was a story that was like set I but there's kind of some mysterious things that are going on it's like Gossip Girl but dealing with institutionalized racism and in such a genius way it will completely shake you to your core I promise that just like it did to me I'm sure it will do that to you if you have been hearing about this book like everywhere there's a reason for it because it was such an incredible debut the fact that this book is a debut blows my mind next is a book that I was so nervous going into it because it is super hyped up like I was hearing about it everywhere but I completely understand the hype now like I get it and that is iron Widow by zyran J Zao I was so taken aback by this story it's one that I had read the synopsis many times but I was kind of having trouble making sense of it to be honest so I knew it was a fantasy I knew it dealt with these like flying creatures and it was kind of like a steampunky fantasy where you have these mechanics that are a big part of it but I do didn't expect it to be what it was which is like this really amazing feminist fantasy you have a main character who is totally like breaking barriers down but also is very unlikable not unlikable maybe but like a very morally gray character and I love a good morally gray character and this is following a lot of those it's a lot of like not everyone is who they seem not everything is what it seems and it's a world where women are essentially like disposable they are seen as an asset to men who are like they're piloting these things that they're using in war which I will say I did kind of have trouble with the magic system at times and picturing things but I think that was more my own fault like the author did a really great job of describing things it was just I was having such a hard time wrapping my head around it because it was so unique anyways the men are always the ones who pilot these and the women are like they are they are with them but then they are the ones who end up dying so they go through women super quickly it's like a terrible situation and the main character is essentially coming to like shake things up and avenge her sister's death it's incredible like highly recommend and another one where I am so excited for the sequel I ended up pre-ordering it I need more of this world more of all of it so now we are at the top five books that I have read in 2022. hi me again from editing uh this is the top six so I'm saying that this book has the number five spot because I got all confused I swear I always do something with this video every single year but this is actually number six and then like the next book will be number five and then number four I'm really sorry but the numbers are at the top anyway so coming in at number five is the Midnight Library by Matt Haig I was so surprised by this and I feel like this list is honestly just a lot of surprises for me I have been so surprised by where this list ended up it's definitely not what I was expecting but this is also a year where I I have gone way out of my comfort zone with what I've been reading these aren't normally things that I would pick up but I've been having such a blast with them in finding a lot of books that I've really loved obviously the Midnight Library is one of those it's a story that I know like it seems to be one where you kind of either love it or you hate it but I loved it I thought it was a story that came to me at the perfect time in my life because it's kind of like a mix of a self-help book but also a Fantastical story it's set in the Midnight Library which is this Library between life and death where you stay there and you're seeing like all of these different things that could have happened in your life if you had made a different decision so like the shelves of this Library are filled with books that are showing what your life could have been if you didn't do that or if you did that instead and you're seeing a character who is in a very difficult time in her life going through this book and seeing the options for what her life could be and trying to find something that fits her it's just such like an emotional story but one one that I think could mean a lot to a lot of people like it did to me so it's definitely one that is special and has a special place in my heart next up is the first graphic novel I think I've ever had on one of these lists but that is the handmaid's tale and this is obviously based on the book by Margaret Atwood but it is a graphic novel by Renee Knott or note once again I'm not quite sure how to pronounce that but I have been talking about reading the handmaid's tale for so long now and I knew I wasn't going to get to the book this year but I really wanted to experience some iteration of it because I want to watch the TV show but I've been putting it off like until I read something and I picked this up one Saturday morning and I finished it so quickly and it made me want to like pretty much immediately after reading this pick up the actual novel now I haven't done that yet but it is something that I'm going to do very soon I'm planning on doing it like probably in early 2023. it just was so fantastically written and the illustrations were so haunting I have managed to avoid spoilers for the story I knew like vaguely what it dealt with but I didn't know entirely what the story was so reading this completely blew my mind and shocked me how relevant the story still is maybe even more relevant now like it just was such an experience reading this book and it is one that