Favorite Books of 2022!

Hello hello, welcome to Episode 79 of Life On the Brink, and Happy New Year!

It’s time again for one of my favorite episodes: the annual book recap! Today I’m sharing all of the best books I read in 2022, as well as some of your top-rated reads.

Last year I had a goal to read 30 books, and ended up reading 35! I don’t make a lot of goals or resolutions when it comes to the New Year, but I really enjoy making this reading goal each year because it’s a hobby that I’m quick to forget I love. I’ve slowly made reading a part of my life again over the past couple of years, and it’s just so enjoyable, so this goal simply serves to challenge me to do more of what I love.

And if you, like me, want to read even more in 2023, I have a lovely list of books to get you started!

Plus, this week's Little Joy is a bookish moment I had in the middle of a very special trip, and I'm sharing a playlist of soundtracks to make your winter reading a bit more magical.

For the complete show notes, click here!
For full transcript, click here!


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Transcript

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Welcome to Life on the brink, a lovely little place filled with inspiration and creativity that is dedicated to enjoying life one day at a time. I'm Ana. And together, we're exploring the beautiful things in this world that fascinate us, and often discovering something new. Hello, hello, welcome to episode 79 of life on the brink and Happy New Year. I have returned from my holiday hiatus. It was lovely, I hope that you had a joyful and refreshing holiday season. And now as we get into the new year, it is time for one of my favorite episodes of the year. Not gonna lie. And I'm not the only one who's doing this, of course, but I always enjoy listening and watching episodes and videos on this subject, which is my favorite books of the year. I never get tired of book recommendations. And so I hope that this is informative and inspiring and lots of fun. Today I am sharing the best books in my opinion that I read in 2022, as well as some of your favorites. So before we begin, let's all just take a nice deep breath and make a cup of tea. Of course, it's January most likely it's very cold where you are. So go ahead and pause this episode or just keep it running while you go make yourself something warm. I am drinking today, some of the last of my holiday teas from David's Tea. This is in the blend, marry mistletoe, it is a white tea infusion. And I love it very much. And if you happen to be new ish to this podcast, or if this is the first time you're listening, I invite everyone to make something warm or to get cozy at the beginning of each episode because I love to highlight simple pleasures like tea or like books. And it really doesn't take that much to transform your day. So hopefully you have something by now and you are excited with me to go through this list. Of course, don't worry, all of them will be linked in the blog post for this episode, you can find the show notes at life on the brink dot live li VE. That's where all the show notes for this podcast are. And I have each of the books on my list linked so that you can find them. So last year in 2022, I had a goal to read 30 books, and my grand total was 35. Very pleased with that I don't make a lot of goals in the new year. Usually, I talked a lot about that in episode 78 A couple of weeks ago. But I do enjoy setting reading goals because I love to read. And it's been a couple of years to get back into the habit of reading. But I love a goal that stretches me and pushes me toward doing more of the thing that I love. But I think we would all agree that sometimes it's easy to forget that we love reading, especially with a technology as accessible as it is. But I have enjoyed so many of the books that I read last year. And I might not have made them a priority if I didn't have this goal, so you don't have to set a reading goal. It works for me and I have increased my bid for 2023. I'll talk about that at the end of the episode. But if you would like to set a goal or you simply just want to read more or find some more books that you enjoy in 2023. Hopefully this list can get you started. But first, let's get some of your recommendations. So I asked on my Instagram story in preparation for recording this episode. If you had any recommendations, you the listeners and I got a very diverse collection back and I'd like to share some of those with you today. And I really enjoyed how some of you included why you enjoyed it. So I'll try to highlight that as well. Starting off strong. We have recommendations for DAISY Jones in the six by Taylor Jenkins read that's probably going to be high on my list to read and we'll talk about Taylor Jenkins read in a minute. Practical Magic or Alice Hoffman I did read this and 2022 and I do love it. It's not my favorite in the series. But I've been making my way through and the whole series is magical. We have The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Hope I said it right. I know who this is who recommended this and it's one of her favorite books. and I have made her a promise to read it in the near future. So hopefully maybe I'll get to that this year. We also have all creatures great and small, by