2022 in Books - Zoe Kaplan Writes

I read 150 books this year.

Holy shit.

Every year I compile a whole bunch of book stats, and I did so for this record-breaking year, too. I thought it might be interesting to share with you guys! Below, I’ve listed some of the numbers I found interesting, my book superlatives for 2022, my full top 30 books (because with that many read, how could I limit myself to 10?), and my top 10 favorite short stories of the year.

Interesting Stats

Of my 150 books read…

I read 148 seperate titles (yeah, I reread Blue Lily, Lily Blue twice, don’t @ me)
9 were books I’d read before
only 19 were 2022 releases
similarly, only 19 were more than 10 years old
I gave out 54 five-star ratings. That’s more five stars than books I read in all of 2020!
I also gave 68 books four stars, 21 three stars, and 3 two stars. I didn’t give anything one star, and I decided not to rate two books
per Goodreads, my average rating was a 4.2
I read the most in October (23 books) and the least in January (5 books). I averaged 12.5 books/month, or 1 book every 2.5 days
my most-read genre was Fantasy (85 books), followed by Science Fiction (43 books).
I also read a decent chunk of Horror (29), Contemporary (27), and Historical Fiction (22). Don’t worry about the math–I often cross-list books in multiple genres
I read 2 whole nonfiction books!
in terms of format, I read mostly regular-ass novels, but I did read 4 picture books, 6 graphic novels, 33 novellas, and 27 volumes of short fiction
I track a few kinds of representation in my reading. Keeping in mind that what I decide “counts” as rep is super subjective and arbitrary, I read 14 Jewish books and 52 queer books this year.
I also read 9 Sherlock Holmes retellings, 8 books about spooky houses, and 5 books that could be called Dark Academia
I mostly read physical books (96), but also a decent chunk of audiobooks (41) and a few eBooks (11)
I read 15 books under 100 pages and 4 books over 500 pages. The rest were, like, normal page counts.
37 of my books had been on my Goodreads tbr for over a year. 40 I added in 2021, and 61 either I added this year or they were just never on my tbr (not counting rereads)
2/3 of the books were by authors I’d read from before, 1/3 by authors who were new to me.
My most-read author demographic is white women. This is always true, but I did read 60 books by non-white authors, more than ever before!

Superlatives

Questions adapted from youtuber Booksandlala’s list

Longest: Jade City at 560 pages
Shortest: The Lottery at 30 pages
Most Widely-Read: Dracula at over a million readers
Most Obscure: Bewildered at 4 readers
Favorite 2021 release: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
Favorite older title (5+ years): Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Lived up to the hype: Harrow the freaking Ninth
Didn’t live up to the hype: History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
Biggest reading accomplishment: I mean. 150 books.
Favorite couple/ship: Beatrice and Ianthe from The Midnight Bargain
Favorite character: Elliot Schafer [In Other Lands] is a bitch and I like him so much
Least favorite character: Meyer Landsman from The Yiddish Policeman’s Union. If anyone else had been the narrator I probably would have loved that book.
Most surprising moment: In Raybearer, when Tarisai [REDACTED] Dayo right after he [REDACTED] (if you know you know)
Best prose: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (tied)
Book you’ll be recommending: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Favorite newly discovered author: Annalee Newitz
Favorite cover: For All Time by Shanna Miles
Favorite sequel: It’s already on the list, but I can’t lie to you. It’s Harrow the Ninth again.
Favorite short story: “Neilah” by Hannah Moskowitz
Made you cry: The Mathematician’s Shiva by Stuart Rojstaczer
Made you laugh: The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
Favorite reread: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Most surprising 5 star: A Study in Charlotte. I expected this book to be sugary and middle-grade-y. It was not. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not grimdark or anything, but it went way harder than I expected.
Least fav overall: Alchemy by Marie S. Crosswell >:(

Top 30 Books*

The Seep by Chana Porter
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie
Harrow the Ninth/Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A Spindle Splintered/A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow
Bunny by Mona Awad
Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
Burning Girls and Other Stories by Veronica Schanoes
Lakewood by Megan Giddings
Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth
Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace
The Midnight Bargain by C L Polk
We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker
Wild Beauty by A M McLemore
A Psalm for the Wild Built/A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers
Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders
A Cathedral of Myth and Bone by Kat Howard
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Resist Fascism ed. Bart Lieb and Kay Holt
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Piranesi by Susannah Clarke
Spear by Nicole Griffin
The Dark Fantastic by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Ring Shout by P Djèlí Clark
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater

*not counting rereads; series all go on one line together

Interesting Stats

Superlatives

Top 30 Books*

Top 10 Short Stories