is going to Stay With Me For Better or For Worse popping in here with the other book that I definitely forgot to grab so next is one last stop by Casey mcquiston I can't believe that I missed this one I can't believe that I didn't even catch this one because I loved this book I really really did I enjoyed red white and royal blue a lot it was on my favorites list for the year but I enjoyed this one more personally I thought the story was so immersive I loved like the kind of magical element to it I loved being transported to New York I will say there are some instances of the relationship that I wasn't the biggest fan of but that aside overall I felt the chemistry between these two characters and I'm not going to say much about like the synopsis because I think it's a good book to just go into not knowing a lot like I wish I hadn't known the kind of twist thing that is in the book but it's in the synopsis so I think it kind of gives away a little bit too much but it's essentially about a girl who finds out that her Subway crush is like there's something weird about her there's something different and it's their relationship it's this amazing found family that you cannot help but fall in love with and oh my God it's not only a cute romance it has so much more to it it's just a book that completely sucked me in and it really did feel like a hug like speaking of books that felt like a warm hug this is definitely one of those books and I'm so glad that I finally read it because it took me a very long time but it definitely belongs on this list now for my top three so coming in at number three is the lost ticket by Freya Sampson another very recent read for me actually I was not expecting to love this one as much as I did but it felt like a warm hug it felt like a warm cup of like hot chocolate it just felt like the sweetest thing ever and reading this oh my goodness I just loved it so much like it was the sweetest story so this is set in the UK and you're following this girl who ends up meeting an old man on the bus and this old man has actually been riding the same bus for 60 years because he met a woman 60 years ago and he ended up like losing her number so he never saw her again and he has been riding that bus for 60 years since in hopes of seeing her again so the main character ends up trying to help him out she's at kind of a Crossroads in her life she is not very happy with how things are going her relationship has just ended she is just feeling like everything is up in the air and and she ends up like meeting this man and helping him with this is something she can focus on so she's helping him out so you have like this lovely family relationship story but there is also a little bit of a romance in there it's just such a great book like honestly I can't recommend this one enough it was just so sweet and my second favorite book of the year like I said one and two were really really close so it's kind of I feel like both of these are tied for my favorite book of the year but the first one that I'll talk about that technically I've given the number two spot is lessons in chemistry by Bonnie garments once again huge surprise and also a recent read I have just read so many books that I've like loved recently and lessons in chemistry completely blew me away this is set in the 1960s and you're following a female chemist and you're essentially seeing her like dealing with all of this gatekeeping all of these barriers that are set against her as a woman in stem in that time period you're seeing all the things she goes through like the violence like so many terrible things and you're seeing her Rise Against that over the years you see such a like vast period of time where she is trying to just do what she loves what she's passionate about but everyone is telling her no and the only reason for that is because she is a woman now she ends up getting this like reality cooking show and she's using that to teach women more about chemistry like allow these women who have been kept in a box to be a housewife by their husbands to to break free of that just like she had wanted to it's just such a great story like I once again it's a debut and such a strong one definitely an author that I'm going to be needing to read more from it just was amazing to get to know this character so well and get to know her world and how she was trying to break free of all of these things I was like totally inspired by this book really okay so my number one book that I decided is my favorite of the year is every summer after by Carly Fortune I have talked about this book like a fair amount so I don't think this will come as a huge surprise but I really loved this one it's childhood friends to lovers which is like one of my favorite tropes and it is that in Canada it is set in Cottage Country Ontario so it was so easy to be like transported there because I felt like I mean I've never even really been to Cottage Country Ontario but I felt like I could picture everything and I could understand understand everything and I loved watching the characters they haven't seen each other in so long and then they come together again like that childhood friends to lovers romance is just my favorite these characters are so close and they're best friends and then their relationship ends up you know coming to this kind of Crossroads where there was this conflict so they haven't seen each other and it's just I just love this story honestly like I read it so quickly because I was completely engrossed in these characters and