James Herriot, I hope I've said, you know, there's a lot of authors here, but I've heard about this. I know it has to do with a veterinarian, I believe, and it's, and it's part of a series I believe, I can see online, All things bright and beautiful, All things wise and wonderful, etc. But very sweet and fascinating. Moving on, we also have part of your world by Abby Jimenez, I have had this one on my radar for a little while. It's a bit of a, it's a contemporary romance, I believe, but the situation is unique. So I might, maybe we'll do that in like February, get the little romance kit going. We also have a very interesting sounding book called words from the window seat, the everyday magic of kindness, courage, and being true to yourself by Taylor tippet. And it's apparently, as we could guess, about acts of kindness, and I'm sure is uplifting to read as well as putting into practice. We also have five total strangers by Natalie D. Richards. And I've heard that this book is a bit of a thriller, but that the ending is a complete twist. So if that sounds like something you'd enjoy, check that out five total strangers. We also have getting closer by Steven Millhauser. This was recommended it's a short story, and is apparently very good for summertime. And lastly, of course, the Bible, pro obvious reasons. These are some of your recommendations. Thank you so much to everyone who sent me replies. If you'd like to contribute to future episodes, feel free to find me over on Instagram. I do like to get your input because this is a community after all, and I love to hear your feedback. And now let's move into my list. These are my top reads from 2022. And I'm sharing first a list of everything that got five stars from me and I'll try to explain why there will be no spoilers, don't worry. But I also tacked on at the end of the end of this episode, a little list of honorable mentions those that got less than five stars, but we're still really really good. And these aren't in order of goodness, but rather in chronological order and the order that I read them last year. Starting off strong. We have a castle in the clouds by Kirsten Guyer or gear, Kristin Guyer, I believe, and translated by Romy first Lund, because this is originally in German. Oh my goodness, what a magical book. It is perfect for winter time, even in January, I think because it takes place over the Christmas holiday but into the new year. And it's not a Christmas book. But it does have a little bit of mystery, a little bit of suspense, but also a little bit of magic. It takes place in a hotel, up in the mountains. It's gorgeous. The scenery, the descriptions of the landscape and of the hotel, it's cozy, and it's just charming. I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I'll definitely read it again. I'm just gonna give it a year to to forget some stuff. I really can't recommend this book enough if you need something cozy to warm you up in the wintertime. That is a castle in the clouds. I read that in February of last year and it was just divine. Moving on, we have as you wish inconceivable Tales From The Making of The Princess Bride. And this is by none other than Carrie Elway's, who is the actor who portrayed Wesley or the dreaded pirate Robert or whatever you want to call it. He is the guy and he wrote this book. And it is just the perfect behind the scenes peek into the making of this film, which is so iconic. And it's really great because throughout the book, there are little boxes where so many of the cast and crew gave their own words about a particular moment or a scene that it really felt like such a collaborative project. And it's just so endearing. As someone who grew up with that film. It was really special to read some of the stories behind the scenes like for example, the scene when they come out of the fire swamp and they're ambushed for example, right and the six fingered man I don't remember his name is talking with Wesley and he says Someone's looking for you. And then he hits him over the top of the head with his sword and Wesley blacks out and wakes up. You know, he actually did black out because because they were trying to do a bunch of takes where he isn't actually hit over the top of the head with a very heavy sword. But it wasn't looking realistic. So Carrie looked at the other actor whose name escapes me and said, Okay, go ahead and like make contact this time, you know, it'll be fine. I can take it. And he did. He actually knocked him out by accident felt terrible. But that is the one take that they got. And that's the take that they used. And he woke up in the hospital. But like just little stories like that, that's actually not the only time that he was sent to hospital, in his Dread Pirate Roberts costume. So it's just full of lots of interesting stories. And you can tell there's just such a love for the enduring fan base of this movie. I just I really loved it. If you at all like the Princess Bride, please read this book. Okay, moving on. Moving on. Next on my list, I read it over the summer, and it's people we meet on vacation by Emily Henry. I've seen it. You've seen it. We all know that orange cover. I don't know why it's called people we meet on vacation. That's not what it's about. But it is to up until this point, my favorite Emily Henry book. I