Recommended Fiction Reads
In 2022, I set myself a goal to read at least 52 books, or one per week. Having finally freed myself from the ‘stop reading, just WRITE’ hustle hamster wheel, (which didn’t work anyhow) I let myself loose and blasted past that particular milestone somewhere in June, in part because of a few excellent bingeworthy series I discovered that I just couldn’t put down.
The books listed here are mostly not new, and are in multiple different genres because I read all over the place and my TBR list is extensive so I usually take a while to get to those new releases!
So, grouped by genre, here is a list of the books (and their descriptions) I enjoyed most in 2022:
*All links are affiliate links, which means I make a litte money back if you click through and buy something. So if you do – thanks so much!
Fantasy
The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
By T. Kingfisher
Quirky, hilarious, and simultaneously poignant – a combination I simply can’t resist.
I mean, seriously, how can you not read a book about a heroine with a sourdough starter for a sidekick? Despite the hilarity, the theme of this book – how the young are forced to step up when the adults fail them – really hit me hard!
The Official Book Blurb:
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.
But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…
Wintersong
By S. Jae-Jones
An atmospheric, lyrical, haunting fairytale of the Goblin King that pleased the musician in me. If you liked the movie Labyrinth, there are echoes of that here.
The Official Book Blurb:
Deep in his terrifying realm underground, the cold and forbidding Goblin King casts a dark shadow over nineteen-year-old Liesl. Her grandmother had always warned her to follow the old laws, for every year on the longest night of winter the Goblin King will emerge into the waking world in search of his eternal bride. Sensible and plain, Liesl knows it’s her duty to keep her beautiful sister safe from harm, but she wishes only to indulge in her wild, captivating music, composed and played in secret in the Goblin King’s honor.
When her beautiful sister Käthe is stolen by the Goblin King, Liesl knows she must set aside her childish fantasies to journey to the Underground and save her. Drawn despite herself to the strange, beautiful world she finds–and the mysterious man who rules it–she finds herself facing an impossible choice. With time and the old laws working against her, Liesl must discover who she truly is before her fate is sealed.
Set at the turn of the 19th century, when young upstart composers like Beethoven were forever altering the sound of music, S. Jae-Jones’ richly imagined debut spins a spellbinding tale of music, love, sisterhood, and a young woman’s search for self-actualization.
The Demon, the Hero and the City of Seven
By A. E. Kincaid
I first discovered this delightful series by A. E. Kincaid when we were published together in The Rebel Diaries, which contains the origin story of her deliciously inept heroes Mal & Reg. I’m a huge sucker for funny, clever books with snappy dialogue and this doesn’t disappoint. Her second book The Demon, the Hero and the Secret of the Stones is also out now, published in 2022 (though I technically finished it in 2023 so it’ll have to go on next year’s list!)
Official Book Blurb:
What happens when good and evil collide?
They yell, Ouch!
When you’re a demon who’s recently (but accidentally) been magically bound to a human for eternity, life is bound to be annoying. But when that human is also an inept hero who tosses his lunch whenever he gets stressed out? Breaking the connection becomes priority one. Not knowing what else to do, our demon, Lord Malgon, and our hero, Sir Reginald, set off to see a wizard in the magical City of Seven to break their spell. But on the way, they discover they might have accidentally opened up a portal to the underworld and a dangerous demon is now on the loose. Whoops!
Follow along as Mal and Reg make themselves unwelcome with fairies, humans, dwarves and giants—all while racing to get to the City of Seven before Mal’s supremely evil brother.
In this debut humorous fantasy novel, Kincaid pairs an endearing cast of characters with expert world-building and laugh-out-loud dialogue. The Demon, The Hero, and The City of Seven will leave a Mal and Reg shaped stamp on your heart.
Gallant
By V. E. Schwab
Eerie, haunting and delicious. I gobbled this one in a single rainy afternoon, with copious hot tea and nibbles.
Official Book Blurb
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
Mind over Magic (A Witch in Wolf Wood Book 1)
By Lindsay Buroker
This was the first Lindsay Buroker series I binge read this year, before going on to devour half her catalogue without stopping for breath. Lindsay’s hallmarks are quirky heroes, clever (hilarious) banter, glue-you-to-the-page adventures, with a dash of slow burn romance – all of which have made me a superfan. The Witch in Wolf Wood series starts somewhat slowly but it’s worth sticking with it – if only for the hilarious scenes to come.
Official Book Blurb:
As a bookish, introverted database programmer, Morgen Keller never thought she was a candidate for a midlife crisis. That was before her husband divorced her, her boss let her go, and her grandmother died. Forty wasn’t supposed to look like this.
When Morgen heads up to the small town of Bellrock, Washington, to settle the estate, she looks forward to taking a peaceful break from life and figuring out what she’s going to do next.
But peace isn’t to be had. The old farmhouse is full of witch paraphernalia, a fearsome werewolf has claimed the property, and contrary to what the family was told, Grandma didn’t die of natural causes.
Embroiled in a mystery, and heir to powers she knew nothing about, Morgen must turn to the only person who might be able to help: the werewolf who threatened to rip her throat out for trespassing.