their will they won't they it's been years sort of thing and that Trope is just like my favorite so those are are my favorite books of 2022 I think that I have a really solid list like I said it was so hard to narrow things down this year but I'm really happy with all of the books that I have read and these are the top 15 out of the 100 that I read this year but like I said tomorrow for bookmas day five don't forget to come back for that little like subscribers choose my festive reading day reading Vlog and I will see you guys in that video soon bye good thank youhey everyone it's Haley happy book Miss day four today I'm going to be counting down my absolute favorite books that I read in 2022. I always have such a hard time with this video but it is also like one of my favorites to do for bookmas it's just so hard to order the books that I have on this list because I loved all of them so it's like how do I decide what ends up being at the number 15 spot and usually I feel like in years past I've known what my number one read of the year is but I think that last year the same thing happened where there's not really one book in particular that is standing out as my number one favorite so really kind of the top two were in contention for that spot but I think that either one could have gotten it I just kind of went with my gut to decide what my favorite book of the year is so yeah this list is going to be ordered usually I don't do that but I like kind of counting down and ranking things I think it's kind of a fun Twist on what I normally do so I have lots of really great books to talk about today I'm going to be talking about my 15 favorite books of 2022 all the ones that I read this year we have a mix of older other books but there's actually quite a few more recent releases on here so without further Ado before we get into the video don't forget to click that subscribe button and then click the Bell icon so you'll be notified whenever I post I'm posting a new video every single day in the month of December for bookmas 2022 so you don't want to miss any of those tomorrow for bookmas day 5 I'm going to be doing like I did a little reading Vlog day sort of thing where I had you guys decide what I was going to read what I was going to do you kind of planned my festive reading day and it was a lot of fun so that will be tomorrow's video also of course I have to talk about like my worst books of the year as well so that will be for bookmas day six so stay tuned for that but let's just get into this list also before we get into it sorry I actually just finished filming it but I wanted to mention this if you have a guess of what you think my favorite book was that I read this year leave that down below but also let me know what your favorite book was that you read this year okay now let's actually get into it I'm so sorry I keep saying that we're gonna get to the books and then we don't but one last thing wanted to mention I know for a lot of people it seems really early to be doing an end of the year wrap up but because of bookmas I always end my reading year in November so anything that I read last December counts toward my 2022 reads and just like that anything that I read this December will count toward my 2023 reads it's just easier for bookmas because the rest of the month is going to be like actually wrapping up and getting into kind of the nitty-gritty of all the books that I read this year so I like to do my best books of the year list pretty early just wanted to explain that now we are I swear actually getting to the books okay I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as possible because I don't want this video to be a million year years long and honestly the more I like a book The more I can talk about it the books that I'm recommending are just ones that I could honestly go on about forever and I feel like the videos where I am recommending books they generally end up having the most footage so we're gonna try and be concise so coming in at the number 15 spot I actually have two books so maybe you find that to be cheating but oh well it's my video I do what I want but guilt and tarnish by Catherine Longshore I didn't really expect these to end up here to be honest but the more I thought about it I was like I had a really good time with listening to these audiobooks they were super fun so they are why a tutor era stories and I would say that tarnish this one is about Anne Boleyn and this one kind of veers more toward the romance side of things guilt is about Katherine Howard but it's actually focusing on one of Catherine Howard's friends as the main character and that's more like mostly a political and friendship story but there is so much much happening in both of these books that you will be on the edge of your seat the entire time and that's exactly how I felt when listening to it it completely like transported me to the tutor era it definitely isn't using like authentic language or anything but it was still very enjoyable and I felt like all of that like political core Intrigue I felt like I was at the court of like Henry VIII and it was just a great time being there now there is another book in this series Brazen that I do own and I've kind of talked about this but I listened to the audiobook for the both of these had such a good time with it but Brazen doesn't have an audiobook so I'm really sad about it and I think that audio was just kind of the way to go for me with these but you know what can you do anyways these definitely I felt like they belonged