We break down all the books we read in December 2022 – from forthcoming 2023 reads and releases to back-list favourites.
The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Rating: A+
Quite simply one of the best books I read this year, Shipstead weaves the story of the female aviator Marian Graves through with the lost actress Hadley Baxter (set to play Graves in a forthcoming film) with ease. It is intricately plotted, with both protagonists intensely complicated but likeable in their own ways. A long but enjoyable read.
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Rating: B-
If you liked Naoise Dolan’s Exciting Times, this is a good follow-up read. Granados tells the story of Isa and Gala – two girls trying to make it in New York. Both are complicated, problematic and not at all likeable, yet the prose is pithy and intoxicating.
A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin
Rating: B+
Drawing on the famed club The Wing for inspiration, Laura Hankin’s satirical look at an all female club and the power they hold in New York is clever, witty and immensely readable. Though readers will be familiar with the strange turn the plot takes, if you trust the prose and go with it – this makes for immensely entertaining reading.
Exes & O’s by Amy Lea
Rating: A-
Amy Lea is a bright new voice on the scene. This new rom-com is delicious, light and filled with a plethora of clever insights hidden beneath an immensely speedy and likeable prose.
The Binding by Bridget Collins
Rating: B+
This took a while to get into, but is worth the uphill climb, Bridget Collins book tells the story of a man learning his craft as a bookbinder (binding people’s memories into books so that they can forget). It’s clever and makes you think hard about the power of memory and regret.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Rating: A+
Perhaps the best book I read in 2022? Gabrielle Zevin’s story of friendship between two game-makers Sadie and Sam, who meet as children, before going on to form an industrious partnership is compelling and dazzling – weaving a story about the power of friendships, identity, misunderstanding. It’s a book about loss, disability and is so incredibly layered as to make it an intoxicating and dazzling read that we could read again and again.