This isn’t the fresh start on life that Morgen had in mind…
Science Fiction/Space Opera
Star Nomad (Fallen Empire Book 1)
Lindsay Buroker
The Alliance has toppled the tyrannical empire. It should be a time for celebration, but not for fighter pilot Captain Alisa Marchenko. After barely surviving a crash in the final battle for freedom, she’s stranded on a dustball of a planet, billions of miles from her young daughter. She has no money or resources, and there are no transports heading to Perun, her former home and the last imperial stronghold.
But she has a plan.
Steal a dilapidated and malfunctioning freighter from a junkyard full of lawless savages. Slightly suicidal, but she believes she can do it. Her plan, however, does not account for the elite cyborg soldier squatting in the freighter, intending to use it for his own purposes. As an imperial soldier, he has no love for Alliance pilots. In fact, he’s quite fond of killing them.
Alisa has more problems than she can count, but she can’t let cyborgs, savages, or ancient malfunctioning ships stand in her way. If she does, she’ll never see her daughter again.
Fans of Firefly and Star Wars should enjoy this fun, fast-paced new series from USA Today best-selling author, Lindsay Buroker.
Shockwave (Star Kingdom Book 1)
Lindsay Buroker
Seriously though, this series is wonderful. The dynamics between the three central characters are truly delicious. I am desperate for the people who made The Expanse to take a crack at this series. **Fingers crossed!**
What if being a hero was encoded in your genes?
And nobody told you?
Casmir Dabrowski would laugh if someone asked him that. After all, he had to build a robot to protect himself from bullies when he was in school.
Fortunately, life is a little better these days. He’s an accomplished robotics engineer, a respected professor, and he almost never gets picked on in the lunchroom. But he’s positive heroics are for other people. Until robot assassins stride onto campus and try to kill him.
Forced to flee the work he loves and the only home he’s ever known, Casmir catches the first ship into space, where he hopes to buy time to figure out who wants him dead and why. If he can’t, he’ll never be able to return home.
But he soon finds himself entangled with bounty hunters, mercenaries, and pirates, including the most feared criminal in the Star Kingdom: Captain Tenebris Rache.
Rache could snap his spine with one cybernetically enhanced finger, but he may be the only person with the answer Casmir desperately needs: What in his genes is worth killing for?
Mystery/Thriller
The Appeal
Janice Hallett
I love clever storytelling and Janice Hallet executed this SO well. The book is composed entirely of texts and emails as two law students sift through the communications between all the players to uncover the mystery.
It’s such a clever premise and if you’ve ever been involved in community theatre (or other community drama!) this will make you chuckle too. The author has a gift for imbuing the character’s missives with their personality – and I’ve truly never seen passive-aggressive done so well in print. LOL.
Also, if you like a good twist ending – this one is GREAT.
Official Book Blurb
The Fairway Players, a local theatre group, is in the midst of rehearsals when tragedy strikes the family of director Martin Hayward and his wife Helen, the play’s star. Their young granddaughter has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, and with an experimental treatment costing a tremendous sum, their castmates rally to raise the money to give her a chance at survival.
But not everybody is convinced of the experimental treatment’s efficacy—nor of the good intentions of those involved. As tension grows within the community, things come to a shocking head at the explosive dress rehearsal. The next day, a dead body is found, and soon, an arrest is made. In the run-up to the trial, two young lawyers sift through the material—emails, messages, letters—with a growing suspicion that the killer may be hiding in plain sight. The evidence is all there, between the lines, waiting to be uncovered.
Slow Horses
Mick Herron
I loved it. Sharp, darkly funny spy thriller. Perhaps a little disorienting at first with the swift POV changes, but if you stick around, you won’t be able to put it down. And if you have a chance to watch the TV series, they did a great job of capturing the essence of the book.
Official Book Blurb
Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses. This team of MI5 agents is united by one common bond: They’ve screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves.
London, England: Slough House is where washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what’s left of their failed careers. The “slow horses,” as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated there. Maybe they botched an Op so badly they can’t be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle—not unusual in this line of work. One thing they have in common, though, is they want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there─even if it means having to collaborate with one another.
When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, the slow horses see an opportunity to redeem themselves. But is the victim really who he appears to be?
A Heart Full of Headstones
Ian Rankin
I’ve always been a fan of the Inspector Rebus novels. Usually I get bored reading episodic-style series, finding them too predictable after 3-5 books, but Inspector Rebus is the ultimate morally grey character; you really never know what he might do next. Also, the sense of place in these novels is masterful. This might be a controversial opinion, but I think this installment in the series might be the best one yet.
Official Book Blurb
John Rebus stands accused: the once legendary detective is on trial, facing the rest of his life behind bars.
How does a hero turn villain?
Or have times changed, and the rules with them?
Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke tackles Edinburgh’s most explosive case in years, as a corrupt cop harbouring huge secrets goes missing.
But is her loyalty to the police or the public? And who can she trust when nobody is truly innocent – including her former mentor Rebus – and a killer walks among them?
As the time comes to choose sides, it becomes clear: after a lifetime of lies, the truth will break your heart…
That’s it – my Top Ten Fiction Reads for 2022. I hope you enjoyed the list and have the opportunity to check some of these out. Happy Reading!
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