on the list it's always kind of hard near the bottom because there's so many books that are kind of like almost favorites almost made it but these are the ones that made it and then on bookmas day I don't know something I think it's day 20 or something like that I'm going to be talking about my almost favorite so those will be the books that didn't quite make it to this list but they almost got there so stay tuned for that next is the dead Romantics by Ashley Poston this is another the one that like I'm quite surprised is on this list to be honest because I have read Ashley Poston books before I've read her why a novels and there's nothing wrong with them like I enjoyed them but they didn't like blow me away so geekerella and then I don't think I read any more of like the Once Upon a con series but then she also had among the beasts and Briars which I did really like but like nothing that I would have included on a favorites list but this book was so good I was not expecting it at all it's an adult romance and it is about a ghost writer who is the main character but she actually like grew up at her family's Funeral Parlor and death has been very much a part of her life because of that but she also has the ability to see ghosts so that's something her father had as well her father has died at the beginning of this book so she goes home for the first time in a very long time like she hasn't been home forever and obviously she's dealing with grief when she gets there but she also ends up seeing a ghost that she wasn't expecting and like there's just kind of this tangled web of things going on it's definitely a slow burn romance because it's kind of like a doomed from the start sort of thing a forbidden romance if you will and it just was such a pleasant read because I loved the romance aspect of it I loved the family and the development of the main character as well she's going through a lot and you get to see her like slowly dealing with these things that she has put off for years and years so there was a lot of development with the main character but also with like the external I just thought this was honestly such a great read like I was so pleasantly surprised by it and had a great time with it it was different than other romances that I've read but in the best way possible next is xyla and Kai by Christina Forrest this is once again an author that I have read books from before and this is definitely my favorite of her books I felt like this was such a great and well-rounded look at like a teenage and First Love relationship I think that if you are young this would be a great book to read like if you're going through your first love before your first love whatever I think this is such a good story because it deals with characters who get so consumed by this first love that they've had it seems to be all they can ever see but then there's also a lot of consequences with that where they have these goals in their life and they're kind of putting those things off because they become so for lack of a better word obsessed with each other this is like a pretty chunky Book for a why a contemporary in particular and I was kind of skeptical about why it would be so long but I understand because you see their relationship from start to finish you see like the before and after and then saying finish isn't like a spoiler because at the start of the book actually is when they have gone missing like they ran away together but everyone is confused because they used to be this picture a perfect couple but then they ended up breaking up so after they've broken up they're running away together so everyone is like really confused this is a book where you got dual perspective and I thought that was great like it was just such a well-rounded and great why a romance and one of my favorites that I've read in all honesty it was awesome next is Book Lovers by Emily Henry this is the latest release by Emily Henry and I've said this in past years but basically since Emily Henry has started coming out with adult romances she did write YA books and I enjoyed the one that I read actually too but ever since she's come out with adult romances I've said you can kind of guarantee that it's going to show up on this list at least that has been the case so far now this one is a little bit further down the list than past books but I did still like really like this one it is on my favorites list of the year you know so it's not like I didn't enjoy it it just wasn't my favorite this is set during the summer it deals with his sister relationship which I loved but it also is kind of an enemies to lovers Romance once again you have characters who are involved in the literary world you are following a literary agent and an editor and they end up actually like running into each other unexpectedly in this small town where the main character and her sister have gone off to the small town to try and just like do the typical kind of like small town breaking out of your shell things and it's a lot of fun having that little small town element but also having a romance in there and like I said that sister relationship added a lot extra to the story I'm kind of a sucker for books that deal with like sister relationships in particular or really just like any sibling relationship and once again Emily Henry just a fantastic writer like she definitely is one of my favorite authors now I fall in love with all her stories all her characters it's so interesting to me because they have like kind of similar premises a lot of