read a bunch of them over the summer. And this is my favorite one. It's friends to lovers. That's not a spoiler. It's very clearly a romance book. But I love the stories of travel and the inclusion of that. I really like watching this relationship change over time, I thought that the characters actually felt like real characters with personalities. And I just really, it was a delight. I did enjoy it in the summer in particular, but you don't have to read it in the summer. If you're going to read an Emily Henry, I say go with this one. Next up on this list, we have another nonfiction which is the power of moments why certain experiences have extraordinary impact by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. And I have talked about this book at length, because episode 58 was entirely about this book, Episode 58 is called creating memories, the power of moments, which I will link in the show notes as well. And it really dives into why this book is so great. But I can just say that there's something there's an art to harnessing a really impactful moment. Sometimes they happen coincidentally. But most of the time, there's someone behind the scenes that or a team for that matter that made that moment special. And so this book is really dissecting why moments are impactful. And there are four key elements. And the author's provide ways to use those elements to enhance moments, whether it's in teaching with students to make your lessons impactful or maybe as a boss, how to create meetings and structures that are fun to be in and that have lasting impact. And I just really enjoyed that. I love to create special moments. And so this is sort of like a breaking down of trying to find secret ingredients to moments like that. That's once again, the power of moments. If you're interested in more, check out episode 58 Or just pick it up. It's really engaging. And it has a lot of personal testimony, which I think is a very fun thing to read in a nonfiction book. Okay, we only have two more on this list that made five stars. This one I read in the fall. It's not a surprise at all. It is The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. I finally got around to reading this book. I had so many people last fall, message me or talk to me and they were like, I can't believe you haven't read The Hobbit. But it wasn't my time. I tried to read the Lord of the Rings too young. And I thought that all of Tolkien's writing was too dense. But last autumn, if you recall, I had like a whole load of earrings autumn. That was the era and I read The Hobbit it was it was excellent. Like you can see why this author was so influential in the entire fantasy genre. I do love the character of Bilbo. I feel like there are so many characters who you really get to see who they are. But in a not too many words. I could see the landscapes I could you know, let me pause real quick. I want to explain something in and why I enjoy certain books. When I'm reading, I see the pictures clearly in my head. A lot of things that are oral, like music or words or textures. They have a visual representation in my mind. And maybe one day I'll do a podcast about synesthesia, but when I'm reading It's so frustrating to me if I can't figure out what it looks like. Sometimes when I read a book, I can't envision the landscape or the surroundings or what someone looks like, because of the way that the book is written. I don't know what those ingredients are you makeup. A solid seen in my mind, there are certain authors that I know I feel like I can. I'm in that space, I understand it. Donna Tartt, for example, secret history in the Goldfinch, I'm in the process of reading the goldfinch. Now, she doesn't give you, you know, this is everything that you need to know, this is exactly what someone looks like, she doesn't give you that. But she gives you just the right amount of description that I feel like I'm in that space. I think that's why I like atmospheric books, you could say, quote, unquote, because if I have a clearer picture, I feel like I can understand the story. Now, I know that not everyone probably interprets books this way. But if you do, then just know that that influences which books I enjoy more. For example, when I had to read, when I had to read, when I read a castle in the clouds, I had to look up Swiss architecture, because I couldn't figure out what this hotel was supposed to look like. And I was creating a hotel in my mind. And I was like, I don't think that's right, it doesn't feel right. And so I looked up pictures, and also like, fan art, from people who have read the book before me, and I helped a lot. But the hobbit did not need this. You can feel every environment, all the forests and the mountains and the caves. Like, I felt like I was there with the characters. And that's something that I just I really loved about this book. And it's, it's clear why it is an enduring classic. I can't advocate for the films of The Hobbit the same way that I advocate for the films of the Lord of the Rings, but the book is definitely worth. And lastly, this was one of the last books that I read in 2022. It's a Christmas book. It's gorgeous. It is the enchanted sonata by Heather Dixon Wallwork. I understand if you need to wait until this coming Christmas season to read this book. Absolutely. But