2022 Year In Books: These Are The 30 Books I Read During The Year
Welcome back to My Jamaican Vignettes. This week I am sharing 2022 my year in books. I will share a quick overview with star-ratings the 30 books that I read in 2022. Thanks for joining me. I will split the books and share in chronological order what I read each month. Some of which you will already know based on my monthly reading wrap-ups in September, October and November.
2022 Year In Books
As I mentioned in the introduction, I read 30 books in 2022. It was mostly a mix of romance and mystery thrillers. I believe my average rating was around three-stars. And I only read one five-star book.
Goodreads 2022 Reading Challenge Goal
I set the goal of reading 24 books in 2022 and so I am very happy that I surpassed that and read 30 books for the year. It is still a lot lower than my pre-pandemic reading but considering that I only read seven books in 2021 and 23 books in 2020, I am very happy with this accomplishment.
January 2022
In January 2022, I read four books. Two romance novels, Seven Days In June by Tia Williams and Getaway Girl by Tessa Bailey. I rated Seven Days In June four-stars and Getaway Girl I rated three-stars. Home Body by Rupi Kaur was the only poetry collection that I read last year and I rated that three-stars. I didn’t connect with the poems in Home Body like I did The Sun and Her Flowers. Then I also read my first Jacqueline Woodson novel, Red at the Bone and I rated that four-stars.
February 2022
February 2022 was mostly all about romance. I read three romance novels and one mystery thriller. I found Trinidadian romance novelist N.G. Peltier’s Island Bites series and I rated Sweethand four-stars. I love that series and can’t wait for book three. I also read You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria and rated that three-stars. That had a telenovela vibe and was fun. I rated Christina Lauren’s novel The Unhoneymooners three-stars. Then my only mystery novel for February was Seven Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. This was my first time reading a Peter Swanson novel and this was like a love letter to the mystery thriller genre. I rated it three-stars.
March 2022
I only read one book in March and that was Blackout. Written by Dhonelle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk and Nicola Yoon. This was interesting reading experience. The multi-authored interlinked novel set during a blackout during a summer heatwave in New York was a sweet story featuring six couples. I rated it three-stars. I know that might not seem like a recommendation but it is and I do plan to read the next book by this group, Whiteout.
May 2022
I read three books in May. And no I didn’t accidentally skip April. I simply didn’t end up finishing any books that month according to my 2022 Goodreads reading challenge list. I rated Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia three-stars. It’s a mystery series set in the 1920s with an African American female amateur detective. And I plan to read more in the series. Book two Harlem Sunset has already been published. I also rated An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole three stars. This is a historical romance novel set during the American civil war. It wasn’t my favourite from Cole and I’m not sure I’ll read the other two books in the Loyal League Series. And in May I also read book one of the Bridgerton books, The Duke and I and I rated that two-stars. I much prefer the Netflix series.
June 2022
In June I read a romance novel and a YA novel. I finally completed On The Come Up by Angie Thomas and while I didn’t love it the way I loved THUG, it was still a good book. I rated three-stars. And I got introduced to Priscilla Oliveras’ writing when I read Island Affair which is book one in Keys to Love series and I didn’t love the fake dating in this and the characters just met so I rated that two-stars but decided to try more from Oliveras.
July 2022
I only read Don’t Go Baking My Heart by N.G. Peltier in July. And I adore her Island Bites series. This is book two of this romance series and I rated it four-stars and I’m eagerly waiting on book three.
August 2022
September was a fun reading month but I was let down by Tessa Bailey. I ended up rating My Killer Vacation one-star, I disliked the male love interest. In fact was creeped out by him and whole relationship made me uncomfortable. I also read my second Alexis Daria book and rated that three-stars and I want to read the next book in the Primas of Power series. And lastly, I read my first Mia P. Manansala novel and I adore this cosy mystery series. I rated Arsenic and Adobo three-stars.
September 2022
September 2022 was when I returned to My Jamaica Vignettes and started blogging again. In September, I completed three books that month and you would have already heard me talk about them. I did a full review on The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams so you can read that if you missed it last year but I rated that romance novel three-stars. I also completed my first NetGalley ARC in years when I read Picture Perfect by Jeevani Charika and rated that four-stars, it was cute with fake dating. And now my five-star read of 2022 was The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw.
October 2022
October 2022 was my best reading month and I think that was because it was my birthday and I also took time off from work. But whatever the reason I read six books in October. I caught up on the Perveen Mistry series and rated books two and three, The Satapur Moonstone and The Bombay Prince each four-stars. And I immediately preordered book four in the series. In October I also read book one in the new series by Vivian Conroy, Mystery in Provence and rated that three-stars, I liked where the series seemed to be heading so I preordered book two. Keeping with the mystery theme, I also read book one in the Books and Biscuits Mystery series, Body and Soul Food by Abby Collette and rated that three-stars. Then I completed my second Priscilla Oliveras novel, Anchored Hearts which is book two in Keys to Love series. I much preferred this book to book one and gave it three-stars. Then I read The Many Dates of Indigo by Amber D. Samuel and I liked this it read more like chick lit than romance and I ended up giving that novel three-stars.
November 2022
For November, I read two books, one historical mystery and one romance. I rated both books four-stars. Double the Lies by Patricia Raybon was an interesting story about an African American detective in Denver in the 1920s. It was first time reading Christian mystery and I want to read more by Patricia Raybon. Then I completed the Brown Sisters trilogy and that was a good reading experience, I listened to the audiobook on Scribd.
December 2022
I only read one book in December and that was from my NetGalley shelf and I rated A Half-Baked Murder by Emily George three-stars. It was a fun read and solid introduction to a new to me author and new cosy mystery series.
And there you have it. Those are the 30 books I read in 2022. My 2022 year in books.
What was your reading year like? Did you meet your annual reading goals? What was your favourite book from last year?
Let’s chat some more in the comments.
Chantel DaCosta
Chantel DaCosta is a storyteller, editor and lifestyle content creator. She is passionate about Jamaican women's own voices narratives and journeys to mindfulness.