the time but they still stand on their own like the characters aren't too similar I don't feel like it's a book that I've read before but it follows a formula that really works for her and manages to be something that I don't get tired of next is I must betray You by rutus of petties Brutus petties is an author that I have loved for a long time now and it's no surprise to me that this book is on this list this is a story that it's actually her latest release it came out this past year but it is a story that I set in Romania and it's set in Romania under the Communist Regime so you're facing like such a hard time for the main character the main character is actually being blackmailed to spy on his family and he is faced with the decision like is he actually going to spy or is he going to you know try and use this position to get some information and obviously that's like a very dangerous situation but he makes the decision that he feels is best for him and is trying to like spy on the spies and it's just like you the tension in this book is incredible but it also complete completely transports you to that like time period and that situation which is absolutely terrifying like it's not a great place to be but rudisa Petty's always does a great job of bringing you to like the time period and the place that she's writing about and it allows you to be fully immersed in it and learn more about this time period And I love the fact that she focuses on lesser-known History such as like this time in Romanian history it's something that I had never really learned about but this book taught me so much and there was like a certain level of humanity in it that just like tugged on my heartstrings it is definitely a story that I won't soon forget next is daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lin tan this was a fairly recent read for me but it's one that like as I was listening to it I was like wow I'm really enjoying this I was blown away by the writing and the characters and how the story managed to be like this great great fantasy epic and I totally transported me and felt like such an escape it was a very fascinating world where you have the main character she's essentially not really supposed to exist her existence is kind of a secret and she is in this situation where she's at like risk of being discovered but she's trying to save her mother she's the daughter of the Moon Goddess obviously and she's trying to save the Moon Goddess from a life being imprisoned but she's like in this very dangerous situation and it just was such a high stakes situation and a really really great fantasy read I definitely like cannot wait for the sequel to this book I have like ordered it it should be in my actually Christmas book haul probably but it's like I don't read series very often but this is one that I wanted more I wanted more of the characters I wanted more of the writing and I can't wait to read it this was so great okay so uh I'm coming in from editing actually I was editing this and I realized that I can completely forgot to grab two of the books so I did not talk about them at all but I want to include them on this list and I want to talk about like the solid 15 so we're just going to talk about them now I'm just going to kind of put them where they fit in the list for me so just they're gonna show up where they will so that being said next up is you've reached Sam by Dustin Tau this was such an incredible debut it was a very emotional story but I fell in love with it I loved the fact that it depicted grief in such an honest way you had a main character who like wasn't entirely likable because of how she is reacting to grief but I think it was a really realistic depiction of that she is kind of isolating herself she is putting herself away from everyone else and kind of being not rude but not being very considerate of other people because she's so consumed by the grief that she's going through so if you aren't familiar with this book it is about essentially a first love and he ends up dying and at the beginning of this book like you find out that he has died and she calls him because she wants to hear his voice on his voicemail for one last time but he actually ends up picking up so she has like this limited connection with him and is trying to use that but also trying to move on like it is such a difficult read but I loved it I found it very emotional and just extremely well done honestly I'm always mind blown to think that this is a debut novel because it doesn't read like one at all it was just really really good next up is Ace of Spades by farida ibike ayamide I loved this book I was so so not expecting it but it completely like shocked me I was shook completely to my core like oh my goodness I wasn't expecting what it was and I'm very glad for that it's definitely a story I think it's best to just go into by even the synopsis like doesn't give you a lot I didn't know much going into it I just knew that it was a story that was like set I but there's kind of some mysterious things that are going on it's like Gossip Girl but dealing with institutionalized racism and in such a genius way it will completely shake you to your core I promise that just like it did to me I'm sure it will do that to you if you have been hearing about this book like everywhere there's a reason for it because it was such an incredible debut the fact that this book is a debut blows my mind next is a book that I was so nervous going into it because it is super hyped up like I was hearing about it