plan time in your schedule to do so because this book is so gorgeous. It is a telling or retelling of The Nutcracker story, which you could think could go okay, that could be mediocre. That could be cringy. That could be great. And it's great. And it has an element of magic related to music. As you can tell by the title I'm sure. In this retelling, Clara is a pianist. And the villain of the story is not a rat or a mouse. The rats are involved. But it's sort of a pied piper sort of villain. And so it's fascinating the way that magic exists in this world because it crosses over worlds, but it's all related to music. So a song could be played in it has a certain effect. But then another person could play it and learn to wield that magic or, in a sense could change the quote unquote spell by changing the music. It's fascinating, but also the world of Imperia. That's the name of the magical Nutcracker realm. It's described in such a way like I can feel the ice, I see the landscape. There's this huge emporium of a candy shop. And there are descriptions of a coffee room and a peppermint room and all of these different environments. But the story also it has personal growth for several characters and all the stories culminate in a beautiful way. There is understanding of grief and there's longing and there's like coming of age elements and things about leadership and about friendship and forgiveness. And it's just so nice. I loved it. I'm pretty sure I teared up at the end. It was just so lovely. Yeah, I really, really recommend it. I try to read Christmasy books around Christmas time. And I had a couple winners this year. This one was fantastic. I really recommend it. I loved it so much. That's the enchanted Sonata and that was my final five star book. I am quite picky with my five stars. As you can see, I read 30 books and no 35 books and I had 1234566 books that got five stars, but there were several that got like between four and five stars, that there might have been one or two things that it just didn't. It didn't bring me To that point of like, oh my gosh, I love this book. But it was also awesome. Or maybe there was something in it I just couldn't relate to. And so I do want to share a few of those as well. These are three honorable mentions that were definitely highlights from this year. The first one is, again in chronological order. It is taste my life through food by Stanley Tucci. I know I think I probably mentioned it in the the foodie books episode. Oh, I did. Yeah, that was episode 71. It was all about food writing. So I've talked about this book before, but Stanley Tucci, who doesn't love him, right? It is a story of his upbringing and his Italian family. And then also having to do with his career and where he's traveled and all this stuff, but centered around food. And there are so many recipes that I cannot wait to make. And such a respect for Italian cuisine and regional cuisine that I don't see too much. And I also really enjoyed his personal stories. Especially those of him growing up, I found that just hilarious. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to revisit it to to make some of those recipes. And next on my list, is Malibu rising by Taylor Jenkins read. So I know that everyone goes crazy for the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I did read that last year as well. And it was very well written, I will concede, yes, great. But I actually liked Malibu rising better. I don't know if it's because I felt I could sympathize with the characters more. Or again, I felt like I could see the environment. And maybe just the way that I interpreted it. But I really enjoyed Malibu rising, it was very summery. I really liked the ending of it as well. And I enjoyed the elements of the story that were from completely random perspectives, like you'll have a chapter that is from the perspective of someone we have never seen before. Or you'll just get a peek into someone else's life or perspective. And I really liked that part of the book. And Taylor Jenkins, Reid is definitely just a very, very good writer. So I am hoping to read perhaps Daisy Jones in the six this year or Carrie Soto is back. If you're gonna read Carrie Soto, you ought to read Malibu rising first, I think all of her books are kind of within the same universe. She's like creating her own universe. So some characters kind of overlap. And Carrie Soto is in Malibu rising. I also liked the sibling dynamic. I don't know, I just I really enjoyed this book. And it's my favorite one of her so far. And finally, I have a very special book to round out this list. And it is before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. If you're anywhere on the internet, you may have already heard about this book. But if you haven't, it's a really interesting and incredibly heartfelt book. Oh, and I should say it's translated to English by Jeffrey Troost. A lot. Hopefully, I'm saying it somewhere close to it. It is originally in Japanese. And it takes place in this coffee shop that has a very specific and weird magical practice in which if someone goes to the cafe, and there's one specific chair in the cafe that if it's available, you can sit down. And there's a particular coffee ritual. And within it, you can travel through time to meet with someone that you saw in the same cafe. So a lot of weird rules, but you can there's this element of time travel, but you have to drink the coffee before it gets cold. And that will bring you back to the present and you have to before it gets cold or else you become a ghost basically. But there are four stories within this book. And they each have to do with a different relationship, which is beautiful. There's a relationship of sisters, there's a husband and wife. There's a parent child relationship. And so it's really beautiful to see each of the characters there's like a steady cast of people that become more and more entwined throughout the book. Even though each section focuses on a different relationship. Some parts are heavy. It has to do sometimes with loss or just the passage of time. But it's so poignant and emotional and so beautifully done. It really points out the beauty of relationship and of those that are close to you. And I really also love the whole coffee ritual as well. It'll make you want to get coffee Very fascinating story. I believe there's a second book within this same coffee shop or universe. And I would like to read that this year potentially. But that is my last honorable mention, I did read lots of really good books. But these are the ones that I wanted to share as highlights. But if you would like to see more or you want to connect with your reading goals, you can find me over on Goodreads, I'm going to leave the link in the blog post. Because this year, I have made a goal for 40 books. But I think this is also going to be the year that I might get into audiobooks. I have yet to make that part of like my normal reading practice, but I'm enjoying it. I'm listening to one right now. And I think this might be the year so it would be 40 books including audiobooks. So depending on that, how fast that goes, I might even raise raise up my goal to 45. We'll see we'll see. But right now, it's 40 books. And I'm hoping to incorporate more classics. I have already read one. But I'd like to broaden my classics horizons this year, as well. And so I hope that this list of books has given you a bit of a place a launching pad to get back into reading this year or to continue reading this year. I also want to highlight episode 37 of life on the brink was it's called recapturing a love of reading as an adult. And it's sort of cataloging my journey and the things that I have learned to help get back into reading once it's no longer a habit. But now it's truly a joy of mine. I It's so nice to know that it's an inexhaustible hobby, you can never read as many books as have been published. And so there's always another really good book to find that would normally make me feel overwhelmed. But actually, it's a comfort to know that I can just keep reading great books forever. So I want to I want to read at least 40 of them this year, I would love to know what books you enjoyed from last year. So if you'd like you can head to the shownotes. Again, that's at life on the brink dot live and share a comment with your recommendations because as I've said, I can't get enough recommendations. I'm always adding to my Goodreads shelves of books that I want to read. Or again, you can find me over on Instagram. You can reach out to me there too. I love recommendations. I love books and sharing book thoughts and conversations. I wish you a happy start to your reading of 2023. And I'll be right back with this week's little joy. Okay, so this week's little joy, the first little joy of 2023 I would like to share a smaller moment of a very big joy. Because this past weekend, the weekend and I'm recording this I had an incredible weekend in which Josh and I took a train to New York City. We had never done such a thing. I'd only been to New York City once, over 10 years ago, 11 years ago. And Josh went once on like a band trip, I think. And so we took the train. And it worked out great. We walked around New York, we were there for only about a day and a half because we saw the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway before it closes. Now, I in my teenage years went through a very, very big obsession with the Phantom of the Opera. Yeah, it was it was crazy. I'll share a picture of one of my costumes in the show notes. And it was always my dream to see the Phantom on Broadway itself. Like that was the one I wasn't going to see in a touring group. Even though I'd seen wicked and The Lion King and stuff like that. Growing up, I wanted to go to New York. And I saw the announcement that they were canceling it not canceling. I'm sorry, closing the original run of the show after 30 some years. And I saw this announcement while we were in the airport to go to Canada. And I was like, I know we're about to go on a trip. But I think we need to plan another trip. And Josh loves me very much. And even though he wasn't excited about going to a city in the cold of January, we went and we were there for only about a day and a half, only two nights. Very quick turnaround. But it was it was just perfect. The show was awesome. We went on a Monday night because the the tickets the prices had skyrocketed. So we saw it on a Monday. And it was so worth it. We were all the way in the back. But it was still awesome. And we had never been to New York together obviously So we filled our