everywhere but I completely understand the hype now like I get it and that is iron Widow by zyran J Zao I was so taken aback by this story it's one that I had read the synopsis many times but I was kind of having trouble making sense of it to be honest so I knew it was a fantasy I knew it dealt with these like flying creatures and it was kind of like a steampunky fantasy where you have these mechanics that are a big part of it but I do didn't expect it to be what it was which is like this really amazing feminist fantasy you have a main character who is totally like breaking barriers down but also is very unlikable not unlikable maybe but like a very morally gray character and I love a good morally gray character and this is following a lot of those it's a lot of like not everyone is who they seem not everything is what it seems and it's a world where women are essentially like disposable they are seen as an asset to men who are like they're piloting these things that they're using in war which I will say I did kind of have trouble with the magic system at times and picturing things but I think that was more my own fault like the author did a really great job of describing things it was just I was having such a hard time wrapping my head around it because it was so unique anyways the men are always the ones who pilot these and the women are like they are they are with them but then they are the ones who end up dying so they go through women super quickly it's like a terrible situation and the main character is essentially coming to like shake things up and avenge her sister's death it's incredible like highly recommend and another one where I am so excited for the sequel I ended up pre-ordering it I need more of this world more of all of it so now we are at the top five books that I have read in 2022. hi me again from editing uh this is the top six so I'm saying that this book has the number five spot because I got all confused I swear I always do something with this video every single year but this is actually number six and then like the next book will be number five and then number four I'm really sorry but the numbers are at the top anyway so coming in at number five is the Midnight Library by Matt Haig I was so surprised by this and I feel like this list is honestly just a lot of surprises for me I have been so surprised by where this list ended up it's definitely not what I was expecting but this is also a year where I I have gone way out of my comfort zone with what I've been reading these aren't normally things that I would pick up but I've been having such a blast with them in finding a lot of books that I've really loved obviously the Midnight Library is one of those it's a story that I know like it seems to be one where you kind of either love it or you hate it but I loved it I thought it was a story that came to me at the perfect time in my life because it's kind of like a mix of a self-help book but also a Fantastical story it's set in the Midnight Library which is this Library between life and death where you stay there and you're seeing like all of these different things that could have happened in your life if you had made a different decision so like the shelves of this Library are filled with books that are showing what your life could have been if you didn't do that or if you did that instead and you're seeing a character who is in a very difficult time in her life going through this book and seeing the options for what her life could be and trying to find something that fits her it's just such like an emotional story but one one that I think could mean a lot to a lot of people like it did to me so it's definitely one that is special and has a special place in my heart next up is the first graphic novel I think I've ever had on one of these lists but that is the handmaid's tale and this is obviously based on the book by Margaret Atwood but it is a graphic novel by Renee Knott or note once again I'm not quite sure how to pronounce that but I have been talking about reading the handmaid's tale for so long now and I knew I wasn't going to get to the book this year but I really wanted to experience some iteration of it because I want to watch the TV show but I've been putting it off like until I read something and I picked this up one Saturday morning and I finished it so quickly and it made me want to like pretty much immediately after reading this pick up the actual novel now I haven't done that yet but it is something that I'm going to do very soon I'm planning on doing it like probably in early 2023. it just was so fantastically written and the illustrations were so haunting I have managed to avoid spoilers for the story I knew like vaguely what it dealt with but I didn't know entirely what the story was so reading this completely blew my mind and shocked me how relevant the story still is maybe even more relevant now like it just was such an experience reading this book and it is one that is going to Stay With Me For Better or For Worse popping in here with the other book that I definitely forgot to grab so next is one last stop by Casey mcquiston I can't believe that I missed this one I can't believe that I didn't even catch this one because I loved this book I really really did I enjoyed red white and royal blue a lot it was on my favorites list for the year but I enjoyed this one more personally I thought the story was so immersive I loved like the kind of magical element to it I loved being transported to New York I will say there are some instances