one big day in the city with well I filled it with places that I had also wanted to go to for a while and we had a great day. One of those places was Harry Potter, New York, the big Harry Potter store, which I was not on my radar at all until a couple years ago because I didn't grow up with Harry Potter. But I wore my scarf that I crocheted. Last year I made this Ravenclaw scarf with Tunisian crochet it was a big project. It took me forever. And I wore it to New York, along with my my long green coat that I love so much. And I felt a little bit overdressed, a little bit silly walking around the city. Obviously, everyone in New York, there's like so many different kinds of people, it really doesn't matter, but I was feeling self conscious. But we went to Harry Potter, New York and I looked just right in that store. It was giving big Hogwarts vibes. And there are so many cool interactive elements. I picked up every single wand to see which one felt the best. And actually, right up at the top was Lunas wand for me, it felt really good my hands, but we walked around the whole store, I had my first butter beer, I'd never had it before it tasted like butterscotch, which makes sense. It was amazing. I got a little postcard to try and frame as a souvenir. And I had this moment while we were standing in the little butter beer area, the little bar stand. And I said to Josh, I'm really glad that I came to Harry Potter as an adult, because I feel like it speaks to the greatness of the whole series in the whole world. Because I don't have the nostalgia of growing up with it. But I still feel somehow nostalgic about it, even though I only read the books a couple years ago. And so I'm really just embracing a Harry Potter winter. I feel like that's the best way to get through the cold. I think I'm going to collect the books over the course of this year. Because I was borrowing my brother in law's books when I read them. And yeah, I think there are more crochet projects and other things in store so that this coming fall, we all know last year was Lord of the Rings fall, in which my whole family watched the series. Over several weeks, I think I'm going to push for Harry Potter fall. Yeah, and have us watch all those movies. Because other members of my family, they they don't know it at all. I watched the movies with my sister Sarah. But we've seen them only once. And she's the only one in my family who is at all familiar. So I think this is going to happen. I'm going to plant the seed in everyone's minds now. So I'm just in a very Harry Potter way. Of course, the trip was lovely. We also went to the Museum of Modern Art, we went to Magnolia Bakery, got the banana pudding, and ate lots of delicious food. Actually, it was a great quick trip. And we learned that we like traveling via train. And it was just a beautiful combination of so many things that I love. And that was my little joy. I'm going to include, you know, the official little joy was that moment in the Harry Potter store. But really, this was just such a magical weekend that I didn't think would be able to happen, but it did. And it's amazing. So I would like to share a soundtrack, a playlist of soundtracks. And that is, of course, the Harry Potter soundtrack, I found a playlist on Spotify. That is the whole soundtrack to all eight films. Obviously, some tracks will be darker than others, but it's what I've been listening to lately. It to really set the mood, starting with John Williams, of course, and then moving into the Patrick Doyle score in the fourth movie, and then through Nicolas Hooper. And then finally, Alexander splat. It's just brilliant. There's so many tracks on there that I love. And it's a nice ambiance for the winter. So I'll be linking that in the show notes. And hopefully, it'll get us all into a very bookish frame of mind. Thank you so, so much for listening. Welcome to 2023 I'm back. I'm ready for new episodes. So if you haven't yet, feel free to subscribe to this podcast on the app that you're listening to so that you get an alert whenever a new episode is posted, which will be every Thursday unless otherwise specified. And if you haven't, I so appreciate your feedback. And so a star rating or a review over on Apple podcasts even if you don't listen on Apple podcasts, the review and the rating does so much for the podcast in the app but also to me personally and I like to share those reviews on the Air as well. It's going to get a little weird for me because we're in the process of moving now. But until further notice, get ready for weekly episodes. I love this community and this platform this hobby this project. It's so special, and I can't wait to continue it this year. Have a great week and have you reading thank you for tuning in to this episode of Life on the brink. If you're enjoying these episodes, please feel free to leave a star rating or even better leave a review on Apple podcasts to help spread the word. For podcast show notes and extra inspirational posts throughout the week. Head to the blog at life on the brink dot live. And if you'd like a little extra dose of inspiration in your life, sign up for the monthly newsletter, which lights up your inbox the first Friday of each month. Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, friends you have a lovely week. Bye