of the relationship that I wasn't the biggest fan of but that aside overall I felt the chemistry between these two characters and I'm not going to say much about like the synopsis because I think it's a good book to just go into not knowing a lot like I wish I hadn't known the kind of twist thing that is in the book but it's in the synopsis so I think it kind of gives away a little bit too much but it's essentially about a girl who finds out that her Subway crush is like there's something weird about her there's something different and it's their relationship it's this amazing found family that you cannot help but fall in love with and oh my God it's not only a cute romance it has so much more to it it's just a book that completely sucked me in and it really did feel like a hug like speaking of books that felt like a warm hug this is definitely one of those books and I'm so glad that I finally read it because it took me a very long time but it definitely belongs on this list now for my top three so coming in at number three is the lost ticket by Freya Sampson another very recent read for me actually I was not expecting to love this one as much as I did but it felt like a warm hug it felt like a warm cup of like hot chocolate it just felt like the sweetest thing ever and reading this oh my goodness I just loved it so much like it was the sweetest story so this is set in the UK and you're following this girl who ends up meeting an old man on the bus and this old man has actually been riding the same bus for 60 years because he met a woman 60 years ago and he ended up like losing her number so he never saw her again and he has been riding that bus for 60 years since in hopes of seeing her again so the main character ends up trying to help him out she's at kind of a Crossroads in her life she is not very happy with how things are going her relationship has just ended she is just feeling like everything is up in the air and and she ends up like meeting this man and helping him with this is something she can focus on so she's helping him out so you have like this lovely family relationship story but there is also a little bit of a romance in there it's just such a great book like honestly I can't recommend this one enough it was just so sweet and my second favorite book of the year like I said one and two were really really close so it's kind of I feel like both of these are tied for my favorite book of the year but the first one that I'll talk about that technically I've given the number two spot is lessons in chemistry by Bonnie garments once again huge surprise and also a recent read I have just read so many books that I've like loved recently and lessons in chemistry completely blew me away this is set in the 1960s and you're following a female chemist and you're essentially seeing her like dealing with all of this gatekeeping all of these barriers that are set against her as a woman in stem in that time period you're seeing all the things she goes through like the violence like so many terrible things and you're seeing her Rise Against that over the years you see such a like vast period of time where she is trying to just do what she loves what she's passionate about but everyone is telling her no and the only reason for that is because she is a woman now she ends up getting this like reality cooking show and she's using that to teach women more about chemistry like allow these women who have been kept in a box to be a housewife by their husbands to to break free of that just like she had wanted to it's just such a great story like I once again it's a debut and such a strong one definitely an author that I'm going to be needing to read more from it just was amazing to get to know this character so well and get to know her world and how she was trying to break free of all of these things I was like totally inspired by this book really okay so my number one book that I decided is my favorite of the year is every summer after by Carly Fortune I have talked about this book like a fair amount so I don't think this will come as a huge surprise but I really loved this one it's childhood friends to lovers which is like one of my favorite tropes and it is that in Canada it is set in Cottage Country Ontario so it was so easy to be like transported there because I felt like I mean I've never even really been to Cottage Country Ontario but I felt like I could picture everything and I could understand understand everything and I loved watching the characters they haven't seen each other in so long and then they come together again like that childhood friends to lovers romance is just my favorite these characters are so close and they're best friends and then their relationship ends up you know coming to this kind of Crossroads where there was this conflict so they haven't seen each other and it's just I just love this story honestly like I read it so quickly because I was completely engrossed in these characters and their will they won't they it's been years sort of thing and that Trope is just like my favorite so those are are my favorite books of 2022 I think that I have a really solid list like I said it was so hard to narrow things down this year but I'm really happy with all of the books that I have read and these are the top 15 out of the 100 that I read this year but like I said tomorrow for bookmas day five don't forget to come back for that little like subscribers choose my festive reading day reading Vlog and I will see you guys in that video soon bye good thank you\n"